I love the writings of Paul. I find them inspiring, relevant, and challenging. My reading this morning included the scripture, “Shine as lights in the world.” It’s included in Paul’s letters to the Philippians, and is surrounded with many comments on joy and rejoicing. (It’s worth noting that his highly positive and uplifting letter was […]

I want to do all the things

I love the newborn stage, because I love all the snuggles, the weekly milestones, the blooming of personality, and the sweetness of infancy. However, I struggle with the stark change in my ability to do- things. Between the sleep disruption that makes my mind blurry, to the one handedness, to the feedings that challenge my […]

A tribute to Washington

Yesterday, we had the privilege of spending the day at Mount Vernon- George and Martha Washington’s home. It was presidents’ day and there were various special events held throughout the day that added to the depth and poignancy of the already symbolic setting. As I was reading up the night before I was shocked to […]

Conference high

The first weekend of October is always the Church’s General Conference. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my entire life, it is one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s the ultimate life conference. I gather with those I hold most dear, my family, and we immerse ourselves […]

Awareness

I just had my first experience with a natural disaster. Hurricane Florence devastated much of our state, we were spared, but so many weren’t. We waited anxiously the week before, wondering the best way to prepare, pulling out flashlights, purchasing propane, washing out tubs to fill with water and checking our food reserves. We watched […]

I'm grateful.. .

I’m grateful I get to be my children’s main teacher. I love seeing the light in their eyes as they understand a new concept. I love, though I’m often frustrated by, hearing their inner thinkings and tangential wonderings. I love that we can exchange giggles, or hugs, or tickle wars as a break to a […]

Side gigs

Ever since I was a senior in high school I’ve had a job. I’ve only had a full-time job once. I worked as a secretary at a loan office one summer. Otherwise, my jobs have always been part-time, or undefinable like my “job” designing and renovating the homes we’ve flipped. My main side gig has […]

Things

In my preparations to move I’ve been going through all our stuff. And I’ve been faced with the repetitive question- what is worth keeping? Around 60 of our stuff has been in a storage unit for two months. These are the things we’ve missed: the speakers for my computer and our TV sound system. “The […]

Before and Afters of our Shoreline home

We listed our house a little over a week ago, thanks to an amazing market (from a sellers perspective) we had accepted a great offer within a few days. I took screen shots of the listing photos from when we bought the house and I thought it would be fun to show the before and […]

Chiara, Age 2

Chiara had her birthday two weeks ago. We were traveling on the date, but my in-laws were kind enough to arrange a cake and candles at the rehearsal dinner and the whole group of 30 or so people sang to her (including several opera singers, so it was quite the serenade!) She smiled with muted […]