Meli's world

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...

         I know conflict and cheating! Ooohhh controversial title for a post entitled Marriage is Awesome. My marriage is awesome! But I'd be lying to you if I said we are conflict free. Or that we are so perfect cheating is something we are completely exempt from. So to clear up misconceptions if you're a newly wed, engaged or contemplating marriage, don't look forward to a conflict free happily ever after kind of marriage. Instead be prepared and take some pointers from someone who thought each conflict was the end of her marriage. And as for cheating, its a temptation you may have to deal with as a married man or woman but there's so much you can do to prevent it. Broken doors, holes in walls, driving out in the middle of the night. Yup. Anger. Conflict. Disagreements. Marriage is not always awesome. And as two immature teenagers who have basically figured everything out as we went along, things weren't always hearts and cloud...

Now that most of you know my story and everything my husband Emerald and I have been through, perhaps you will understand that the things I write about are lessons I've personally learned and the things that have made our marriage thrive and continually push forward. Getting married in our teenage years, it was like date night every night. We would eat out dinner after long days at work, or go out to breakfast before work. We would catch a movie or go for strolls at the mall randomly. So easy to do when you have no other priorities. We would go play tennis with friends at the park, go for walks, swims, or play video games. (yes we were teenagers). It was always exciting and it always gave us time to share our favorite activities and to talk about our days. However things change when you become parents. We moved in with my parents to save money during the pregnancy and never thought of how difficult that would be. Also, we had to get in saving mode for the addition to t...

Last night we decided to make it a movie night since I was sick all day. We always like to pick family movies that we can enjoy with the kids. We ended up watching "Mom's Night Out". The movie was all about a stay at home who had 3 kids, and always felt overwhelmed with everything. These kids' misbehavior was definitely exaggerated for the movie. She was a clean fanatic who was also trying to run a blog. She seemed a bit OCD trying to have everything in order and under control all the time and there was so much in her that I could relate to! As a mom, there were so many expectations I held in my mind before I actually had kids. I still have expectations in my head on a daily basis. All ones that I'm learning to let go of. In my mind, the kids will be great, we will have a nice family meal, do school work and still have family time or reading time. In my mind everyone will say yes mom and get things done. In my mind, I won't burn the rice. The kids will eat ...

       As most of you may already know, I wasn't 16 and pregnant, like the popular MTV show. Instead I was 16 and married. Yes married before I graduated, or officially got my driving license. Married before I got an actual job and before I knew what marriage was really going to require.     I met my husband my freshman year in high school and for many months only looked at him as a friend to share my "boy" drama with. But after many lunches, conversations, hanging out, inviting him to my church, dancing at my quince, and skipping many electives together, I was in love with my homeboy, my friend. And all of a sudden, all the guys that I was entertaining as potential suitors didn't matter anymore. Not after Emerald called my house on a Tuesday night while I was watching American Idol, to confess his love for me. I remember seeing his family name on the caller I.D and almost falling off my bed to get the phone to tell him my sister wasn't ho...

Most people think of Jay Z and Beyonce or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and even the Obamas. But despite the definition for "power couple" you'll see below, I'm here to tell you that's exactly what I feel like daily with my husband! power couple - a couple both of whom have high-powered careers or are politically influential (the freedictionary.com) Ok, so Emerald and I have neither the high powered careers or political influence. But as my husband was up with our daughter the other night, holding her hair as she was puking over the toilet, and cleaning up as I put her back to bed, I couldn't help to feel like a power couple. A different kind of power couple. A couple with a "High-power" in our lives. Most of you have heard me refer to us as Team George, and as a team we are not 50/50. In a team we should be 100/100! Its with that mentality that our marriage has been able to flourish. Day in and day out I can count on him to pick up my slac...

As most of you know my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary together just a couple weeks ago. It was an extraordinary blessing to know that even as young kids we were able to come this far and surpass most people's expectations. I made a slideshow for him as a surprise and it took me back through everything we have been through . From high school proms, dates, our first apartment, our puppy, our kids, our home.... And I couldn't believe that we had accomplished so much in those years that still seem a blink of an eye. Things were tough. Teenage newly weds should say it all. There we so many hurdles and obstacles to overcome due to our limitations, and I kept waiting for my happily ever after. I kept telling myself I'd be enjoying the married life once we got our own place. Then once we had kids, and after all the hard times that included unemployment, a dislocated ankle, c sections and extended maternity leaves, and living with my parents, I kept telling my...