Melissa the Fugazza

 It is never a great time in life to catch a cold. A cold, in my opinion, is way worse than the flu in a sense, because you don't feel too sick to lie flat in bed, but well enough to do things, and then regret them later as the sickness takes over.  The worst time of year for a cold, is in the summer. It's so nice and warm outside, but all you want to do is wear warm clothing and sip hot cocoa or herbal tea.  For me, drinking ginger cayenne pepper immunity shots every day, helps me to feel just good enough to get through my day.  But honestly, colds should only happen when it's cold outside. 

 What have I learned from interviewing for my Communications writing class? Well, let me tell you! I have learned to have more meaningful conversations with those around me. I have learned to ask questions, actively listen and follow up with more questions because I'm interested, and engaged.  I have learned that we can learn so much from others. We can feel a kinship with those that may seem to live a bit differently than us, but in the end, we're all human, and we can connect.  I have learned there are so many nuances to communicating with others. Body language, tact, reframing and rewording a question to getting critical pieces of information we need. All this is so important in every day interaction.  Communication is an art form, and it takes training and practice and trial and error to get it right. 

 What makes a story newsworthy, and not just some sensational piece?  I love great stories that uplift, inspire, tell the truth, and make me learn something from them when I read it.  Several years ago, when I was younger, I used to like to keep up on pop culture. I always wanted to know which celebrities were dating, what couples broke up and why, etc. But as I grew up and matured, I realized I wasn't really progressing educationally by only seeking out sensational gossip. And that's what I think sensationalism really is. Those pieces of journalism are meant to push magazine or newspaper sales (or online traffic), but aren't reliable for real news.  Sensationalism can happen in "real" news, as well. Adding inflammatory comments and personal points of view to a news story can detract from real information and useful knowledge.  What is newsworthy is any story that presents facts in a readable way. It entices with a great lede, and thoughtfully and respectfully p...

    “When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what pow’r it has over my mind. . . . The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more are we dispos’d to look with compassion on perishing souls—[we feel that we want] to take them upon our shoulders and cast their sins behind our back . . . if you would have God have mercy on you, have mercy on one another.”-Joseph Smith When we interact with others, whether it be in person or online, we are responsible for showing our best selves. This also applies to business interactions. When God commands us to love one another, it's not just until something is said or done wrong, or if it 's regarding financial compensation or not. It's always. 

 As you know, Memorial Day is coming up this weekend. I have thought long and hard about how I can make this holiday more meaningful and memorable for my children. And, to be honest, for me.  I am a World War II fanatic. I have always found that time and generation to be so inspiring and amazing. My grandfather fought in that war, and I have recently learned a few more insights into what he did. But he didn't die in the war, and so I want to somehow honor and remember those who did. That's what Memorial Day is all about.  In the past, I have taken my girls to military cemeteries to visit graves. We talk about war, and the horrible consequences of it (because military cemeteries are always full of graves). And since we live in the south (Tennessee), we also have many gravesites of fallen Civil War soldiers. I think I like this tradition, but I feel like I could do more.  Due to being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I know that doing redemp...

 I am a huge fan of YouTube. It hasn't always been that way, but I have experienced too many successes due to YouTube videos, that I can't deny it has saved me time and time again (and hundreds of dollars). It all started when I wanted to give me daughter's a trim, and didn't want to spend $20 on a three year old's head that had a handful of hair. So, I googled how to do it, and even though there were comprehensive step by step instructions, I am a visual person, and they didn't help me much.  Then, I remembered YouTube! I searched for hair trimming videos, and dozens and dozens of videos flooded my feed! I scrolled through, found the perfect one to watch, and it helped me give my daughter a nice trim.  It didn't stop there.  I have fixed my washing machine, and saved hundreds of dollars by not calling a repairman. My husband and I have fixed our dishwasher, done minor to moderate repairs on our cars, and learned useful emergency methods to safeguard ourselv...

 I love to blog. I really do.  I just forget to do it sometimes, and that's why this is my THIRD blog page.  I may not even remember the name of my first one.  But I get distracted, and then I don't remember to do it. I do love, however, that because a blog is on the internet, it will last forever, for better or worse. Which makes it a great online diary or journal.  If I remember to write.  Since I am in a school writing class this semester, and they assigned us to write daily on our blogs, I have noticed that it is becoming easier to remember to do it. Because I'm assigned to do it.  I suppose if I were to continue on with the routine, I would have to set a reminder on my calendar, or remember why I think it's important to write down my thoughts daily. It's therapeutic, memorable, and one day, my children and grandchildren will read these entries because I'm no longer around.  That means that I should really continue the daily grind of it, even ...

 I am a fan of feature writing. Mostly because news writing is so inflammatory and usually biased. It's annoying to read a headline of a significant news event, only to know that I need to consider the source and do some deeper research to make sure I am being fed the truth. I'm not complaining about doing the work myself to uncover the truth, per se, but reporters get paid  to write, and if they're not doing the work to earn the money, it's a personal pet peeve of mine.  Feature writing, in my opinion, is an example of a deep dive of information. It is something a writer needs to be passionate about, research thoroughly, and is a salesman of ideas. Feature writing consists of becoming an expert on the subject, and therefore, the work of the writer is made manifest in the article itself.  News writing can be copied and pasted in a sense, when statistics and details is what is fed to every outlet in the world. Feature writing highlights creativity, and therefore, is a...

  “Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can put behind us our weaknesses of the past, and go forth with new energy and increased resolution to improve the world about us, in our homes, in our places of employment, in our social activities.”-Gordon B. Hinckley President Gordon B. Hinckley was the prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when I was a teenager and young adult. Many of his talks were so inspiring to me, because he was such a optimist. He shared several messages with the youth of my time, that we could do better and be better.  I remember believing that I could be a better person, because of his faith in us. When the prophet of God shared those thoughts, it taught me that I needed to figure out how I could follow his counsel.  Fast forward several years, and I have learned a lot from following that counsel. Specifically,...

 Several years ago, my family and I took a trip to Hawaii, where I got the worst sunburn ever. I literally looked like a lobster.  Two days later, my skin felt like it was on fire! could not get it to calm down. Cold showers didn't work. Aloe Vera didn't work. Prayers didn't work. I was literally on the floor of my room, rubbing my burned skin on the rug and crying my eyes out (which really hurt, because my face was also burned).  My Dad finally went to a pharmacy to find something, anything that would help. He spoke with a pharmacist, who recommended a special lotion. Dad brought it home, and my lifelong friendship with Sarna began.  This lotion is amazing! Not only is it good for sunburns, but it's great for bug bites, etc. It's got two magical ingredients in it that make it my favorite summer accessory. Camphor, which is a numbing agent (bless it!), and Menthol, which cools the skin.  I slather this stuff all over my burned skin, and in a day or two, the red ...

 Neal A. Maxwell, one of my favorite apostles to quote, said, " “Life is a test, and we are being tested to see if we will be worthy of the highest degree of glory in the celestial kingdom.” As I have reflected on the fact that this life is a test, I came to a conclusion. Maybe this might help others to understand our purpose here on this earth, or maybe it's just for me to understand an infinite concept with my finite mind.  But I digress. I have decided to elaborate on Elder Maxwell's quote. Not only is this life a test, but we are actively students, choosing which university or school of thought we will attend as students. These "universities" are different churches, different faiths, different ideologies. We choose where we want to attend, and in order to get our degree in where we ultimately want to go in the eternities, we fulfill our requirements to graduate.  If we want to be like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and want to live with them and our loved ...

 Social media posts are fascinating. Sometimes, less is more. Sometimes, more is more, and more is less. I can't quite figure it out, but I usually try to match the design of my posts with the needs and interests of the audience.  When I made social media posts for the class assignment last week, I was too simple. I didn't make them elaborate enough, though I aimed for simplicity to appeal to my target audiences.  If I could have done the project over again, I would have focused more on details, and added a little more eye-catching effects. I also would have targeted a broader audience for both platforms. 

 Maybe I am speaking on behalf of myself, but I think Facebook is the best social media platform out there. Why? Because Facebook evolves with the interests and preferences of the viewer, and can feature any kind of content.  Do you want to feature a video? Facebook can handle it. Reels? Pictures? Graphics? All can be done. Facebook also features a broad demographic, and is user friendly for the more seasoned social media consumers.  Since social media is the best way to communicate online nowadays, a social media platform that does it all and reaches nearly all, is the best platform in my book.  I also love Facebook groups. Group pages that are created to bring like-minded community members together. I am a member of a community homeschool group, which updates me regularly on group discounts for field trip deals, homeschool curriculum sales, etc.  The final reason Facebook wins in my book, is the Marketplace feature. Not only can I catch up with old and new fri...

 We live in a very interesting world. Because of technological advances, we no longer need to manually put forth much of an effort. Machines cook our food and wash our clothes. Some types of lawnmowers no longer need humans to push them to cut the grass. Cars take us where we want to go, and sometimes, we don't even need to leave them to pick up our groceries, as they can be ordered online, and delivered to our cars and our homes.  With this advancement, however, there is an increasing disconnect with humans. It's harder to feel seen and heard, when the tones of our voices don't come through our text messages. We don't pick up body language or other non-verbal forms of communication.  Yet we can reach the farthest corners of the earth with anyone who has internet access. What once could only be shared with those in a community, can be shared with the world.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of those amazing truths that can be shared throughout the world through tech...

 This morning, I took my daughter to a co-op art class that we do with friends every Friday. Before leaving the house, I had been trying to find something that I needed-because I was so sure that I had left it in such and such a place-that we got to art class kind of late.  I was a stress mess as I set down my stuff and sent my daughter out to catch the lesson (the weather was so nice today, that the art class was held outside), and suddenly, I found myself in deep conversation with several ladies whose children are going through the same sorts of struggles as my kids.  So of course, we all shared stories of how such and such things were working for our children, and what tips, tricks and other things we were doing, to survive parenthood.  There was a moment in that conversation, where I just sat back and took it all in. I became super present in the moment, and watched as these amazing women-fellow friends, fellow moms-were lovingly and wisely sharing counsel with o...

 About a year ago, I was noticing some crazy things going on in my head. I was extra distracted, extra anxious, and extra burned out.  I have anxiety, depression and diabetes, so I just chalked up my new frazzle to one or all of those reasons. But I was also, mourning the loss of my Dad, and some other big life changes, like having my teenage daughter getting diagnosed with ADHD, and other stuff.  I thought I was just a typical homeschooling mom, who was always running around, doing school with my kids, school for myself, and juggling housework and other stuff that a stay-at-home mom does.  And then...I just fell apart.  I was oversleeping, struggling to remember day to day tasks, having a hard time quieting thoughts in my head, and there was music playing in my mind on a loop. I grew up with a brother who had been diagnosed with ADHD when he was eight years old (over 30 years ago), and I thought I knew what ADHD looked like. I was wrong. I realized I needed the...

 In my previous post, I talked about how much I love to communicate through writing; that it's my favorite form of communication.  That is true, but I learn the best through visual aids.  If I can see what I'm supposed to do, then I have perfect clarity to write a paper, a story, or whatever else I'm supposed to do. And, accordingly to recent studies, about 60% of us are visual learners, as well.  That is why creating visual images are so effective. If I were an employee at a company, and I needed to make a presentation, I would want to fill out my presentation with visual representations of my message, because that's the most memorable way to pass along information. And it's the least boring.  Take social media platforms as the perfect example of this concept. Most of us prefer to watch videos, reels or brief captions or pictures on a post, before reading long-winded sentences and paragraphs describing the same ideas.  So, going back to my example of being...

 I love writing. I don't know if I'm particularly good at it, but I prefer it to any other form of communication. When I was younger, I wrote silly stories, and cheesy love poems (my sister had one of my poems memorized at one point, specifically to humiliate me with it when surrounded by our friends).  And that's why I love to write books. I self-published a book a few years ago on Amazon. It's called, The Gem: Remember to Forget. It was an idea that plagued my dreams, and to chase the dreams away,  I wrote the book. I have been told it's good; I'm not particularly fond of it overall, but I am pretty darn proud of the fact that I finished it, and went through the editing and printing process. It was a humbling learning experience.  Fast forward to this semester in school, where I am learning how to write a video script. What a difference it is to write a video script than a novel manuscript! With a novel, I focus on character development, background, specific ...

In my religion, there are a series of scriptures called the Articles of Faith. With these thirteen articles, our tenets of faith are expressed, so that we can share with others what we believe.  In the last Article of Faith, it says,  " We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." This article is so important, because it's the standard of which I choose to live my life. It's also the standard of which I teach my daughters to live.  For example, when we are homeschooling, and my children need to pick out a book to read, they will seek out virtuous and good books. They don't want material that reflects ...

 Today we're going to conquer the dark side of homeschooling. I am going to list five disadvantages, and give a brief summary of my experience with each. Again, I am one parent, who is using her own experiences to share, so this may be different for every homeschooling family.  1. NO ALONE TIME As a mom with kids that are of school age, I could have the luxury of dropping my kids off at school, and then spending several hours cleaning my house, running errands, doing my own schoolwork, or leisurely reading a book curled up on my couch. I could also meet up with friends for lunch dates, etc.  But as a homeschooling mom, until recently, I was with my kids...ALL. OF. THE. TIME.  They would come with me to doctor's appointments, dentist appointments (I would find somewhere for them to be when I went to the gynecologist appointments, because...boundaries), but you get my point. They were my little shadows, and it was chaos.  Now that they're older and can stay home a...

 Today I want to talk about the benefits that come with choosing to homeschool your kids. Since I can only glean from my own experience for this post, I will be sharing what my favorite perks are, but I know they can vary from family to family.  1. TIME This one is my very favorite reasons for homeschooling. I have time with my kids.  Now, on some days, I admit, I would rather have some alone time than have a lot of time with my kids, but honestly, my girls are pretty great, and I enjoy being around them for the most part. The benefit of time comes with the fact that we aren't WASTING time. For me, that means that I'm not spending time getting my girls up extra early every morning to race them to the car or to a bus stop, where they (or I), will sit in a drop off line or on a bus for at least 30-45 minutes before actually arriving at school. Then, my girls spend several hours in school, only to sit on a bus again for a long period of time before being dropped off at home,...

 Ruining kids is such a real fear for homeschooling parents. Why? Because homeschooling is not a defined, set routine, structured with professionals and other resources.  But guess what? The only kids that I have seen ruined by homeschool, are the kids that are not actually being schooled at all. Just like how a kid in public school shirks his or her education, a child at home that's not actually learning anything, is just as disastrous.  The reason I am kicking off my blog post with this thought, is because I want to dispel the rumor that well-intentioned parents who want what is best for their kids, will never ruin their children. Even with homeschooling them. I have not kept count, but there have been many friends that have reached out to me to ask questions about the homeschooling process. I am no veteran, and I still have my kids at home, so I can't tell some huge success story about having grown kids who have moved forward in society and are now scholars in their fi...