I'm just trying to walk myself home.
#CarveAHeart As a little something different this year, Simon and I carved hearts into our pumpkins in partnership with World Vision. Because Halloween is a night of “scary fun,” for my kiddos, it’s an easy time to talk about what it’s like for children all over the world to be in fear. Simon is really …
An Epic Climb in Northwest Scotland: Suilvan Epic climb days always start early and end late. We started walking in low autumn light towards the hulking shadow rising in the distance. Our goal was before us. I love walking behind my boys. And their friends. We made this climb during October holidays with another …
So I’ve been attending this international gathering of women this fall and one week we all brought food from our countries to share. Of course Italy totally wins at All Things Food. A gal from Italy brought a cookie that is meant to appear like salami but is actually chocolate. I knew immediately that I …
Last week we drove further north in the country of Scotland than we ever have before. Past Ullapool and all the way up to Clashnessie Bay. The bay is a little further north than the sleepy village of Lochinver. We drove miles and miles on tiny roads without seeing any other cars. It was eerily …
The first time I ever entered an ethnic foods store was with my mother-in-law. We pulled up to a small shop in a strip mall I had been to several times, but I’d never before noticed the unassuming “Indian Grocer” placard among the other larger shop signs. Accosted by strange smells upon entering, I followed my mother-in-law …
Scotland in September started out in the sunshine. I had a visit from a very dear friend. Kelly and I have been friends since we were in elementary school and she has visited me everywhere I have ever lived. She is the sort of friend with whom you can pick up like you have never …
I will forever remember it as one of the loveliest walks of our entire time in Scotland. It was Taido’s birthday weekend and we talked Ben and Simon into getting out for a longer day so we drove a little further than usual (over an hour) and hiked a little further than usual (over 10 …
Hi friends, Happy October to You! We’ve had a gorgeous month full of walks that I’ll be highlighting in photos next week, but now that it’s the weekend, I’m baking pumpkin bread and listening to the Pitch Perfect soundtrack on repeat. Here are a few links I’m loving lately: A highlight of this month was …
The first year we were in Scotland I was a little puzzled to discover that the schools have a two week holiday in October. It seems like a strange time of year to be out of school and the weather is often less than ideal. But now we have embraced this yearly hold over from …
Blackberries are growing everywhere in Aberdeen right now, and it’s slowing my walks way down that I have trouble walking past blackberry bushes without stopping. I’ve snagged all my sweaters on these dangling vines, and tights are out of the question entirely. Some days I carry a bucket and fill it up so I can …
Hi friends, A couple of weeks ago we sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing in church, a song which I have long loved. It has always been my sister’s favorite hymn, and lately it is Mary Polly’s as well. The phrase “prone to wander” always grabs me, but this time around I held to …
Recently, a fellow writer suggested that I try to dig at the root of what has made me a traveler. Where did I get my love of the outdoors? How did I become a wanderer? As I have explored these questions through scribbles in notebooks and looked for answers to why I mark the calendar months by …
Just popping in today with a little poster of a verse I painted to send to Cole at camp this week. I mentioned last Friday that Ephesians 3:20 is the verse I’m praying for our family and for our world right now, and I always find it helpful to have a little visual reminder. You can download …
Chasing Daylight in August: Cruden Bay in the Rain Friday night, 11 pm The chance for rain had gone up to 90%. Taido had been checking the weather hourly all evening, watching the increase from a 10% chance to “almost certainly it’s going to rain.” Now he was feeling uncertain about our plans for a …
This time of year always feels more like New Year’s to me than January 1st. I think it has to do with how many new beginnings happen around the end of August and beginning of September. We’ve had a lot of those in the last month. I dropped Cole off at a camp in the Highlands …
Happy September, y’all! I wrote “Birthday Walk” on my challenge this month because in addition to the fact that it is my birthday month, September is a month I celebrate the births of many people that I love a lot, including my mama, my hubs, my sis-in-law and some sweet friends. The weather turned cold here last …
I received an email from a reader referencing an old post I wrote about hearing Brene Brown talk about fear. I wrote it when I was getting ready to move overseas and I was feeling very afraid. It was so good for me to re-read it that I decided to paint these words again to …
THE WAY: Summary Of Writing From Sarria to Santiago Friends, thank you so much for walking this pilgrimage with me! It has been a joy to share the adventure with you. I’ve enjoyed writing about our time on the Camino. For me, it’s like re-living the beautiful days on the trail to write about them. …
On the Camino de Santiago, lots of folks head off to a place called Finisterre after reaching Santiago. There is a tradition of going to the sea to unburden yourself of your belongings. It’s a second and more final ending to your journey. But we really just wanted a day by the sea. So when …
I’m reaching the end of my stories and snippets from the Camino de Santiago, and I feel similar to how I felt about finishing the journey in June. A little sad. The treasure in blogging is that I get to relive the memories as I tell the stories. And the princesses have relived them with me. …