a nearly full cookie jar

Fill the Cookie Jar

Lifting the lid off a cookie jar only to discover nothing more than crumbs is disappointing. We expect the good stuff that was there the day before to still be there. No one reaches into a cookie jar in hopes of coming out empty-handed. So, whose job is it to fill the cookie jar? Does…

tree-hugging

A Tree-Hugging Hippy

Hip-hip Hooray! This Saturday, April 22nd, is Earth Day. I don’t think of myself as a tree-hugging hippy, but I value the Earth and its natural resources. Earth Day reminds us of our planet’s importance and that we must take care of it. The actions of humans are the cause of environmental issues. We are…

Spring Breakers in search of a Chuckwalla

In Search of a Chuckwalla

Over Spring Break, my daughter’s friends decided to take a road trip. They were in search of a chuckwalla. With little money and an equal amount of thought or planning, the group went off to tent camp in the desert. Mesquite, Nevada, was their destination, and finding a chuckwalla was their mission. Why there, and…

Lit candles on a birthday cake

Only Two Options

There are only two options to a couple things in life. Size and age are topics that fall into this logic. Over time our body shapes change, but there remain only two options, our clothes fit or they don’t. Same thing goes for age you’re either dead or alive. When making the most of life…

27 year A.A. chip

Choosing Change

The choice to change ourselves isn’t an easy decision, and the action required of oneself is even more daunting. Choosing change requires us to love ourselves, and be brave when facing our fears. We must be willing to let go of the familiar and venture into the unfamiliar. Twenty-seven years ago, my mother did just…

half glass of milk

Half Full or Half Empty

Viewing life as a glass half full or a glass half empty seems to be a limiting approach in my opinion. The options are left to nothing more than a positive or negative outlook when really there are other perspectives to consider. Instead of assigning negative connotation to a glass half empty, I choose to…

wrapped Christmas presents

Differently This Year

Alcoholics Anonymous defines insanity as “doing the same thing and expecting different results.” You don’t have to be in the program to see the logic of the statement. The concept is pretty simple, yet people (myself included) continue to behave insanely around the holidays. Cooking, cleaning, present wrapping, and people pleasing is exhausting. Come January,…

A variety of fall leaves

Value in the Variety

This fall in Colorado has been unlike any I can remember despite being a native of the state. The variety of vibrant colors of the leaves and the length of time they hung around has been breath taking. Autumn this year has been more like those on the East coast. Colorado finally lived up to…