Good Bye Great Statema Adventure

It's official.  We have a new blog.

Please check it out.

 Adventures in Statema Land.

Thank you for Following us!

Wow-It's Been TOO Long

Hello!

I believe we've never met--we'll, you actually look a bit familiar but I believe it's been quite sometime.

Let me introduce myself, again.
My name is Melissa.
Wife to Loren & Mom to Grace.
I live in little town I like to call Eburg.  It's quaint and cute and perfect (minus the cold winters and super windy springs and the fact that I have no family living here).
I am a busy stay at home mom who teaches preschool, cleans, cooks, shops, plans, cares for her family, plans play dates, plans night events for my mama friends, attends a women's bible study & small group, I like the library and story time, I am on the go a lot but love being home and having lazy days of games and puzzles and crafts and the like.  My family comes first, well, after God. I love the outdoors: hiking, walking, fresh air, sunshine, the beach, the mountains, streams, pretty much any type of body of water, etc. I love planning and organizing things.  I love photography and blogging.  I love a good deal and try to never pay full price. I never watch or listen to the news.  I tend to not watch too much TV-much more important things in life to be present for.  I love staying in touch with & caring for people.  I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. I am passionate and sensitive & one who can overreact &  reacts big.  I can't stand complaining and find it frustrating when people refuse to find joy when they are surround by so many wonderful things.  I demand justice.  I tend to stay up late doing stuff like this and then find myself waking up super tired and wishing I'd had gone to bed 3 hours earlier, but I like the quiet of the night when everyone else is sleeping.  I thrive on my quiet time.  It energizes me for a day filled with people and responsibilities-yep, definitely an introvert even though most people think I'm an extrovert-I just force myself to do a lot of that outgoing type stuff.  I'm a lot of things but the main thing I am is a follower of Christ.  I don't claim to have all the answers because I don't.  I will admit I have very little scripture actually memorized and my attention to details stinks so I have a hard time remember where things are in the bible or exactly how most of the stories go-thank goodness for Google and Gods Grace. BUT, I do love Jesus and He alone knows my heart and He alone knows how much I adore Him, rely on Him, trust Him and thank Him and yearn to be more like Him.  

Wow-sorry. I meant to just write what's below, but for some reason this (what's up above) came out when I started typing.  I tend to wander in thought and go on tangents (hey! two more things about me :) )
It's 12:34 am (1,2,3,4-fun....that's the same time Grace was born--we'll 4 years 11 months and 25 days ago) and this mama needs to go to bed-if I plan on being a good, un-grumpy, calm, compassionate mom in the morning.

Really quick.....

I have been a huge slacker (re: Blogging).  It all happened when I couldn't upload photos anymore.  And, guess what?  I still can't.  I have decided to start a "new" blog.  One with a new design and one where I can upload photos again.  But, I need to put it together first.

The next two weeks will be crazy and stressful and sad and a ton of other emotionally and physically difficult things.  Until after Kevin's Memorial Service on March 19th I will be focusing on helping my husband with planning all the different things he is in charge of, taking care of my family and letting myself mourn.  After that I will be able to focus again on a few of my other passions.

Thank you for following my blog.
I hope you will follow my new one-as soon as I get it put together.
I promise to be more focused than I have been the last 3 months.
And, I can't wait to catch up!

Now here is where I need your help!
-Any blog site suggestions (that are better and easier than Blogger)?
-Any other tips or sites for design suggestions? I want to make it look nice.

Thanks.

Good Night.
-Melissa

When Daddy Comes Home......

.......we all pile into the small play room, pull out the instruments and start up a band

......put on fun music and dance like maniacs while singing and jumping

.....we wrestle

.....we become way more laid back

.....we go on the wii

....we play the harmonica

.....we play tag

....we play hide and seek

....we share snacks

.....we laugh about farting

.....we have lots of fun

We love when daddy comes home.

Happy 2011

I can not believe it is the year 2011.
When I was growing up that seemed so far away.  You know, flying cars and such.  But, here we are in 2011 and I am exactly where I want and need to be.  It is definitely not where I thought I would be, it's even better.

How did you spend New Years Eve and New Years Day???  

How did we spend it, you ask?
Loren had to work both days.  Thus is the life of a manager in retail.  For New Years Eve, we had the morning together so we started a new tradition.  We all gathered around the computer and looked through every picture we took over the last 12 months.   We wrote down our favorite moments (some are listed at the bottom of this post).  We will put the list into a bottle or time capsule of sorts and store it away until next New Years Eve when we will revisit our list and do it all over again.  Grace and I also made a 2011 banner.  It's beautiful and simple and us.  We also played Candy Land, poked around Fred Meyer, watched "Robots" and just spent time together at home.   Grace was asleep by 8 and Loren and I were asleep by 10:30.  We are such PaRtY aNiMaLs!  This was the first year I went to sleep before midnight.  It felt odd to go to sleep so "early" but the fireworks did wake me up at midnight.  It was then that I rolled over and whispered "Happy New Year" into my hubby's ear and all was well.  I stayed drowsily awake until the fire works ended, making sure my sweet girl did not wake up in a panic.  And, praise God, she didn't!  She never heard one fire work.  I prayed specifically that God would cause her to not hear a thing (as they started at 7pm) and He graciously obliged.

New Years Day-Loren woke at 4am and walked to work in negative 4 degree weather.  What a way to start the year.  He is such a trooper.  Grace & I started our year by heading to a  "Funky" 1.5 hour Jazzercise team taught class.  It was glorious.  I pushed myself so hard, sweated buckets and am feeling it now but all is good.  It means I'm alive!  It means I am taking care of my body and staying healthy so I can be the best I can for my family and that makes this mama happy.  After the class, Grace and I headed to the Stahly's and watched Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade (they were kind enough to tivo it for us since we don't have television).  Grace loved watching all the floats and characters.  She was not too impressed when I told her that I worked there and danced in the parade but jumped up and down for Jessie, the Disney Princesses, cheerleaders, the marching bands and Tinkerbell.  Needless to say we can not wait to go to Disney in 52 days.  Yes, that's right-I am counting down and it's going by fast.  We bought our tickets in October and it feels like yesterday.  We will be basking in the Florida sun before we know it.

Tonight to celebrate the new year we all talked about what we could do to improve ourselves in 2011.  We each had a paper plate and wrote down our goals for improvement.  After they were all finished we, as a family, laid them before the Lord and prayed that God would help us achieve these goals knowing we could not do it on our own accord.  It was powerful and wonderful and I am so thankful that Grace is at an age where she can somewhat understand and be apart of these life changing moments.

And, that was it.  We didn't go to any parties, drink any drinks, stay up until midnight but we celebrated by being together.  And, togetherness is the best celebration of all.

What are some of your favorite moments of 2010?

Some of our "Favorite Moments of 2010"...

-Grandmas visit in April (Seattle Children's Museum, exploring Seattle, bowling, Easter, etc.)
-Summer.  Park trips, hiking, Dash Pointe St. Park, Puyallup wading pool, splash parks, etc.  It was the best summer any of us had ever had.
-Tropical 4th Birthday Party for Grace.
-Roller Skating and watching Grace race (age 3) by herself with all the big kids.  She had no fear.
-Camping out in Gracie's room by night light
-First time taking Grace to a movie theatre. We saw Toy Story 3-her current favorite movie
-Loren singing in a Choir Concert
-Reconnecting with Harris (Loren's Dad)
-All our time at the Turner's house (sprinklers, crafts, root beer floats, Gracie's princess party, Halloween party, sleep overs, make up fun, paint craziness, etc.)
-Ellensburg Young Life reunion
-Loren becoming a Starbucks Manager-moving in 2.5 weeks to Ellensburg, selling off all our stuff, finding the perfect place to live, finding incredible new friends and seeing God answer every single one of our prayers.
-Getting rid of TV completely.
-Turning 30-one of the best weeks of Melissa's life (Dinner w/ 21 friends at Roadhouse Grill, 4 hour Spa Day, girls movie night at Brooke's and a weekend away in Levenworth/Winter Wonderland).
-Sledding Christmas Day
.......just to name a few.

We are looking forward to what this next year will bring.  We are always surprised every year by what God throws our way.  We go into this year with hope and excitement.   This year will bring big things....our girl will turn 5, she will start Kindergarten, have her very first dance recital, go to Disney for the first time and so much more. This is going to be an emotional year for her mom and dad for sure.  And, for Loren and I.  Who knows?  I stopped trying to plan too far ahead for my future.  We leave our lives in God's hands and let Him lead us and we just go. I find so much peace in having no control-other than saying "yes" or "no" when He calls.  And, from many misses in the past we have learned that saying "yes" to Him is definitely the way to go.  We plan on being different from most of the world and will continue to pay off our debt and not spend God's money on things that don't matter or things that others find important.   We will continue to put family first and spend time together instead of getting caught up in the business of life and stressing over things we have no control over.  We plan of having enormous amounts of fun &  we plan to "suck the marrow out of life," as Kelly Hampton says in her blog "Enjoying the Small Things," quite frequently,   It's going to be a great year.

What are you most looking forward to in 2011?




I apologize if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. It's almost 1am and things are starting to go blurry.  Heading to bed so I can be a chipper person in the morning when my family awakes and needs me.   And, please reply to my questions. I promise I wouldn't ask if I didn't really want to know.  

A Work In Progress

The count down has begun.  Only one week to go until I say goodbye to my 20s and hello to my 30s and I couldn't be more thrilled.  A year ago the thought of turning 30 was a bit scary. Maybe scary is not the right word.  More like, unenthusiastic.  Un-pleased.  You get the point.  Not fully sure why I felt that way but I am beginning to believe it was because I wasn't ready just yet.   

This past year God has been working in my life more than He ever has before.  It has not been easy. Quite frankly, it has been horrendously hard at times.  The truth about oneself and acceptance of ones flaws and the remolding of ones life is never easy but it can be joyous and awe inspiring.  And, I am still and forever will be a work in progress.  


After a lot of reading, seeking wise counsel, prayer and time, I am finally starting to feel like I am coming into my own.  I have drifted apart from my childhood faith.  From my pastors faith. From my families faith.   I now have, my own beautiful faith.  


I had an epiphany about a year ago.  Someone asked me why I believe what I believe.  And, I realized some of the things I believed were based on what those close to me have told me.   And, they may be right but I wanted to do my own research. I wanted to find out things for myself.   It is exhilarating and eye opening and I truly believe everyone should ask themselves that same question.....Why Do You Believe What You Believe?  


There are things I believe now that I didn't believe 10 years ago, even 1 year ago.  There are things I believe or feel I never thought I would.  The ideas in my heart and soul have been challenged.   There are questions I have and beliefs I may never one hundred percent be sure of, but I will keep seeking and praying.  I have been learning more and more how God is not about rules and regulations but all about heart.  That worship doesn't have to look one particular way.  I have been questioning my beliefs on prayer....if our prayers change things or if we are called to do it mainly out of obedience to Gods Word, but I do know that no matter which of those is "right,"  nothing happens that God does not approve of first (not to be confused with causing things to happen), even the most horrific of events.   I also use to believe that the more (#) people prayed the more likely things would change but know I believe God hears the prayer of one just as much as the prayer of millions.  I have also sadly seen how Christians judge harshly when we are called not to judge.  I have friends who are atheist, gay, those who don't know what they believe, those who use to believe who now don't and those who are what most "religious" people would steer clear of, but I don't and won't turn my back on them just because they are different than I am!  We are all sinners! 
                                                                                             
Matthew 7  ^1-5 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.


I have learned to find joy in all things.  To stop "needing" things that I don't really need and to stop complaining!  


Philippians 2:14-16 ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.                                                         

I have also had the who I am  and why I am challenged drastically.

This has been the thing I have grown to feel the most in my gut.  The changes are happening but it is a process.  I would love to take another post and go into this more deeply.  It's hard.  It's building my faith and my understanding of what motherhood is all about in the eyes of my Lord.  And, how I am to walk beside my husband and love and respect him in all things. That "offense" is a terrible thing.   I never want to give up or stop growing or changing.  Humbling oneself and realizing that no one is perfect and that we don't have it all together is heavenly. 

  

Phillippians 1:6  Every time you cross my mind, I break out  in exclamation of thanks to God.  Each exclamation  is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.   I am so please that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's message, from the day you heard it right up to the present.  There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. 

In the midst of this journey, where the adversary tries his hardest to get me down daily spewing lies into my thought closest and trying to make me feel like I have not changed and will not change, I got sent these two beautiful posts by friends on Facebook today......


I am in awe we are friends.  I often feel I am everything you wouldn't want in a friend!  You are always there for everyone.  You are someone to look up to in so many path of life.  From marriage to parenthood to faith to just being a decent human.  Your energy is contagious and your joy infectious.  (Michelle Yost)

and

You are one of my first friends!  I loved all the time we spent together growing up.  You are such a beautiful person!  Your status updates (on FB) always inspire me to be a better Mom and Wife.  Thank you for that!  You're so very positive, and I really appreciate that about you.  I enjoy seeing all the pics of the beautiful state you live in and of our course your sweet girl! Again, I am SO thankful for FB! (Jennifer Pughe)

Now, I write that not to speak highly of myself but to prove that God and God alone is amazing.  That even when I am not "feeling" certain things or  have been listening to the lies of who I am He is faithful and can use anyone even someone beautifully flawed, liked myself, to shine Christ's light to others.  It brings me hope.  It pushes me onward and upward. I don't want to give up.......

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

So, all that to say......I am turning 30 in one week.  And, now, with the many changes that have happend and many changes to come I am ready. Ready to leave the old behind and grab ahold of this new life set before me.  It truly is a beautiful life.

I've Gone And Done It....

I have done it.


I have maxed out our photo limit on our blog.


What can I say.  I love photos.  


I feel like so much has happened and I haven't been able to write.   A part of me feels like I've let my blog down by not jumping to it and figuring out how to fix this little problem, but alas life has been taking place and it's a busy time of year.  I know, I know...I could still write without photos but I feel like the photo tells the story more beautifully than my words and I feel they.....no, I know they are my inspiration for writing.  


With that said our lives are swell.  God is doing some neat things in our lives and beautiful things are changing with in us.  And, we are excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that lies in between.  This was the first year I actually wanted to put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving but held off since it's our newest Thanksgiving day tradition.  As tempting as it was to do them last weekend, I put my foot down, and told myself "NO.....you have self control....just wait". And, I have.  4 days to go and then we are busting out the decor.  Christmas.  Bring it on!


This year we will be home celebrating Thanksgiving again.  Loren has to work on Thanksgiving Day and the day after, so traveling to the other side of the mountain was not a possibility this year.  We did receive a dinner invite from the Stahly family. We are just waiting to find out what their plans are and when to see if we can make it to their dinner.  With Loren having to work at prime Thanksgiving dinner time hours we are most likely going to have just stay home with a mini turkey casserole-and that's ok.  I am learning to be truly joyful and content with being "alone" on Thanksgiving (this will be the 3rd year).   We were also invited over for dessert, after Loren gets off work, by the Teasley family.  We are so touched by the love shown to us by our new dear friends in Ellensburg.  It's one of those places that if you were walking down the street, ran into someone you didn't know and they found out you were going to be alone for Thanksgiving, they'd invite your entire family over.  It's just that kind of place.  I feel very much cared for here. 


Ahhh....just looked outside to see the site of snow flurries again. It's been snowing off and on since Friday.  It is going to snow gobs and gobs this year I hear.  We are in a valley and on the opposite side of the mountain so we are going to get dumped on in ways I've only read about.  Kind of exciting.  I am just a smidge worried about the cold factor.  We have no heat.  Most days it's between 58 and 65 degrees in our house and that's on days where it's in the 40's outside.  In the next day or two it's going to be a high of 17 degrees so I'm only guessing the temperature of our home is going to be freezing---literally.  Thankfully we do have a space heater but it only works really well if it's in one room with the door closed so Grace and I may be bringing toys and games into her room this week while we camp out and try to stay snugly warm.  It will be an exhilarating adventure.


Ok, so my short post is turning out to be longer than I was thinking.
Hubby and Grace are silent in her bed so I got a bit carried away with my thoughts.  I am thinking they may have fallen asleep together.
Grace hasn't napped in 7 months so if she's napping Loren gets a Prize today.  
As peaceful as it is, I must run as there is a weekly meal plan to be finalized, grocery shopping to be done, dinner to plan and a house that needs picking up.  I hope the next time we see each other I will have glorious photos to share.  

-HAPPY THANKSGIVING-

Celebrate it with vigor no matter what your plans.  
Even just being at home sitting around with your little family, watching the parade while putting up decorations can be an adventure to remember. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

—Psalm 100:4

And, a little sneak peak......
Grace is going to be performing in front of the entire town on Friday to help kick of Christmas (our town goes all out)!  I will be taking photos and Loren will try to video tape it.  This will be her first performance ever and we couldn't be prouder.  Photos and stories to come.  


 

Thankful.....

I am reminded daily to be thankful. 

Thankful for life! 

Thankful for love!

Thankful for anything and everything.

We live in a society that is so bent on complaining, blaming & grumbling about anything and everything and I'm not a fan.

I'd prefer to talk about, think about and meditate on the things I am thankful for.  

And, if you change your mind-set and focus on those things, you will be amazed at just how blessed your life really is and you'll find you have less and less to complain about.  

Here are just a few things I am thankful for today.....

That my husband has a job!

And, that he has a job at Starbucks doing something he loves (managing) and is incredibly good at.

I am thankful that I live so close to the CWU (Central Washington University) campus.

I am thankful that it is a huge campus with big gorgeous trees to run around and play in during the fall.

I am thankful for fall leaves.

I honestly loose my breath looking at some of the spectacular colors.

I am thankful that I can be 29 and still find it in me to be child-like.

Key: NEVER take yourself too seriously.

Make a fool of yourself.  Otherwise life is WAY too boring.

I am thankful for the Japanese Garden at CWU and how it taught my child to be silent and appreciate the beauty around her.

I am thankful that at CWU that have movie nights on Mondays.

I am thankful that have a really huge movie theatre.

And, I am thankful that they played "Despicable Me" and only charged $3 a ticket vs. the usual $10 at normal movie theatres.

I am thankful that Grace loved it and that it didn't scare her one bit.

I am thankful for Story Time and Mrs. Josephine at the Ellensburg Public Library.

Wednesdays at 10:15am are one of my most favorite moments during the week. 

I am thankful for Ryan.

I am thankful that him and Grace get along so well.

I am thankful that my girl likes to show off for Ryan.

"Look what I can do."

It makes me laugh.

I am thankful that my girl does not like being chased by boys but likes to chase.

Mind you, she is chasing him while pretending to be a dinosaur.

He is literally running for his life.

I don't think she'll have a problem saying "NO" when she gets older ;)

I am thankful for this man!

I love being married and I love being married to him.

We are stinking goof balls who make fools of ourselves on a regular basis. 

Again,-Don't take yourself too seriously.

We will never grow up-sorry. 

We have too much fun being goofy together to stop now.

And, by golly, I am thankful for Jessie....I mean Grace.

I am thankful that she appreciates Jessie and all her strong qualities.

I am thankful she wanted to be her for Halloween.

I am thankful that she gets to wear this costume more than once and just hoping it doesn't fall apart before the 31st.  

I am thankful for my Ellensburg friends.

I honestly couldn't imagine a better place to raise Grace.

I am thankful for dressing up, cupcakes, crafts and fun.

I am thankful for their relationship.

Never ever ever was there a more amazing dad in the entire world.

I only hope that one day Grace realizes how special her life was because of him.

A Challenge....

Every day until Thanksgiving I am posting via Facebook what I am thankful for.

I challenge you to do the same.

I bet you'll surprise yourself. 

Dig deep.  Don't post meaningless things.  Post thanks!  You have much to be thankful for. Share it.  Embrace it.  And, encourage others to do that same.

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR???

I can't wait to read all about it.

Here is what I was thankful for this past week.....

Today I am thankful for: Laughter. "A laugh is a smile that bursts."-- Mary H. Waldrip

Today I am thankful for: My husband, Loren Statema. He works so hard every day for his family and he does it all with out complaining and still comes home with open arms to us-plays with Grace, makes us girls feel special, cleans, cooks, is calm and laid back, is fun and funny and is extremely respectful. And, most iimportantly he is an amazing man of God. He is My Beloved.

Today I am thankful for: waking up groggy and being asked to play Candy Land and it starting my day off right. I am thankful for the little things that make big changes.

Today, I am thankful for: A daughter who wakes up early but sits in her room and chats to herself in the dark until the sun rises or until someone comes in to get her.