“In every encounter we either give life or we drain it; there is no neutral exchange.” – Brennan Manning I saw this article from Becoming Minimalist (link here) on facebook and absolutely loved it. These are little things, such small gestures, but imagine what would happen if we incorporated each of these into our interactions with others? The…
Category: photos
It’s Been Awhile
“Enjoy the little things in life for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” – Kurt Vonnegut So I’ve been on a little blog walkabout for the last month or so. The absence has not been intentional; time has just gotten away from me. But the days have not been…
Commercial-free and Everyone Wins
Last weekend might have been Super Bowl Sunday, but it also marked the beginning of the Botanical Garden’s annual Orchid Show — which is my Super Bowl. Overall, orchids are thought to symbolize love, beauty, fertility, refinement, thoughtfulness and charm. But meaning can also be found in individual colors. Orange: Enthusiasm, boldness, and pride Purple:…
Goals
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know my longtime employer is Catholic, sponsored by an order of nuns. Over the years, their numbers have dwindled, both in our facilities and within the order itself. With uncomfortable regularity, a death announcement for yet another Sister will appear on our intranet news section. It…
Better Than Therapy
So normally I wait until the end of the year to complete my annual “Day in the Life” challenge. In fact, I just did mine for 2017 just last month. But this weekend brought with it a work trip that had me feeling pretty anxious. Since this photo exercise tends to keep me focused on the…
Don’t Mind If I Do
I mean, even my yogurt insists that I do it. (With or without yoplait’s permission) I always, always keep at least one fresh bouquet of flowers somewhere in the house. Few things bring me so much joy for so little.
Love is an Action Word
Have you ever noticed how, every now and then, certain thoughts get planted in our minds and then the world around us seems to reinforce that thought? Personally, I like to think this happens because it’s a divine lesson or message. Lately I’ve had the phrase “love is an action word” pop into my head…
Blessedful
“blessed-ful (adj.) Sacred, holy; blessed, blissful” – Middle English Dictionary Earlier this week, I had a woman tell me to have a “blessedful” day. Now that’s something I’d never heard from a well-wisher before. I honestly thought she’d made the word up. But I looked it up and found the above description in the Middle…
Distracted Runner: Frozen Edition
“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels.” Running lately has been cold. No way around it. But there are two choices: retreat to the gym’s treadmill or work with Old Man Winter. I’ve done the latter, and he seems to appreciate it. And a lot of folks in the community…
And So It Begins
“Keep the lessons. Treasure the love and laughs. Ditch the stuff that doesn’t serve you. Embrace the adventures yet to come.” – Nanea Hoffman, Sweatpants & Coffee First adventure of 2018: Lone Elk County Park. Which is the only acceptable outdoor adventure when it is eight degrees outside because you’re not allowed to get out…
So Much More
“When you start to feel like things should have been better this year, remember the mountains and the valleys that got you here. They are not accidents and those moments weren’t in vain. You are not the same. You have grown and you are growing. You are breathing, you are living. You are wrapped in…
Let’s Go.
“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” — Hal Borland , author It’s freezing outside and I’m happily hunkered down at home, creating my favorite annual post: the year in review. It’s always been amazing to me that even…
Colors of Winter
“The color of springtime is flowers; the color of winter is in our imagination.” – Terri Guillemets, author Today I decided to follow the herd of bird nerds and make a quick road trip to the migratory bird sanctuary in Alton, Illinois. A young snowy owl recently made a rare appearance, so I wanted to see…
Inside the Garden
In the middle of another snowy day, I took my Little Sister to the Botanical Garden to check out the happenings in the Climatron, etc. The massive train display is still up and active…and even though we’re post-holiday, it is still magical. Large and small, everyone was mesmerized by these miniature worlds. Of course everything…
Winter Story
“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” – Andrew Wyeth Our first snow of the year arrived just in time for Christmas. It was – and continues to be…
It’s the Most Wonderful Time…
…of the deer. I thought the deer at Laumeier Sculpture Park needed a little holiday inspiration. There. That’s better.
Little Miracle
“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein This morning, I found that my paper whites are in full bloom. I bought this as a bulb not too long ago for $3.99 at Trader Joe’s…
Unplanned Stop and Lessons Learned
This morning, I had a small window of time between mass and work in which I’d originally planned on picking up breakfast, enjoying a chai latte, and making a leisurely drive to the office. But the early morning sun rising over a nearby lake made for an unplanned stop along the way. It was a bitter…
Lost Panda
Lost toy. Lost panda toy. Are you kidding me?? This commercial made me cry like a toddler. But then get a load of this. As fate and weirdness would have it, check out what I noticed in the front yard of a nearby new home construction site. Some adorable little girl better be on her…
Devil’s Lake
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang, writer Default to masculine pronouns notwithstanding, I am so feeling this quote. As I happily sank into my living room couch this morning, I realized that, between connections, personal trips,…
Day in the Life
These seemingly random photos are actually related. They complete my fifth annual “day in a life” photo project. (First project link here; second project link here; third project here and fourth project here). From the time I got up to the end of the day, I took one photo an hour (when it was possible) to document details of a…
Aaaaand….
We didn’t even make it to Thanksgiving this year. Every year since 2011, during my holiday shopping I’ve found… Smushed Santas… …squashed teddy bears… …gutted snowmen… …pushed-in nutcrackers… …pinched teddy bear heads… …and punctured teddy bear heads. And now, may I introduce the 2017 inductee into the Mutilated Christmas Chocolate Collection: Pushed-in Snowman! I spotted…
Cup of Gratitude
“When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty, my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup.” Now that both of my kids are living in different states and have obligations there, the holidays just became a little more complicated. My youngest couldn’t make it home due to his work and…
hey there, friends 