Simplifying… me

This girl doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions.  I think I stopped making lists like that ten or so years ago.  Not that there’s anything wrong with New Year’s resolutions, but I have found them to be ineffective for me personally.  Rather, before the New Year begins I take a look back at the year passing, [...]

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Very few things make me want to get up and make a fool out of myself like Amy Grant’s CD Home For Christmas.  Bought in 1992 (yes, you read that correctly – nineteen ninety-two), this CD is probably considered a Christmas heirloom these days.  My college roommate and I played it continuously throughout the holiday [...]

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I need an easy button. 
 
Running errands yesterday on less than a quarter tank of gas, calculating how much cash I have to spend, how much I’ve spent, how many more gifts I need to buy, how can I make due with what I’ve got, and can I make it to the cheap gas station before [...]

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Dashing through the store
With my cart leading the way
‘Or the aisles I go
Laughing all the way!
Here and there I dart
Searching for a steal
Oh what fun it is to shop
And find the perfect deal.
Oh…Jingle bells
Jingle bells
Jingle all the way!
 
‘Tis the season for crazy drivers, holiday deals, gift wrapping, cookie baking, carols, parties, gifts, cards, hustling [...]

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One of my favorite songs from the beloved classic “White Christmas” is a duet sung by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney.  The song is titled “Count Your Blessings” and begins with these simple lyrics:
 
If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.
 
I’m counting my blessings.  [...]

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Everyone seems to be in a perpetual state of thanksgiving these days.  At least, the people I have encountered on facebook.  A few days ago, as I scrolled through my facebook homepage, I picked up on a recurring theme in many of my friends’ status updates: thanksgiving.  They weren’t reminding the world that November is [...]

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When pumpkins start popping up at local farms and grocery stores I get giddy anticipating our annual visit to the pumpkin patch.  I visualize what our front porch will look like with a big fat splash of fiery pumpkin orange.  Ultimately, this image triggers a memory of a pumpkin I had in college.  My one moment [...]

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Dickens’ classic story “A Tale of Two Cities” opens with one of the most famous lines in literature: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.  How can we manage to have both at the same time?  When things are bad, aren’t they bad because there is no good?  And aren’t [...]

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I love quotes. 
 
When I was in high school I would often daydream of perhaps being quoted someday.  Surrounded by notebooks and journals stuffed with poems, thoughts and long, hand-written emotional expressions, I would imagine one day someone discovering this treasure trove of language genius, and then quoting me.  In fact, armed with my pen and [...]

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Stress is like an unwelcome guest that weeds its way into the mind and heart, inflicting fear and worry to an overwhelmed host.  It wakes us up in the middle of the night, causes muscles to tense, tempers to flair and jaws to clench.  Headaches, backaches, stomach ulcers and even skin irritations can all be [...]

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