I'm just trying to walk myself home.
Christmas Markets in Southern Germany I have to say that being in Germany for the Christmas season has been a delight to the senses. We did not travel far and wide to get to Christmas markets this year, but we thoroughly enjoyed the ones in Tübingen and the surrounding area. What I loved about attending …
A Letter to My 15 Year Old Son Who Traveled With Me To Lake Constance Dear Ben, I am sorry that I give you such a hard time for cracking eggs all over the counter in the kitchen. And for throwing your clothes on the floor. And your backpack. And your shoes. I am sorry …
November 15, 2016 Dear Grace, Emily, Wilson, Campbell and Phineas, Now that it’s been a few months since we all went camping together in Colorado, I have almost forgotten about the rain and the mosquitos. I almost don’t remember the days of washing and drying a gajillion wet tents and sleeping bags that had mildewed …
This month has been a doozy y’all. If you’re like me, maybe you just want to throw up your hands or crawl under the covers because everything is so overwhelming. I have to keep alternating between getting outside and getting on my knees. And I have to remember that these words from Ann Voskamp are as true …
A Letter to My Friend Sarabeth about Advent Traditions and Celebrating Christmas in 2016 November 23, 2016 Dear Sarabeth, When you texted me yesterday to ask me for ideas about Advent, I was in the middle of crying through the end of Ta-Nehisi Coate’s book Between the World and Me. I was sitting and wishing …
A Letter to My Son After He Left Home at 18 March 2016 Oh Cole, It’s been exactly a month since you got on a plane and flew back to America, with all my worries and fears as well as my hopes and dreams. Today I got to talk to you for the first time. …
Dear Anna, Well, I had all these letters ready to go on my website last week and then the election happened. And then I tried to write a post about the election and it was a train wreck. It’s just been one of those weeks where instead of putting things on the internet and adding …
In this day and age of email and texting, it is a rare but delightful occurrence to open your mailbox and find a handwritten letter waiting for you. In this last year especially, I have rediscovered the joy of writing letters. I’ve been sending lots more letters. I mentioned briefly last week that I am …
Happy Fall Y’all. The leaves are seriously gorgeous right now. I can’t get anywhere for how much I stop to look at them. All the colors. I started attending yoga this week, a practice I have severely let go lately (apart from 10-15 minutes of child’s pose on my mat at home), and I’m so …
Lichtenstein Castle (German: Schloss Lichtenstein), also known as the “Fairy tale castle of Württemberg,” is an 1840s Biedermeier style Gothic Revival castle built on a large rock near Honau, Reutlingen, in the Swabian Jura situated in the Tüblingen region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. -wikipedia We set out from our flat in Tübingen on a recent Saturday to hike to Lichtenstein Castle. After taking a bus and a train to the nearby town …
We have been in our new home in Tübingen, Germany for over a month now. And I have to say that I have struggled to put together this first post from Germany, because I want to strike a balance between the two extremes of HELLO GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF OUR NEW HOME TOWN and HEY WE …
When you have lived somewhere for three years and you invite your friends along on what is to be your Final Walk In Scotland, apparently people feel obligated to come. Or maybe they just don’t want to miss a final opportunity to climb a munro with you. Or maybe lots of folks want to make …
When Janner hefted his pack over one shoulder and heard the familiar leathery creak and saw the dark, smooth spot on one strap where he had a habit of resting his hand, he smiled. He felt a quiet pride about the road he had traveled with this old pack–from Glipwood Forest, over Miller’s Bridge, past …
We’ll have to get up early. We’ll need to leave by 6am, but I’m pretty sure we can do it all in one day. It will take us over three hours to drive there, somewhere between 5 and 7 hours to climb it, and then three hours to drive back home. Plus I think we should …
Bow Fiddle Rock, Cullen, Scotland On my first Sunday in church in Scotland, a gal introduced herself to me and gave me her number. She said I could call her for coffee sometime. But I didn’t call her. For all kinds of reasons. I was in a state of total overwhelm. I thought she was just being …
Persley Walled Garden + River Don = 87.5% of My Aberdeen Life Near daily I have walked along the River Don. It is the path to school. The path to town. The path to Tesco. On long summer evenings I walk it after dinner and watch the sky change colors. I know I will breathe …
A Walk from Aboyne, Scotland A light drizzle was falling on us as we made the drive to Aboyne, Scotland. It was a Saturday morning in March. Nearly Easter. We were headed to meet our friends Patrick and Nicola for a walk with our kids and theirs. Soon we were standing around in the car …
Beware of feeling entitled to my good gifts. Receive blessings from me thankfully, yet be willing to release them back to be — without growing resentful. When I read these words, out of Sarah Young’s Jesus Today this week I realized that I was holding onto the good gifts of my summer. When I arrived in Arkansas in …
We are baaaaack! After a summer of sizzling hot days, sodas as big as our faces, daily trips to the pool and more fun than was probably good for us, we packed up our bags and flew back to Scotland. But we won’t be here for long. We’re on the move again in less than …
Oh Manarola, Italy. How do I love thee. Let me count the ways. So, I know I wrote about the end of our trip to Italy last week, but I have one more post because I really like to save the best for last. And maybe it is just because we stayed there and we …