Being Native

Today, I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into my background.

Don't let my blonde haired, blue eyed daughter fool you...

Although I am a mutt of sorts...who isnt?

The majority of my blood runs native.

My mother was raised on an Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin.

My dad was raised in a small town in northern Michigan.

However both have chippewa blood.

Because the chippewa is dominant on mainly Momma's side of the family,

I am a member of an Ojibwe tribe called Lac Courte Oreilles, 

as are my three children.

I remember going to a pow wow several years ago when my oldest son

was a baby, and a big VERY INDIAN man, with the braids and all,

pretty much how you would imagine him to be, 

said to me, "That boy an indian? That's the whitest indian I've ever seen" 

with a big smile on his face. Loved it!

Until last year, I was always merely I spectator at the pow wows we attended,

joining in for only the "all tribes" dancing, in which they invited all people

to come dance on the pow wow arena.

Naturally I was beyond thrilled when my extremely talented cousin, Lydia, 

pictured with me below (don't let her red hair fool you, she was born and raised on the 

reservation too) made me this beautiful Jingle Dress...

and I was able to dance my first pow wow.

Honor The Earth 2011

While I don't embrace the religious side of many native americans,

nor do I pretend to have majored in history of any kind 

(including native american history), I absolutely have some native pride. 

I love my culture, my heritage, and I hugely love my people.

A few years ago, I was at a festival where there was a tent set up 

and there were Native Americans dancing and speaking about how they 

used their dance to tell the story of God's love, the true "great spirit."

They talked about Native Americans in many parts being largely 

held captive by tradgedy, suicide, alcoholism, & poverty.

I remember sitting there trying to hold back the tears, 

as my mind played over the numbers of memories of hurting people I had known,

or known about... and realized not only did we need restoration in 

the natural sense, but needed God to touch and bring healing to these people.

 

Isn't Leila the cutest little blonde native ever? =)

My heart has always been for missions. missions in a foreign land.

(someday I will tell that story and show those pictures)

however, many times we forget that our own world we live in,

our own family, our own city, our own culture is the biggest

and greatest mission field of all...

because those are the people we relate with most, we know & live their story.

It's easy to have a big heart for people that need love, 

yet sometimes forget the people around us need it just as bad.

Below is a video from my first pow wow. Last summer...

A Look Back:1984

Writing this post makes me feel ancient, to be honest.

You wanna know my age in 1984, do ya?

While you were the sweet, innocent age of 6 months old,

I was embracing life with a red Michael Jackson wanna be jacket,

had my sleeves rolled to my elbows,

my collar up,

and secretly testing out cuss words on the playground.

Yes, that is a very specific memory I have,

jacket: red. sleeves: rolled. collar: up. 

cuss words: who me? never!! absolutely.

Don't worry Mom. It was short lived. It only lasted the day.

The coolness of it wore off quickly.

I was eight. My attention span was still short.

I'm pretty technical about numbers, dates, all that stuff.

So when I see shirts like this, I think to myself:

"Wait a second, if you were MADE in the 80's,

You probably don't even remember Rainbow Brite.'

I, on the other hand, do. Who forgets their favorite Rainbow Brite coloring book?

I would love to tell you, that in 1984, or the 80's in general my favorite music included 

Duran Duran or Cyndi Lauper, 

that my favorite movies involved: Molly Ringwald or Anthony Michael Hall, 

because they are certainly my faves these days...

But 1983 to 1986 was more of a collaboration of 

awesome animal documentaries,

contemporary christian rock and roll, 

everything disgusting about Garbage Pail Kids...

and I don't know about you, 

but the Get Along Gang pretty much rocked my world.

We didn't have cable, and we lived in a small town, so pretty much 

if you didn't have cable, you didn't have television.

Alrighty then, Disney True Life Adventures, it is!

Which is cool, because this covers both

my favorite TV show AND my favorite movie.

(The Get Along Gang was watched at other people house's, 
plus I had the stuffed animal moose, Montgomery)

Petra (an old christian rock band, in case you have no idea what a "Petra" is),

was my first concert ever. 

The first time I got a major crush. ON the keyboardist.

I definitely cried when we left that concert. 

We were stationed in the UP of Michigan.

I say stationed because my daddy is a preacher.

At that point in my life, our summers were spent

 living in a bus turned trailer home.

 as he took his family with him on the road to travel from town to town,

preaching in a Gospel tent.

I know you must be thinking, what an odd life...

but I didn't know the difference.

For me, it was normal. I actually liked it.

Until the morning I woke up with a huge hole in my blanket, 

because I dropped it from my top bunk onto the space heater.

Oooops.  Or better, yet, Yikes. That wouldn't have been good. 

So, not only does that cover where I lived, but also my favorite vacation.

I spent my indoor time reading books like The Babysitters Club,

Sweet Valley High...(oh wait, maybe those came a year or two later...)
BUT of course JUDY BLUME books!

Best outdoor time ever!!! Building snow furniture, snow forts, snow cities...

all out of ...er....snow.

(I didnt have a snow pic with me, so I compromised with the pic you see below.
You get the idea)

And I spent my nights, taking care of my baby brother, Jon...

He was "stationed" in my room, 

so I very vividly remember giving him bottles & holding him at night.

1984. Or 1983-1986 are some of my favorite memories.

It was at that time period that I discovered I loved art.

I remember I kept entering contests and winning.

Suckas!!!

Winning!
(that was said like Courtney from the Bachelor)

Did I forget to mention my cabbage patch kid, Shelly Love?
I remember the high demand for cabbage patch kids in those days.
I remember crying hearing a Cabbage Patch Factory had burned down.
Surely I wouldn't get one now.
But my parents are fighters.
They traveled 2 hours. Stood in the Christmas lines,
waiting for stores to open...
"You grab one for Jenny, I'll grab one for Julie."
And they did it! Got one for me and my sister!!

Thanks everyone, for taking this little journey back in time with me...

and thanks to the gals who hosted this Link Up...

Click Below to Follow THEIR Journey..

and link up too!!

Feature Presentation-June!

Hello Dear Followers.

It's time to highlight a few of my sweet sponsors!

I love every one of them so much.

I thrive on reading and seeing all the creativity come out in the so many 

varieties of people.  It really thrills me to no end! Seriously!

Meet Marcie

The sweet Marcie from A Sigh And A Sanity contacted me about a 

month ago and told me it was a total God thing that she found my blog,

so naturally I love her ;-)

Actually I payed her $10 to let me say that... haha.

I love her honest day to day posts. She simple, she's sweet, and she's pretty darn funny too!!

Well hello sunshines! It's such a pleasure to meet you!
I'm Marcie, and I reside over at A Sigh and Sanity!
I'm a mountain girl moved straight to the heart of Oklahoma
 {where the wind comes sweeping down the plain}
who enjoys a good cup of coffee, feather earrings and sweet tea on the porch!
Husband sometimes calls me a hippie, but I prefer the term gypsy.
 My little corner of the web involves everything from domestic attempts {which are mostly mishaps}, puppy tails {and fails}, fashion and of course,
my darling of a husband! I enjoy writing freely and honestly....
you won't find too much filtering coming from my fingers!
Come on over and have a cup, why dontcha?

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Meet Sarah
Can I say how much I LOVE the Photography of Sarah from The Salad Days?
She has an amazing eye for beautiful pictures.
Her posts and pages are filled with captivating photos of her beautiful family
living in England.
Plus she provides a great opportunity to link up each week and catch YOURSELF
in everyday photos, since we are usually the one's behind the camera in our daily life pics.
Lord knows we all take a zillion pics of ourselves, modeling our latest outfit...
but this is different. haha!

I'm Sarah - wife to Jake, mama to Maren and voice of the salad days blog. I worked as an Occupational Therapist for years but gave up the life of hospital gowns, bedside commodes and low pay for a life of Thomas the Train pajamas, cloth diapers and no pay when my daughter was born three years ago. On a typical day, I spend my time teaching (and learning) coping skills, preventing injuries, doing crafts and explaining things to the point that I no longer understand them myself. Come to think of it, other than the cuddles and the occasional cartoon, my old job and my new one are pretty darn similar. Other random facts: I carry more snacks than most school buses, am compulsively tidy, usually have no idea where my cell phone is, consider my camera a third eye, require more sleep than most people (but do not get it), am a sucker for sci-fi and cannot figure out parking garages to save my life.

Blog Description

 Nine months ago, our little family set out on a big adventure when we moved from Tampa, Florida to Oxford, England. I started the salad days as a way to remember it all - the good and the bad - and to let others join in on our adventure overseas. I take loads of photos so that readers can "see" this beautiful country and our experience as expats. I write posts about what's different between the UK & the USA every Wednesday, host a photography link up every Friday and share tales of stay at home mommyhood, our travels around England and daily life on the days in between.

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Meet Allison

Can I tell you why I love Allison from Sweatpants & High Heels ? 
Not only does she have a totally sweet heart for God,  
is totally in love with her adorable baby  and posts the 
most inspirational pictures of things she likes, 

but when I first met Allison, she contacted me right away to do her 
first guest post on her blog...

actually it was MY first guest post too! 

And she requested  I write about a topic I had never written about: Marriage!

 Because I have been married for over 15 years, I actually had a number of girls, 

contact me and thank me for writing that post. 

Thanks Allison, for helping push me outside of "normal" for me,  

and it was because of you, that lives were blessed.

You can read that post HERE!!!

Hey ya'll!  

I'm Allison and I have a little blog that I started after the birth of my first little one.  

You see, my life did a complete 180 degree turn as I went from full time career life

 to stay at home mom and wife...as I'm sure many of you can relate to!  

Over at my little space you'll find love letters to my daughter, 

my humble thoughts about faith, and a glimpse of all things southern.  

So come on over to my front porch on the web.  I look forward to meeting you!

Oh yea...and in case you haven't heard...

Julie's husband is a wizard when it comes to Instagram-

check out his work at:  http://followgram.me/superflysmith/

HAHA!! Isn't she great??!

Thanks everyone for stopping by. 

Make sure You stop by and say hello to these girls!!

make him famous

"You don't understand my art!"

These words are uttered from his mouth on a daily basis.

He longs for praise.

He strives to stand out.

And he works so freakin hard for it.

He thinks he has every right to be famous.

These pictures aren't easy to come by.

Countless hours are spent enchanted with technology.
Many a lonely night, I sit in bed...watching Friends.
...as he creates
 stares into this object.
You may know it as your cell phone,
 to him, this is his canvas.

He doesnt understand how I continue to gain followers,

with the simplicity of my "cute kid" photos,
while he works so hard,
to create amazingness,
and has so few follwers..
( I keep trying to tell him, it's thanks to all of YOU)
I know AMAZINGNESS isn't a word by dictionary standards,
but is there any other word to describe "art" of this kind?!
(wink, wink) I mean really!!

His complaint to me, even though I constantly congratulate him
 fully support him and smile as he shows me his "pieces"...
is that "Nobody understands his art."
So, I ask of you...
to open your mind,
broaden your horizons...
and dig deep inside...
to make sense of
his art.

 Make Him Famous!!!
Who is he, you might ask...
this secret underground artist you speak of???
Why, he is my hubby of course.
Go follow him on Instagram with the button 
at the bottom of this post...
or simply search for superflysmith on your instagram!
And, please...oh PLEASE comment on these pictures,
show him some comment love...
He is going to be asking!

Disclaimer: Please ignore the obvious sarcasm in the tone of this post.
I promise you, I really do think his photos are pretty fabulous!

I don't know if I could do it...

Firsthand, I know nothing of the sacrifice it takes to let go 

letting go of a husband, a father, a sister, a family...

for the sake of others.

I know nothing of what it means to spend months away 

only hoping and praying

you would one day see your your kids again, 

your husband again, your wife again, your parents again.

I know of patriotism, I know of freedom, I know of love for my country,

but firsthand, I know nothing of sacrifice.

Whether it's sacrifice of a beautiful life 

you so deeply loved and depended on,

or whether it's sacrifice of time,

time lost from that person who means the most to you,

while you were busy giving of your life for me, for us~

I want to say thank you,

to all of you, those who gave your lives

those who gave your husbands, your sons, your daddys,
your mothers, your sisters

those of you who gave up memories

who gave up laughter

who offered up tears

for me, for our country

for our freedom

and the freedom of others

I want to say thank you.

I don't know if I could do it.

I don't know if I could let go of my husband,

or let my kids give up their daddy

for your freedom,

but You have given up so much for mine.

It must take a special grace from God

to do such a task, to even be willing to do such a task.

And I honor all our vets,

all our active duty military
(and anyone else serving our nation for the protection of mankind)

and all the families of those who have sacrificed

the time and lives of their loved ones.

You can know this about me,

I understand that Memorial Day is NOT about sales,

not about barbecues, days off work...

It's about You, 

and I speak for myself, and my husband & my family

we will ALWAYS remember your sacrifice.

Pictured above are four of my mom's brothers.

(She comes from a family of 14 kids)

three of them have passed away.

Thankfully, they lived past their service time,

and went on to have families, kids, grand kids,

but have now made their home in heaven.

This is for my mom, her brothers and sisters, 

my grandparents who are no longer living,

and who had to give up their sons for a time...

 my cousins and aunts who love them., and miss them.

(Danny is still with us.)

I am SO thankful & we Honor all our vets, 

but especially our family members who served us and our country.

My Grandpa ( My momma's dad) passed away when I was in elementary school...

(don't be jealous of how awesome I look. like my velvet shirt? yeah, i bet you do)

This post was a last minute idea, so I didnt have time to gather up military photos 

from my dad's side of the family or my hubby's side.. 

But pictured here are my uncle Bernie (Korean),

My Papa (who just recently passed-WWII) and my Father In Law(Vietnam), 

with Jeff and the kids...

Just moments ago, when I put this together, tears start streaming down my face...

unexpectedly

suddenly I missed my Papa very much..

So many more members of extended family,

close friends, church friends, children of friends, etc...

that have served or are currently serving our great nation...

Thank You to all, who choose freedom for me, 

for my kids, for us...

at times over your own lives.

Thank You to all who serve, who have served...

and who watched & allowed your family member fight for freedom.

My gratitude is more than I can say...

I don't know if I could do it...

Happy Memorial Day & Memories to all...

I leave you with this Kick Butt song,

one of my absolute FAVES of all time..

Thank YOU, Toby Keith!!!

ALSO, The Funny Thing Of It Is was featured HERE this week!
So, if you haven't yet, go check it out!!!

Last Thing I... (last thing thursdays)

 So today I decided to link up with Jenna at The Life Of The Wife.
An easy peasy post on all the last things I...well...whateva!

One of those days where i dug what was very possibly the oldest thing out of my closet.

 An extremely 'I am so completely OVER my wardrobe so can someone please hand me

$500 so I can shop? day.' The shoes are new though. My mommy bought 'em for me=)

The last thing that made me laugh out loud, was of course, Leila. 

Seriously!?? She's mine? What is this face? I love it!

I may or may not be obsessed with Zooey Deschenel. Ironically, I just watched this for the 

first time last week. I love her, but I think I only like the movie.

Not to say I wouldn't watch it again, I would...but well, because of her =)

I went to a bridal shower on Sunday and won me a little prize.

Good thing too, because I was completely out of any kind of lotion so I was 

feeling a little crusty. And I sorta have a crush on cute nail polish.

So, I was ecstatic to win that as well.

I got this recipe off of pinterest! Bahahahahaha! Oh man, I would love to pretend

that I am an dedicated pinterest pinner and recipe finder, but let's not start lying now.

I hesitate to actually use the word "cook" when I show this pic.

But, I've been pretty open up to this point, so I guess it's not time to start hiding anything.
I don't do cooking. I end up crying when I try.

Recipe: tortilla chips, cheese, salsa (NOT homemade) and ground beef ;) Genius, right?

Yep, I'm a bachelor/bachelorette junkie. And I even got my hubby addicted.

Ok, he probably could go without, but it's our one show we watch together,

and I'm sure all the cute girls don't bother him... so every Monday night, (or Tuesday if I don't get around to it Monday after kids are in bed) this is where I will be.

I've been thinking on the Love of God a lot lately. It's so vital.

In fact, it's the basis for the entirety of God's plan for man. God loves us, we love him,

we love others. And if we don't love others...well, its pretty clear here...

Thanks to Jenna for the fun Link Up. It's my first time & I had fun =)