Month: February 2014

My Boy Is A Young Man

First off, yes the design changed here! And will change a few more times until I’m happy! And now the link to leave a comment is at the top instead of the bottom. Thanks for hanging with me through the changes!

No, it’s not my son’s birthday or the start of a new school year or any special occasion. I’m just seeing changes every few months that make me happy and sad at the same time. It’s not the first time I’ve posted about how my son is growing up and it’s certainly not the last! Now that he’s in high school, the growing up has accelerated.

son playing tennis 2
I thought I would be ready when it happened. But each change throws me off and leaves me wondering where my little boy went. His voice changed quite a while back and I’m still not used to it. Sometimes when he talks, I think, “Why is he using that fake voice?” And now he shaves. Not that there’s much there, but enough. He has his own thoughts and opinions. He enjoys hanging out with his friends {he is blessed with awesome friends} more than he enjoys hanging out with his parents – though he still loves and respects us. He has started caring about whether his hair has a style and which skinny jeans are more comfortable. He has started playing new sports – basketball and volleyball. He strives for good grades, loves his teachers, pays attention to sermons in church, and wants to figure out what career he’s most interested in {definitely something computer-related}.

I like this young man. I like it when he tells me about his school day and funny things his friends said or did. I like it when he updates me on how Nintendo’s stock is doing and what good or bad decisions they’ve made recently. I like it when he smiles and that he has the same sense of humor as me. I like it when he remembers to pray for people. I like it when he thanks me for making cookies for him and his friends. I like it when he shares his concerns about people or events. I like it when he says “bye-loveyou” on the phone, even in front of friends. I even like how tall he is now {about 6 feet} <—but don’t tell him that.

And at the same time, I feel like somebody made a switch in the middle of the night. Somebody took my little boy. The one with feet that didn’t hang over the edge of the bed. The one who liked to snuggle with mommy and daddy. The one who loved to hear stories, play with trains, and be tickled. The one who hid in a different spot every day so his dad would have to search for him when he got home from work. The one who fit on my lap.

Couldn’t I have both at the same time? No, I must accept and embrace the changes. And I do – really! But when they say that the days of your little ones being little goes by way too fast – they are not kidding! If you have little ones, give them some extra snuggles and play with them on the floor. Because it will seem like tomorrow – when your boy becomes a young man.

Any thoughts from you mamas?

With Love,
from Lisa Marie

I Need Flucture

Well if you write, you should be able to make up your own words, right?

What is flucture? In my world, it’s just what I need. I desperately need some structure in my life right now. I’m drowning without it {is that really possible?}! But if I try to give myself too much structure, I rebel. So I need a little flexibility included. Thus, flucture. Or maybe strexibility.FluctureWithout any structure, I exist in limbo-land wondering what I should be doing next. When I have so many things to do that I don’t know where to begin, I end up doing a whole lot of nothing or completely avoiding necessary tasks. Too much structure and I am sure to stomp my foot down, fold my arms, and start pouting. Why should I have to do any particular task at any particular time? You’re not the boss of me! Or well, I’m not the boss of me! But somebody should be the boss of me!

The interesting thing is that this isn’t really an issue if I’m in the working world – I stay fairly organized because I want to get my things done in a timely manner and do an impressive job. But I can’t seem to find that same motivation at home. And that’s why I haven’t been writing. I can’t write if I have undone tasks at home. But I can’t do those tasks if I have other tasks undone. But I can’t do those if I need to write. But…HELP! I need a system – some flucture!

How about you? Do you do better with more or less structure? Do you have the same struggles as me? Or do you have a system that’s working for you {please share}?

With love,
from Lisa Marie

Where You Can Find Me

I thought maybe you’d like to know where I “hang out” in the online world. Especially since I haven’t actually managed to put many links to those places in my sidebar!

You can still find me once in a while on my old blog: Stop and Smell the Chocolates. A couple days ago, I posted a new recipe there {Frozen Nutella Mousse} and if you haven’t stopped by there in a while, you should really check out the recipe for Double Almond Cake too.

I can be found on my Facebook page {Stop and Smell the Chocolates} every once in a while. I will always share my new posts there and sometimes other worthwhile things or I might ask a question. I’ve been there less and less as Facebook only shows my posts to 50 people, if I’m lucky. But feel free to stop by there and say hi!

I am on Twitter as @fromLisaMarie {formerly stop4chocolate}, but again, not posting there as much. I’d like to increase that a bit, but there just isn’t the interaction like there used to be when I started on there. Again – all my posts are shared there and I often retweet worthwhile tweets and links to good articles.

Of course I’m on Pinterest {Lisa Watson}! Who wouldn’t be? 🙂 I pin when I can – mostly food – but plan to add more boards and pin good articles too.

I am also on Google+ {Lisa Marie Watson}and that is where I hope to place most of my focus as time goes on. There’s much more opportunity for interaction and exposure to completely new people outside of your normal circles. Once you get the hang of it, it’s fun! It takes a bit to build up your circles {and end up in others’ circles}, but there are so many ways to help you with that process. It’s worth it. Come find me there!

And you can find me here on this blog! Not as often as I would like. I need to change that. The more I want to write, the harder it seems to be to do it. I have no idea why.

Now, where can I find YOU?!

With Love,
from Lisa Marie