31 - So Happy! =)

Day 31: Ten Things that Make You Really Happy!

1.  Sam n' Ella, better known as "the girlfranz!"  (Or Sammy-wammy and Bellsy-wellsy. #JEM)  Their smiley, energetic, flufflepuff Pom puppy love is like a natural antidepressant!! :)  

2.  "Judgment free" swimming! ;)  I really do love to swim, but mostly save it for family time or judgment-and-photo-free night swimming with my awesome friend group!!

3.  Love from my niece and nephews!  When they get excited to see me or to show me something, I just love it... and getting a random hug is the best!!

4.  The HOPE of Jesus coming back and living happily ever after in heaven!  "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." (Heb. 6:19)

5.  Cake and ice cream.  And cookies and candy and cheesecake. lol  Basically, sugar in all forms induces (short-term) happiness for me!  "Nom-nom." lol

6.  Watching good movies in reclining seats! :)  May sound lame, but it never fails to makes me happy.  (Get excited for Zoolander 2!!)

7.  Being invited to the 2016 Bearathon! ;)  Just kidding, but that does make me pretty happy, and I'm totally in!  ...Being with my wonderful group of friends -- laughing, talking, praying, road tripping, or even hiking -- it's always fun with them, and makes me thankful and happy!!

8.  Vegas, baby!!  From the minute I'm able to see the bright lights of the strip from the airplane, my mind goes into Vegas mode, which is my happy place. lol  The luxury hotels, the Bellagio fountains, the shops, the food, and so many great memories - love it!!

9.  Christmas love and cheer! :)  For me, emotions are heightened on both ends of the spectrum at Christmastime, so sad things tend to seem worse, but happy things seem brighter and better than usual.  Then I tend to remember the good more than the bad when it comes to holidays, so hooray for Christmas cheer!!

10.  Blogging... obviously! :)  As JEM pointed out, "You really don't need a 'challenge' to write a blog every day. If anything, it's tapered your writing back to stick to the specific topics." lolol  Hooray for connecting through writing... I hope my readers enjoy it and find grace and encouragement here!

Honorable mention:  Rainbows, yellow roses, cozy winter clothing, T-Swift, and my pics getting lots of Facebook likes. lol

Happy last day of March.  This blog month has been fun for me!!
Thanks for reading. =)

30 - Letting Go

Day 30: React to this term - Letting Go

Patience took you for everything.
It looked like a diamond ring,
But you wore it so much longer than made sense...
Honesty is what you need;
It sets you free, like someone to save you.
Let it go, but hurry, though.
There's undertow, and I don't wanna lose you now!
~Someone to Save You, One Republic

I love me some old school One Republic. "To fight for you is all I've ever known." "You say I'm lucky to love something that loves me, but I'm torn as I could be wherever I roam."  Mmmm.  Ryan Tedder really puts his heart into his music (both lyrics and singing), and I adore it!

"Let it go, but hurry, though. There's undertow, and I don't wanna lose you now!"  Brilliant.  One of my favorite lyrics ever, and that's a ridicu-long list to choose from.  This song is him encouraging a female friend to let go of a one-sided relationship.  She's wasting her time and hurting herself, holding onto false hope for a proposal that will never happen. And in the midst of all the false encouragement, he's daring to be honest with her.  I love that.  I've been her, and I've been the voice of honesty for others.  But of course, hope is hard to kill, and letting go of someone you love is excruciating.  So we wait, and we cling, and we don't realize it's slowly killing us.  We all need friends who will be honest with us even when we don't want to hear it, and friends who are compassionate and experienced enough to understand this undertow concept.  All the cliche advice and peppy encouragement in the world just won't cut it here.  I love the phrasing in this song - it's a perfect metaphor for what happens after you let go of someone you love - a strong current beneath the surface that others don't typically see at all, but the person in it can FEEL it threatening to pull them under and drown them if they don't fight it with all they have.
Good times.

So I guess my reaction to the term is generally negative... letting go is always PAINFUL, but God does bring GOOD out of it when we love Him.  It brings to mind my verse for this year - forgetting the past and pressing forward.  It also makes me think of this season of my life, and this one.  And of course, Queen Elsa in Frozen. ;)

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small,

And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all.

Up here in the cold, thin air, I finally can breathe.

I know I left a life behind, but I'm too relieved to grieve!

Standing, frozen, in the life I've chosen.

You won't find me; the past is all behind me,

Buried in the snow...

Let it go.

29 - Musical Time Machine

Day 29: Five Songs that Bring Back Specific Memories

There are about a thousand songs that could fit this category, although several of them take me back to a fictional movie or TV moment rather than something in my real life.  (Ahh, the powerful music of Grey's Anatomy. lol)  These are the main five that come to mind right now:

1) The Good Life - Lots of memories with this song, but mostly, it takes me back to Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Beach, sitting in the sand with my VCGO friends, laughing and talking, singing along, and me taking mental pictures of the whole thing.  It was the first of the four OneRepublic concerts I've seen, and probably the best and most exciting just because of the atmosphere! :)

2) Total Eclipse of the Heart - Riding in the X5, (Rach driving, Holly in the front, me and Megan in the back) singing this at the top of our lungs with full raspy drama and passion... right up until Holly screamed her head off for Rach to stop and we narrowly missed being hit by a train!! (We sang this one many times, but that night stands out above the others.) 

3) No Diggity, No Doubt - Not the Pitch Perfect version, but the Ty Wallace version. lol  I remember going to the Wallaces and us four kids hanging out in Clint and Ty's room while our parents were all watching football... instead of making up a random play or obstacle course or having a pretend wedding that night, Clint and Ty did a dance they'd made up to this song, and Rach and I thought it was the best thing ever! We tried to convince them to do it for the parents, but only Ty agreed to that, so with our encouragement, he put on a show all by himself.  It was pretty epic. lol

4) The Scientist - Oh, the angsty pain and drama of it all.  After the first of many, many difficult conversations with Josh (this one was late 2005) about our feelings not matching up but him still wanting me to be in his life, this song came on while he was driving me home in my car, top down, hair blowing in the wind, pretending to be fascinated by whatever was on my side of the road so he wouldn't see me crying.  "Nobody said it was easy - oh, it's such a shame for us to part. Nobody said it was easy, but no one ever said it would be this hard..."  Stupid Coldplay, making me feel things two years ahead of time. lol  

5) And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going - This one takes me right back to the Dreamgirls cruise with Rach and Kate, and it makes me laugh every time!  Specifically, I remember Kate belting this out while laying in her tiny cruise bed. :)  "You're gonna LOVE ME!"

(I'm attempting to embed the video, but if it doesn't work, you can watch it on my Facebook.)

"Dreamgirls"Kate doing her Jennifer Hudson impression! lol
Posted by Lindsey Claire Muecke on Saturday, June 2, 2007

28 - Happy Spring!

Day 28: Only Pictures

(*All photos taken by me - I LOVE the detail God puts into His creation!)

"The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!" ~2 Cor. 5:17

27 - Thank You!

Day 27: A Letter to Your Readers

Dear Mom, Rachael, Laura, Chet, Jeff, Kelly, Kristin, Kristin, Angie, Elizabeth, and any other Regular Readers of this Blog,

Thank you.  Sincerely, I thank you for caring about my life and random thoughts enough to read this lovely little blog, (and in some cases, to follow me through switching sites four times).  I kept a journal all through high school, but I would much rather record everything here now.  It makes writing so much more fun for me just knowing that you will probably be reading it!

We all want to love others well and to be loved well... to know others deeply and to be deeply known.  As a classic introvert, I am more myself here than in most social settings. Writing helps me to keep my heart centered on God and to process my thoughts and emotions as I move along in life.  It has been quite a journey, and "these words are my diary, screaming out loud."  I'm so thankful to have true friends and family that care about my heart enough to read through the unpolished, random, quirky, emotional, heartfelt things I post here.  Thank you for your texts, blog comments, and verbal encouragement relating to what I've said here, and for knowing my heart and caring enough to reel me back in when I've gone overboard sometimes.  "You're like the net under the ledge when I go flying off the edge." #onerepublic  ;-)

I mean, really, who else is going to care about me having a major epiphany late last night that Colin in Made of Honor is Owen Hunt from Grey's Anatomy... so she's actually choosing between Hunt and Shepherd... whaaaaat!?  I saw this movie a while back and I really remember thinking Colin was unattractive, but I love Dr. Hunt on Grey's (I'm definitely Hunt over Shepherd there), so that's strange.  Maybe I just don't care for Swedish accents and kilts? lol

Anywho, whilst watching Shall We Dance at the Captivating Retreat last October, this quote about marriage actually made me think about you all, my few but faithful readers:

"We need a witness to our lives.  There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean?  But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything.  The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day.  You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.  Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness.'" ~Beverly Clark

Thank you for being my "witnesses" through most of my single adult life... especially when others who promised to be here walked away instead.  Thank you for caring about the good, the bad, the terrible, the mundane, and the fantastic parts of my journey!  I appreciate you all more than you probably know.  So thanks for being awesomesauce people, even when I'm sometimes a butternut-crazy mess! ;-)

Mostly, thank you for believing in me, being there for me, getting excited with me, and helping me to love myself and my story!! ❤

With love and gratitude,

Lindsey

26 - Green Over Gray

Day 26: Something You Read Online.

Leave a Link and Discuss, if You'd Like.

Putting Out the Fire Isn't Enough.  

I read THIS POST (click for link) a couple months back and loved it...

He talks about our need for healing, specifically after the ending of a toxic relationship.  He says that most people feel relieved when all the drama ends, assuming the major crisis is over, yet they are still internally injured and in desperate need of God's grace and healing.

My favorite part:

"The immediate relief of putting the fire out allowed me to believe it was over... I wasn't still burning, but I was still burnt. I was out of the crisis, but the crisis wasn't out of me... Healing, real healing, is a process we have to enter into after the crisis ends. It's an intentional choice... It has taken time for new life to spring up amid the devastation in that field of trees, but eventually green triumphed over gray. Given enough time and attention, I believe we see the same triumph in the places we've been burnt."  ~Scott McClellan

I heart metaphors, and I loved the illustration he used here.  I think it's important to remember in having grace for myself.  In my case, after almost a year of fighting through it, the "fire" was officially put out on 7-7-14... but it does take time to heal.  This post was just a really encouraging reminder for me that in spite of being burned and feeling nearly dead, as I choose healing, new life is gradually springing up, and green will triumph over gray!!

25 - Scene It

Day 25: Ten Favorite Movie Scenes

In random order, these are my favorite movie scenes (that come to mind right now):

1. Sound of Music -- Do Re Mi Song
A childhood favorite that inspired Rach and I to ride our bikes and sing this song in harmony. "Do, mi, mi. Mi, so, so. Re, fa, fa. La, ti, ti!" lol It's all just such a fun, bright, happy scene as they're "roaming about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes!" 
...And having a marvelous time! ;)


2. The Patriot -- Final Battle Scene
"No retreat - HOLD - hold the line!" "Push forward, men!!" Ahhhh, I can barely take it - it's so powerful. I wrote a whole post about this scene a few years back - about the spiritual metaphor and how we all need to be inspired to stay the course by remembering what we are fighting for!


3. A Few Good Men -- Colonel Jessup takes the Stand 
This is my favorite courtroom scene in any movie ever. I can quote it word for word, but I'll spare you that awesomeness. If only more things like this happened in our courtroom. lol  So intense!


4. Cinderella -- Dancing at the Ball 
A simple, sweet, romantic movie moment where she is seen and appreciated and getting everything she's always desired while those who have been cruel to her are subtly getting what they deserve. The prince is enthralled, the dance is amazing, her hair is beautiful, and don't even get me started on that dress!! My inner five-year-old really wants to wear that dress and just twirl and twirl - Disney did a good job making that whole night look magical!


5. Titanic -- Restoration of all that was Lost
This final scene was brilliantly done. Old Rose is peacefully in her bed, then the camera moves to the pictures on her nightstand - showing that she kept her adventurous spirit and went out and did all the things she and Jack talked about doing. Then the camera moves through the sunken ship... a sad, decaying mess of rubble... but as it moves along, the ship slowly transforms and becomes new and clean again. Everyone you love from the movie is there, and Jack is waiting for her at the clock, just as his note said. She's gorgeous (and has the exact hair I want in my wedding, just FYI), and everyone is thrilled for them, and everything that was wrong is set right again in an instant. It rings true because it's a mini-picture metaphor of heaven, and this ray of hope at the end is the reason people like me saw the movie over and over. And over. ;)


6. While You Were Sleeping -- Callaghan Family Christmas
(Couldn't find a video, so a picture will have to do.) I know there are a lot of other great scenes in this movie, including the family dinner and some of her talks with Jack. But I love this scene because she's falling in love with their family before she even meets Jack - they give her a belated Christmas present, and she waits and watches them opening gifts, obviously loving the sense of family and holiday traditions that she's been missing since her dad died. It's subtle and well done. I have moments like this, where I'm just quietly watching the community around me and feeling warm and happy and loved.  :)

7. School of Rock -- Unveiling The Legend of the Rent
Cracks me up every time! His dance moves are ridiculously epic, and his real life passion for music comes across loud and clear throughout this movie. I definitely have this scene memorized, and I love Summer sucking up to him when everyone else is unimpressed in the end. :) Great movie, and this is my favorite scene overall. "You're not hardcore unless you live hardcore!" lol


8. Pitch Perfect -- Treblemakers & Barden Bellas in the Finals
I love musicals, and this is the first modern day musical to do well in a long time. I get it - the soundtrack is aca-mazing! ;)  I like that Beca and Jesse have a moment in the middle of the song, and it's just a really fun way to end the movie!


9. The Fault in Our Stars -- Early Eulogy
This movie is a tearjerker, but so worth watching. I read the book and I feel connected to the characters. I love this speech from Hazel, and honestly, I like the idea of hearing what people would say about you at your funeral. It's a good reminder to be thankful, to love those around you, and to remember that your days are numbered.


10. The Holiday -- Arthur's Entrance
Preciousness. I love Arthur and Iris' friendship, that she convinces him to have the courage to attend this ceremony, that the crowd is about ten times bigger than they were expecting, and that the "Arthur Theme" music signals that Miles is back (and finally ready to ask Iris out on a real date). Arthur tearing up when he realizes so many people still care about him and his work - it's definitely one of my favorite movie moments. 


*Honorable Mention: My Best Friend's Wedding, I Say a Little Prayer for You restaurant scene... Cool Runnings, Slow clap "When you cross that finish line, you'll know" ending... Bourne Ultimatum, Jason guiding the reporter away from the assassins via cell phone... Dirty Dancing, final dance, Toy Story 3, friends to the end incinerator scene!!

24 - Good, Bad, & Beautiful

Day 24: Your Two Best and Worst Traits

I'll start with the bad so that this will end on a happy note...
Currently, my two worst traits, in my opinion (and I'm sure others may see it differently), are perfectionism and escapism.

Perfectionism - My desire to do things perfectly and choose the perfect path for myself can be paralyzing at times and keeps me trapped in confusion, overanalyzing every possible thing. Striving for excellence = good; perfectionism = terrible.

Escapism - Doing whatever is necessary to distract myself from the things I'd rather not think about instead of facing reality head-on and fixing the problem. (This includes a lot of movies and television, daydreaming about things I know I will never actually do, and this tendency sometimes causes real panic where I just want OUT of something as quickly as possible.)

Shifting Gears...
My two best traits, in my opinion, are benevolence and sensitivity.

Benevolence - The desire and good motivation to be kind, generous, gracious, and helpful to others, especially those who are hurting or struggling, is something I really like about my character and personality.

Sensitivity - Being tenderhearted and sympathetically aware of the feelings of others... I can be overemotional sometimes, but I like that I am sensitive to other people's needs, to spiritual warfare, and to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I'm sure there are plenty of other qualities that could fill either list here, but I'm going to do my best to focus on the good and work with God to overcome the bad.  There are currently more things I like about myself than things I dislike, more strengths that I notice than weaknesses, and that has certainly not always been the case. God makes everything beautiful in its time, and my life is a work in progress that He will be faithful to complete! =) I'm okay with that, and I love knowing that He will not reject or give up on me!!

Happy Tuesday... see you tomorrow! =)