Meg's Mixtape

I made my lovely friend Megan a kick-ass mix tape last week and I thought I'd share it with t he world wide web.

Craft Corner

Some crafty pictures to inspire your right-brain

{All images: Pinterest}

Thought for the day

I love getting out-of-the-blue messages dripping with wonderful words of encouragement. People are beautiful creations, and I have been blessed out of my socks this past week with kind words from my blog readers. I blog because I love it, and I blog because it is a means for me to release a little of what goes on in my brain. I never expected others to read it, let alone be inspired by it, and I wanted to dedicate this post to thank everyone for reading, dropping by and commenting and just being so darn amazing. You guys make this all worthwhile. 

{Image: Pinterest}

Things I am loving

1. Summer tea cup

2. Abraham Lincoln Mug

3. Moustache glasses

4. "My heart is a map" picture frame

5. Mini Recipe Chest

6. "My heart is a map" Resin Necklaces

7. Quirky Stationery

8. 5 Layer Marble Cake

9. Plait Updo Hairstyle

{All Images: Pinterest}

A Mother Worth Celebrating

The story of us…

When my mom was the very same age as I am today, her tummy was enlarged with the expectancy of an unexpected little girl. Looking back over our shoulders now, she was only just a child herself, and faced the brutal reality of raising one.

They say that the bond of mother and child is one of the strongest forces known to woman, and that this inexplainable connection begins at the first moments of pregnancy. My mom, just an eighteen year old girl, carefree and fun-loving, made a decision that would affect the rest of life as she knew it. She decided to sacrifice her life and dreams to bring another life with it’s own dreams into this world.

Here I am, years later, full of hopes and more dreams than I know what to do with, and am blown away at the sacrifice an eighteen year old girl, just like myself made in order to become a mother, and not just any mother, but the best one.

With it being mother’s day on Sunday, I have been reflecting on the unique road my mom and I have walked. When I was just a tot, the three of us (mom, dad and baby Jess) didn’t have so much as two coins to rub together but were living proof that money doesn’t buy happiness.

Life was a new experience for us both. For me, I was being taught how to walk, talk and pronounce people’s names through my lisp, whilst my mom on the other hand, was learning the art of being somebody’s mother. In a sense, we both grew up together. She matured as she left her teenage years with a lot more baggage than she started them, and I grew a little taller each month whilst learning cool new skills like the art of using crayons and spoons.

Before we had the luxury of owning a car, mom and I would ride the bus to school (or walk if we missed it) where I would paint her pictures and make her mothers day cards every year, many of which we still have stored away.

She would cook me my favourite meals (a.k.a pasta and sauce), always make sure I was spoilt rotten on Christmas and easter, and always let me snuggle up next to her when I was afraid of the dark. As I got older, our relationship went to a new level of friendship, we began to share clothes and shoes, often fighting like sisters over “what belongs to who” (something we still do often), as well as being there for eachother as somebody to laugh with or somebody to cry with.

I owe so many of my best memories to my mother dear who has given me one  pretty darn good life, never lacking in love and lots of laughter.  She’s been there through the heartbreaks, she’s been there through the tough decisions, she’s been my number one fan, always encouraging and supporting me, whilst giving me one of the best gifts a person could be given; freedom. Freedom to choose, freedom to be me, and freedom to follow what is on my heart.

I hope that one day when it’s time for me to become a mother, that I will be half the mom that mine has been to me.

I love you mom, thank you for you.

This is a photo of my mom's mom (far right). A little look at motherhood through the generations.

Mom and I leaving the hospital

When there were just three

Christmas day spoils

I was given her eyes

Cape Town adventures

Quote Corner

I Heart Market - May

This Saturday is once again the I Heart Market, and I don't know about you but I am going there on a mission. Operation: Mother's Day Gift.
I am leaving my mother's day shopping to the very last minute (strategically of course) so that I can find my mommy dear the perfect gift at the market. My faith in I Heart is that strong ; )
Hope you see all you weird and wonderful folk there!

She

She grows the flowers that she loves.

She sings the songs that she's forgotten.

"Once you get over the fear, then it's just a clinch," she said.

And then she leaped into a mountainous and unexplored region of her heart.

She is ignoring people who say it can't be done.

She spoke the language of her heart.

She loves life and it loves her right back.

She listened to her heart above all other voices.

She pursued big dreams instead of small realities.

She discovered that her real measurements had nothing to do with numbers or statistics.

She was loving, kind and patient... With herself.

She woke up one day and just threw away all her excuses.

She realised she was missing a great deal by being sensible.

She made the whole world feel like her home.

She coloured her thoughts with only the brightest hues

She navigated her way through life using only her heart as a map.

She lived a life that sung His song.

She danced to the rhythm of His heart.

She walks the earth knowing she is loved.

She was courageous and pursued her dreams

{Many of the above quotes were taken from the "Her Words" journals, others are my own.

All Images: We Heart It}