Have you swooned and drooled and stayed up nights wondering how to make velvet pumpkins? Then you’re gonna love this tutorial! With all the yummy drinks and baked goods you’ll be making this fall, it’s kinda fun to created something that won’t be consumed in seconds by hoards of small children #amiright? DIY Velvet…
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4 Things My Summer Taught Me About Social Media
I adore social media. I’m a people person, an extrovert who’s personal motto is “the more the merrier”. I thrive on lots of interaction and revel in any environment that foster relationships. For that reason social media has a huge draw for me. I wrestle routinely with keeping social media in its place in my…
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Take Courage: On Leaving Anxiety and Depression Behind
A while back I quit seeking or accepting review copies of books if the deal required me to blog about the book because I don’t like being obligated to share a book with you unless it really ‘wows’ me. Now, I only accept books if they come to me free and clear, without obligation, and…
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10 Steps To Create A Blog You’ll Love
I’ve been blogging–at the same blog!–for 6 years. This puts me in the seasoned veteran category (if not expert, in some people’s minds–an notion that makes me snort) which means that I frequently get asked blogging advice. “How do I start a blog?” “How do you make money blogging?” “How do you avoid getting all…
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Harvest Season (a pictoral update)
I have so few words this week. Mostly pictures. We are working like crazy to be good stewards of the bountiful fruit harvest God blessed us with this year. The branches in the orchard are literally snapping under the weight of our largest harvest yet. We’ve been blessed by friends willing to come labor with…
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Changing Season, Changing Wardrobe {Thrift Shopping Tips!}
I hear we’re getting a 25 degree temperature drop tonight in Upstate NY. This pregnant momma could not be happier at this news! With the changing temperature we’re gonna need to haul out the fall clothes, though, right? And I will not be surprised if my kids, who were 2, 4, and 6 at the…
Continue ReadingWorship Outside the Box {FMF}
What do you do when you can’t sleep and are up in the middle of the night nibbling on a peanut butter sandwich because baby wanted a snack? Oh, just a little free writing with the Five Minute Friday prompt “Worship”… I’ve been sharing in this story how I was raised with some rather rigid religious…
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Of Valleys and Mountains {All Is Grace, Part 4}
Did you ever wonder what happen to the Ethiopian Eunich after Philip disappeared into thin air? I was thinking about him the other day. Wondering how he made out. I’m assuming he went home with his new-found faith and the revelation God gave him that day on the chariot, and life was different. But was…
Continue ReadingA Fair and Glorious Morning {All Is Grace, Part 3}
It was not a morning I’d usually choose to rise early. It had been a hectic weekend, helping my friend, Sarah, with two performances keeping us up late into Friday and Saturday night, and then all the clean up of the rented theater on Sunday. This was Monday, the last day of my ‘vacation’ and…
Continue ReadingI, Pharisee {All Is Grace, Part 2}
The second post in the series, All Is Grace. Don’t miss part 1, “Another Heart Tale”. By the time I was 21, my home business was making me enough profit that I began flying from NY to NC to visit my dear friend, Sarah, each spring for her annual Drama and Dance production. I would…
Continue ReadingAnother Heart Tale {All Is Grace, Part 1}
I had every intention to devote my writing time this summer to completing the story of how I met and married my husband. Ya’ll have been begging for me to finish that cliff hanger, and I certainly desire to do so—it’s been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve written. (I’ve even mapped out all…
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10 Favorite Things That Help Me Love Being Pregnant
I teared up the other night when I said to Jeremy, “I love being pregnant!” You could chalk it up to pregnancy hormones, that I’m willing to cry about a simple statement like that, but it really is significant to me that I have enjoyed this pregnancy. My other 3 pregnancies had me feeling so…
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Adventures with kids
My friend, Everly, posted this fb status the other day… “Dear Children’s Literature: you can have parents and adventures at the same time. #enoughwiththeorphans” I had to laugh, because she’s right. So many of the fun adventure books I read as a child were about orphans. Is it because it’s just more convenient to knock…
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Easy Picnic Food {Portable Pizzas!}
What do you get when you cross cinnamon rolls with pizza? A craveable, hand-held treat we call “Pepperoni Rolls” or “Portable Pizza”. I threw these together in 20 min. (plus baking) the other day when I had to bring a snack somewhere on short notice. It reminded me how easy they were, which, in turn,…
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My Cloth Diaper Confession
I have a confession to make: I don’t cloth diaper. (The above photo of Seth in a cloth diaper was faked for his baby photo shoot!) That usually comes as a surprise to people because I do a lot of other crunchy mamma things like drinking raw milk, cleaning my teeth with oil, and home…
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A Busy Mom’s Favorite Hairstyle {And another Embracing Beauty Link Up!}
This is me the day after my birthday this year: I was all excited about my new hair cut, so I went hog-wild with some smartphone selfies. I love the layers my hair dresser had given me, and all the body she’d worked into my hair when she styled it. Problem. What she did to…
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