There’s no doubt that fresh squeezed orange juice is better than any store bought kind. Sure there’s something to be said about the convenience of what comes off the shelf, but the taste isn’t nearly as good. Fresh squeezed orange juice is sweeter tasting and sweeter smelling. The texture is thicker, the color brighter. Juicing…
Flowers fascinate me. They are beautiful at every stage of their life. What seems fragile is remarkably strong. It’s amazing how blossoms know when to emerge and when to retreat. Flowers patiently sit below the surface waiting for the right time to appear. As they wait they gather their strength to push through the tough…
The EVVY Awards are the like the Emmys but for self-published books. Several months ago I submitted my book Pink Elephants to the Colorado Independent Publishers Association for an EVVY award. I was notified that I was a finalist in the category of Parenting. This is a huge accomplishment, especially for a first time author. I…
In high school I used to love weightlifting, specifically the bench press. Seeing my name on the “100 lb+ Club” was my goal. It would mean I was strong. The first time I bench pressed I lifted 95 lbs. It took me no time to reach 100 lbs. Still, I had more in me. Slowly,…
The other day my four-year-old neighbor approached me with an outstretched hand. On her palm lay a large, listless grasshopper. Lucy said, “Look what I have. It’s a grasshopper. I pulled it off another grasshopper. They were stuck together!” To which her mom replied with raised eyebrows, “Now you have a grumpy grasshopper.” Little did…
Recently, I was asked what I think it means to have grace. My answer was that grace and kindness are much the same. Both are gifts and there is no better gift than being kind. Having grace is a means to obtaining peace. The more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me…
Life can be incredibly disappointing at times. People work hard for what they think they deserve only to be left wanting more. The want for more money, more accolades, more opportunities, or more breaks is never ending. Wanting more isn’t a bad thing as long as some “Rolling Stone Wisdom” is applied to situations. The…
On our first anniversary I started a tradition of giving my husband a penny. It has become a penny of many. The idea was that pennies and wedding anniversaries start out the same. In the beginning both are shiny and new. Over time the shine can dull but that doesn’t mean the value changes. A…
Deep down we all want something to believe in. The only way to know that our beliefs are not foolish is to question them. Take the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause. Parents go to great lengths to keep these beliefs alive. I grew up thinking my Tooth Fairy was a world traveler because of the…
Everyone has a story to tell about a traumatic experience because there’s no escaping trauma. Trauma is a thread that connects people, as no human is immune to it. What trauma looks like is individual, but at the core is loss. Death, divorce, illness, natural disaster, and war are just some of the kinds of…