Meli's world

  About 3 months ago, I was put on blood pressure medication. It upset me. It bothered me and I didn't tell many people about it. I rather avoid the lectures on how I wouldn't have hypertension if I only lost weight. I get it. I'm trying. However, I was rather relieved to hear that I was considered a mild case and we would start getting it under control with only 5mg of Lisonopril for three months and then re-evaluate. Hearing that most women who have pre-eclampsia, which I did in my first pregnancy are more likely to develop it, also took away the guilt feeling. Whether hereditary or weight related, it did help motivate me to  make healthier decisions in my diet and to start walking and getting some exercise in. But as a busy mom and wife, the 3 months went faster then I thought and I didn't schedule my follow up on time. I ran out of my pills that Tuesday since the doctors office was closed on monday, Memorial day. Thinking I could wait, my appointment was ...

This past week some days were cloudy, dark, and rainy with just a few hours of sunshine in between. And sometimes that's exactly the state of mind we fall in to. Cloudy, rainy and barely sunny.  I wallowed in self pity about almost everything and my mood was deteriorating fast.... it was like my mind went from Sunny Florida days to thunderstorms rolling in almost immediately like a typical summer afternoon. I was frustrated with my cravings and lack of weight loss despite doing more then ever before. I was frustrated with what seems to be the kids never ending fighting and bickering.  I was feeling annoyed by my husband despite him being the sweet loving guy who comes home to help me with dinner..... I was lamenting that right now is not a good time to pursue education.... I was even listening to the voice that says I can't blog about what I'm learning. ...... I haven't learned it yet. For the past two weeks, I was more attentive to my feelings then the word of...

Tonight we got home from church and Manny, my 7 year old son was a bit hungry. He ate some of the leftovers from dinner and asked me for chocolate milk. Being tired and in the middle of packing lunches I did what any good mom would do, I gave him a bottle of chocolate milk. The ones I pack in his lunchbox instead of making him some. It was most convenient at this moment, not necessarily lazy. Almost immediately he was in the kitchen asking me to open it for him. Kind of bothered he was interrupting my flow again, I said "No, open it like you open it at school". To which he replied: "I don't, I get Sean to do it." Now I wasn't bothered at his interruption at all anymore, I was bothered by his lack of effort and finding out he hasn't been opening his own milk.  The conversation that followed though, thankfully is full of the type of Gold moms dream of. "Manny, how old is Sean?" - 7 "What grade is he in?" -2nd "How many ...

The past couple of weeks  I have really been diving into the goodness of God and just wanting to get plugged into more of Him, and to seek Him more. A couple weeks ago our pastor said "Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you" James 4:8 ..... so what do you do when you want to be closer? You seek Him more. It all started with me really digging deep into the study I've been doing Saturday nights with the kids in family ministry. The one theme we have been learning about is all the things God entrusts with and one of them was experience. We don't always choose what happens to us or what we go through but it's all about what we do with those experiences.... and then came the women's event "Unshaken". That kind of went with the theme. Because here I got to hear from women of God like Nagmeh Abedini whose pastor husband has been violently imprisoned in Iran for 3 years. Her testimony, her strength and her unwavering faith in God was inspiring. ...

Many of you who read my blogs are people who know me, or have known or met me at some point in their lives. Just because we talk, doesn't mean you know me, who I am, who I've been, or what I've been through. I'm sure most of you see me as this "religious" married mother.... Some of you may remember me as the girl that was barely in high school, or the boy crazy smart overachiever middle school girl, or some of you now know me as the church going woman I am today. But all of this is only bits and pieces of what has made me.... And what is still molding me and changing my life by His grace and power. I don't tell everyone I know my story, I am sure not everyone is interested. But I believe our personal stories can be of help to others and I have no reason to be ashamed of the mistakes I've made. I was raised "Catholic". Not a devout catholic, but I did get "baptized" by the sprinkling of the water as a baby, did my first commun...

M.I.A is a hashtag trend I've been using on Facebook a lot. It stands for Marriage is Awesome. Last week, I felt the need to put up a disclaimer with it letting people know I am in no way putting it up as if my marriage is the only awesome one, or better than anyone's. My reasoning for starting these series of posts is because I find it so disheartening and discouraging that statistics show less and less people in my age group are getting married or want to be married. And for those that do marry, more than 50% of those marriages end up in divorce. I think a lot of people have misconceptions of marriage and are letting things keep them from entering into one of the greatest relationships and commitment that exist. I know most people will question a 25 year old's ability to speak about marriage and give anyone any type of counsel, but speaking from 10 years of experience, I think I have seen a lot of things I wish I could have done differently and am constantly growing...