made for love.

Our lips may be worn red or pink, naked & chapped, or bright and glossy. Some may loudly speak our minds while others are more quiet and reserved. Our eyes may be light or dark, large or small, enhanced with mascara, lashes, and liner, or completely bare. They may be heavy with age, wisdom, pain and suffering, or may be light and easy and bright.  Our ears may be pierced once, twice, three or more times, or not at all. They may have heard lies, gossip, affirmation, laughter, and melodies. Our bodies may be all different shapes and sizes, tattooed with ink or marked by experience, some may have traveled long distances, some ventured only within their home-town. We may dance, photograph, act, heal, play sports, study, fix cars, cook, or teach. We may have purple nails or no color at all, long dark hair or simple and short. We may have lots of friends or a few close ones. We may cherish art or could care less. We may be fashionable or hate shopping all together. We have seen or experienced pain. We have cried. We have been fearful and afraid. We have been joyous and excited. We recognize miracles. We are women and we were made for Love.

We want to be desired. We hope to be accepted. We want to be held. We want to be whispered to. We want someone to listen to what we have to say. We want to be respected. We hope to be admirable. We want others to appreciate us. We want to be cared for. We want to be forgiven. We want to be trusted. We want to be appealing. We want someone to notice. We want to be treated like we were made for Love.

Look into my eyes and don't stop there. Look deep enough and pierce my heart. Stare at me with awe and treat me like the treasure that I am. Be my safe haven, my soft place to land. I may not always look glamorous or perfectly put together, but I am lovely and I was made for Love.

I am woman. I am beauty. I am art. I am receptivity. I am life-giving. I am strength. I am wise. I am wrong. I am right. I am insight. I am passion. I am creativity. I am purpose. I am made for Love.

Reflecting today how we are far from perfect. We have moments we've learned the hard way and times when we were proud of the choices we made. We are each incredibly unique inside and out. We have different struggles, pasts, ambitions, and opinions. But regardless of what we've done and where we've been we are always, always, always, dignified and worthy of adoration. Because even the walls and barriers that may separate and divide us can never dismiss the FACT that we are women, we are beautiful, and we were made for Love.

::

pretty darn beautiful.

Listening to Name by the Goo Goo Dolls when I noticed the verse - "Scars are souvenirs you never lose," and I started thinking about my most recent physical scars. Let's be real. If you're a mom or soon-to-be-mom, you may notice your body doesn't look exactly like it used to. Unless of course you are the exception to the rule that every woman secretly envies and your body returned perfectly to it's original state - girl, you defy gravity (on more than one level!) But even if you're a woman thinking about future motherhood, you may realize your body could eventually change. This reality is like a large pill, difficult to swallow, especially when none of your clothes fit you the same and the image in the mirror isn't the reflection you're used to seeing, but it's not any less attractive, nor is it the end of the world. For real.

I'm not saying we shouldn't exercise or stay fit, but your mom body doesn't mean you are any less gorgeous than the you before any noticeable or less obvious changes. There are SO many products and surgeries aimed at getting moms back to their pre-mom self. Why? And please do not say "for my man." Because if he, at any point, makes you feel fat, or scarred, or less appealing, or not sexy, or boring - from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to punch him...hard. Just stop to think about the little person who has the most personal contact with you. They never knew your pre-mom self, in fact, the body with stretch marks and all the other fun motherhood side-effects is the ONLY body of yours they know and love. All I have to say is if we are capable of receiving little heart melting grins like these, then mama bodies must be pretty darn beautiful.

:: victoria marie

stillness.

Because I have to remind myself to just be still.
Because I always want to do more, attain more, be more.
Because I forget how necessary stillness is. 

Because stillness is not stagnant.
Because stillness is not unproductive.
Because stillness is not a waste of time.

Because in such a busy world, stillness is an act of the will.
Because we forget to appreciate the beauty of who we are, where we are.

Because without stillness, I could not be here with her.

:: victoria marie

born bold.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a young teenager and my dad, Pop, was talking about parenting. He told me that his dad, my grandfather, GrandPop, used to tell him that it was a challenging time for him and my GrandMom to be good parents. Pop explained to me that even though it may have been tasking for my grandparents generation, it was even more difficult for his and my mom's because of the competition they were up against...a society with a lack of morals, faith, family, and ultimately, love. And then he said it would be an even greater battle for me and my generation when I would one day be a parent. Once again, my father's wisdom set the stage for truth.

I'm not going to sugar coat this post so if the salt burns a little, I'm sorry, but I need to be bold.

As I mentioned in my confessions post, I'm enjoying American Idol this season, but tonight's episode upset me. Not because of who was sent home, I actually think the two remaining contestants deserve to be in the final. The reason why I was bothered had nothing to do with the competitors or the competition.

The show had clips of Scotty, as he went back to his hometown, and the video was full of humble, emotional, reflective moments of a young man realizing his dreams were coming true. It showed his immense love of family, hometown values, highschool bliss, and gratitude to the Man upstairs he owes it all to.

After such a precious and pure moment, they showed a live performance from Nicole Scherzinger and 50 Cent. And from one extreme to another, I was blindsided...not by the two performers themselves really, but more by what they represent. Ms. Scherzinger is physically beautiful, has a great voice, and is an incredible dancer, no doubt. But she doesn't have to be half-naked singing about sex to prove that. And I'm sure 50 Cent has musical talents of his own, but it wasn't really clear to me by his performance where those talents lie.

I love appreciating good music, good acting, good writing, good dancing, and good performing...because they all have the potential to inspire the masses. But all these half-naked performances debuting songs about grinding in the club inspires us to do what? Exactly that? Get naked, go out, and have "good" sex? Nice. I'm totally inspired.

It's actually more sad than upsetting. And the fact that young girls and young boys see this stuff all around them and this is the music that's inspiring them? Oye ve!

Pop was TOTALLY right. I, along with Joseph of course, have my work cut out for me. I alluded to this challenge when I started this blog with my hello world post, but being reminded if this reality is sometimes sad.

Ah well, with faith in our hearts and love as our inspiration, we will fight for baby girl to know where true talent lives so she can recognize it, as it inspires her to step outside of herself and dig within her heart to dream big, whatever those dreams may be.

.: I want her to know that no amount of make-up can make her beautiful when she already is.
.: I want her to know that no attention worth getting is attained with little or no clothing.
.: I want her to know that family values are by no means dead and I want her to know what it feels like to come home to a house with doors wide open, full of love.
.: I want her to know that she is better than ANYTHING that's ever happened to her father and me - and as per tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy...forgive me if I get all "Life-y," as Cristina accused Owen of while he was referring to their unborn child, but Marabelle has ALWAYS been Marabelle...despite her once microscopic size or undeveloped parts, she was always her - even in the making. All of us were never anyone or anything other than ourselves and I like to think that my life started when I first existed, no matter how small I may have been, but that's just me.

Bold.

.: And I want her to know that it's okay to be bold, because as I have learned from my favorite design programs on HGTV, bold = bright and if being bold means she will contrast with others, so be it. May she be boldly bright and beautiful and may she inspire others along the way to be the same. Amen.

:: victoria marie

ablaze.

{ - } Disbelief. Negativity. Rejection. Judgement. { - }

They hurt us all. But, they're especially hurtful when they attack belongings carried closest to our hearts: everything we aspire to be.

The saddest part, however, is that these four destructions are not most common coming from outsiders looking in, but rather are more frequent resonating from the inside-out. To make a long story short, we are guilty of feeling these things primarily towards ourselves. Yes, I went there.

{ + } Faith. Affirmation. Approval. Praise. { + }

These four affections should become the new tenants where the destructive four currently reside.

In a world with much judgement, the fear of failure lurks like a creeper hunching over your shoulder. A big question is, "What will they think of me?" The keyword being they. We are so incredibly good at placing blame on others...when really, it's not other people we need approval from, it's ourselves. If we believed in our gifts, had confidence in our abilities, and had faith in our potential, then what they say would never matter.

Saint Catherine of Siena said, "When we are whom we are called to be, we will set the world ablaze." So basically, when we doubt who we are and all the unique beauty and genius we each individually possess, the world's pretty dark. And I don't know about you, but darkness won't help my nonexistent tan. So, I'm ready if you are - let's light it up! Anyone got a match?

I think Marabelle does...

:: victoria marie

bark from the same tree.

thank you SPRING, for allowing us a beautiful day and time spent outside.
thank you BEAUTY, for being so much more than a physical attribute.
thank you FAMILY, for running way deeper than the roots of the strongest tree.

:: victoria marie

hello world.

All because there’s no better time than the present.

I’m not quite sure why I’ve waited so long to do this, to start this, to type this, to engage in this ambition. Perhaps it’s many things, some that are logistical, others produced by fear. As my lovely husband likes to often remind me, true love casts out all fear - and there’s not much else more profound than this truth.

In an effort to preserve the wheel, rather than reinvent it, this post’s title is borrowed from one of Lady Antebellum’s most recent hits. A song which helps shed light on this busy world we oftentimes get caught up in. It’s a song that reminds us to take a second to reflect, to breathe, and to be grateful for all the hidden beauties we’re too consumed to see.

Whether the beauties are natural gems from the hands of the Creator, like the sounds of birds chirping every morning, or the hidden treasures and talents we all carry within the depths of our hearts. So often, both kinds of beautiful are bypassed. I hope for our world’s sake that more eyes are opened. I hope this not only for myself, my husband, and all my loved ones, but I mostly hope this for my sweet baby girl…soon to be born, Marabelle Victoria. I hope this primarily for her. For the world she will say “hello” to in a few days isn’t always beautiful, but it is most definitely filled with beauty. And mine and my husband’s job will be primarily to help her sort through the junk so she can see the beauty that so fully exists. Will it be easy? Haha, I’ll keep you posted…but I will venture to say, most definitely not. But, we will rock it out dancing, we will kneel it out praying, and we will hope it out leaning on Love - always remembering that Love alone is UNWAVERING and in the end, that’s all that matters.

:: victoria marie