What Lane Are You Living In?
I live in the Atlanta area and I am sure that most of you have heard of our traffic nightmares and the different roads here. We have a few highways that we joke about referring to “speed limits” or the lack thereof. I will explain how one of them are and that highway is 400. You have several lanes including the shoulder during rush hour. Rush hour is all day of course and not one span of hours in particular. Anyhow I digress. The far left lane is the “Bat Out Of Hell Super Speeder” lane as I like to call it. I am sure there is a speed limit…
The Parable of the Dragonfly
My husband’s aunt passed away last week and while the service was short it was profound. There is a parable that is read at all of his family’s funerals and this one touched my life! I will comment more at the end: The Parable of the Dragonfly THE DRAGONFLY Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that every once in awhile one of their colony seemed to lose…
The Summer My Gen Alpha Got To Experience Summer As A Gen X’er!
I was truly nervous this year as the pandemic virtually shut down any summer vacation plans for our family. My little one is three and we had “big plans” that included a trip overseas. That all came to a screeching halt in March however due to COVID and lock-downs. I literally panicked as what in the world is going to keep my little one busy all summer with no friends, no travel, nothing! I had to take a deep breath and think back to my childhood. There were no big trips and elaborate vacations. My summers were full of riding our bikes until the street lights came on. Playing in…
Has Quarantine Life Changed Us And The Way We Behave Toward Others?
Okay hear me out for a minute. I live in the South and we are known for “Southern Hospitality”, but I fear the virus has changed us and I hope we can get back to the way we were. We went to Blue Ridge, Georgia this weekend and while it is normally the sweetest little southern town you would ever, it has turned ugly. People are just, different. I know we are fearful of catching a virus that we still don’t know a ton about and what we do know changes daily, but when did we stop being polite or hospitable to each other? I wear a mask so I…
Savannah Bucket List & Why You Should Add It To Your List!
I now have a new Top 5 towns that I love, Savannah! We only spent a day and a half but it was amazing! My first major was Marine Biology but History was also a love and history was what we were immersed in this trip. We stayed at a quaint Inn and while it wasn’t the perfect stay, it was beautiful. So why should you add Savannah to your bucket list? Savannah’s Squares! There are 22 total and all are unique and tell a story. They are like small parks that stay green year round. We walked 19 of the 22 and wow we were tired! You will see…
A Weekend In Hendersonville NC
In December we decided to do a weekend trip sans toddler to Hendersonville, NC. Hendersonville is a city just outside of Asheville. Hendersonville is a quaint little town (okay second largest in Western Carolina) and has officially made it to the list of my Top 10 towns I love! We stayed at The Charleston Inn, an adorable B&B, within walking distance of town. We were visiting The Biltmore for the candlelight Christmas tour, but wanted to be further away from Asheville. Don’t get me wrong I love Asheville with all my soul, but the change of scenery was needed. After our 3 hour drive to get to Hendersonville we stopped…
Why I Won’t Have A Conversation About Race With My 3 Year Old
The other morning I was curious if my three year old would even understand the color of skin. I asked him what color are you? He responded blue. I asked him what color is Miss Karen? He said pink. I then asked him what color is Miss Betty? He said purple. One person in the mix is black and after asking him again the color of skin and pointing out that one was black, he said no she isn’t she is purple and was very adamant about it. I asked him again later in the day the same question and he responded with the exact colors as earlier. I pulled…
What Is Your Balance In Your Emotional Bank Account?
What Is Your Balance In Your Emotional Bank Account? Sounds like an odd question but if you think about it for a minute, what a great metaphor. Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, uses the metaphor of an ‘Emotional Bank Account’ to measure the amount of trust that accumulates in a relationship.1 We all make deposits and withdrawals to this “account” on an ongoing basis. Deposits get added when you do things that are trustworthy or demonstrate care. Withdraws occur when we act in a manner that has people less willing to risk psychological safety by doing things such as being disrespectful, dismissive or dishonest. …
Signs Of A Healthy Relationship & What ISN’T
What Are the Differences Between Healthy and Unhealthy Love? I found this from one of my Facebook notes 12 years ago and guess what? It still holds true! I instill these into my nieces and nephews, the difference between Healthy & Unhealthy Love and what warning signs to look out for. We have all been guilty of staying in an unhealthy relationship a time or two but if I can teach them young, maybe they won’t make the same mistakes. Healthy vs. Unhealthy Love… Healthy: Your focus on yourself and being happy is your first priority. Unhealthy: You are obsessed with your relationship. Healthy: You maintain your own identity, separate…
Depression, Not A Dirty Little Secret
The other night during the Grammy’s, Demi Lovato was up to sing and had to restart the song because emotions took over. The song that she was performing, Anyone, was written 4 days prior to her overdose in 2018. A comment was made, “I don’t understand why they have to keep talking about it. Can’t we just let it go already?”, and this struck a nerve. My comment back was, “Depression is not discriminatory. It can take hold of the rich, poor, famous, black, white, young and old. It can be expressed in many forms and we definitely need to keep talking about it”. The lyrics in Demi’s song were…
