My heart

It's been a million years since I've blogged.

Summer has turned to Autumn.

So we went to the Smokey Mountains.

Where our hearts are always home.

My husband took a much needed break.

To see the changing of the leaves.

They were stunning.

And decided to never go back again this time of year.

It was beautiful, yes, but the busiest time of year. Who knew?

We went on hikes.

And spent copious amounts of time in a car.

We took deep breaths as we let our kids, literally, run up the side of a mountain.

We watched our two year old take in all that was amazing in her mind. "Mama, mama, MOUNTAIN!!"

We got to have sharks swim just inches above our heads.

We mooed out the windows at cows and maaaaaaed at the goat we couldn't help but name Billy.

And my two year old rode her first roller coaster and couldn't get enough!

We got to do a lot of hands on homeschooling.

And tried repeatedly to get a family picture. Oh my.

My 5 year old made up songs about Jesus for my dad.

I saw my brother for the first time in a year and a half.

My children fell in love with him.

My heart melted.

I snapped a picture of my husband and I on a hike.

We look happy.

My heart smiled.

Then Sunday came and we had to say good-bye to our beloved Tennessee.

Indiana was calling us home again.

I choose the whale

In a time when I'm just feeling kind of blah and like weight is such a focus and a struggle, this really hit home for me. Someone posted it on facebook and I thought it was beautiful. What are your thoughts?

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

(from http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/videos/whales.htm)

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

By: Delphine Fieberg

Yes, I do believe the ending of this is cheesy. I'm not going to be looking in any mirrors saying how fabulous I am, but I like the point of enjoying life and not always worrying about the amount of calories I'm eating. Life is too short! I think I'll have Bananas and Nutella for breakfast!