I made this movie to remind myself of all the fun things we did together as a family this summer. It is too easy to forget all the good times, so I gathered up all the photos and put them to music. Movie by Me. Music by Matt.

"Such Great Heights" by Iron & Wine; Wine -covered by Matt
"re-stacks" by Bon Iver -covered by Matt
"Revelry" by Kings of Leon -covered by Matt

When it comes to going GREEN, I'm beginning to feel a bit like those ousted smokers who now hesitate before lighting up in public. God forbid anyone sees me drinking from this Styrofoam cup- I’ll just die! I'm more ashamed of my carbon footprint than my weight. Now that's saying something! It seems everyone these days is eating organic food, wearing organic clothing, and using only organic products. And if you are not living an earth friendly existence, like me, you feel EMBARRASSED and STUPID and LAZY. I believe I've taken the first step to going Green; I have acknowledged that I am not doing my part in making this planet a healthy place to live for future generations. It's not like I throw trash out of my car window as I'm driving down the highway or pollute the air with toxic fumes from my 1977 Chevy pickup truck. I'm just lazy and being Green takes work. I sometimes daydream about what my life might be like after the kids are all grown up. Here is what I imagine- Matt and I will travel the country in our hybrid RV, entering every Bar-B-Q competition from coast to coast. When we are home, we will tend to our food forest and help our neighbors install solar panels because we have them and LOVE them! It will be awesome. I will feel awesome. Earth will love me. And we will be one. As you can see, I am really looking forward to living a more earth friendly lifestyle. I am also excited about winning some prize money for Matt’s award winning ribs, but I’ve got a while. So in the meantime, I really need to start making some changes. Change #1- Recycle. I know what you are thinking; I can’t believe you don’t recycle. Everyone recycles. Yeah, well, we don’t. We’ve tried, many times I might add. We even bought two garbage cans for the kitchen, one for trash and one for recycling. As some of you may know, practically everything is recyclable. Every 3 hours the garbage can used for recycling would need to be emptied. This meant we had to take it outside to the blue recycling bin. Not an easy task, and if you knew the hoops and hurdles we had to go through just to get out of the side door and down the steps to our blue recycling box, you might be a little bit more sympathetic. Change #2- Conserve water. I am a water waster. When I am loading the dishwasher, I let the faucet run the entire time so that I can rinse off each dish. I let the water run when I brush my teeth. I take really long showers. Multiply all that wasting by 5 because that is how many people are in this family and there you go; a household of water wasters. Change #3- Use eco-friendly products. Under my kitchen sink is a smorgasbord of cleaning products, all of which are hazardous to the human body as well as to the environment. I don’t purchase these products with the intent of harming earth and all its inhabitants, it’s just that they are cheap and I’m a bargain shopper.  The reality is that going Green is not an easy process.  Just like anything worth while, it takes work.  But I think that we can all agree that Mother Earth is worth the effort.  I don't want her to think of me as her unappreciative daughter, so I better get busy doing my part.  *Every day is Earth day *Plant a tree *Reduce, Reuse, Recycle *Go Green

My baby is 3 years old today.  I'm not sure who pushed fast forward but here we are 3 years later with a toddler who runs like an Olympian, fights like a beast, and hugs like a grizzly.  And when did he get a neck?  It's like one day he had a ring of chub where his neck should be and the next day, bam, there it was- a long lean neck!  Luke was so small when he was born.  His features seemed so petite.  Now my little man is strong and quick, an athlete in the making.  Lucas can worm himself out of most sticky situations just by showing his cheeky little grin.  He is charming, sly, and a force to be reckoned with.  Something you may not know about Lucas is that he has an extra front tooth.  We've considered having it removed, but why?  The extra front tooth and his freakishly rock hard calves make for excellent conversation starters. "Wow, your son has amazingly muscular gams!" says stranger. "I know.  He has his father's physique," I reply.  This conversation has never actually taken place, but it could have.  If you have children, then you know that 2 is really as bad as "they" say it is.  Lucas is never satisfied and he means the exact opposite of everything he says.  I don't have to go to the bathroom means I have to go to the bathroom.  I want milk in my cereal means I don't want milk in my cereal.  The list could go on and on, but I think you get what I'm saying.  I sometimes get frustrated and rub my temples in a rhythmic motion for hours on end, but in between each exasperated exhale is an "I'm glad you choose me to be your momma" inhale.  And I mean that with every ounce of my being. Namaste, Lucas Wayne Bergen and Happy 3rd Birthday! 

Matt and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Savannah, GA.  I really wanted to look cute in Savannah, so I went to Walmart to purchase my "Savannah outfit."  Due to ROLLBACKS, I was actually able to purchase two "Savannah outfits" and still be under budget.  We arrived at The Marshall House around 2ish. By 2:30 we were on a trolley seeing the sights.  I am so happy we did the trolley tour because there is no way we would have seen everything otherwise.  The Oglethorpe Trolley Tour was cheap, $15 per person, and they came and picked us up from The Marshall House.  The tour lasted about 90 minutes, and then we hopped off the trolley on Bay Street.  Before the trip, Matt did a little restaurant research and found this place called B. Matthews.  The menu looked delicious and the reviews were all positive.When we got to B. Matthews a sign on the door said that they would reopen at 5:00, luckily there was an empty table outside, so we took a seat.  At this point I was cussing my "Savannah outfit" because it was not conducive to sweating and walking.  I originally thought that a long black flowing skirt would allow me to receive a nice summer breeze.  Not so.  The rubbing together of my inner thighs made me wish I had stashed a tube of Lanacane anti chafing gel in my purse.  We waited about thirty minutes for B. Matthews to open, and when we finally made it into that air conditioned building I smiled a goofy kind of smile.  B. Matthews was worth waiting for.  Matt started out with a Stella and me,  a Key lime Martini. As we sipped on our fancy drinks and listened to Joni Mitchell and devoured the appetizer with a name neither of us could pronounce, we felt secretly hip.  How could we not.  The setting was old, dark, rustic, and yet modern.  The waitresses radiated coolness and the cuisine was  worthy of its mention in Food Network Magazine.  We were wannabe hipsters living it up for one night in steamy Savannah. It was fun!   After dinner we walked back to the hotel to rinse off and rest our feet.  Due to dehydration, my fingers and toes looked like breakfast sausages, but after several bottles of water, we were ready for round 2.  We decided to head towards the river, and boy were we surprised.  Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people lined the streets.  Matt and I had to walk single file to snake through the crowds.  At this point I wasn't feeling so hip.  It was neat to see such an eclectic mix of people out and about, but we just aren't bar hopping folks.  We decided to leave being hip to the hipsters and head back to The Marshall House where we slipped into our complimentary robes, flipped on the boob tube, and wondered if the kids were sleeping soundly at Grandma's.  Ten years later and "I DO" means as much now as it did then.  Matt and I have this silly little phrase that we use to keep each other honest- I swear to you. It is absolutely forbidden to break an I swear to you.  So, Matt, if you are reading this, I swear to you that our trip to Savannah was wonderful and although we may no longer be hip(slang) as defined by Wiki, we are still pretty dang cool.  Can I get an AMEN?!

Because I'm an introvert, weirdness is an emotion I feel on a daily basis. I remember as a kid thinking that my family was the only normal family in the entire world.  Sleepovers were the worst.  For many years I would call my parents to come and pick me up in the middle of the night.  The car ride home would consist of my repeating the word weird multiple times.  "Mom, they don't watch television after eight o'clock.  Isn't that weird?" or "Her mom makes all the kids drink milk with their dinner.  That is so weird." and "I don't like how loud her family talks.  They are just so weird.  I'm so glad we are normal."  My parents would nod their heads in agreement because deep down they felt the same way.  We all do.  Our own friends and family are the best and most normal people.  End of story.  But it is not just people that make me get that weird feeling, it is also places.  Example #1- Driving through the potato fields of Hastings, at sunset, listening to "Fields of Gold".  Example #2-Walmart on a Friday night.  Need I say more.  Probably not, but I will.  The florescent lights, strangely dressed people, strangely shaped people, barefoot toddlers, and the abundance of yellow smiley faces sends my weirdometer spinning, at which point I have to exit the building.  Example #3- Traveling should be fun.  And it is fun, that is until we drive through one of those dumpy towns that is overflowing with dilapidated motels and a Dairy Queen that has seen its better days.  Towns like that give me the worst weird feeling, like I am about to become part of a scenario similar to that of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."  Movies give me weird feeling too.  Example #4- The movie "Gummo" is the all time make you feel weird movie.  Only watch this movie if you are not easily offended and if you are looking to have that icky weird feeling for a week.  A steamy 45 minute shower won't wash the weird off you after watching this movie.  On a day to day basis, I get my weird feelings from ordinary situations.#5- Awkward silences. #6- When someone near me passes gas, and I don't know the person well enough to make a joke like, "Whoa, someone is bleeding the lines!" #7-Riding in the passenger seat of someone's car that I don't know very well.  #8- Greetings and Salutations (to hug or not to hug?) #9- When someone walks into the room right after I was talking about him or her. And #10- Waving to someone who didn't actually wave at me but waved to the person behind me.
If you would like to have a taste of what makes me feel weird.  Click play.

Hayden and Lucas took turns dancing this morning.  Lucas got a little ticked when Hayden interrupted his performance, but Hayden was so feeling the groove, he didn't pay any mind to his grumpy brother.  Hayden is a surprisingly good dancer. He is especially good at the "Robot".  It is his favorite move, and he is getting better at it all the time.  Luke's not too bad himself.  He mimics Hayden's moves, and creates a few of his own. 

After much practice, "Stayin' Alive" can now be added to my musical repertoire.  I found the phrasing to be the most difficult part of learning the song.  I still probably couldn't sing it without the music, but if I ever find myself in a Karaoke situation, "Stayin' Alive" will be my first choice.  That song has soul.  Moving on- I have decided on a second song to conquer.  It is a song from a great musician (Eddie Vedder) and a great movie (Into the Wild).  Matt has played this song on his guitar countless times, and even though I love the song, I have never taken the time to learn the lyrics.  I think my disinterest in learning lyrics is a combination of several things- 1. my darling children only leave me alone long enough to brush my four front teeth and 2. not knowing the words to a song has kept me from having to sing in front of Matt.  I occasionally hum along with him as he plays his guitar, and sometimes I will throw out a harmony or two, and when I do, oh boy, you would think I had just served him warm pumpkin pie in bed.   Let's just say that if Karen Carpenter was still alive and she was our neighbor, I might be a little worried.  Now, for your viewing pleasure- "Guaranteed" by Eddie Vedder.

Here are the lyrics:

On bended knee is no way to be free


Lifting up an empty cup I ask silently

That all my destinations will accept the one thats me

So I can breathe



Circles they grow & they swallow people whole

Half their lives they say goodnight to wives they'll never know

Got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul

And so it goes



Don't come closer or I'll have to go

Owning me like gravity are places that pull

If ever there was someone to keep me at home

It would be you



Everyone I come across in cages they bought

They think of me & my wandering but I'm never what they thought

Got my indignation but I'm pure in all my thoughts

I'm alive



Wind in my hair I feel part of everywhere

Underneath my being is a road that disappeared

Late at night I hear the trees, they're singing with the dead

Overhead



Leave it to me as I find a way to be

Consider me a satellite forever orbitting

I know all the rules but the rules did not know me

Guaranteed