The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh, yes, you did laugh.” Genesis 18: 13-15 It started a few months ago with Mother’s Day dinner. Restaurants weren’t back open yet and we were ordering takeout so I wouldn’t have to cook. We called a couple of places and it was a no-can-do. Either they were completely backed up or just not open altogether.  ..read more

People say it all the time. The days are long but the years are short. I barely remember the day to day when my girls were babies, but I remember clawing my way through some of those days, surviving by telling myself that other mothers have been doing this for years, and if they could do it, I could too. I’ve never been the most maternal person by nature. I tend to be fast paced, career-driven, impatient, and a little self-centered, but never more-so than before I had kids. Before kids life was all about how much I could accomplish in a 24-hour period, whether it be work, exercise, projects ..read more

I can remember times in my much younger life when friends were everything. In college especially, they were basically family. You lived together, traveled together (and survived the night at many a cringe-worthy motel that would make your mama want to come through the phone and smack you), and kind of learned how to cook together. They saw you through bad hair and even worse boyfriends. From holding your hair at 2 a.m. in a dimly lit bathroom to holding your place in line in the dining hall, these girls had your back. You’d do anything for them, and they for you. Friendships like these stand ..read more

When filling out a form a few weeks ago I was presented with several choices to check for the age bracket: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 – you get the idea. Y’all – it just struck me the wrong way. You can’t put me in that box! I really identify more with the first two boxes. Is there an essay portion where I can explain why I will not be checking that third box? As one of my co-workers always says, it doesn’t matter how old you are as long as you are “on this side of the green grass”, but after turning forty a few months ago this was the first time I was slapped in the face with th ..read more

There are all kinds of food moms out there. Non-GMO moms, potato chips crunched up on the high chair tray moms, we-only-drink-water moms, and moms that toss a can of soda into the lunch box. There are moms who prepare every meal from scratch and others who who are on a first name basis with the Chick Fil A drive through representative. We all mom it up in different ways. But if there is one parcel of common ground remaining in the mommy wars, it is that we are all in a constant state of food deployment for our children. I firmly believe the that approximately 95 percent of parenting is keepin ..read more

When I was in 4th grade I got an unexpected Valentine’s Day present. A boy in my class that I didn’t know so well realized that I was a fan of the Atlanta Braves. When everyone was going around the room, depositing pre-made cards from RichWay  into paper-covered shoeboxes, he dropped a tissue-wrapped package on my desk. It was filled with an assortment of baseball cards.  My face felt hot and I started to sweat. I asked to be excused to go to the restroom, where I panicked and dumped the package of baseball cards in the trash can. What if someone saw me with the cards? What if kids ..read more

We’ve all been talking a good bit lately about females supporting one another and lifting one another up. It all sounds really good. It all is really good. But there is one component to this conversation that I feel is being missed: Sometimes this can be really hard, too, especially when you don’t feel like you have much to be celebrating and eveyone else does. Things have gotten a lot more competitive these days. Not too terribly long ago keeping up with the Joneses (er, Ms. Jones) was confined to a few choice arenas: job, sports, and garage size. And now? Competition (and some of ..read more

In my house, we have a running joke about the Peaks Island Sweat Pants. Almost nine years ago my sister got married on Peaks Island in Maine. It was late June, so I packed pretty much Lilly Pulitzer dresses and bathing suits. When we got there it was freezing, so I purchased a pair of harmless wide-leg gray sweatpants with a navy logo on the hip. I wore those things every day of the trip and would have probably put them under my bridemaid’s dress if my sister would have let me. I still have those sweatpants. They only materialize about six times a year (when I’m Sick, Sad, or need Serious Sol ..read more

Regardless of your stance on whether Lowe’s jumps the gun by having Christmas decorations out before Halloween or whether Christmas music should or should not be played before Thanksgiving, I’d venture to say that just a few of us may be fibbing if we say that the holiday season does not create just a bit of stress (or even melancholy) in us for one reason or another. I mean, we’ve all seen the “Too Blessed To Be Stressed” sentiments here and there,  but truth be told flipping the phrase to “So Blessed That I’m Stressed” seems to be the order of the day, at least for me.  It’s kind ..read more

As celebrity personalities and bloggers go, I think The Pioneer Woman is my favorite. Along with Lysa Terkeurst. And Joanna Gaines. There are so many inspirational women out there who help us think, pray, decorate and even cook with a new joie de vivre. I will turn on Pioneer Woman for inspiration while I am cooking regardless of whether or not we are cooking the same thing. She could be making Cowboy Quiche and I could be making chicken salad (or even microwaving a plastic container of frozen macaroni and cheese) but we are somehow in this together. I really do love cooking new things. Truth ..read more