#MusicMonday: dance it out

I slacked off a little today with finding the lyrics that spoke to my soul. Nothing like being exhausted from a super active toddler to keep me from getting stuff done! But then, in the midst of a tantrum, I remembered…turn on some music and dance!

I love reggae. The music just speaks to my soul. I spent a year in New Zealand right after college and learned about Katchafire there. I hadn’t really been exposed to much reggae at that point, but I loved Bob Marley and was a fan of popular reggae. In NZ, I didn’t have an opportunity to see Katchafire live, but I did get in a Black Seeds show.

I love these lyrics because they resonate so well with me. Ever feel like the world is crumbling around you, only to hear an awesome song that totally gets your heart pumping? Next time that happens, DANCE! Dancing brings joy to my heart, and even if you don’t care for it I bet it would totally brighten your mood. Why more offices don’t do this I will never understand – talk about a productivity and mood booster!

Curious what song we danced to? My kiddo is addicted to Itsy Bitsy Spider, and because mama loves reggae, we groove to the sounds ofBasho & Friend’s version. This is my favorite kid’s CD…win-win cause we’re both happy!

Review: Water Wipes

I love being a part of Influenster. It allows me to try real products in exchange for my honest review, all for free!

This time around, Influenster sent me a pack of Water Wipes. I really dig how great these wipes work! Here’s the lowdown:

BabyCoolJ loves to make a huge mess, he’s a 1.5-year-old toddler after all! These wipes arrived just in time as we had run out of what we usually use for meals and general icky cleanups. We currently use separate wipes for bottoms, as we purchase monthly Honest Bundles for diaper changes.

We quickly used the Water Wipes during mealtime to clean our kiddos sticky fingers and messy cheeks. Worked like a charm. I love how thick the wipes are, as they don’t easily rip apart and are soft to the touch.

The following day, we spent a few hours outside playing with sidewalk chalk. The water wipes quickly wiped away any chalk remnants, and it even helped with a basic removal of chalk from his clothes. Our current hand/face wipes tear easily and we have to use multiple for what Water Wipes could fix with 1 wipe.

According to the Water Wipes website, these wipes are:

• Chemical free

• Suitable from birth

• May help avoid the causes of diaper rash

• Awarded the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance

• Hypoallergenic

Overall, these are a great option and we will probably be making the switch.

Full disclosure: these were never used on any bottoms. My review is solely about fingers and faces!

#MusicMonday: take flight

I’ve always been a fan of #motivationalmonday – so much so that every time I manage a social media account I still create and share these graphics. It may be played out, but I love it. We can never get enough positivity in our lives, especially considering we’re inundated with such negative content, news and images.

I’ve created my own theme for my Monday posts – song lyrics. Music holds such a special place in my heart. I met my husband because of music (he used to be a hip-hop MC!). I was saved through music worship. Music brings back memories…can make my cry, brighten my day and even stops me in my tracks to dance. Even my toddler loves a good dance party! So I thought what better way for me to share my emotions – and a positive vibe – than through some lyrics.

I love the lyrics from Blackbird so much. So simple, but has a big impact. We can all relate to a time when we felt broken and defeated. If only it was simple enough in those moments to just learn to fly again. But I share this today because it can be that easy. I am a believer, so I know that through Christ I can learn to fly again when I feel broken.

2 Kings 20:5 says: “…Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you…” (NLT). In the Gospel, there are more than 30 documented healings by Jesus. But the ultimate healing is Jesus rising from the dead and ascending to heaven. Y’all, we are saved by grace and healed through Jesus!

Whatever it is you believe in, I hope you find that inner strength to mend your broken wings. And, if prayer is what you want, feel free to leave it in the comments and I’ll happily pray for you.

Lisa in the sky with dandelions

Hi there! Welcome to my little space on the interwebs (I love that word). I am in a new season of life, in a life that is constantly changing, so I decided to start writing about a few of my favorite things: faith, being a wife and mama, music and some sprinkled in reviews.

I’ll start off with music, and the rest will totally fall into place. See, I’ve always loved music. Not in the kind of way my husband does, though. I can’t tell you the name of half the songs I listen to or know a lot of band/singers names. However, I can tell you how I feel when I hear a song. I naturally move along to most music, and music brings joy to my heart. I can even remember what was going on in my life with certain songs. (hello, international music and working at a club in the “Valley” in 2000!)

In 2008, after spending a year in New Zealand, I found myself back in the Valley trying to figure out life. I got a great job so I stuck around. They actually have a pretty great, lively music scene in the Valley, so I found myself out often catching a good show. That fall, I met my future husband. He was a hip-hop artist, and I became a quick fan of his music…not to be confused with a fan of HIM! We stayed acquaintances and eventually became friends before dating in 2010.

I share this because he represents music to me. Not only because of how we met but because it was our mutual love of music that brought us to the faith together. In 2011, we decided to visit a church. This mega-church had the best worship music, and we quickly fell in love with the idea of being regular attendees. In fact, we never missed a day other than when we went out of town.

In the fall of 2014, Mi Amor (aka husband) and I were married. It was the BEST DAY EVER, at least up until that point in our lives. We never knew what God had in store right around the corner! We purchased and built a home in December, and in January, we found out we were pregnant. For the sake of this blog, you’ll know our son as BabyCoolJ. Our lives have never been the same.

The one thing, outside of God, that has gotten us through it all, music. We have dance parties in our living room, BabyCoolJ begs for pandora instead of TV and musical instruments are spread throughout our house.

So, I’ve dedicated every Monday to another song lyric. I hope you’ll join me on the journey as I continue figuring out how to be a great wife and mama, all while groovin’ along.