Should: The Other ‘S’ Word

Do you ever catch yourself in the midst of decision making or some inner monologe, and realize that you are trying to decide between what you should do and what you want to do? Well if you are the rare individual who has never had such a moment, move along, this isn't for you. But …

Goodbye Is Just Another Way to Say Hello

A long overdue HELLO to all of you!!! Goodness, it's been so long since I sat down to write a blog post I could barely remember my log in info (face palm). There has been a lot of growth and change happening on this side of the screen in the last seven months since I've …

D is for…

Don't cry, I tell myself. You can't cry now, they'll think you're crazy. They'll want to know why. Pull it together! I turn towards the lake and shade my eyes to hide the rebellious tears that won't be talked out of existence. That old enemy Anxiety, ever alert and ready, slinks into the inner monologue. Look …

Five Life Lessons I Learned on a Camping Trip: Lesson #5 We Never Stop Learning

Paper plates and the kids' toothbrushes. The two things we forgot to bring with us on this camping trip. Granted it was only our third time camping, but you'd think we would have remembered those two fairly important things. Not to worry we told ourselves, we will just go buy some. We went not once, …

Five Life Lessons I Learned on a Camping Trip: Lesson #4 When the Car Gets Hot, Roll Down the Windows

After three days spent making memories together in a beautiful campground, it was time to pack up and start the trip home. We went through the usual routine of tidying up the trailer and loading everything back into the car next to our three garbage bags full of dirty clothes. The kids of course started asking …

Five Life Lessons I Learned on a Camping Trip: Lesson #3 Getting Dirty Is Inevitable

One of the first things I noticed about the campground we were at was how absolutely beautiful it was. Everywhere you looked it was stately trees, or views of the deceptively large mountains, all set under the dramatic sky, where the clouds and the sun took turns chasing each other for the duration of our …

Five Life Lessons I Learned on a Camping Trip: Lesson #2 Mindfulness Is Not Just For Hippies

If you've never been camping, let me just tell you that you learn a lot about yourself and your routines when you find yourself crammed into a small space without your normal "things" and have to make do with what you got. Like instead of pushing the button on your instant coffee maker and having …

Friendship In the Storm

This past Sunday my husband and I went for a walk with our daughter around the property. A storm was blowing in and we wanted to get some outside time in before it was no longer possible. The clouds came in faster than we had anticipated, and we were treated to quite the show by …

Five Life Lessons I Learned on a Camping Trip: Lesson #1 When the Plan Falls Apart, Begin Again

For Spring Break this year, our family took to the road with our trailer and drove about five hours north to visit our family. The trip had been long anticipated, and everyone was excited to see family and camp for three nights. This was the first time we would be spending more than just one …

Holding On to Hope

It was just about three years ago that our family life took quite an unexpected turn. For a week or two I had just been feeling off, my chest had been hurting, and it was starting to make me nervous. It's hard not to let your imagination run wild when it comes to health stuff, …