His birthday was yesterday, but who says I can’t celebrate this man the next day (and every day that follows)!

Brian is PURE SUNSHINE in my life.

He makes me laugh EVERY DAY!

In fact, he makes ALL the women laugh at our CONFIDENCE Workshops!  (Can I get an “AMEN” ladies?!  )

It is hard to find a man who is totally secure with his wife being in the spotlight.  His secret?  He finds his own ways to have a spotlight. 

He is also my safe place, my quiet refuge from the jungle that surrounds us.

There is no question, Brian is the heartbeat of joy in our family.

With all that I am, I LOVE this man.  I love him more today than I did when we first “fell in love”.  There is so much goodness and love in Brian that I pinch myself all the time because I can’t believe I get to spend my life with him.  We work together, homeschool the kids together, travel together, and I can honestly say, I wish I had MORE time with him.  I can never get enough of Brian.

There simply is no other like him.

I love you babe (so crazy much).

Ever yours,

Me Ra

p.s. Join Me in Celebrating this Awesome Guy!

Yesterday, Brian’s actual birthday, was a little crazy.  If you have a moment, would you leave him a birthday comment today?  He is not expecting this post and would love it!  Thanks!

Happy New Year friends!!!

I am so excited to start a whole new year of dream pursuing, confidence building, and more–with YOU!  So get your camera, get your sass on (because dream building takes a bit of sass mixed with tenacity), open your heart wide, and let’s go together!!

And promise…there will be lots of joy along the way!

xo,

m

Happy Halloween everyone!

We had Harry Potter with us this year!

Well actually, not just Harry, but the whole crew!

Post YOUR favorite Halloween pic on my Facebook Fan page (lots of fun changes going on there for those of you who clickety-click the Like button!).

The Halloween photo who gets the most likes by tomorrow at midnight wins a $10 GC to Amazon!

Happy Halloween!

xo,

Professor Trelawny (the one who sees the future )

Wednesday is often our day to feature an Amazing Mom–a woman who is real and going after life with courage and kids in tow.  Today, I’ve got one of the most AMAZING moms ever.  My grandma!

I had the most wonderful lunch with my grandma last week.  Just the two of us.  She turned eighty this year and is more beautiful than ever!

There is nothing like time with your grandma.  They have this amazing gift for loving on you.  If you were the President of the United States or a struggling college student, they would love you just the same–through and through.  She filled me up in ways that no one else can, and I couldn’t help but wonder why I let life get so busy and not make more time for the two of us.

I mean here she is at eighty, and she drove herself to the Verizon store months ago and got herself an iPad.  She is the texting QUEEN!  She knows more text abbreviations than I even know the meaning for!

And she’s on Facebook!  I can’t help but think what a conscious choice it was for her to step into the arena of all this technology and find her way.  Without any of us knowing, she signed herself up for classes on how to write and send emails, surf the web, all of it.  Just amazes me.  My grandma has every reason in the world to not adapt, but she mustered up the courage to step into the unfamiliar.  And now I’m blessed to get little love notes left by her on my Facebook page, and Pascaline has a “textpal” with her GiGiMa.

When I asked her if she had any special plans for the next five years, she laughed.  But then she started listing off all the places she wants to go and things she plans to do before she turns eighty five.  She has serious plans.  Could I answer that question with such clarity and confidence if someone asked me?

After I dropped her off, I got to thinking…it can be so easy to get stuck in our ways.  It can be so tempting to decide you are only going to approach life one way because that is the way you’ve always done it.  But what if, what if you opened yourself up to trying things you’ve never tried–even if you weren’t sure you’d find success–but just for the sake of trying.

I’m thinking, if my eighty year old grandma can learn to text–what can the rest of us do?

(love you grandma!)

xoxo,

m

Before reading on, this is a disclaimer. Nothing said in today’s blog has been reviewed by Me Ra and may or may NOT be her opinion. All of the words and pictures used are without her authorization, and may be frowned upon for their use without her consent. If you continue to read, please do so with a grain of salt. 

This is Brian, Me Ra’s Husband. I asked Me Ra if I could write her blog for her today since it’s her Birthday. You know how when you have friends over for dinner and you sometimes want to tell them stories or show them pictures? Well, sometimes I feel that way with this Blog, except for some reason I’m never saying anything. Huhmm? I wonder if that’s why Me Ra enjoys this blog so much, it’s like dinner with friends without have to kick my shins under the table?

Well, now’s my opportunity to say something at least until she has the last laugh.

I don’t know how I got so lucky as to get Me Ra to marry me?

And I don’t know how I got even luckier by marrying someone who has only gotten more beautiful each year of our marriage.

I love to sneak up on her and take her picture. Sometimes she even lets me.

Even though she was afraid to ride a road bike,

rock climb high above the ground

or dive way deep with the sharks, she has not let her fears stop her from trying.

Even last month, I’m not sure she actually stood up, but she tried out paddle boarding.

I love watching her teach, speak, be on TV, and take photos.

And of course she is the amazing and beautiful mother to our children.

That shared, besides through photography most of you know Me Ra through writing.

If you could help a husband out today please share if Me Ra written something that inspired you? Or said something in person that encouraged you? Or if words by Me Ra have let you know that you are not alone could you share those words below in a comment to her for her Birthday? I know that would mean the world to her. Thanks so much!

Happy Birthday Me Ra!

Love,

Your Honey

Today is Brian’s birthday, and I’ve got to let the whole world know because he is the MOST AMAZING husband, dad and friend. I love this man!

He makes us laugh.

Whether you are a kid or friend from Cambodia!

He never ceases to surprise me and the ladies at our CONFIDENCE Workshops!

He watches over our family like no other.  Behind-the-scenes he does more than anyone could imagine whether it’s homeschooling the kids in History and Science, helping me prep for a presentation, being the technical hero when we do the Nate Berkus Show, playing with the kids in a way that opens their imagination to the impossible being possible (like Barbie Photo Shoots!)

and then letting me know he believes in me–no matter what.

Brian believes in the impossible and finds evidence of life everywhere–with his heart, with his camera, with all that he is.

Because of Brian, I’ve soared to heights I never dreamed possible, and I know our kids will do the same.  There is so much that I owe to this amazing man.

I simply love this man.

Will you help me wish Brian a Happy Birthday today?!

If he’s made a difference in your life, no matter how small or big, will you post up your story today?  Thanks so much!

(I love you honey!  Little did you know what blog post I was working on while I was sitting right next to you! )

xoxo,

m

If we don’t talk before, I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Our kitchen is getting ready to have the family over, and I couldn’t be more excited.  So much to be thankful for this year, starting with my dad’s ever increasing recovery.

Make sure you check out yesterday’s blog post.  SOAR! 2010 is live and open for your beautiful applications and video submissions. Deadline is Monday, December 20th.

Wishing you a Thanksgiving full of simple joys!

Super thankful for each of YOU!  Thank you for every prayer, each comment you post on this blog, emails and letters written, all of it.  You have no idea how much YOU all inspire me.

From our little family to yours,

m

This little family chose to be GI JOE for Halloween this year.  You may remember our year of being the Justice League, and then there was last year when Brian made ALL the neighborhood moms swoon as Edward Cullen.    This year, it was serious.  Brian and the kids worked on making these costumes for weeks!

Let me first introduce you to Snake Eyes!  And yes, he took a vow of silence for the night…totally impressive!

And then we had the Baroness from GI Joe.  My daughter has been infatuated with the villainess role since she was three years old and first saw Maleficant in Sleeping Beauty.  Pascaline does NOT mess around.  :

Brian had no other choice but to be Storm Shadow, the brother and enemy of Snake Eyes!

And the kids informed me that I was the red head, Scarlett, who carries a crossbow.

Look out!  The GI JOE Crew hit the streets on Halloween!

Neighborhood kids asked Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow to dual each other.  And they never refused.  (so funny!  Brian gets SO INTO Halloween!  I LOVE IT!)

(I love Blaze’s shoes and his whole stance!  So GREAT!)

Hope you had a GREAT Halloween!

“YO JOE!”

m

What a crazy week for the family!  My amazing sister-in-law was taping a show for Dancing with the Stars last week at CBS studios.  She and her husband own a mind blowing company called Airealistic, and were hired to be a part of the show.  If you missed it, you’ve got to watch this video!  It’s so incredible!  There are four dancers that come down from the ceiling at 1.35 minutes.  Carmen is in the back right hand corner.  She is magic!

At the same time her spotlight was playing, Gordon Ramsey (the chef from Hell’s Kitchen) was showing off my brother’s new line of kitchenware on QVC!  My brother never ceases to amaze me.

You can see Gordon and the whole kitchen line by CLICKING HERE!

Life is just wild this week.  Something is in the air.   And…

…while Carmen was taping last week at CBS, we were taping in NY!  A certain show called us back way sooner than we expected!  More to share on Monday and actually see on Tuesday!!  Stay tuned! 

What a week!  What a fam!  HELLO weekend!

xoxo,

m

Questions for you!

p.s.  We are getting some amazing increase in traffic from the new exposure.  And I would love to highlight your work too!  You inspire me in more ways than I can ever say! I’ve put up a couple Photo-Recipes, and then did a call on FB for your own photo results.  Make sure you are following the FB fan page so you get those “calls” when they go out!  Click on the link in the right hand margin so I can highlight you too!

p.s.s.  Got a photo question, creative question, mommy balancing type question, random question etc?  Email me!  If I choose your question to answer on the blog, I’ll send you a special something!  info@merakoh.com

By the time you read this, we will be sleeping in a tent under the pine trees!  Yep, we made it camping friends!  We really made it!

So stay tuned for the infamous Top Ten Reasons to Go Camping!  The 2011 list may knock it out of the park this year! The weather is saying 90 degrees today and snow flurries tomorrow!  Who knows what adventures await us! 

Barbaric Yelps if nothing else!

Did you see The 2009, Top Ten Reasons to Take the Kids (and the Dog) Camping!

And the post that started it all!  The 2008, Top Ten Reasons to Take the Kids Camping!

xoxo,

Me Ra

p.s. If we happen to run into each other in the woods, you bring TP and I will try to remember too!