Category Archives: Uncategorized

This week, I spent a good amount of time redoing the bedroom our oldest son, Ben, has slept in since he was 9 months old and we moved into this house. Our youngest son, Franklin (Tank) has been in a bedroom without a window to the outside since he came home from the hospital 15+Continue reading “50 Shades Of Blue”

It all started Friday night. Well, really, it all started nearly nineteen years ago. But, Friday night I was wrapping up washing all the clothing my oldest, Ben, was going to be taking with him to college the following day. Some dirty clothes but mostly clean clothes that had just been in his closet forContinue reading “My Heart Is Full”

As I was taking my youngest son, Franklin, to his job at the pool this last week a conversation happened that made me chuckle. And ponder. Tank, as we call him, truthfully, has always found a way to make us laugh. Sometimes, because his laugh is just that contagious, I laugh for no other reasonContinue reading “F.E.A.R.”

Growing up, I knew when I reached adulthood, I wanted nothing more than to have my own family. I wanted to have that average 2.5 children with my husband and to own a dog and to live in a beautiful house with a white picket fence and sip coffee or tea on our covered wrap-aroundContinue reading “From Daffy To Donald”

I had a moment. In Home Depot of all places. I had taken my mom up to get a few things for the apartment complex that my parents manage. In addition to working full time (spring/summer/fall) for the city in the parks department, my dad is also the handyman of this complex. He is constantlyContinue reading “Reflections”

I have always loved finding and enjoying the simple beauty of everything in nature. Well, except spiders and snakes. But, other than that I love spending time outside and staring at clouds, mountains, valleys, plains, bodies of water, sunsets, storms, trees, flowers, etc. and can do ALL that for hours on end. Literally. My thoughtContinue reading “Bloom Where You Are Planted”

This week we had a conversation in our house that left me laughing at our oldest son, Benjamin, and his witty response to a serious topic. We were discussing his eventual escape to adulthood as he will soon be leaving for college . . . 35 days from now. I have been lovingly reminding himContinue reading “You Deserve It”

As you may know from my previous blogs, my husband, Wade, and I have been working feverishly in our long-neglected backyard to restore it and return it to functional use. We were able to hold Ben’s High School graduation celebration last Saturday here at the house and our guests were able to see the improved,Continue reading “Through It All . . .”

This week, I will have been working out of my home running my own business for what has been six weeks now. The first thing I needed to accomplish when I started was setting aside a dedicated office space. I am pretty OCD about most things. This is no exception. My motto (one of MANY)Continue reading “Our Best”

Our boys spent this last week at a cabin with their grandparents (Wade’s parents) and aunts and cousins. They fished and hiked and had a great time riding go-karts, playing putt-putt golf and phase 10, and making s’mores after building a campfire . . . I am doing their laundry right now and my laundryContinue reading “Four Feet Five Inches Tall and Bulletproof”

Today, Wade and I are celebrating 24 years of marriage. He is such a huge part of my success in my weight loss . . . and in my life, period. I don’t honestly know where I would be without him. And so, because I can, I want to take a minute of your timeContinue reading “Love Is . . . “

This week, I was reminded that I am still fat. It’s been a while since I was really out and about in public. With Covid’s stay-at-home orders and then not working outside the home now I really haven’t been going anywhere. And while I am an outgoing person, I am really more than fine withContinue reading “Shades of Kindness”

My everything hurts. This was the common theme in my mind this week. Oh, and I have shin splints. I’ll get to that in a second. Our family has been working outside in our yard for the last 8 weeks. We are doing things that have needed done for a long time. And it’s beenContinue reading “Shin Splints, Set Backs, and Strokes”

Growing up my sister, Carly, and I would go to Missouri every summer for a couple weeks to visit my Aunt Karla, her family, and the rest of our family that lives there. It was so much fun! So many wonderful memories were made there throughout the years. And for a long time, before lifeContinue reading “Everything Is Beautiful . . . Yes, In It’s Own Way . . .”

This last week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for our family. My oldest, Ben, graduated from High School on Sunday. This pandemic changed our plans and it wasn’t quite the same traditional ceremony we had all wanted and hoped for. But it was special. Beautiful, even. We had a drive-in style graduation and paradeContinue reading “Walk On, Baby, Walk On . . .”

This week I did a thing. A big thing. Something life changing and wholly terrifying. Hang tight . . . I will get to that in a minute. For now, let me say this: I would be willing to bet that all of us at one point or another have had a dream. A dreamContinue reading “Dust Off Your Dreams”

This week, one word kept popping up in different conversations. Room. One tiny word. So many meanings. Big and small. Room = four walls . . . Room = space . . . It can be used in many ways; physical, emotional, spiritual and otherwise. It came up initially because one of my kids wasContinue reading “Let It Go”

When I was six months pregnant with our oldest child, my husband, Wade, and I went camping. We enjoy camping and fishing and most out-of-doors activities. We went camping and fishing a lot more often in our first five years of marriage, before this dynamic duo became a terrific trio, and now fantastic foursome. Anyway,Continue reading “Goodnight Moon”

This week was heavy. I could leave this post with just that small, four word sentence and it would be enough. You would all probably understand exactly what I mean. In their own way, every single person has probably had a heavy week. On the “lighter” side of this heavy week, I dropped and shatteredContinue reading “A Better Weigh”

My oldest, Benjamin, has been blessed to have several great coaches throughout his young life. Ben is the kind of player who, in whatever sport he is playing, will run through a wall for a coach who has really inspired him to be the best version of himself. Now, baseball is DEFINITELY Ben’s sport. OneContinue reading “So What?”

My sister, Carly, was supposed to fly here this last weekend. She was supposed to get in last Sunday, watch the boys play a few games of baseball, attend our parent’s combined 80th birthday party, have lunch with a mutual friend and then head back home, heart full of new and exciting memories. But, justContinue reading “Heart and Sole”

This week’s blog is going to be a little bit different. I have been receiving numerous questions from some of my readers. I really love that! And I want to take this week’s blog and answer those questions because I feel it is important to connect with you all on a very real level. IContinue reading “A Conversation With “My Ghouls””

For the past couple weeks, Wade, my husband, has been fighting a cold. He is on the tail end of it now. But last Sunday, we went out to eat as we usually do after church. I ended up getting sick to my stomach later that day. Wade had started his delicious chicken and riceContinue reading “Show Me Your Hundo”

I went for a walk yesterday. It was the first one in longer than I’d like to admit. I need to be better. Oh, I can blame the weather. I can blame the physical issues I have dealt with over the last several months. I can blame a lot of things. But, the point is,Continue reading “Then When You Know Better, Do Better”

I have spent some time lately looking at old pictures because my oldest is set to graduate in a few short months and I need to find pictures to display during his graduation party. I was looking at a few pictures the other night from years gone by. One of them was taken when IContinue reading “All You Need is Love”

“You’re more YOU than you’ve EVER been!” . . . This came from a childhood friend of mine as we were enjoying lunch together a few weeks ago. We were talking about the physical transformation that has happened to me in the last year and the “person” who has changed along with it. Hearing thisContinue reading “Super Woman Suit: Dignity Version . . .”

First off, THANK YOU for all the kind and encouraging responses to my first blog post last week. I was touched by how many of you sent a private message, texted, stopped me in person and even called to tell me what you thought about the post and how it spoke to you. I amContinue reading “A Willing Heart . . .”

A friend suggested that I start a blog to talk about my weight loss and what I have dealt with and learned over the last year. Apparently, I’ve decided to do it . . . and that surprises me. I thought I might just let myself chicken out. After all, who in the world couldContinue reading “It’s Been a YEAR . . .”