The Power of a Name - Crazy Sexy Diet, Day 6

One of the side effects the author of Crazy Sexy Diet wrote that I might experience while doing the 21 Day Cleanse is feeling emotional. That has certainly been the case today. I fought back tears a couple of times before lunchtime.

This morning, I was teary thinking about my late step-dad, John. I really was missing him. He's the person who gave me the nickname Starshine, which is my favorite nickname ever.

I believe very strongly in the power of naming your child well. When we were considering names for the boys, we took into consideration both if we liked the sound of the name, as well as if we liked the meaning of the name. Somehow, it seems that the names we are given have the power to impact us, for better or for worse--not only our literal names, but also the names people call us (good and bad), and nicknames!

This morning, I was just feeling so touched by the meaning of my beloved nickname. John was such an encourager to me when it came to following my acting dreams. I'm sure that he chose the name Starshine for me, because it conjured up images of a big-time actress. He believed in the beauty of my dreams and supported me in my quest to go after them, and that has always meant so much to me. This morning, though, as I was thinking about John, I wondered what he might think about my life being on this side of my Hollywood journey. I left Hollywood never having won a big break, and certainly not having found stardom. (Although I'll be forever grateful for the myriad gifts God gave me while I was there: a husband!, an incredible acting teacher, a technique for acting on-camera, a renewed love for theatre acting, and some wonderful friends to name only a few.)

Without a doubt, John would still be proud of me. Without a doubt, I would still be his Starshine. And this morning, as I stood in this private moment, fighting back the tears, I realized that he didn't name me Starshine because he believed I would one day be a big star. He named me Starshine because he saw the light within my spirit, and he believed that I already was one.

That is the sweetest gift a father could give his daughter. My heart is filled with gratitude, and the floodgates have now let loose. Perhaps this diet isn't just cleansing my body, but also my soul.

Simply Breathtaking Talent!

In case you missed the Tony Awards on Sunday, Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison from GLEE performed with such panache and brilliance and apparent ease, it would simply be a crime for me not to share it here on my blog.

Lea Michele (who is very nearly Barbra Streisand II) performs one of my favorite Streisand songs, "Don't Rain on my Parade". Her performance brought me to tears and makes me thank God for allowing so much beauty in the world. Talent like hers is truly inspiring. Enjoy:

Girl Meets Flat Iron

I've been meaning to do this silly post since my South Carolina girls' weekend in early May. My bestie Anne has these naturally curly locks. They're gorgeous and so is she!

Before:

When we were in S.C., our other friend May and I were flat ironing our hair, and Anne commented that she had never straightened her hair (and after all, why would you when you have locks like hers!) Well, May and I took turns with the flat iron (curls like Anne's are a group effort to tame), and--drum roll please..........

After:

It took all of us (including Anne) a little while to get used to the change. She could totally have an alter ego, huh?

Happy Flag Day!

According to this Wikipedia article,

In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.

One of the things I really like about our neighborhood is that many of the families fly American flags in their front yards on national holidays (even our Canadian neighbors! Go Canada!). When I was in junior high school, I used to LOVE being assigned the duty of raising and lowering the American and Texan flags at the beginning and end of the school day. Today, as I put our flag up, the same feeling of patriotism and American pride washed over me!

Baby Birdies

Still no referral, but the dove outside the nursery windows is a mama! Actually, shortly after I took the last photos, I noticed the little baby birds in the nest. They're growing by the day!

Mary Poppins Moment

I had a total Mary Poppins moment today when I looked out the window of the room that will be our nursery to see this lovely lady sitting atop her nest.

Maybe we'll become mothers around the same time!

Wildflowers

This is the time of year when the highways and country sides are decorated with the brilliant colors of Texas wildflowers.

Their beauty inspires people of all ages.

On Friday, we drove out to Brenham where we met my sister and nephew to take pictures in the bluebonnets. Jilly really needs to work on having fun, don't you think? ;)

The weather was just beautiful, and so was the ranch where we stopped to take these pictures. (Many thanks to the kind owners who let us tromp through their flowers!)

It was a really great day!

WOW!

Did you read the story/see the amazing photos of the woman who went paddle boarding on a 40 mile voyage to encourage her best friend in her fight against breast cancer? For two of the nine hours of her journey, she was escorted by a friendly whale!

Click HERE to read the whole story...it's totally worth the read!

Butterflies!

One of Houston's treasures is the Butterfly Center at the Museum of Natural Science. It is a permanent exhibit, and it proved to be a wonderful place to spend part of a rainy afternoon last week.

How many butterflies can you spot on this branch?....

There must be about 50-60 varieties of butterflies on display at the Center, just fluttering and lighting on plants all around you.

This one was my favorite. The underside of the wings (shown here) are brown and moth-like, but the topside of the wings (which are hidden in this picture) are a wonderfully rich cerulean shade of blue!

I highly recommend it!

Two Ways to Melt my Heart

Today when my nephew Sam woke up from his nap, he came and sat on my lap and settled in for a cuddle by laying his head on my shoulder.

Later, he ran across the kitchen and right into my arms for a big hug.

It doesn't take much to make my day!

Messina Hof: A Texas Vineyard and Winery

Who knew that in Bryan, TX there was a thriving winery? That's right, y'all--a little bit of Napa right here in the Lone Star State!

The parents of a good friend arranged a private wine tasting and tour for a group of us their friends. It was fun to see the vineyard, which still managed to be beautiful in its fruitless state.

The tasting was fun, mostly because it was served with some delicious cheeses. You may remember that as much as I want to appreciate and (dare I say it?) like wine, I just always seem to well, not like it. I always hope that a wine tasting will change my mind, or at the very least, introduce me to a wine that I'll fall in love with.

In truth, the list of wines I like is very short:

Lambrusco (My Spanish friends turned me onto this bubbly blush!)

White Zinfandel (My mother tells me that this shouldn't even be considered wine.)

Riesling (A nice, sweet white.)

Not a red wine in the bunch, but at least, if I'm out at a nice restaurant and I'm in the mood to have a glass of wine, I know of three I can order that I'll like. That is, if I don't just go with a Diet Coke. :)

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

What an amazing day we had today! It snowed here! It broke a record today for being the earliest snow Houston has had on record. Cool, huh?! This was the view out my front door when it really started coming down:

Growing up in Texas where snow is as rare as tumbleweeds are in New York City, I just can't get enough of snow. My inner child just lights up, and I was gleefully jumping around the house. Then I pretty much just stared out the window, because I knew it wouldn't last forever. After a couple of hours, our lawn was covered in snow. Here's the backyard. I love the irony of palm trees and snow!

Some of our friends came over this evening with their kids. It was so much fun. We had a fire going in the fire place, our Christmas tree lights were on, music was playing, and our friends made Mayan hot chocolate. It was so fun and felt so Christmas-y!

It's going down into the 20s tonight. Brrrr! But so much fun!

Pumkin Patch--Autumn at the Dallas Arboretum

I mentioned in Wednesday's post that our friends M&M took us to the Dallas Arboretum, where they were celebrating autumn! Thousands of pumpkins and other squashes were were lining the sidewalks and decorating other corners of the pumpkin patch. It was so beautiful-art with vegetables!

The four of us were all so taken with the beauty of the landscaping. Isn't lining a trail with live pumpkins inspired?! So brilliant to create something beautiful using God's own beautiful creation!

Don't Stop Believing: Glee

Have you seen the first two episodes of Glee yet? If not, let this trailer whet your appetite for what is quickly becoming my new favorite show on television! (You can catch it on Fox tonight.)

This show is amazing: quirky, campy and poignant all at once! So poignant, in fact, that the pilot episode made me all teary-eyed! What's not to love about a show that has amazing musical numbers, hilarious character actors, and a dreamy straight man playing the new director of the glee club?! This show is well-written, beautifully shot, and flawlessly acted. I was hooked by the first musical number, and I don't see myself missing a single episode of this show.

Sadly, "Christians" are portrayed as the hypocritical and arrogant antagonists in this show. I write it in quotations because these characters behave in a way that would offend most of the Christians I know. I realize that stereotypes exist for a reason, but it saddens me to see these stereotypes playing out for the next generation of Christian kids to have to overcome. (These characters are, after all, high school kids.) While the idea of a high school chastity club called the "Christ Crusaders" is certainly a hilarious one, I just can't totally embrace it with open arms, even though the show is a comedy. Certainly, we can all laugh at the idea that any high school would have a chastity club, but the virtue of chastity is a noble one, and it is treated with utter disregard and disrespect in this show. Yes, I know it's a comedy, but it's still a cheap shot.

That was an unexpected tangent, I know. Like I said, I love this show, but everything on television is broadcasting certain ideologies right into our homes, and if we don't stop and think about them, we tend to ingest them hook, line and sinker.

That being said, I will continue to watch the show. (See? Not all Christians boycott something just because it doesn't reflect their world view!) It's hard not to come running back for more of a show (and here's where the good ideology comes through) with the message that doing what you're passionate about in life matters--in your career, in your hobbies, in your after school activities.

I finished watching the pilot episode with the awesome reminder not to ever stop believing in the beauty of my dreams.

And not only do they talk about it on Glee, they SING about it, too!

Focused Passion

I can't seem to escape thinking about mortality lately.

Between my own father's passing a year ago, the slew of celebrity deaths that have happened over the past two weeks, and news Brian received last night that an old work acquaintance passed away, it's practically impossible to escape thoughts of death and life.

Life is just so short--life here on earth, that is.  I believe in Heaven and that I will live there eternally after I die.

With all that in mind, my finite brain has some questions churning around in it:

~If life on earth is a gift that endures for a finite amount of time, how should I live it?

~If life on earth is preparation for eternity, how should I live it?

~If life on earth is a gift from God, how does He want me to live it?

In other words, I don't believe this life is all there is.  However, I do believe this life has great purpose that impacts both the here and now, as well as eternity. The big question I'm left with is:  With all this in mind, how shall I live?

One of the answers I keep coming back to is:  with passion!

I realize these are huge questions that can't be summed up articulately in a short blog post.  I can say, though, that if life here on earth has a divine purpose, I want to embrace it and to live fully!

I want to take seriously the things that matter to God. I want to enjoy this earthly life to the full because it is a great gift!  Today is God's gift to me--an opportunity to get to know Him better, to love Him with my life, to love others, to appreciate the beauty in His Creation, to give thanks for my home, for my daily bread, for my dear family and friends. 

Amazingly, I think I take so much of it all for granted.  Days slip away lived passionlessly.  

To live a life of focused passion and love for God and others--I think that is my purpose.

Note:  My husband, Brian, wrote a beautiful post today reflecting on this theme.

It's a VERY good place to start...a dance revolution!

Imagine walking through the central train station of Antwerp, Belguim on your way home from work and finding yourself the recipient of a massive act of kindness (through art). I'm not entirely sure why, but I can't watch this without crying big tears of joy...this is what happens when someone gets a creative idea and shares it with several others and they all decide to make it happen. Enjoy!

Smurfette is my muse....

About a month ago, Saucy wrote about the Smurfette Makeup Collection available at Sephora. When I saw this blue glitter "Smurfy-Eyed" eyeliner, I knew I had to buy it!

For reals, people! Am I not giving Smurfette a run for her money?

My friend Dave implied that I looked like a "lady of the night". My smurfyness is just too cutting edge for him!

Soulful

Saturday started off typically enough, Hubs woke up early and went out to the living room to read while I slept in. Then I woke up and summoned him to come cuddle with me, as per our usual routine. But things immediately got interesting when I asked him what he wanted to do that day. He said, "I want to drive to the mountains." It doesn't take much to twist my arm to go on a spontaneous road trip to a beautiful place with my hubby, so I  immediately said, "Let's go!"

I took this photo on our drive up the mountain. Isn't it cool when the moon rises mid-day?! It looked so big when it was low on the horizon!  

After our gorgeous drive up the mountain, we arrived at Lake Arrowhead. I love going there in the fall. The crisp air just makes you want to walk around outside.

We wandered in and out of several shops and even discovered that Mrs. G's husband has a toy store there!  ;)


At dusk, we decided to take a drive around the lake. It was so beautiful. The beauty of nature refreshes my soul.

Just being out in nature seemed to turn my heart and mind toward God. I was reminded of this quote from Donald Miller's book Searching for God Knows What that I find both profound and comical:  "If you don't get to a beautiful place every couple of years, you get to thinking everything is urban, as though when God made creation He just made some medium-size buildings, a bowling alley, and a burger place."

We decided to pull off the road and sit to watch the sunset, and wow, did God show up!



It was soulful, as if the artist in God was speaking to the artist in me. "Let me show you My majesty through this ever-changing painting. You think these colors are brilliant? Just wait five more minutes!"

I wish I could say that I responded in worship or even thanks, but I didn't. For some reason, my heart was a little cold toward God that evening--resistant toward Him--even though He was calling to me with His magnificent brush strokes on the celestial canvas. I didn't like the attitude of my heart, but I was aware of it. I am struggling with God a little bit, but He is being so patient and loving toward me. (I only share that because I think it would be disingenuous to paint a totally rosy picture, when that wasn't the truth of what was going on in my heart.) Thankfully, He is patient with me, even when I am resistant to Him.

As we drove down the mountain to head home, the sky was a bright glowing red, kind of like the color of a cigarette lighter in your car when it is primed and hot. It was breath taking. I'd never seen the sky that red before. It seemed to be a once in a lifetime thing to witness. 

Thank You, Lord, for the beautiful ways You remind me that You're here, even when I'm not the most grateful recipient of your gifts of grace.