life in this house

Where have I been. Where have I been? Well, we returned from that glorious trip to the Bahamas and guess what? Life kept right on moving! One of my LEAST favorite sayings is, “Back to reality!” or “Back to real life!” Hey, if I’m breathing – life is real – no matter where I am or what I am doing. So while I didn’t see my return from the Bahamas as “back to reality”, as I worked very hard to earn that trip (and trust me – it was REAL – I was there), there was certainly an adjustment period to getting back into my weekly routine. There were a zillion customer contacts to make – suddenly, upon seeing our Atlantis pics, there were dozens interested in my Beachbody Challenge. There was...

I’m up at Workingmother.com again this week. And I’m talking about dinner. What? Well, a girl’s gotta eat. And so does her family. So what’s my trick for providing healthy meals for my family, with minimal effort, while also holding down a home business? Take your time? Think S L O W L Y . . . Nom.

Not sure if you will understand this, but if I could, I would write every day. As in, every day. But, life doesn’t afford me that luxury at the moment, so instead I keep a running list of ideas and tend to them as often as I can. And then, a brainstorm. The Week In Review. I mean, I know many bloggers do a weekly blog review. I’m not talking about that, although I’m sure I’ll have some links to share. There is just so much cool, annoying, wonderful, and worrisome stuff that happens in my world each day and honestly, I’d love to write about all of them. And can’t. So, enjoy this first installment of my Week In Review as I share a few stand-out snippets from the past 7 days. Sunday: I successfully run Harper’s first...

This week we experienced a completely new twist on the old idea of vacation bible school. Thinking out of the box, Four Mile created Super Week – a vacation bible school for families. Here are a few thoughts on why this new take on a classic program worked. Schedule Rather than having a program solely for children, Four Mile took a risk and organized a family program which took place every night from 6-8. The evening began with dinner, provided by the church, so that those coming straight from work wouldn’t have to worry about getting everyone fed and out the door on time. After dinner and a sketch, the children went off to class, and the adults stayed put, listened to some teaching, and then broke into small groups for discussion. The evening then...

Many good ‘ole small towns in the U.S. of A have a gazebo in the town square. Our’s included. Only Beaver’s gazebo isn’t a structure from the town’s earlier years, nor was its construction planned by the city. Nope. Our gazebo was built specifically for the movie Gung Ho. See, director Ron Howard needed to do some filming and Beaver provided the perfect quintessential small town. Only it was missing a gazebo. Not anymore! So tonight, we ate ice cream on that gazebo, on which Obama also stood while visiting Beaver on the campaign trail, as the smell of funnel cakes, candy apples, cotton candy, and the smoke from carny cigarettes filled the night air. Today was my most favorite day in Beaver to date. And by “to date”, I...

As the realization that our house is now under agreement began to sink in yesterday, I could feel the pressure I’d been feeling in my chest begin to decrease. And while we also realize that “it isn’t over until it’s over”, finding a buyer in a mere three months, (which is relatively quick for this current housing market), has definitely helped in chipping away at our hardened tension levels. And just how else should one respond to such a huge mountain being scaled? By praising God and making a list of everything that is good about the situation (as in all honesty we do have a slight bone to pick. Not with God. But, we do indeed have a bone to pick. Where did that phrase originate?). And just how should one respond to the chipping...