Some Joy To Spare

Dear Emma & Jill, This letter is long overdue and, like most apologies, hard to deliver. Let me start with something I hope you know, but want to tell you in case you don't: you are precious and perfect. You are both of these things simply because you are children of God. It is an absolute honor and blessing to be your mother. I've not always done everything right or made all the best decisions, but I hope you know and understand that I always wanted to get it right. I love you from the depth of my being and could never thank you enough for the privilege of being your mom. You've taught me so much and helped me grow in all things that matter like kindness, patience, love, generosity, and wisdom. We live in a fallen world. We live in a world full of judgment, comparison, and unrealistic expectations. Unfortunately, this seems to be especially true for women. The world will tell you-you are not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough or strong enough. The wo...

The week after Christmas the family and I headed north for our annual escape the city and goal setting adventure. Beginning three years ago, we began to take a short day trip north to catch our breath after all of the hectic shenanigans of Christmas and really, the whole year. What began as a simple attempt to have some fun and see some snow, has evolved into a time to reflect on ways we've grown over the last year and ways we want to be better. We set our intentions, ask for accountability and pray over and for one another. This year we all agreed to keep our goals short and simple. We realized in years past our lists may have become a bit lengthy, a little too involved and perhaps overwhelming. However, I must give a shoutout to my girls. Jill accomplished 25 of 31 goals she set for herself. You go, girl! Emma is a goal achieving machine. Seriously, if she writes it down and commits to it in her planner, it's as good as done. She rocks. Okay, so maybe it was just ...

Admittedly, I used to be one of the countless numbers of women (okay, some dudes too, but I’m talking to my sisters) who have spent countless number of dollars on exercise and diet plans. Seriously. I have at one time or another willingly handed over hard earned cash for everything from gym memberships to PiYo to P90X and books upon books about what and how and when to eat. I spent a lot of years and a lot of money trying to find the perfect health plan. I read something the other day that struck me as funny, odd and infuriating all at the same time. Evidently, Reddit published an article about the latest diet trend sweeping the country. I wasn’t surprised that there is a new diet trend. What did surprise me was the backlash it was receiving from dieticians, nutritionists, and so-called health experts. The diet? CICO. Now, to be honest, I’m not sure if it’s pronounced Ch-ee-ko or if you simply say the acronym, C - I - C - O. Whatever the case, the letters stand for a revolutionar...

So, the Walmart Challenge has officially ended and the big question looms: Did I succeed? Did I manage to shop for groceries and household items exclusively at Walmart for 31 days?  Drum roll please..... Almost. Y'all I made it to the very last day. I'm talking Halloween, October 31, dia del fin. I'd purchased all my groceries for the week, including Halloween candy and special Halloween meals (my weekly dinner menu is at the end of this post) . . .  and then we decided last minute to carve pumpkins. No problem, I thought. Surely Walmart will have pumpkins, right? Wrong. Super Walmart: out of pumpkins. Walmart Market: out of pumpkins. Seriously, one day they had pumpkins as in yesterday, Monday, October 30 and the next day gone. All gone. How about Funkins I thought? Uh, nopety nope nope no.  Alas, in my best effort to preserve my status as perfect mom and not disappoint my kiddos  myself, I begrudgingly went to Fry's and purchased pumpkins, of which, point ...

Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause As I walk from earth into eternity ~ Hosana, Hillsong United It's the question, as Christians, we all ask at some point and, often, the one to which there never seems to be a satisfactory answer. The other night, in the wake of the tragic shooting in Las Vegas, the devastating fires in Northern California and hurricanes in the Gulf and Puerto Rico, my youngest daughter asked me this question: "Why does God allow so much pain, death and destruction in the lives of so many?" I knew the standard "churchy" responses that I'd heard over the years. I told her things like, we may never know the answers and we have to trust God and we don't have the privilege of seeing the big picture. I told her the only and best thing we could do was pray for everyone ...

Okay, so I'm a little ( a lot) behind in getting my week two ( and three) challenge update posted. In my defense, we went out of town for the girls' fall break. Which, in and of itself is not an excuse to not post. However,  when I mention we were at our cabin, in the middle of nowhere, with no Internet and no cell service it becomes the perfect excuse. For some, I know, this sounds like torture. For us, including our two teenage daughters, it is simply glorious. Alas, last week's grocery haul was mainly reserved for cabin food. This cabin, nestled on 40 acres in a mountain canyon, has been in my husband's family for roughly 30 years, the actual land for much longer. As such, my little family has been visiting and staying here for 22 years. In those early visits, when my babies were babies, cabin food consisted of donuts, crackers and easy cheese, Fritos and bean dip, snack cakes, hot dogs and s'more supplies. Although tasty and inexpensive, our culinary prowess w...

Okay, it's officially underway, people. As I previously wrote, I am shopping for groceries exclusively at Walmart for the whole month of October. To find out why I would accept such a challenge you can read all about it in the first post in this series. This week I did a grocery pick-up and an online order. With Walmart's free two-day shipping, the combo of store site pick-up and ship to my door, the convenience is pretty hard to beat. I am thrilled to report, not nearly as much as the hubs, I came in under budget. Well, I'm under budget right now. By the end of the week and few runs to the store for one or two items here and there I may actually end up on budget. Still a victory in my opinion. My weekly grocery budget is $150. I realize this is more than some and not as much as others. However, after doing a little research I found the average SNAP benefit per person per month is $125. Thus, for my family of four, the government recommends a budget of about $125 per w...