Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I didn’t know a lot of people who went on Caribbean cruises but when I moved to the Houston area it seemed like everyone “cruised.” I added “Take Alaskan Cruise” to my bucket list. I suggested to two friends and their husbands that we should cruise to Alaska for our 5thwedding anniversaries. I suggested an anniversary trip because I thought it was more likely to happen then just saying, “Let’s go for no reason.” Everyone was in. Then reality hit. At Keep Reading...
What Does This Look Like? 2.0
Do you know what this is? If you said, “It’s an onion-potato keeper thing my parents/grandparents have under their sink or in their pantry,” you would be right – and wrong. This is what friendship looks like. After high school graduation, I planned to attend a university about 2000 miles away from my home in Idaho. Many of my friends chose to stay nearby for college and most lived at home so my move was out of the ordinary. I was planning to live in an apartment far from home with a Keep Reading...
A Few of My Favorite Things – And I Think They’ll Become Yours Too – #5 Melanie Brown
(If you were here the past two weeks, skip a few paragraphs to those squiggly lines and meet my friend. Otherwise, read on.) Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. I grew up singing those words along with Julie Andrews but now I have my own list of favorite things. To those who read my words and follow my blog, I’m going to do something different and new. The next few weeks, are going to be hectic for me and I am going to be working on Keep Reading...
A Few of My Favorite Things – And I Think They’ll Become Yours Too – #3 Journey Onward
(If you were here the past two weeks, skip a few paragraphs to those squiggly lines and meet my friend. Otherwise, read on.) Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. I grew up singing those words along with Julie Andrews but now I have my own list of favorite things. To those who read my words and follow my blog, I’m going to do something different and new. The next few weeks, are going to be hectic for me and I am going to be working on Keep Reading...
A Few of My Favorite Things – And I Think They’ll Become Yours Too – #2 The Warrior SHE
(If you were here last week, skip a few paragraphs and meet my friend. Otherwise, read on.) Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. I grew up singing those words along with Julie Andrews but now I have my own list of favorite things. To those who read my words and follow my blog, I’m going to do something different and new. The next few weeks, are going to be hectic for me and I am going to be working on some new writing projects so I’m Keep Reading...
A Few of My Favorite Things – And I Think They’ll Become Yours Too
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. I grew up singing those words along with Julie Andrews but now I have my own list of favorite things. To those who read my words and follow my blog, I’m going to do something different and new. The next few weeks, are going to be hectic for me and I am going to be working on some new writing projects so I’m going to step away from blogging for a few weeks. During my time away, I’m going to share a few Keep Reading...
Floods and Friendships
Last week Houston, Texas flooded. Again. Highways were shut down and people were stranded. I watched the news reports and remembered another time Houston flooded... A ringing phone awakened me early one Saturday morning. I rolled over and answered in a sleepy fog. “Hello.” “Is this Shelly?” a voice with an accent asked me. “Yes,” I replied with a bit of a question in my voice because I did not recognize the voice. “Do you know Marilyn? Or Margaret? No, that’s not right. Keep Reading...
Brusher of the Month ~ Yep, That Was Me!
After dropping my girls off for school, I turned the corner in my neighborhood and was met with a picture of me. Not a good picture of me. But a blown up, bigger than life picture of me as “Brusher of the Month.” Me. As an awkward teenager. With braces on my teeth! Someone was going to die! How is it that my high school brace face picture ended up – blown up - on a traffic caution barricade at the end of a busy street in a busy neighborhood? Friendship. That is Keep Reading...
Cheer Squad
One of my daughters recently finished a long month of “musical.” She had practices every night after school until 8:00 or 9:00pm. Then she had four days of performing the show. Lots of emotions at the end as it was the last time most would perform together and they were a “family.” I tried to cheer my daughter. My husband came home from a long week of travel. Several issues were pressing on him and weighing him down. I tried to cheer him. Two family members. One a teenager. One a Keep Reading...
Mr. Magoo
Pio came into my family’s life when he befriended my brother while they were in medical school. He grew up in the Philippines but came to America to go to medical school and since his family was so far away, our family took him in as one of our own – including him in our family celebrations and holidays. Before I tell you a story about Pio, I need to let you know that everyone was okay. So feel free to chuckle as you envision the scene… Pio was driving his car down a highway and saw a car Keep Reading...