Updated Post Alert: This is an after-Christmas post from 2014. I had every intention of writing a post about how it really is “the thought that counts,” but after rereading this one, I decided I probably just couldn’t say it any better. The Importance of Giving (and Receiving) With a Cheerful Heart I started off the Holiday Season like a whirlwind. I had big dreams and plans and calendars full of ideas. Now, Christmas Day has come and {Read More}
Discipline, Respect, & Expectations: Three Things Kids Need In This Crazy World Today
February 21, 2018 by
Today we are going to talk about children, discipline, respect, and expectations. First let me say, my heart goes out to every victim, every loved one, and every first responder who was involved in the recent school shootings. There are no words that can truly ease the pain of what these people have gone and are still going through. Because of these recent tragedies, there have been a rash of threats made toward grade schools, middle schools, and high schools {Read More}
Make-Up and a Musical and Our Journey Into Confidence
February 5, 2018 by
Confidence means “a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities.” Some people seem to be born with it. Some develop it very quickly. I think for most everyone, confidence is directly related to life events–whether past or present. Good things happen, confidence rises. Bad things happen, it plummets straight into a deep dark abyss. People sometimes confuse the ability to adapt to different situations and insert oneself into random conversations as confidence. That’s not {Read More}
Why I Am Choosing To Forgive the Person Who Said a Cruel Thing About My Child
August 9, 2016 by
Both of my boys have birthdays soon. I will only have one teenager left after that. I have grown children. And I can’t always protect them. Shamefully, that has always been the case. Oh, we have all done our best to make sure they were physically safe. Emotionally, I couldn’t always be there to protect them from other people and their thoughtless words or actions. That’s normal. I know that. We all have to learn to fix our own problems {Read More}
10 Ways to Celebrate Your Anniversary Without Breaking the Bank!!
May 3, 2016 by
The Super Trooper and I have an anniversary coming up (21 big years) and although it would be nice to do something really romantic (like a cruise), money is a little tight and I’ve already agreed that he can buy new tires for his truck! Honestly, it seems like we celebrate in different ways every year. We’ve done everything from weekend trips to nice dinners out to not even seeing one another because somebody had to work or was out-of-town (by {Read More}
What Could We Accomplish If We Were Never Afraid?
April 21, 2016 by
That’s a pretty big question. What could we accomplish if we were never afraid? I imagine the bigger question is, what couldn’t we?!? My babies are all just about grown up on me now. I don’t know that I ever imagined that. I suppose I imagined them to be babies or little children or even pimply middle-schoolers forever. (And just for clarification, they will always be babies in my heart!) There have been so many things that I wanted to {Read More}
Happy 20th Anniversary To My Special Guy…20 Reasons Why I Love You!
May 4, 2015 by
The Super Trooper and I are celebrating twenty years of wedded bliss…today! In my dream world, we would whisk one another away to some tropical locale complete with beachside waitstaff and lots of alone time. Sadly, the real world and my dream world rarely coincide. For this 20th Wedding Anniversary, we will be watching our daughter’s last middle school Spring Concert and having a dinner that will either consist of something I pick up at the drive-thru on the way {Read More}
