Tis the season to be thankful! Anyone able to read this had SO much to be thankful for. Instead of posting this day by day I decided to do it all in one fell swoop. This is in no means all the blessings I have in my life, but just a fun list that got me thinking and hopefully… Read more »
I personally know of 4 weddings and 2 marriage proposals that took place last Saturday. While I’m not sure if September is the new June I do know that all of these marital happenings around me have me thinking about my favorite blog topic again- marriage. And while I generally shy away from giving marital advice there are a couple… Read more »
One of my very favorite blog posts I’ve ever written was the one of my very first ones that I wrote 3 years ago about my childhood church’s annual summer Mission Festival, held in my uncle’s pasture, or as it’s called for one day a year, The Marquardt Grove. The 2012 installment just took place last Sunday and we had… Read more »
Lately I’ve been struggling with the fact that my parents (pictured at left a couple years ago at their 40th anniversary party) are aging. They both turned 65 this month, and while they are mostly in good health the cold hard fact remains that more of their lives are behind them than ahead of them at this point. Yes, of… Read more »
I love marriage. This is a belief that I have touched upon in previous blogs so this statement is probably not news to you. But it’s one that I want to expand upon today. I am well aware that marriage has gotten a bad rap lately. Philandering politicians, athletes behaving badly, and that jerk up the street who left… Read more »
I don’t know why I was surprised- I guess I should have expected sooner or later. It’s certainly not the first time I’ve been asked it either. But I wasn’t expecting it right then. 6 days ago my beautiful niece Ava was born. Since then I have been taking great delight in showing photos of her to friends, family, acquaintances… Read more »
5 years ago this weekend I moved to Iowa. I need a moment to let that sink in. Wow. 5 years ago my nephew was a chubby lil 1 1/2 year old toddler just learning to talk. Now he’s in first grade, in the advanced reading class at his school, and anxiously awaiting the arrival of his baby… Read more »
I’ve heard a lot of reasons today about why people shouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. How sad! Why on Earth would anyone NOT want to celebrate love? Well….. #1 “It’s too commercialized”. While I don’t dispute that, so are Christmas, Halloween, etc. if you choose to see them in that way. Your TV has a mute button, a channel selector and… Read more »
If you’ve ever met me or read my blog you are well aware of my long-standing love affair with Bon Jovi. And so of course I had to get their Greatest Hits album and of course I had to get the “Ultimate” 2 CD version! So, for the past 3 weeks I have been listening this 2 CD set pretty… Read more »
I spend this past weekend in the rural Minnesota community I grew up in. I spent some real quality time with my cousin and my grandfather. I did some power shopping and actually found pants that fit me- which is quite a challenge for a 6 foot tall woman. I had 2 moments on this excursion that I wasn’t expecting… Read more »