Thoughts of the Day
My life has qualified me as "experienced" on such topics as Army life, parenting, mental health, loss and grief, multi-tasking, and adapting to all things new (good, bad, or indifferent). I will share my thoughts on these topics and hopefully you will find some calm in the chaos knowing that others have been where you are.
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Got Goals? These 4 Strategies Can Help You Achieve Them
We all want the best in life whether it is material possessions, better health, improved relationships, or financial gain. However, the gap between what we want and what we currently have can be rather vast. But there are things we can do to transverse that space between wanting and having. This article will discuss 4 different strategies that can help us get to where we want to be in life. SMART Targets The first approach is one strategy that has been tried and tested with much success. It’s SMART targets, which is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely goals. SMART targets are a really great way to…
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13 Things I Have Learned in my 40’s: Celebrating a Very Special Day with Ada
I am joining my dear friend Ada of Elegance and Mommyhood once again to celebrate her birthday. Each year Ada invites some of her blogger friends to get dressed up for a birthday party and share our looks on or around May 4. This is the fourth consecutive year that I have helped Ada celebrate her special day. You can see my past outfits that I have worn for Ada’s birthday here, here, and here. This year is a super special birthday for Ada. Not because we are being forced to celebrate virtually (we do that every year for Ada’s birthday), but because it is a milestone birthday for her…
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3 Extreme Sports to Revive Your Adventurous Spirit
*Guest Post by Lauren Hale Now might be a good time to create an adventure bucket list to fill the void left by being at home for far too long. If you are a thrill seeker at heart, you may be ready to start planning activities for the future. So why not consider extreme sports? In recent years, many new extreme-adventure activities have cropped up and enamored adrenaline junkies from all over the world. People love these activities so much that they are willing to travel around globe for the best experiences. Is your adventurous spirit clamoring for excitement and thrill yet? If the answer is yes, here are three…
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Awesome Archie’s Zombie on Zoom Birthday Party
And so we celebrate another birthday in quarantine! Remember back in March, Radical Ralphie had a Coronavirus Birthday Party? Well, here we are six weeks later, still in lockdown mode, and another kid’s birthday has arrived. But we have gotten a bit more skilled with technology these past six weeks so we were able to throw together a party on Zoom at the very last minute…because that’s how this momma rolls! But before we Zoomed, Archie requested French Toast Strata for breakfast…topped with ice cream, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Basically a sundae on top of a heaping pile of French Toast mush! Of course, I had to indulge this request.…
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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…
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Friday Favorites #5 & Link Up On the Edge #192
I just realized that I haven’t shared a Friday Favorites post in over a month. This has given me plenty of time to accumulate a list of some new favorite things to share with you. First, can we talk about menopause for a moment? Where does all the freaking facial fuzz come from? Is it the multivitamins that I need to take to manage the unsavory menopausal symptoms or is it the menopause itself? And why did the hair growth on my legs slow down so much in midlife (I am not complaining about that) while the hair on my face seems to grow faster than a chia pet? It…
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Celebrate Earth Day in Boho Style & Your Own Twist Link Up #19
Wednesday, April 22, 2020, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in the United States. The first Earth Day celebration happened on April 22, 1970, as a unified response of 20 million Americans to an environment in crisis. As environmentally conscious citizens were witnessing extensive destruction to our earth through smog, oil spills, and rivers that were so polluted that they were literally catching on fire, they united in protest to environmental ignorance and demanded a new way of living and respecting our planet. This very first Earth Day celebration is credited with igniting the modern environmental movement that is in full force these 50 years later. Earth Day is…
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A Very Grateful Easter with Mapiful
I know many people are feeling kind of blue celebrating Easter without massive family gatherings and such. As a military family, we have grown quite accustomed to holidays spent casually at home so this is really nothing new for us. It also doesn’t really make us feel sad at all. In fact, the only thing that is making me sad today is Ralphie’s refusal to participate in anything we have done so far to make the holiday a little bit special. Our memories of Easter 2020 will be less tainted by quarantine than they will be by our family photos missing a kid. But rather than focus on the negative,…
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7 Birthday Party Ideas for Adults
*Editor’s Note: I hate to have to put a disclaimer on this article, but I am fearful of the angry responses I may receive for talking about social gatherings of any sort in the current environment. I like to give the benefit of the doubt and believe that most people who read this will know that these ideas are obviously for a future time when we are no longer asked to practice social distancing. Unfortunately, too many people are acting as “police enforcement” via social media and other online forums, thereby requiring disclaimers on anything we share publicly. So for those of you who might be ready to chastise and…
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Breaking Patterns to Heal the Cosmos
“Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum and don’t interrupt our patterns even slightly.” Pema Chodron, The Places That Scare You Sometimes we need to break our patterns. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we are stuck in patterns that no longer serve us. Sometimes it takes a massive wake up call on a global scale to offer some perspective and insight into our own lives as well as our collective existence in a universal scheme that is much larger than us. It is a rare occurrence when the universe offers a very clear picture illustrating just how much the microcosm has fallen out of sync with the macrocosm.…
