Tea time in Bath! Loved my English tea with an English garden just outside!
all the words
When I write a blog post, I often sit with a cup of tea and ponder what I would say if you sat with me. That's what this space is for. You and me, hands wrapped around warm cups, catching up, sharing thoughts, dreaming, living creatively, and enjoying all the things in real life.
Hometown Book Dragon
Bookshops & Besties: Hundred Acre Books - What better place to start a series on bookstores than in your hometown bookstore? And who better to take along than a long-time bestie who is not only a bookish friend but a ride-or-die adventure partner? So, for our first installment of Bookshops and Besties, I grabbed my friend Katie, and we popped into Hundred Acre Books on Davis Street in Culpeper.
Living Openly Messy
She’s Got a Story: LeighAnn - There’s something disarming about a woman who just lays it all on the table. Any conversation with LeighAnn feels authentic.
Coming Soon
I love bookstores and any reason to have an adventure, road trip, hangout, or bookish time with my besties. So, I began plotting.
A Main Character Life
She’s Got a Story: Lauren - That girl dreamed of a bigger life, far-off places, and fantasy worlds where everyone was accepted for themselves. Her journey from these childhood dreams to a successful business is a testament to her determination and resilience
When the Landscape Changes
Today I erased a tree. (In a painting) Next week I will move a couple of bushes in the backyard. (In real life). Last night I spent more than an hour culling the accounts I follow on social media. New seasons. New growth. New landscape.
Women of Unrelenting Hope
I’ve looked deep into the eyes of my sisters who live in this place of scarcity and hope. The place where having little means there’s room to see God work. I can hardly make them understand my world of abundance and scarcity of hope. The place where having much chokes out the room to see God work.
Echoes of Me
In Rose and Eudora I heard echoes of Wendy and Esther. The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett reminded me that
Inner Critics & Fans
As I finished the painting I began to ponder what’s in a name…. Not in a Capulet and Montague kinda way, but in the does it matter what I call myself kinda way.
Here’s the thing.
What we call something matters…it shapes our perceptions and our interactions. What we call ourselves matters even more.
The Books that Find Us
Sometimes a book finds its way to you, because you need the words of an Australian woman who understands the movies and stories that molded you (I still can’t watch the swamp scene in Neverending Story), knows the stranglehold trauma can have on the creativity that flows in your veins, and is willing to face her fears to write the words your heart needs to hear.
Yeah, he called me that…
You read that right. In seventh grade I had never kissed a boy, I still wrote sweet little notes with the i’s dotted with hearts, and had New Kids on the Block posters on my bedroom walls. But he called me that and I wore it.
The Passenger’s Seat
It’s hard to get used to the view from the passenger seat of life. To shift from the mom who did the driving, made the decisions, and kept them safe to the mom who offers gentle reminders from the cheap seats and whispers silent prayers as they steer into their futures.
The Word He Said
I tried to play it off. To act as though his words, the word, didn’t affect me…
But it did. The word hung there in the air between us, and I could barely breath.
My hunky hubby came home from work - walked into the garage, kissed me hello, looked straight into my eyes and asked,
Just Follow My Footprints
Sometimes we want flashing red arrows or a clear path of muddy boot prints through our lives…an easy trail with easy answers. And still Jesus beckons, just follow my footprints.
Post-it Note Truth
Now, I am working to undo decades of flawed thinking and living unlovable, and while I have some physical habits to build the truth is that this is mostly a battle of the mind. Learning what my body needs, not what my habits tell me I need (which is really more a want than a need). I am learning that I can do the hard things - one more lap, one more rep, skip seconds on dinner, not graze or snack at all hours, and drink enough water.
Cozy. Melancholy. Lovely.
It is a book that broke me out of a reading slump and reminded me of all I love about reading and what I love about writing.
The Janky Little House
Isn't that the beauty of time, and what becomes a memory? God moves in the space of what was and leaves us traces of grace, and softens the hard edges of our experiences.
When You Burst Wide Open
Living burst wide open isn't pretty; it's raw, vulnerable, and sloppy. The challenge is actually to live it. Throwing your arms around people means you have to throw your arms around real people - people are messy, hurtful, and offensive. (But so are you...so am I.) Living is feeling and carrying burdens.