I have always adored Cinderella, but the new movie in theaters has only grown my love for the story and lessons to be learned from that simple girl who chose to be courageous and not let the negative voices in her life determine her happiness. I took along my niece and son to see the […]
A Winter Poem
Winter, You taunt me every year with your isolating illnesses and crippling storms, bringing out the worst in everybody. Most generally, I don’t like you. Even so, I do my best to find your most admirable attributes and enjoy making memories with the unique qualities your season brings. Snow is beautiful. The magical way it […]
Remembering, Living, and Snapshots
A year ago, we were reeling from the sudden loss of my father-in-law. The details that go into wrapping up someone’s life once they’re already in eternity are overwhelming. The shock of knowing they’re no longer going to participate in the big or little activities of life is staggering. Last February is a complete blur […]
The Things That Matter
I wrote my first blog post on June 9, 2009, because I wanted to keep track of a certain little boy’s life, document his milestones, and share pictures and stories with family who lived far away. I didn’t really understand what “blog” meant when I started since I only read one other friend’s blog and […]
Free to be the Happy, Imperfect Home Decorator
Excuse me while I gush about the latest book I read. Have you read The Nesting Place by Myquillin Smith?!? I can NOT encourage you enough to check it out. I’d been wanting to read it because I’d heard good things about it, so I put it on my Christmas wish list and started reading […]
Freedom: My One Little Word for 2015
Sometimes when you’re five-and-a-half, nighttime can be a scary thing. This is what I’ve been informed of by the little boy living in my house recently. At all times of the night. No less than four times between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 AM. Yep. We’ve been a bit sleepy lately. The intervention was […]
An Imperfect and Disjointed Reflection on 2014
Photo Credit Whew! It is almost time for 2014 to become history and 2015 to bring with it what it will. If I’m being honest, this statement brings with it equal parts relief and nervousness because many of the events of 2013 and 2014 have wrecked me. As I reflect on everything I’ve lived through […]
From Now On: A Christmas Miracle
When I read the Christmas story each year, God gives me the gift of a new lens, known as another year’s experience, to filter the spoken and unspoken details of those precious participants who lived out the story without the benefit of knowing what would happen next. In our current culture, I’m constantly blown away […]
The Abridged Tales of Car Buying with Kids
We bought a new car recently, which is the hugest blessing. The stories I could tell about why we needed this new car are enough to write an entirely new post, but we will settle for the abridged version: we now have two whole rear view mirrors (Hallelujah and amen!) and my prayer every time […]
33 Lessons from Life
You only turn 33 once, and today is my day. 😉 As I’ve reflected over some of the things I’ve learned in my years on this earth, I decided to record 33 of them on the blog today. Here is my list in no particular order. What would you add? 1. Reading is a joy […]