life lessons
a cozy friendsgiving
Few things make my heart swell more with gratitude than when people I love gather around our table, especially when it is glowing with beeswax candles rolled by our children and smothered with fresh greenery
small beginnings
When we bought our first home so many years ago, I thought of home and garden design in terms of magazine spreads–things and furniture and plant life neatly arranged in exactly the right place, constant,
learning patience
There’s a large hole in the window screen just over our kitchen sink. Inside it, two tiny wrens are building their nest, their secret. All day, they pop in and out of that hole, one
on change
I have always considered myself a lover of change. A new soap scent, a different routine, a fresh arrangement of furniture in a room. Those are the fun changes, the ones I initiate to give fresh experience to something that
white paint.
Our current home–the one my sister and brother-in-law willingly shared with us these last 10 months, the one we’ll be leaving next week–is currently littered with unfolded clothing and boxes, like a war zone. We’ve
on limitations and thanksgiving
As a parent, some days seem impossible. My children whine and bicker with one another and with me, refusing generosity and kind words for that ubiquitous I-my-me. They grumble about their work and wish their day
farewell 2013
In 2013, I slept in a tepee; climbed trees; listened to a million jokes rehearsed from joke books; dangled my feet from the Grand Canyon; learned how to persevere with joy; began a photo collaboration
relief
I’m in the kitchen and can hear the tears. I follow their sounds and find Olive crumpled at the feet of the stairs, folded into her arms sobbing. I sit down beside her knowing these
a brief mid-day hike
I noticed my shirt was inside out while brushing my teeth the other day and realized this is how life feels right now: the same shape and design only with all the frayed threads exposed.