20 Random Facts About Me

Posted on April 2, 2013 by melissamae

1. I am a mom.

2. I am about to celebrate 13 years of marriage with my best friend.

3. I have picked up hitch hikers on several occasions – with my husband in the car. (even as a child my mom picked up hitch hikers!!)

4. I am a christian, who feels called to be doing something more.

5. I am starting to get gray hairs…not too excited about this!

6. I am addicted to Downton Abbey.

7. I work from home.

8. I kill house plants, I am starting again today by purchasing a new house plant.

9. I love animals but don’t want any as pets.

10. I have a paddleboard but have never used one.

11. I still wish I could have braces to fix my teeth.

12. I collect coca – cola and it is my drink if choice.

13. I love to read.

14. I am a serial furniture and picture re-arranger! (sorry honey and little man)

15. I love exercising and can’t wait to push myself to my limits on June 2 in the triathlon.

16. I have driven cross country 3 times.

17. I am brave, I recently spent the day in DC with just me and my son. We took trains, taxis and walked all around the city. It was a blast!!

18. I want to learn new things and share them with my son.

19. I love to swim and learned at a very young age.

20. I am a member of Surfrider Foundation and I believe strongly in keeping our earth clean and trying to keep it so the future generations have a chance to enjoy the beauty we enjoy now.

This post is inspired by one of my best friends who just recently started writing again. Check her out at http://www.cheekiemonkey.blogspot.com/ Love you beautiful Stephanie!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Live Sore??!!

Posted on March 25, 2013 by melissamae

358If you go to the gym or exercise on a regular basis and push your body to its limits you might be in the category of living sore. I have been going to the gym for about a year and jogging out side even in the snow. A friend of mine recently sprained her bicep and has been in a lot of pain. I have been using doterra oils for a little while thanks to my mom but haven’t really shared them much. I was able to share the oils with my friend and hopefully help her sprained bicep heal faster. I have been very skeptical of the effectiveness of doterra oils and they have proved themselves over and over again. For my friend I did an inflammatory treatment which includesFrankincense_15ml frankincense, melaleuca (tea tree), wintergreen, lemon grass, aromatouch (blend of  basil, grapefruit, cypress, marjoram, peppermint and lavender), white fir,Deep Blue deep blue(blend of wintergreen, peppermint, helichrysum, camphor, blue chamomile, blue tansy, and osmanthus ) and peppermint. I rubbed each of these oils on her arm from her shoulder down to her wrist and used some fractionated coconut oil to help them absorb into her skin better. When I saw her that same night she said her sprained muscle was feeling better. I am excited to be able to share this with my friends and family! What do you use to help not feel as sore after a really intense work out?

Posted in family, projects, training | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Escape the Cape – Sprint Triathlon

Posted on February 18, 2013 by melissamae

So I did it,(in case you didn’t already know) I signed up for a Sprint Triathlon for June 2, 2013. Now how do I train for this thing? I am freaking out a little bit but excited all at the same time. The race is 1/3 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride and 5k run. photo.run

I have been jogging for about a year with a great partner (best running buddy ever!!) however she is not able to compete in the Escape the Cape, so I will be jogging – wait RUNNING alone. We never used music or headphones so I should be good with out tunes while I run, but who am I going to chat with? So this past saturday I did my first solo run…2.5 miles in 25:43 minutes.

I have no idea what it will be like to swim, bike and then run.
313253_406627099394396_1793220360_nMy next step is to get some gear, I am hoping to borrow a road bike. I need a wetsuit and an outfit to bike and run in. As of this moment I am not sure when I am going to be able to start swimming but hopefully soon. My little man loves the pool as you can see from his lesson photo with Mr. Jeffrey last fall.

Step 1: Sign Up for Escape the Cape Sprint Tri – - complete

Step 2: Select a training program.

Step 3: Get some gear – a bike for certain.

Step 4: TRAIN!!

Posted in fun | Tagged | Leave a comment

Bucket List

Posted on December 31, 2012 by melissamae

I have been working Disney Cruise 2012on this list for almost 2 years on and off. I am sure this is just a work in progress and I will be adding and possibly removing items as I check them off. What is on your bucket list? Do you have a top 10? My list is in no particular order as of right now. Maybe that will be my next step …put the list in order of what I would like to complete first. Do you share any of the items on my list? Maybe we can complete them together.

1. Travel to Italy
2. See the sunrise from a volcano
3. Hot air balloon ride
4. Visit every state with my son.  -
Alabama , Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,  Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
5. Make an album or book for my son for every year of his life.086
6. Read Gone with the Wind
7. Keep a prayer journal for 1 year
8. Live on a sailboat
9. See someone getting an ultrasound done. (hopefully someone i know and love will let me do this with them while they are preggers)
10. get a family photo every year (every season would be a dream)
11. read 100 books in 1 year
12.write a short story
13. go to Yosemite
14.Yellowstone
15. the Grand Canyon
16.Mt. Rushmore
17.Giant Sequoias
18. Virgin Islands – Buck Island Reef
19. Run a 10K or Sprint Triathlon – - Getting ready June 2nd!!
20. Learn a 2nd language
21. National Cherry Blossom Festival – Washington DC
22. See a Rainforest
23. Climb up the Statue of Liberty
24. Make a quilt
25. buy a house

Posted in family, fun, projects, travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Fashionista? I think not!

Posted on September 13, 2012 by melissamae

So I am trying to review my clothes and come up with a few new cute outfits using what I already have. I tend to wear the same few shirts and capris or shorts over and over. I have a closet full of cute skirts and dresses but I tend to save them for special occasions.

I will never be a high heel shoe kinda girl but sweet little black flats make me smile :) And what better is there to do with your cute outfit then to jump on your son’s trampoline?  As I am taking the creativity class with www.sharksugar.com I feel more excited about the little things in my day and making everything more exciting for our entire family. What can you do today to mix things up or what do you need to just jump into to get started?

Posted in family, fun, photo | Leave a comment

Cleaning….urgghh!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by melissamae
Working at home people think I can clean, cook,

This fun play area got us thru the winter months. But the little stones are everywhere!

be a mom and work all at the same time. Nope

this is sooo not true. So right now I look around my house and see so many little messes. I am going to conquer 1 area today and that is the living room. I can see small rocks under the couches from Little Man’s rock box and dust in the corner below the heater.
 I will defeat the dust and the rocks will be banished back to the rock box :)
Wish me luck! What is the one thing you hope to accomplish today? Some days my goals seem silly but if I don’t decide to actually banish the rocks and defeat the dust it will stay sitting there mocking me!!

ready or not here i come!!

I hope that under your couch is perfectly clean but if it isn’t maybe today is the day for you to join me in banishing the dust, food, dried up playdoh and whatever else my son has managed to get in the small opening between the floor and bottom of the couch, atleast for a day or so until it returns!

It really is the little things in life that make me happy or crazy!!
Posted in family, projects, toddler | 1 Comment

Summer Bucket List

Posted on June 26, 2012 by melissamae

We have a very full and exciting traveling schedule this summer so I wanted to make a list for each place we go and for when we get home to make sure we don’t miss anything.
Maryland – Smore’s Cones, Water Park, Beach to see Horses, Crabbing

California – Hike to Hollywood Sign, Natural History Museum (dinos), Sea Lab, Tide Pools, Beach Bonfire, Trampoline Place, Fly Kites, Sea World, Trains at Griffith Park, Observatory, Movie at El Capitan, Tar Pits

NJ – Springers, Beach Movie, Catch Fireflies, Water Park,Tent Camping, Leamings Run, Huge Sand Castle, Drive N Movie, Friday Fireworks, Cold Spring Village, Monmouth county dinosaur dig

Do you have any big plans or little plans? Happy Summer!

Posted in family, fun, toddler, travel | Leave a comment

4 years – June 13, 2008

Posted on June 12, 2012 by melissamae

I just realized that is has been 4 years since we took our first foster care placement. Wow we have had quite the journey. Our first placement was a vacation placement for a little boy whose foster family was unable to take him on vacation with them. The scariest part for me was when the case worker kept saying “You need to have House Rules posted.” I think she said it 5 times or more. We didn’t have house rules at this point other then keep the toilet seat down. Those 2 weeks were more about having a fun summer vacation then I have ever had in my whole life.

I sometimes think about the next child we had in our care and I hope that our love stuck and she knows God loves her and she is being well cared for. I know I won’t ever get over the removal part of fostering but I am glad that we opened our hearts to love on these little children.

Fastforward – We now have our son whom we adopted thru foster care and he is 3 years old. (the picture to the left is our 3 year olds hospital photo) We are currently fostering a 3 month old baby boy and life is crazy but amazing. Every day I thank God for my family and as difficult as the journey was with our adoption I wouldn’t change a thing. I am so blessed by my son and by my husband as a daddy.

Posted in faith, family, fun, toddler | Leave a comment

Earth Day

Posted on April 23, 2012 by melissamae

I couldn’t be more proud of my 3 year old. We have been trying to have “Active / Outdoor” weekends. Since both of us work from home we spend a lot of time at home, and our little man is a major home body. So last weekend we went on a hike near the light house and as we were walking Little Man noticed a can off the trail in the marsh. He was not happy about it and said “Look a can, we gotta get it.”

So we trudged into the marsh (just a little way) and took the can home with us. Then this past weekend we went kayaking and he saw a beer bottle in the water. Again he was not happy about it and said “Daddy you gotta catch it.” So we took the bottle home with us and put it in the recycle bin.
Seeing yesterday was Earth day this seemed like a great time to share. However I am a firm believer in leaving nature more clean then you found it every day. We always pick up trash when we go to the beach and park. I have little trash bags in my bag just in case. I believe that my 3 year old is learning by example and when it makes me sad to see trash in nature I am thankful that my little one notices it and wants to clean it up. Here is a challenge, next time you are in nature pick up 5 pieces of trash. The world will be cleaner and you will feel better about your self. I promise.

Posted in family, fun, shore | Leave a comment

Open Adoption

Posted on April 6, 2012 by melissamae

I am so thankful for my son. I just spent a few minutes on an open adoption web site and I can not even begin to imagine what it feels like to be “waiting” to be matched with a child thru open adoption. I know how it feels to have a 3 day old baby brought to your home with only a few hours notice and not know if the baby will be with you for his lifetime or for a few months. I am thankful to God for leading both myself and my husband to consider being foster parents and walking with us thru our entire journey.

Have you ever considered adoption? If you have considered adoption what about foster care? We are currently on the list of foster parents for our area but have not felt ready to take any more foster placements. How do you know when the child is the right one? Is it ok to be a one child family? What are the pros and cons? I am working thru all of this and trying to figure out what the next step in our lives will be. All I know right now is that whatever it is God has planned for us it will be amazing and an adventure.

Just a little bit of what I am thinking about.

Posted in faith, family, fun, Uncategorized | Leave a comment