22 things I have learned in my life thus far: 1. Life is beautiful. 2. Life is ugly. 3. Family is important, so cherish it. 4. Take care of yourself--eat well, exercise, get some needed rest. For when you cover the basics, you'd be surprised at how great you will feel and how much you... Continue Reading →
(Super?)woman
Maybe I give, and I give, and I give until I have nothing to give away . . . and maybe that makes me a great person to others and a bad person to myself, but I can't help the satisfaction of feeling needed, of giving so I can make the lives of others easier.... Continue Reading →
Love (Wine)
Was anyone ever going to tell me that love was messy? For the better part of my life, I thought love was a guaranteed Cinderella fantasy, complete with a Prince Charming dressed handsomely in a black tux who cries as he watches you walk down the aisle on the very day you have dreamed of... Continue Reading →
Laundry Detergent
I am low on laundry detergent right now. That's it--that's the punchline. But really it's a metaphor for how the past couple of days, I've been low on energy. Tired. Emotional. Overwhelmed. Overthinking. Anxious. Things that are never a good combination. Things that make being low on laundry detergent seem like a dramatic flare to... Continue Reading →
Mountain and Valley Days
If there's anything I've learned in life thus far, it's that things sometimes have to get messy before they become beautiful. Dirty rooms have to become even dirtier--clothes and objects strewn across the floor in order to dust off furniture, beds stripped to their bare mattresses to wash sheets, items tucked away into closets so... Continue Reading →
Little Black Puppy
It truly is an unspeakable joy-- that uplifted feeling in my chest whenever my roommate's little black puppy heartily bounces over to me every morning upon seeing me. She wags her tail and jumps up and looks at me, expecting, wanting pets. Expecting, wanting love. It doesn't matter if she just saw me last night,... Continue Reading →
Cozy Wintery Days
Yes, yes, I know that your social media feed is already filled with snow-day pictures from yesterday. Well, since I'm a Texan and I hardly see snow--especially thick snow like we had yesterday--I just had to join in. Because here's the thing--usually when Southerners say we are looking forward to enjoying a cozy, wintery day,... Continue Reading →
Turtles
These past few days, I have been reflecting on the past year and the upcoming year. How 2020 has been both good and bad, illuminating and uncertain. How 2021 is projected to be the year that saves us all--but how can an abstract concept like a year on a calendar save us from another abstract... Continue Reading →
Endings, Beginnings, and Transitions
I closed another chapter on Saturday. I graduated from college. And as I write this, I'm amazed at how it seems like only a couple of days ago that I was writing this about graduating high school. And I'm amazed at how much I've grown since then. I've grown stronger. I've made more mistakes. I've... Continue Reading →
Getting Through the Holidays
As I type this on a gray, gloomy Monday morning, I feel the need to share a word of encouragement with you. I'm not sure how you're handling life this morning. I'm not sure how you're planning to address the Thanksgiving week ahead of us--whether you plan to embrace it with enthusiasm and gratitude or... Continue Reading →
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