Hi there! If you are looking for me, you are almost there 
As my life is changing in so many ways, this old blog and it’s persona will no longer work for me. I have a new blog to share my new life and you are just one click away. See you there! <3
ME.MELISSA.ANN
↑psst…click here↑
Today marks my 33rd New Year on this planet. I have never made a New Year’s resolution. I have not taken the whole idea very seriously at all. I have seen a lot of folks do it every year, but it seems mostly symbolic and seldom do I see anyone complete their goal that they set out for the year. This year though, my life is in the midst of profound change. Everything that I was and everything that I had is gone. Every part of my life and the essence of who I am is being refined.
The word “resolution” has a few different definitions. Having the will power to carry through on a goal is what is most often meant when declaring a New Year’s resolution, but I would like to create mine from another of the word’s definitions. For the last few months everything in my life has been in conflict which is not a state that I wish to continue in. I want to find a resolution. Instead of having a New Year’s resolution, 2011 will be my New Year of Resolution. Read more »
I used to live in a rented home that was in the middle of a peach orchard. It was a wonderful, almost magical place. Every 3 years the trees in the orchards were cut down and their fields were burned. At the end of this destructive process, what remained was clear and fertile land that was ready for planting new seedlings. No doubt that this transition was difficult on everyone, including the land that was burned, but in the end it gave the opportunity for sweeter and more abundant fruit. Read more »
I have had three children and have discovered that the lessons learned in childbirth can be applied to all of life. Birth is the ultimate analogy because it is one of the most integral events in the circle of life. I think the most profound lesson from the birth process is about new life and how painful and scary it can be right before it emerges. Another very important lesson (if you have the privilege to give birth more than once) is that all births are vastly different, but carry the same message of creation and of death, the circle of life.
I look at the world and I see that humanity is in a long and painful labor. I first started feeling this about 8 years ago, maybe 10. It is hard to pinpoint, just like most prodromal labors. The world the way we know it is dying or leaving the warm and comfortable womb that we have known for a very long time and we are in the midst of a process that will bring about a new life for everyone. It is scary and it is painful and there is no way to judge just how long it will be before we emerge from this state into the next. Read more »
So often in life what we know to be true is shattered and replaced with something that is difficult to grasp. I tend to not get too personal on my blog (unless it is about birth, naturally) and I also tend to exaggerate my own position on various topics in order to make the script more interesting or to make my point. Today I am going to go out of character and get real personal and real honest.
Almost 4 months ago, my husband left me for another woman. Read more »
Folks who know me know that I love to cook and I especially love to bake. My kids though, tend to take advantage of this and that even goes for the youngest one who just turned 4 years old. When asked what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday she said, “I want a tree cake!” I think this was my best cake ever and it was actually really easy to make so I figured I would share it with everyone along with the simple instructions to put this work of art on your own table.
Step 1 – Make a cake in a bundt pan
I used the Hershey’s recipe for “favorite chocolate cake” but you can use a box mix if you don’t want to go through that much effort and the visual results will be the same. Once the cake is baked, you will want to cool it to room temperature before moving on to step 4. Read more »
My first kiss happened for me when I was 14 years old and it was truly awful. My boyfriend and I were walking down the sidewalk holding hands. I was happy, laughing, smiling. He was happy too and in the moment he turned just enough and kissed me right on my teeth. I was not prepared. Had I known, I would have closed my lips and puckered or something, but now it was just awkward and I was embarrassed, kissing was no longer an attractive thought and that was kind of the end of my relationship with that boy. I had waited 14 long years for that moment and without thinking, the boy handled it wrong and ruined it for me, I felt robbed.
A decade or so later, I attended my first anti-war protest and got from it that same disillusioned disappointment that came from a botched first kiss. Read more »
I have been on a personal quest of sorts for a few years. Not anything that I spend a whole lot of time on, but it does hold some importance in my priority list of things to decide for myself. See, it was about seven years ago that a question just popped into my head. “What is bad about bad words and who decided that we should not say them?” With time, this simple thought has evolved into lots of questions. Not just about “bad” words, but about language itself and how we use it.
In the beginning of this journey, I started to feel imposed upon by some unknown figures in history who at some point before I was even born condemned certain words to the forbidden category. This seemed unfair and still does really. I asked my dad what he thought. He is someone who cusses on occasion, but holds his tongue in the presence of certain types of company and has never glorified cussing. He told me that the rules are good (totally paraphrasing there) and that words have meanings and those meanings matter. He said that words are powerful. Read more »
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a short clip of the heads of BP, Transocean, and Halliburton talking to Congress. Each one of them was passing the buck and then speaking in legalese to avoid making commitments to fix (or pay for) what they broke. It seems the most powerful people in our world are all morally corrupt with no hope of redemption and the whole planet is going to pay the price for it. So, instead of loosing everything and being marked with a scarlet letter, those guys sitting in front of congress are paid millions of dollars (paychecks and bonuses and stuff) to do what is good for shareholders and bad for every person, animal, and plant on Earth. At the end of the day, not only do they get to keep their jobs and their millions of dollars, but they get to keep their status of respected members of their communities. I know the CEO of BP did an interview where he “admitted mistakes” and implies he is fearing for his job, but we all know that what powerful people say to the media carries no weight compared to what powerful people say in US Congressional hearings. Read more »
My youngest child was born three years ago today. I found her birth story that I had sent to a couple email lists and figured since she is the only one of my children that does not have her birth story posted somewhere on the internet, that I should go ahead and post here. Emily’s birth was unassisted, just like her sister’s was. My baby is not so much a baby now, she walks (and runs) and talks. She doesn’t nurse anymore and is currently rejecting anything that she thinks is for a baby. It is funny though, she has this stubbornness that was present before she was born, it is a true part of who she is. The title of this post may seem to refer to our choice to have our babies unassisted, but really it is about Emily who did enter this world on her own terms. Anyway, on with the story. There are some things in here that may offend a weak stomach, so read at your own risk. Read more »
