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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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.…
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4 Easy Ways to Preserve Memories with Your Kids
*Guest post by Melissa Page. Most parents know very well what the phrase “time flies so fast” means. One moment a baby is born, the next thing you know, baby is crawling, standing up, and uttering those first precious words. It is often hard to believe, but kids grow up incredibly fast that everything seems to happen in the blink of an eye. As parents, we don’t want to miss those milestone moments, so it is essential to store and organize childhood keepsakes so the family has something to look back on years down the road. Those experiences and memories will become priceless treasures in the future. Here are 4…
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Live Music in My Living Room & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #165
“Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.” Sarah Dessen Less than a month ago, I shared a post listing some of my favorite music festivals scheduled for this year. So much has changed since then, hasn’t it? And many of these festivals, in particular the ones in early spring have already been canceled. No one really knows at this point if festival season will happen at all. In the meantime, all of these wonderful musicians and their bands have lost their livelihood (just like many, many other people in the world right now), but they…
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Radical Ralphie’s Coronavirus Birthday Party
While things in this world are very, very strange and somewhat dark right now, we still are pressed to continue on as normally as possible. And when a boy turns 7, he wants a celebration. But how do you explain to your 7 year old that he can’t have a birthday party? We woke up feeling kind of sad this morning, but we also know that finding humor in dark situations is often the best coping mechanism that we humans possess. So in an attempt to make light of bad situation, we had a celebration COVID style…complete with the most amazing coronavirus birthday cake made by my dear friend Monica…
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Wear Purple for International Women’s Day & Your Own Twist Link Up #18
It is time again for Your Own Twist which is a monthly series hosted by Monica of Jersey Girl, Texan Heart and myself where we showcase our own interpretations of a chosen style theme. We share the theme with you ahead of time in case you are interested in joining us. You can see the upcoming themes below if you would like to create your own post around the theme and share it with us in the link party at the end of the post. With all the current strife and worry in the world right now, Monica and I nearly forgot about our monthly link up. But in an effort to keep…
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Looking Forward to Simple Summer Living
There are so many things to enjoy about the summer season like outdoor meals, entertainment, and time spent with friends. We can thoroughly enjoy ourselves during the warm weather months if we have ideas about all the fun activities that are available to us. Enjoying summer time doesn’t have to be all about large scale parties and gatherings, it can also be about some quiet time with our families as well as planning activities to prepare for such whimsical outings like picnics or day trips. Something as simple as a walk in the woods during the summer can enrich your mental well being as well as reduce your stress levels…
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Women Inspiring Women with Dresslily
Widespread celebrations of women as a gender began in New York City in February of 1909 and became the focal point for the women’s rights movement. Soviet Russia declared March 8 as the official women’s day in support of the newly found women’s suffrage in 1917. Fifty years later, the worldwide feminist movement adopted the idea in 1967. By 1975, the United Nations declared March 8 as International Women’s Day, a day for commemorating the role of women in the workforce or working women in general. Some people acknowledge this day in protest while others simply celebrate womanhood. (Source) Each year, the United Nations chooses a theme to coincide with…
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Road Tripping & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #161
I am back from the best road trip ever. I was hoping to be refreshed and rejuvenated upon returning to the realities of my life as a mom and wife in the North Country, but honestly, I am exhausted and a tiny bit overwhelmed as I try to catch up on all the things that I had pushed aside so I could just enjoy life and living. While I may be a bit road weary, I am definitely inspired and have approximately 19,357 things racing around in my brain that I want to write about, describe, analyze, and philosophize. But all in due time. First I must get myself organized…
