Everything I needed to know about everything...I learned from Mom.

I have known for a long time that I was at an advantage.  That I had been prepared for life better than some. That I was born with privileges that others will never know.  Not because I have a super talent, or a great magnificent ability.  Not from any lesson I learned in graduate school.  Certainly not because of a  pampered, struggle free, wealthy life.

But because my Mom taught me:

To smile, even if hurts.
That sometimes you have to take a "snow day" even if there is no snow.
That you go to church every time the door is open, because there is an open door.
To be the first to offer help to anyone.
That punch & mints are all you need for a party, and how to make both.
Taught me to pray for, support, honor, and follow my husband ANYWHERE.
That there is no greater cheerleader for me, than her.
To always, always have on good underwear if you leave the house...if you don't, that will be the day you break your ankle and they cut your pants off.
Grow flowers & take care of your yard, and that one day I would find that therapeutic (I'm there now!)
That one day I will get the best sleep out at our Ranch. (Right again, Mom)
Never to yell.
It's OK to cry, but then get it together and go on.
To Always send a Thank You note.
To Give everything you have, and give until it hurts, and never tell anyone.
Always take more than one dish to the potluck.
People are worth the effort. Hands down, People are worth it.
Pray.Pray.Pray. and then listen and follow Him.
No distance will keep a Mama from her baby, no state, no country.
To protect, nurture, adore, shelter and love my children with every part of my being, just as she did for me.
Money means nothing. Don't want for too much, & Don't spend too much. (All children will be OK without Disneyland or a Barbie Car)
If I don't know, "look it up". The dictionary or the Bible, one of them will tell me.

See?
Could not have asked for anything more.
I'm thankful for my education and my experiences in life. I've honestly learned a lot.
But there is nothing that she didn't prepare me for.

Everything I needed to know about everything...I learned from YOU Mom!
I'm so thankful for you.
I love you forever!

A Legacy of Strength

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot. -Eleanor Roosevelt



If there was one line that could sum up what I have been taught my whole life, this might be it.  And I don't mean taught in the sense of a formal lesson, but more in the sense of learning from example. 

I'm a good cook.  A really good cook.  And if you asked me, I would tell you I learned from my mom and my grandmother.  My grandmother was a fantastic cook.  No one turned down a meal prepared by Nettie Moore.  And even though I claimed to "learn" from my mom and my grandmother they never declared a time to "teach me to cook".  Instead, I learned my whole life from them, sitting on the kitchen counter in my grandmother's house, watching what  she was doing, or standing at the kitchen sink doing the dishes while mom worked on dinner.  They never woke up one morning with the mission of teaching me to cook.  Many of my strongest childhood memories are associated with time in my grandmother's kitchen.  Even though it's been years since I stepped foot in her kitchen (the house has long since been sold and is no longer in the family) I can distinctly remember each detail about it from the mushroom ceramic canisters (remnents of the 70s) to the formica counter tops and even the view out the kitchen window.  Maybe that's why my own kitchen is so important to me.

Just as my kitchen skills were developed from being immersed in a culture of food and love, my own personal strength has been developed from observation of character in action.  Being an Army wife has its challenges and I often hear the comment "I just don't know how you do it" referencing a deployment or seperation or yet another move.  My typical response is "I just do it.  There's not really another option."  But when I stop to think about it, I know exactly how I do it.  I do it because I was taught to do it.  Not in the sense of a formal lesson, but taught by example from observing my own mother "just do it". 

You see, my mom taught me to follow your husband wherever his job leads because she has followed my dad's many job transfers all over Texas.  Now I follow my husband wherever the Army sends us.  My mom taught me you do whatever you have to when your kids are involved.  Now I spend 6-7 evenings a week at baseball diamonds and soccer fields and in my car running from one practice or class to another.  My mom taught me to put one foot in front of the other when you really don't feel like it as she got up and went to work while taking chemo during her first battle with cancer.  Now, even when I feel like garbage, I get up and go.  My mom taught me that discipline and order still reigns, even when dad is working.  Now I run my house with order and discipline, even when my husband has to be away for long periods of time.  My mom taught me that giving back to your community is important when she spent hours working with the Optimist Club, Band Boosters or the church kitchen.  Now I spend my extra time serving other military families around me.  My mom is teaching me that even when cancer seems to be winning, that you continue to fight.  It might change the speed at which you live, but it doesn't change the what is important to you.  But most importantly, my mom taught me what it means to be strong, and that when you don't feel strong, you draw your strength from the love of your family.  Nothing is impossible with that. 



Happy Mother's Day, Mom.  I love you.

"My mother with my kids during her visit to Germany, where we were stationed."

 

home.

As Army wives, between the two of us we've lived in more zip codes than a traveling circus.  Or maybe it just feels that way.  None the less, we have learned to manage and deal with the fact that our curtains, inevitably, don't fit our new house.  Haley gave Lesli advice when Lesli first got married and started collecting furniture - make sure all your furniture in your WHOLE HOUSE goes together.  You never know when you're going to have to put your kid's dresser in your living room.  (Side note:  the wardrobe from kid #1's nursery furniture now serves as a make-shift office for Lesli in her living room).  We have mastered the art of "making it work".  What neither of us has mastered is being homesick.  As born-and-raised Texans, we just miss home.  Tex-mex, country music, blue bonnets, cowboy boots, dirt roads and friendly strangers.  They all combine to make our home unique.  As we have made friends from all over the world, we have come to notice that being proud of where you come from isn't exclusively Texan.  It was from this realization that our home. collection was born.  While we have both come to realize that truly the old saying is right and "home is where your heart is", we also understand that we leave a piece of our heart at every place we call home (Texas just gets the biggest little piece).  Our home. collection celebrates all those wonderful places we all call home.  Whether you've never left the street you grew up on, or, like us, you've moved all over the world, we encourage you to celebrate home.

We want you to enjoy your experience with Markers & Mud...from start to finish.
Every package sent to you, or from you will arrive, Perfectly Packaged.

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Tuesday's Tip: Fostering a Sense of Community

Handwriting is a dying art.  The importance of penmanship is being replaced with typing skills in schools.  My son's baseball coach, a grandfather of another boy on the team, said he would be sending out team updates via text.  In the current digital age we have replaced thoughtful, personal contact via letter and even telephone in favor of the instant gratification of technology and its many forms.  I even use a web-based program that has apps on our smart phones for the family calendar.  It allows my husband and I to update our calendar instantly and to check for family availability without checking with each other first.  It has eliminated the need to actually talk to each other.  While my husband and I do make it a point to talk to one another, our world is decidedly turning away from personal means of communication in favor of (although faster) less personal technology. 
The result of this trend is a well-informed but disconnected population.  With that move we often lose the sense of community that comes when we make personal connections with the people around us.  But we have the opportunity to fight this and strive for the sense of community we all felt growing up.  The next time you find yourself in charge of an event or a group, take the time to call each person individually.  Pick up the phone and call your friend instead of sending them an email or a text.  Even better, grab some fabulous stationery, dust off your address book and send a "thinking of you" note.  I promise it will give the recipient (and you, too) a warm and fuzzy feeling, fostering a sense of community. 

Giving It All Away

 Marker & Mud recently made two donations to worthy causes.  One to the American Red Cross chapter in Vicenza, Italy and one to a family seeking to adopt a child from the foster system.  I don't put that on here to receive any kind of pats on the back for either of us, but to let our clients know that profit is not our first priority.  In the early days of a new business there is no such thing as profit.  Every penny that comes in right now goes right back into our business as we get on our feet.  Why, you ask, would we then spend money we aren't making to make donations?  Simple, it's not ours to start with.  As women of faith, we firmly believe that nothing we have is our own.  We can't take it with us.  While we hope to some day help support our families with income from Markers & Mud, that time is still far off in the future.  But Jesus doesn't call us to wait until we are financially profitable to make donations.  Instead he asks us to give generously, to care for widows and orphans and those around us in need.  So that's what we're doing.  The American Red Cross has chapters at military installations across the world.  They offer support services for our men and women in uniform and their families.  This is, of course, close to our hearts.  Adoption is an expensive undertaking, and this family is willing to take in a child who needs a forever family.  This is how we can help to take care of the orphans.  So today's post may not seem like much of a tip, but in all of this I hope you'll walk away with this tip:  Do What You Can, even if it doesn't seem to make sense.  Be a blessing to someone else, through a phone call, a card, a financial donation or your time.  Much like marker scribbles on walls that our kids sometimes leave behind, THIS is how we can leave a mark on the world.

Blessings,