We walked single file, careful not to trip over any rocks as we made our way up the hill. Our two boys ran ahead, then stopped at a fork in the path. We made a right, past a patch of wild buckwheat and up onto a ledge. From there, we looked out over the valley […]
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Advent is my favorite part of the liturgical year. I didn’t grow up in a church tradition that followed the liturgical calendar, and for years I associated Advent with a countdown to Christmas. But as I’ve discovered in my adulthood, Advent is so much more than a piece of chocolate every day. Rather, it’s an […]
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A Guest Post by Emily Sue Allen I show up at the sink to an insurmountable pile of dishes. Nothing is scraped. Nothing is sorted. My frustratingly miniscule counter space is overrun with remnants of our previous two meals—room-temp food, wadded up napkins between plates, stray silverware, and pans that need to be soaked. I […]
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“I did not sign up for this,” I muttered as I cleaned the puddle and scrubbed the tile under the kitty litter box with bleach. I remember the day, 13 years ago now, when our cat Mowgli came crashing out of the woods and into our arms while we were walking through the Michigan countryside. […]
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My six year old son recently stumbled upon a miniature notebook. He was delighted to discover that it was brand new, and even more thrilled when I told him he could keep it. He grabbed a red marker and wrote “Henry” on the front. “What are you going to use it for?” I asked him, […]
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One Sunday not too long ago, our family packed up our canopy tent and our beach chairs and headed out to the park on the bay. Loaded down with our picnic and our fishing gear, we set up near the water while our two boys zoomed around on their scooters. After lunch, my six year […]
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One thing we can all agree on is that 2020 has been rough. We are not okay. Each of us is walking this earth carrying our personal share of heartbreak, grief, and disappointment as this year continues to knock us over, wave after wave. Our mental health hangs by a thread as we try to […]
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My husband, like many men, is not a big fan of shopping. You would never find him at the mall, or wandering into boutique stores in touristy locations. The appeal of walking and talking and browsing the aisles looking at pretty things is completely lost on him. Except if it’s Costco. He loves walking down […]
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Last week marked our third attempt to grow plants in our condo. The first time we tried to grow flowers in the guest room by the window, but there wasn’t enough light. The second time, we tried to grow plants on our porch but the whole thing is always covered in shade. I was barely […]
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Coming back to our condo in San Diego after three months spent on my husband’s family farm in Michigan was jarring. For a few days, I could only see all the ways in which our house wasn’t measuring up to my ideals. No yard. Shared walls. Very little natural light in the main living area. […]
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