jackson will be gone all next week.  i am not much of a planner but here are some ideas i have been thinking about doing while he's gone and i'm missing my little best friend...

1. catching up with oldies.

2. sleeping in tights

{i guess i can do that anytime}

3. borrowing my friends kids when i get-a-missin' him

4. drinking my herbal tea all morning, noon and night in my fun china.

maybe have a tea party?

5. find a park....

maybe the one in la jolla i like a lot

6... and start this book.

although i heard it's going to rain all next week.

i like the rain.

7. taking all the buttons off my peacoats and putting them on my other peacoats.

fun huh? i think so.

8. go to a fun place to fly kites/balloons/or just take pictures.

somewhere quiet.

i have a list of friends i know who would come...

could be fun.

9. fix all my clothes that have been in a wooden basket needing to be sewed.

neglected.

10. be spontaneous and sleep!

i never catch up my sleep... which brings me to this...

i want to find a real teepee and sleep in it. too much?  maybe.

maybe for me seems to mean "no" but i think i can find one.

i like the good unexpected.

i'll be missing him so.

sparrow.

its so fun to be back.
thanks for reading.  i hope to not bore you or keep you on the edge of your seats since its less frequent...

i have a few things on my mind...
last year my favorite word was "adorable"
now it's "always"

also, i love the attitude that nothing is a big deal unless you make it.

i have a weight on my shoulders about being here when i want to be in Haiti.  all of those people hurting, dead, drowning, under buildings... it's so sad. i have been following the news.  its making me feel so lazy going about my day here.

i want to be there.

sorry... can't end on a sad note.
i'm just loving how cute jack has been lately.  he thinks i work at yo gabba gabba.  it's a conversation we have everyday.  then every time he eats he tells me he has a party in his tummy.  i am grateful for life.  it's treating me well.

i have more fun things to post but no time.  here's me saying hi; for now.
loves.

honey and the moon

i have never really loved my name and prefer fun nick-names. 

they say when you are having a conversation with someone, you should try to say that person's name three times - as it is a compliment to them.

for me, it seems so formal to have someone that knows me well call me by my whole name.

i begin liking that person that i know well a lot better once they give me a nickname.

here's some things with my name.

i feel so vain with this post...

{Melissa Shoes}

sold at nordstrom and online?

valentine themed?

{melissa sweet dresses}

i love this dress with long sleeves to the wrists...

{fresh produce}

no big deal

{melissa sweet cookbook}

i'm buying it.

she took our honey namesake seriously.

{biggest looser contestants}

i hope she won for not being a looser.

{melissa herb}

who woulda known.

it's so me.

{melissa and doug children toys}

real and simple magazine

my dear dear friend lisa taylor got married last summer.
her wedding got featured in the real and simple magazine for january!
all of our friends put together this wedding {shauna lewis, aubrey messick, rachel thurston etc} so it was bound to be a HUGE success!
we all love tacos so she had a taco stand duet, mexican fiesta decor that still had class and a mariachi band!

i contributed with the chandeliers that were at my sister's wedding at the same location and did her hair all day.

so fun huh!? i love seeing my friend's talents getting published.  i will attach the links to shauna's website, aubrey's etc... they are amazing.

life is just really great

i have been so extremely happy.

like so so so so so happy.

                             things are great.
                                                                                                 i have a lot to be happy about right now.
that's all.

sunbeam

he keeps saying "jesus wants me for a sunbeam!"
i do have to say i got a little emotional when i brought him to class!  he's growing too fast.

i get to pick this little love up soon and cannot wait.  i'm so excited!
every time his dad has him, we try to talk on the phone as much as possible.  i had the chance to talk to him a lot this week.  he was so adorable.  asking me how i was, asking me how my week was, telling me he missed me and couldn't wait to see me.  it's fun to see him come to life and hear what he has been wanting to say every time we do this handoff.

he usually runs up to me, and tackles me with kisses and hugs.  we just love each other so much.  he's my little buddy and i'm his mama.

love you jackson.

magical new years day

one of my favorite persons surprised me early new years morning with tickets to magic mountain!  i haven't been there in years!  wendy is a doll.  we had a lovely time.  we went on almost every ride.  one of the rides made our tummies turn but then went on their "superman" and it cured our aches!  it was pretty funny!

the x2 ride was pretty fun... instead of lifting your arms up, we lifted our legs the entire ride!  people in line were taking pictures of us!  it was pretty memorable to say the least.

personally my favorite ride was tatsu.  it was dedicated to my friend who told me to go on it.

we rode it a couple times.

it gave us the sensation of flying.

zooey much?

she gave me two tickets to SHE + HIM concert in May!  so excited!  that concert was sold out within the hour of it going on sale.  zooey is our favorite not-yet-big-celeb.

we rode the terminator salvation ride 3 times.  we just sat there without getting up!

the workers didn't even check out belts third time around.

nothing much like feeling like you are 12 again with one of your best friends all day.

thanks again wendy!

happy new year hair

i did it... i am going back to my natural color.  i am really excited about it.
the change happened because
- i am tired of coloring it dark brown (1)
- i have not seen my natural color since i was 14 (2)
- if i try my best to live my life as natural as possible, why not throw in my hair into the mix? (3)

it will take a few bleachings and then i can get it back, let the regrowth come and vwahla! done.

{i just woke up... having this private makes me smile}

new.year.nutshelling.it

so far it's been so lovely.

  

this new years was spent in a car ... tuning the car radio like we are 1930's style and try to hear the ball drop! cute huh?  it was a great new years eve and day!

life is going really well.  i am really happy.  i am so excited for many things this year. i am excited to see jack grow more, yoga, i am looking forward to trips to disneyland, reading more books, spending more quality time with quality people and trying to find ways to improve daily.  i hope i can be less selfish, more loving, less busy, more organized with everything going on, less judgemental, more giving, less on the computer, more time with jack and loved ones.

i have a reallllllly good feeling about 2010.
when i think of this year, i get full body chills, butterflies and smiles until my face hurts.

it's going to be great.

christmas eve at the aquarium

my good friend eric and his daughter invited jackson and i to the long beach aquarium on christmas eve.

jack and i love the ocean of course so to be this close, touch the baby sting rays and see the sharks was surreal.  he loves hanging out with his friend scout.

christmas pictures with digital orange

kind of a weird picture but it made me laugh

so jack's personality!!

oh man i love this little man...

melodramatic tradgedy

i guess three isn't the age that you leave a beta fish alone with...

i came up to feed our fish that we have had since big bear one rainy afternoon...

i see pear-smelling bubbles in his little bowl.

he had been soaped to death by my little jack.

jack said he needed a bath because he was dirty...

luckily that day, my adinistrative assistant and i were passing out beta fish to my accounts and had two extra that no one in my office wanted. i figured i had two white elephant gift parties, so i thought i could bring these beauties until the death of our first fish.

the moment i flushed little "migosh" down, jack cried like i was the meanest person in the world and i was throwing away his toys. he kept saying, "it was the nicest fish mom. why did you have to go and kill it???"

as the mom hero that i tend to be on a blue moon, i whip out this tiny female beta fish all wrapped up in christmas bagging with bows and food. jack's face went from devastation to complete happiness.

now he loves his little girl fish and tells me since friday that "she is so cute mom"

private

to go private or to not go private?

i deleted all of my previous posts, reevaluated a few things going on and decided that it was time to write not as much.

reason?

personal....
so many of my friends who record their family's "comings and goings" on blogs go through this decision and i seem to come to it often.  i am going through a child custody trial and think i should make my life more private.  then i have the other side that makes me think i am not hiding anything, enjoy sharing pictures and stories about jack {i think every parent does}... so for now, the previous blog posts are archived.  i know i will never get around to printing them but at least i recorded the fun things jack and i have been up to.

it's been a humbling experience receiving emails from mothers all over the country and switzlerland, uk and aus that have been reading my blog.  to know that i can maybe help someone who is going through a trial or motivation to get through their day; makes me incredibly happy.

family...
they have been there for me since the day jackson and i drove that uhaul home, weight off my shoulders from the things i had experienced and a new perspective on how great jack and my future is now going to be.

trying to "do it all" it all comes back to the relationship i have with jack. he is truly my everything. when people go through rough times, they cling to what they know is right. i have come to know that my Savior and Heavenly Father love my tiny family of two so much that he will protect us from any harm. i have found peace in knowing that during this rough time, jackson loves me as a mother - even when i fall short of not being able to be home with him all day like i use to. that has been a struggle for me to cope with. as most if not all single moms, we must work.  i think of him all day and bother my mom with calls and ask her to take him up to where i work so i can see him for lunch.  not just single moms have to work now but at times i feel like "i didn't sign up for this" or whatever attitude that is easy and then decide the better one is to just learn how to find happiness in each situation.  no point of finding pain in this short time.  all we can do is find happiness in everything.  everything.

so in a sense, i am grateful for these lessons. though they are hard, i feel i have come to know my life's mission - to help others get through rough times...

i am grateful.

i have been humbled but have room for more. hopefully i won't have to go through much more to become humbled but know it's not my plan but the Lord's.  if i put my trust in Him always i will always find peace. it can sometimes not the easiest road but it seems like the one i need to travel on for now.