I have always been a diet soda drinker.  Yes, even as a kid there would be empty glass bottles of diet soda that I would sneak the last slurp out of before they were taken back for recycling.  It was of course not recycling like we have today, but you would take your glass bottles back to the store, get a cash refund and then watch them head down a conveyor belt of unknown destination while you planned how you would spend the $3.96 you received for your 47 bottles.  It took m

There was a time not so long ago when I lived in a house that was constantly under various stages of construction. Sometimes there was a necessary home repair, and sometimes there was a new project. It seemed that there was always a slight haze of drywall dust in the air and an orange five gallon bucket full of stuff I might need sitting in the corner. There were putty knives, hammers, screw drivers, nails, screws, box cutters, electric drills, googles, masks…almost anythi

Raising two girls kept my house full of action, unexpected outbursts of Disney Princess songs, and what I have lovingly named “estrogen grenades.” There was always a faint smell of the complete inventory of Bath and Body Works, hair ties randomly found in every room and an odd amount of glitter that would hang in the air for years, only to be found at odd times in very odd places. My girls each had their own rooms and shortly after we moved in they decided to decorate and p

My grandpa loved football.  He spent most weekends with his eyes focused on the television, cheering for whatever team was winning at the moment.  He would do his famous sit/lie sideways on his couch and watch the game with a muted television, but complete with closed captioning.  We were told many times that his heart couldn’t handle the stress of the game with the sound on, so he watched without sound.  That’s not to say he watched in silence…no, no.  My grandpa was the wor

I grew up in a household with a charismatic, charming, entertaining brother who had a moral opposition to dead air space. He was infectiously fun, quite the contrast to my dark and serious personality, and would commandeer a room with his mere presence. His charisma did not allow me to have much of a chance to…well…talk. When I was 8 years old, I decided that I would start to help my mom make dinner. Helping my mom allowed me to learn to cook, but more importantly, it gave m

There are certain special moments that young parents experience with their young children. There are first words, rolling over for the first time, first steps, and first days at school. There are so many milestones packed into only a handful of years that if you’re not careful you can get an almost historical whiplash that leaves you wondering where time went. One summer day when I was relishing the joy of being a stay at home mom to my 3-year-old and 1 year old daughters, a

At the ripe old age of 41 years old, I find myself in the position of planning a wedding. Although I admit there is very little actual “wedding planning” and much more “marriage planning” happening, I am without a doubt “planning”. As I look through pictures of white dresses and leaf through appetizer menus, I can’t help but wonder what I want this moment in time to look like. Weddings are a moment of promises and deeply felt intentions. Weddings are full of idealized visi

In my 39 years on this earth, I continue to be amazed sometimes at my level of stupidity. Sometimes, I think that eating pizza late at night won’t make me “that sick”, sometimes I think that staying up really late to finish the movie I have seen 462 times won’t make me “that tired” and sometimes I think that I alone can handle the things that prevent me from being who God wants me to be. Yesterday was a bad day. I had a major meltdown full of verbal vomit outing my insecuri

#Inspirational #Love #Forgiveness #Grace #God #Birthday #Chipotle #Hope