OCGoodmama

Just another WordPress site

This My Friends, Is Love.

- Leave a Comment

I swore I would never do it. I would never be the stay-at-home mama who scheduled her days around The View at 10 a.m. & Oprah at 3 p.m. And I am not….
But I do sometimes speed home just a wee bit to catch the opening moments of The View.
&
I do have to admit I TIVO Oprah every day…it is the FINAL season and all 🙂
SO the things I SWORE I wouldn’t do. I have succumbed to….Just a weeeeee bit….
In catching up on Oprah’s visit to Australia, I was overcome with emotion. Literal tears streaming down my face during a particular segment.
Here is the Haley version. A darling family man finds out he has cancer. Young guy, beautiful wife, two boys. Wife has to go back to work full time to support family. Hubby barely hangs on, wife is exhausted, no time to spend together as family. Oprah (of course) comes into save the day and gives them $250,000 for the next year to pay the bills & spend time together. (He is still alive).
THE MOST moving part of the whole story is this video he creates for his wife on her birthday to tell her how much he loves her & appreciates her.
Beautiful, sacrificial, I wanna LOVE like this kinda LOVE…

Mellow Monday

- 1 Comment

OCGoodmama & Fam spent the past weekend in the desert. Palm Desert that is-at the G-Parents new diggs. It was gorg, the weather was wonderful, & Samantha had a blast!

We spent the weekend mostly lounging by the pool, eating, & sipping yummy bevs. Samantha took great naps, enjoyed the new surroundings, and was obsessed with floating in the pool. She is SO my daughter! I love it!
With this “taste” of summer-I am looking forward to all time we will get to spend at the pool, near the beach, and wearing sundress’s and flip-flops. On that note, I am leaving the laundry and umm….heading to the pool?! Yes~!
Samantha loving the water…

Hanging with Dad!

Pink Girls!

So… its a Mellow Monday. So… not much is getting accomplished. I live my life constantly needing to check things off the list, strive to be ubber-organized, keeping things in order, fridge stocked, laundry laundered, etc., etc., etc. You ALL know the drill. We who live in OC-are literally running are lives at such a pace where we struggle to come up for air. Many times-trying to get things done-and worry about them in a way that we were never intended to do-we worry & stress SO much. (Or at least I DO!) I’m trying to take to heart recent messages from church-having the JOY of the Lord-and less of all the worry.
So on that note…”Samantha-mum” & Mama are heading out to the sun.
Happy Monday!
xoxo
Goodmama

Haley’s Hibernating Hiatus

- 2 Comments

(My Little “Hibernating” Bear)

Two weeks since my last post. New Year Goal’s #1 fail. (Haley’s Hibernating Hiatus I will call it. Don’t the bears get time in winter to take a break? Mine, just came earlier than expected this winter).

As I stated at the end of my “resolutions blog post”, my whole thought process behind “goaling” is not to always “hit the mark”-but to come close. Some of my other resolutions are going a bit better than the blogging one… so, oh. well. Back on the horse, right? (That’s the saying…right?!)
This past Sunday night I was hit (overcome, run-over, consumed) with the stomach bug that’s circulating the O.C. This my friends, is not a fun bug. I will not expand in detail on this, for your sake, and mine also, but to say that New Years Resolution #5 might be more attainable that previously thought.
Needless to say, Meal Planning also did not happen-as no meals were really consumed (unless you consider Gatorade & Saltine Crackers a meal?)…I my friends, do not. Looking forward to enjoying some real people food soon. (Still taking it easy on the tummy, with boring, BLAND recipes).
Hope your week is going well. Hope your reaching for your New Year’s Resolutions. Hope your enjoying the killer weather this week.
I leave you with some of my fav pics right now. Our Little Sweetness. Who keeps getting better, day by day. (It doesn’t get any cuter than this….)

(NO.WORDS.FOR.THIS)

(Love her Smile & Love of Life!)
(She ADORES her daddy!)

The Word I Need Wednesday’s

- Leave a Comment

Psalm 71

1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.

2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

turn your ear to me and save me.

3 Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.

6 From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.

7 I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

8 My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

10 For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

11 They say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”

12 Do not be far from me, my God;

come quickly, God, to help me.

13 May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.

14 As for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
of your saving acts all day long—
though I know not how to relate them all.

16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD;

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.

17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

18 Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.

19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
you who have done great things.
Who is like you, God?

20 Though you have made me see troubles,

many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.

21 You will increase my honor

and comfort me once more.

22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.

24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts

all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.

This past Fall I was apart of a woman’s bible study. It was perfect timing-Samantha was a couple months old when it started-young enough to sleep through a lot of the morning. It was a blessing to learn alongside new friends and community. We read this chapter about halfway through the study. My heart was incredibly blessed the first time I read it. It was one of those chapters-verses-words-that I literally had forgotten all about. I especially love v.5 & v.6-God being my confidence & hope since my youth. Don’t get me wrong-there have been definite crisis’s of faith over the years-valleys and mountaintops. Highs & Lows.
Yet, at the end of the day-and I pray at the end of my life-I can still exclaim v. 14.
“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”

Welcome January :)

- 3 Comments

New month, new year, lots of fresh starts & resolutions. Today, I got back in the gym after about two weeks of barely going. Talk about being sore now, I can hardly imagine how I will feel tomorrow morning!

Got the grocery shopping done, baby is taking a nap, and I am blogging. All before 1 p.m. Goodness me, its going to be a good year!
I am excited about the new year-all the memories we will make ahead as a little family of three. Oh, oh, oh and I am also excited about all the fun HGTV new shows (has everyone taken a look at the 2011 Dream Home in Vermont?!…GORG! You can enter twice a day to win!) and the debut of the OWN network. Oprah programming 24/7=danger. Its the little things people, the little things!
New week. Monday…Meal Planning!
Monday- Jillian’s Beef Stew (excited to try this one :), Corn Bread, & Salad.
*Follow Jillian’s Fab Blog Here:
(I LOVE her & I LOVE her blog. She inspires me- I love her writings. Especially her new post. Jill, I am excited for your new year resolution #4. I really need a surfing re-fresh. Also Jill’s such a talented decorater-I want her to come over to my “dwelling” & help me finish decorating in 2011… Dear Jillian…Maybe this should be another resolution?!)
Tuesday- Chicken Parmesan, Green Beans, & Whole Wheat Pasta.
Wednesday- Rosemary Lemon Salmon, Mango Chicken Sausages for J, Steamed Broccoli, & Brown Rice.
Thursday-Tina’s Pesto Turkey Burgers, TJ’s Garlic Fries, & Salad.
Friday or Saturday: Tight Bod with a Pod Turkey Stromboli- Love this Recipe! (I usually substitute Chicken!)
Here is the link:
Hope your Monday, New Week & New Year is off to a fresh start. I see a bit of sun peaking through the clouds-agh. *Sigh. The perfect afternoon is ahead. 🙂

Happy New Year!

- Leave a Comment



As 2010 comes to a close-we look back at all the events of the past year. For the Goodmama Household, our house became one little sweet person fuller. We gained lots of love, kisses, cuddles, laughs, giggles, innocence-all in the little figure of Samantha Grace. We also LOST lots of sleep, sanity, “me time”, “us time” & “free time”.


2010 was “jam packed” at times-and “super slow” at others. For me, January-July 6th, 2010 went by at a snail’s pace as I waited for our little one to enter our family. Life began flying by in fast forward once SG made her debut.

2010 will forever be marked by Samantha. It will always be “her year”. 2010 also marked me wrapping up working and becoming a full-time stay at home mama (SO much fun!), continuing decorating our darling home, staying plugged into our church community, taking SG when she was six weeks old to Maui (so much easier than I thought it would be!), Jordan and I celebrating our three year anniversary (WOW!), toasting the Holidays with our friends & extended family and now…ringing in the new year.

I love fresh starts. I was always the kid who loved getting school supplies, new pens, paper, notebooks, etc. Not because I was necessary excited about starting the homework (not at all) but more because a new season was upon me. I love new seasons! I love the excitement and energy surrounding the new year-new goals made & new dreams hoped “up”. I don’t always follow every goal I put my mind on, actually, my goals many times “morph” into something different as the year goes on.

Yet-I love still dreaming out what I hope to accomplish the next year. This year especially. I am excited to begin 2011, as a mama, wife, friend, daughter & sister. I’m excited to see where my goals will lead me. Will they be the same come July? Who knows, but at least I am up for the growing that comes through striving.

So here’s to 2011-all the newness, the freshness, the hope-(especially for some more sleep!).

The “loose” List:

1. Blog 3 times a week.
(*This My Friends is a lofty Goal).
2. Make the bed 3 times a week.
(*I used to make the bed religiously every morning. Now between varied wake-times, needed naps & laziness I haven’t. So here, is my goal in writing!)
3. Organize Closet- Give Away/Throw Away/New Hangers A Must!
4. Read More!
(*Less Reality TV… more Books!)
5. Lose 5 more. Enough Said.
6. One fun activity a month with Samantha. Something “new” each month. (i.e. Park, Pool, New Trail Walk). Something that’s free or already available through the neighborhood, community, gym or grandparent hosted 🙂
7. Womans Bible Study.
(*Gotta Stay Plugged In To Grow.)
8. Gym-3-4x a week. This is another lofty goal when things get crazy. But, its so important to me being a good mama & wife. Taking care of my health.
9. One household chore a week- for one hour. Set the timer. Clean one thing/place/space for an hour a week. Starting with Closet. Hopefully Ending with Attic. So much organizing to be done.
10. Memorize more Scripture. Be in the Word. Worry Less. Pray More.

Happy New Year… With Love.

Cheers!

xoxo
OCGoodmama

Winter Snow

- Leave a Comment





Winter Snow

Chris Tomlin & Audrey Assad

Could’ve come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could’ve come like a forest fire
With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we’ve scarred

But You came like a winter snow
(Yes, You did)
You were quiet
You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Oh, no, Your voice wasn’t in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind
It was still
It was small
It was hidden

You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Falling
(Oh, yeah)
To the earth below
You came falling
From the sky in the night
To the earth below

Merry Christmas…With Gratefulness for the Gift of the Lord. Who came like the “Winter Snow”.



The.Reason.For.The.Season.

- Leave a Comment

Its that time of the year. And the Goodmama Gang is knee deep in Christmas. This season is always so FUN-but incredibly crazy. Add to it being the BUSIEST time of the year for hubby at work PLUS this year-our darling daughter (our precious almost 6 month old)-has decided to go on a sleeping strike. I thought J Good’s salmon strike was annoying-but this is downright testing on our patience.

Sweet Samantha was an instant sleep/nap/routine success up until Thanksgiving. So Goodmama & Goodpapa are navigating the waters of parenting-learning our way-trying different techniques & praying a WHOLE lot. I really am learning to not be a person who says I will “never” do this or I will “always” do that. I will be honest, I am not sure what to do-but my heart just wants be a good mama. “Good” in the sense of following what I feel God is leading us to do in raising Samantha. Not “good” by how the world defines it. There is so much information out there in regards to ALL things parenting-actually SO much information that I feel between the lack of energy & focus- I am on info overload.
As I was running around the house the past couple of days, I found my self compiling every parenting resource I could grab at my finger tips. Books, Blogs, Googling random topics, Calling the Pediatrician (umm…hello, first time mother, yes, I just need re-assurance that my child isn’t crazy…), re-calling the Pediatrician (yes, I did this, yes, I did), calling fellow mama peers and pondering all the information in light of who I am as a mother, who we are as a family and who Samantha is as an individual. I was rushing, I am still rushing for the answer-the FIX all-the solution to raising the perfect child & becoming the perfect mama-I saw my Bible-it caught my eye-it kept catching my eye-and it keeps catching my eye-and I just starting crying. Tears-tears of trying to make it-figure it out-do it-all on my/our own. AGH.
Books are good, friends advice is so welcomed, and Blogs are the best. But His WORD is what I need. I need that inner strength-to keep on-keeping on. Why do I neglect it? Why do I think I will “get to it” when I have “gotten to everything” else?
I am still struggling to carve out the time, to choose His Word OVER the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, wrapping presents, flipping through FB & ummm…sleeping?! But, my heart is there-the desire is demanding. I know how I feel once I have entered His Sanctuary-the peace-His presence-the calm the comes that in spite of life urging me to make the ” right choices”-He is there. He hasn’t left. He wants to help me make the decision. Because is saying I need HELP- I am admiting that I can’t do this on my own. That ME is not enough. He doesn’t need another latte to function. He doesn’t need a glass of wine to calm down. He is bigger & better and BEYOND what I could ever hope for and imagine. He is the REASON for this season.
In the midst of the hustle & bustle-one party to the next-may your heart be calmed but His presence, may you find those precious minutes to tap into His Word.
Merry Christmas.
xoxo
OC Goodmama
**I was going to post a little update on my “new/usual/trying to be consistent thing” regarding meal planning. Until, I realized, we literally have Christmas dinner/events every night this week with the exception of Monday night & Wednesday night. Monday night was hilarious-I BBQ’d in the rain. Wednesday night we had Cobb Salads. Back to Meal Plans once these holidays are over!