My Reading Year 2018 Part 4: Faith

C. S. Lewis said, "If I find in myself a desire which nothing in the world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world".  I love reading books that amplify my faith journey, and help me grow more deeply in my love for God.  Here are a few of...

My Reading Year 2018, Part 3: Stories

On to some of my favorite fiction picks this year: 1. Middlemarch by George Eliot How has it taken me so long to read this book?!  As an English major in college, I took an entire semester on Jane Austen, and loved reading all of her novels and dissecting what made them so delightful and wise...

My Reading Year 2018, Part 2: Non-fiction

I read a lot of non-fiction this year.  Here are a few of the stand-outs. 1.  Factfulness by Hans Rosling This book changed my view of international poverty and struggle, and helped me change my focus to bring effective action to world concerns still in progress. The book was recommended by Bill Gates, and written...

My Reading Year 2018 Part 1: Self-Discovery

My 2018 Goodreads summary just popped up, and I've spent the last few days contemplating what I read this year. My Goodreads 2018 Year in books Looking back on 2018, this was a year of reading fewer books and thinking about them more. (I still have 2 more books to finish to reach my goal...

At the Edge of the Storm

I drove to work this morning with a huge storm raging just to the east of me--dark boiling clouds, lightning, thunder, hail, wind. On the road before me, there was no rain, and blue sky with puffy white clouds beckoned off to the west. I thought about the people stuck in that big storm. In...

Wonder: a Word for the 2018 Year in Progress

For the last few years, I've started those short January days by choosing a word to define what I want to find in the upcoming year. Love. Gratitude. Simplicity. This year, I chose the word WONDER. Life can lose that sense when we are no longer looking at it through the eyes of a child....

Let’s Paint! Preschool Edition

Fun painting ideas for preschoolers...

Simplify 2017

For a few years, I've been reading about some of my favorite artists and bloggers picking a word of the year, a central idea or goal for the upcoming 12 months.  I’d never been able to come up with any unifying word or principle in years past, but wanted to keep this idea in mind...

On the Cusp of Summer

Filling the summer with fun

What I Loved in 2015

With 8 days left in 2015, it is time for me to sit back and reflect about how this past year has shaped up.  What did I love?  What changes did I make that worked for me, for our family, for balance?  How did I find joy, express creativity, show love?  What will I keep for...