Celebrating Mom: Rebecca, the Beautifier.

Sep1

I met Rebecca at a youth bible school, ~~many~~ a FEW years ago, when we were barely out of our teens, both still single, leaving our mark and making our own fun in our then tiny, conservative world…she was confident and fun, better known as “Becky” and I was a confused rebel kid, trying to find my place or rather, the loopholes in the system.

She seemed different than the rest of the girls, and I was automatically drawn to her outspokenness, and confidence. She was someone I respected, and wanted to get to know from the start.

My sister and I stayed at the same place as her and some of her siblings, and in one week, she had become a friend that I admired not only for her dry cracks of humor, but also for the grace with which she carried herself.

We built a mutual circle of friends over the next several years, events and bible schools, and eventually we spread our wings, traveled, moved away, lost our dads and we lost contact. Life happened.

In the meantime, “Becky” morphed into Rebecca, and did the unthinkable-she got married to a guy she met from a dating site and ended up happily ever after moving to-you guessed it-Colorado!

Now here we are, five years later, back in each other’s lives, with our husbands and our two kids, just a few towns away from each other.

She has since popped out two of the most gorgeous babies besides my own, and made a beautiful little home for them and her husband, John, on their tiny suburban lot on the North side of Denver.

In fact, when I first stepped into it, I remembered all the reasons why I liked her so much and why we had become friends. It was like walking into Pinterest, but better, because it was filled to the brim with hand-painted inspiration, and homegrown dreams that had sprouted into reality and into every crevice of her life and mine. There was not a single corner untouched by her artistic nature.

I kinda wanted to move in, actually. It was so sweet.

I should have known because, that is Rebecca.

She is creative and passionate, always looking for something to add her touch to, and dramatic in all the right ways.

She loves spending quality time with those she loves, and is the happiest when she’s “making something beautiful” and “blessing others.”

She adores those gorgeous babes, Jazmyne (4) and Cassia (1) and they keep her busy enough, but she still makes time to do all of the above.

She chose these objects for her photo shoot, because “as a busy mom of two littles, a pacifier and rubber ducky are in use on a daily basis. The chalk paint represents my need of a creative outlet. I love to take something old and breathe new life and beauty into it,” she says.

Well I’d have to agree, and that pretty much sums up Rebecca.

She describes her life right now as “answered prayer” and goes on to say that her dream is to start her own interior design business and to continue to stay at home with her children…and “way more than fits here” she adds, with a smile.

The best thing she’s learned from Motherhood is “the beauty of sacrifice, and finally and fully comprehending the love our Heavenly Father has in sacrificing for His children.”

Rebecca’s life is definitely one of sacrifice, but not without beauty. Her husband has a serious, life-threatening lung disease, which has taken them to the emergency room many times, and she has spent equally as many nights by his side, praying and caring for him. Those are difficult times, but they never dampen her spirit or squelch her passion.

In fact, that’s when Rebecca shines the most. Her creativity comes out in the worst of times, her grace shines through on the darkest days, and she takes it all on with a sense of humor, and a paintbrush. That’s how she lives and loves her life.

She has a way of making the world a bit brighter, and making even the ugliest things beautiful.

And that’s why I love her.

(Blessings, dear Rebecca! You’ve brought so much friendship, laughter, and beauty to my life, and I am deeply grateful for you! You keep me smiling…thank you, my friend!)

Note: All photo credits belong to Thalyta and Thalyta Swanson Photography, rights reserved. If you would like to share this, or any part of this content, please link back to this article, in its original entirety. Thank you! So we can all stay happy.:) -Ruthie

Celebrating M.O.M: Valerie, the Gentle Warrior

Jul1

Valerie is one of the strongest women I know. She knows how to hold her own and how to fight for what she believes in, and yet she has a softness to her edges that is hard to miss.

When she speaks, you want to listen and when she gives, you will know it is with the purest heart that wants you to have every bit as good of a life as she has.

She loves hard and she loves being a Mom to her two boys, Ethan (7) and Jace (5), and her daughter, Abrielle (1). There is never a dull moment between them and her husband, Ryan, and together they like to go on camping trips and hikes up to the mountains.

I met Valerie a little over three years ago, when my kid started playing with hers at the train set inside Barnes & Noble. Random, I know. It’s a bit of a story, but suffice it to say, we instantly connected, and have developed a sisterly bond and a lasting friendship ever since.

We like to have random coffee dates and plan last minute cookouts, and we always know that no matter what is going on, we will make time for each other, even if it’s just for an hour in the middle of the day.

She is that kind of friend.

Valerie is passionate and fun-loving and has a way of making everyone around her feel at home, while at the same time calling you a bit higher, a little bit deeper out of your comfort zone.

I like her for that. I like the fact that no matter what has been going on in my life, when I step into her home or her presence, somehow everything makes sense again, and I know that she will be honest with me. If I am wallowing around in any kind of self pity or loathing, she won’t let me stay there. She always brings me up and talks me out of it. And then makes me laugh.

She loves people deeply. In fact, that is when she is “the happiest,” she says. When she is “with her friends, laughing, and being light hearted.”

Her dream is to raise her children to be confident deeply loving people as well and to “watch them live their lives in God’s calling for them,” and also, she adds, “to be able to enjoy my husband to myself again.”

(Aaah, don’t we all look a little forward to that??)

Valerie brought her daughter Abri’s shoes to the photo shoot, because “Abri is in therapy and learning how to walk and get strong and these shoes have been a big part of that.” She also brought some legos because they constantly cover her floor, and school books for the days when she’s teaching her two boys their ABC’s at home in their basement.

She says that the best thing she has learned from Motherhood is “patience and selflessness.”

Well I think it takes a ton of both to do what she does and I admire her deeply for that. Her life speaks of the selfless life of Jesus, and the rich joys of Heaven, and I am so happy to call her “friend.” She inspires everyone with her unquenchable passion for truth, for life, and the eternal things that matter, and I consider myself incredibly blessed to be one of them.

Valerie can walk through any storm with the grace of a gentle warrior, and for that I will always love and admire her and I will forever be grateful for that day we met at the bookstore.

(Love you, Val! Thanks for always being honest and making me laugh every time I’m with you! You are a true treasure!)

Celebrating M.O.M: Hannah, the Mother Child.

Jun1

Well peeps, it’s June, and you know what that means…

Time to celebrate Moms! Yay!

I’m so stoked to kick off the second set of our Celebrating Mom series with this gorgeous, loving Mama!

Her name is Hannah and she is the happiest Mother you can imagine, to Savannah (22 mo.) and Henry, (4 mo.). She is loving, kind and determined, and lives a life of adventure with them and her husband, Drew, who works in the Army.

My family has known Hannah for a long time, and I’ve had the pleasure of watching her blossom from pre-teen adolescence to dedicated wife and mother, and through the years our friendship has evolved into a cherished and unbreakable bond.

It’s been such a joy to watch her grow! And yet how she remains youthful and spontaneous. Even in her Motherhood, she exudes the excitement and wonder of a child. Every time I see her, she has a big smile on her face, and is chasing one of her children around, as if it’s the best thing ever. She loves and embraces life, like a child herself.

And I love that about her.

She brought a very special storybook to the photo shoot, called “God is Good All the Time,” because her oldest loves snuggles, and because well, “it’s true,” she says with delight, “He is.”

She also brought a box of tissues, “because every moment is full of tears…some sad, some happy (you know!)” But they are all worth it.

She is the happiest when she is in her husband’s arms, and says “there is no better place on earth.” The best thing she has learned from Motherhood is: “to believe in magic again.” She believes her daughter sometimes sees Aslan from Narnia and that her son “can see angels.”

Hannah describes her life right now as: “challenging. Not hard, but challenging, because challenges can be overcome.”

Her dream is to grow old with her husband, and to work at Starbuck’s and make people smile.

What a positive outlook she has!

And what a beautiful heart, too. One that beats with passion and dreams of helping teenage moms, who she believes, “just need a little love.” Her desire is to show support to them and their miracles, and to undo the judgment that often bereaves them.

(Isn’t that amazing??)

The most important thing she wants to teach her children is “to hold fast to what is right no matter what the cost.”

Well, I think it shouldn’t be too hard with a Mother like her, showing them the way, and what “right” looks like!

(Keep being your wonderful, childlike self, Hannah! Your spirit inspires so much happiness in others, including me!)

Celebrating M.O.M: Ashleigh, the Beautiful Balancer.

Jun20

I am thrilled to bring you the first of my friends in our Celebrating MOM photo series, here on this blog. In case you haven’t heard, we are celebrating Moms! Moms of all types, and phases, but for now, Moms of preschoolers.

Moms whose lives are traveling at the speed of light, and whose babies are growing out of phases as quickly as they are growing out of their jeans.

A few weeks ago, I hosted a photoshoot event, in which I invited several young Mothers that I knew to come and be models for a day. I asked them each to bring an item from their home that represented where they are in their lives. Something ordinary, something they touch every day, that speaks to where they’re at.

I wanted them to feel the beauty and the sacred-ness of what they do every day, the same way I felt it when Thalyta took pictures of me and my baby’s first six months, and the things I had held so tenderly and briefly along the way.

Ashleigh chose her daughter’s ballet skirt and shoes, and her son’s Superman backpack, because her kids are involved in school, superheroes, and ballet right now.

This speaks to me of balance. The boy and the girl. The masculine and the feminine. Ashleigh ties them together so beautifully. I see her as strong, but tender. Firm, but sweet. Energetic, but calm.

She always seems centered, and has a way of juggling life’s imbalances with ease and pleasant-ness.

She is Mama to two little munchkins, Lizzie, (5) and Evan (4).

The best thing she has learned from Motherhood, is that “life is so much more fun when you stop trying to control, and when you just let go and live.”

(Amen to that, girl!)

She is joyful, passionate, and honest, and is the happiest when she is in nature and surrounded by the people she loves.

Ashleigh’s dream is to help women, to mentor them and come alongside of them, doing life together, and helping them find freedom, in just “being.” That they would discover life as it really is, not as they think it should be.

I believe she is already doing that, and I, for one have been so blessed and changed by walking with her, in this.

She describes her life right now as: ‘beautiful chaos.’

But I say it’s all BEAUTIFUL.

I don’t see the chaos, I only see the beauty of a woman who has learned to stay present in all of it: the good, the bad, AND the mess.

One who knows how to stay grounded in God, in truth, and in honest relationships with people. And one who stays happy in the process!

Ashleigh, what a beautiful, balanced woman you are.

P.S. Keep being YOU!:)