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Love in the Land of the Free & Link Up On the Edge #202
While the United States recently celebrated its 244th birthday as a sovereign and free nation on July 4, we also had a recent anniversary worth celebration on June 26 that many of us probably missed…unless, of course, this anniversary has impacted you directly. Five years ago, on June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of recognizing and granting all the same constitutional rights for same sex marriages that opposite sex marriages enjoy. (See Obergefell v. Hodges). Five years after that 5-4 Supreme Court decision, on June 29, 2020, the town of Somerville, Massachusetts, passed a city ordinance which effectively redefined the definition of marriage and family…
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Red, White & Blue Outfit Inspiration & Link Up On the Edge #201
Tomorrow is Independence Day in the United States. Tradition includes cook outs in the back yard and wearing patriotic outfits in the colors of our national flag. Did you know that red, white, and blue are the most common colors appearing on national flags all around the world? To kick off the holiday weekend, I am sharing some of my favorite red, white, and/or blue outfits that would be perfectly festive to celebrate the anniversary of our nation’s independence. What are your plans for the 4th of July weekend? And now your featured favorites from two weeks ago. Reader Favorite (Most Clicked) Jaymie of Everyday Style by Jaymie Ashcraft shared…
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Agoraphobia: An Old Familiar Fear & Link Up On the Edge #200
Three months spent in lockdown has triggered an old familiar fear. If you have never experienced agoraphobia, I am going to try my best to explain it from my own personal experience. But first, I want to share a bit of background. I speak often about my life with Bipolar Disorder. I sometimes hint at incidents of anxiety and have even briefly mentioned some obsessive-compulsive behaviors that once tormented me. But I have never talked about agoraphobia because I really had forgotten about it. And now those old uncomfortable fears are sneaking back into my life. “Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to…
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A Good Ole Fashioned Ass-Kicking & Link Up On the Edge #199
This week has really kind of kicked my ass in the grandest fashion. It began with PMS sending an earth shattering surge of hormones through my body which left me feeling tired, irritable, and frustrated. I also tend to feel anger that verges on rage during these hormonal episodes. And that is a very unpleasant feeling for me. Then Jeff left for a three day trip to West Point (he is home now). About an hour after he left, I heard some awful news about the unexpected death of a friend. All of these things on top of a world that has been breaking my heart daily and I have…
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Birthday Recap & Link Up On the Edge #198
My birthday was on Saturday and I wanted to share a recap of my special day. Actually I am going to start with a brief recap of the week leading up to my birthday. On the Saturday during Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated a triple birthday (Jeff’s, my neighbor Anna’s, and mine) with a few friends and neighbors, lots of great food, and a fabulous birthday cake. Two days later, on Tuesday, I forgot Jeff’s birthday, and spent the day cooking way more food than necessary to make up for my blunder. Since we could not possibly eat everything that I prepared, we invited the neighbors over for dinner to…
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You Are Not Alone & Link Up On the Edge #197
Many of you already know that one of the fundamental goals of my blog is to raise awareness about mental health and to do my part in eliminating the stigma that accompanies life with a mental illness. I have written extensively about my own personal journey with Bipolar Disorder and how difficult it can be navigate through life and maintain a sense of normalcy. I have also shared a variety of different coping mechanisms that have helped me throughout the past few decades. If you are interested in reading more about my personal mental health journey, you can find all of those articles under my Mental Health category. I haven’t…
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Tribute to Texas & Link Up On the Edge #196
I hate when I run out of words. My own words. It happens sometimes, I know. But it is still super frustrating. Rather than allow it to totally piss me off, however, I decided to turn outside of my brain and share some words that have already been written. Not by me. Let me explain. A long, long time ago, my favorite place on earth was Texas. I used to travel there frequently for work and I absolutely loved everything about it. It also held a very special place in my heart as my father always spoke of Texas as his favorite place on earth as well. I never got…
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The Good Buy/Good-Bye Book: Pre-Loved Items & Link Up On the Edge #195
Welcome to The Good Buy/Good-Bye Book! Welcome! This is The Good Buy/Good-Bye Book. A series co-hosted with Nancy where you can choose whether you want to share a Good Buy (which is an item you are really exited about) or a Good-Bye (which is an item you are going to say good-bye to, previously known as a Bad Buy). Every month you can choose which item you want to submit. A Good Buy or a Good-Bye. We will provide the theme for each month. Photos should be submitted to us by the 10th of the month with a few sentences explaining why it is a Good Buy or Good-Bye. As we have all been sitting around in quarantine…
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Family Fan Fun with FOCO & Link Up On the Edge #194
I have some more things from FOCO to share with you all in the form of family fan fun. Last week, I shared my cute new Carolina Panthers fan gear from FOCO and this week it’s all about the fan toys! My boys love building things and they were quite excited when I let them choose which BRXLZ block sets to try. Of course, we only checked out the Penn State BRXLZ sets, but there are different building sets available no matter which team you support. Archie chose the Nittany Lion Mascot set and Ralphie chose the Penn State Mini Helmet set. *This is a sponsored post. The products were…
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The Truth About Birds & Link Up On the Edge #193
I dedicate this post to my friend Debbie of Fashion Fairy Dust… I suppose a more adequate title would be “My Truth About Birds” because what I am about to say is merely my own opinion and my own irrational musings and not at all based on any type of actual scientific facts. The stories below, however, are based on actual real personal experiences in my life. Birds are freaking creepy creatures. (See, not at all a scientific hypothesis.) I don’t like them. I never really have. And I have tried so hard to give birds a shot at winning my affection. But to no avail. When I was very…
