I'm just trying to walk myself home.
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson is a thrilling, stay-up-until-you-can-not-hold-your-eyes-open tale of a young boy who is searching for meaning (and just trying to stay alive) in the most repressive nation of our time. Set in modern day North Korea, The Orphan Master’s Son reads like a futuristic George Orwell novel. I kept …
I love new beginnings of almost any sort, which is part of why I am excited about starting Month 2 of Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. This month’s area of excess is clothing. Of course I am also giddy about having had a cup of coffee this morning, and it feels like the whole …
I mentioned briefly last week that we visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. When you walk up to the museum, almost the first thing you see is this balcony where Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. Inside the museum we watched a film about Martin Luther …
If you are planning a Mediterranean Cruise in the near future, you should know, The Port of Dubrovnik, Croatia is worth the price of your entire cruise. So make sure it’s on your ports of call when you book. Settled on the Adriatic Sea coast of Croatia, this little gem of a port …
Since we saw the pandas at the Memphis Zoo on Sunday, we’ve been reading this Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle treasure, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? I love all the books in this series, but this one uses all endangered animals, so it is a great learning tool. The way these books progress …
This potato kale soup with Italian sausage is a standby at our house for years since a friendly neighbor gave me the recipe. The kids request it if it’s been several weeks since it’s been on the table. It mimics Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, but they also add bacon to their soup. I added the …
The kids had some extra days off for Presidents’ Day, so my mom and I threw the boys in the car and took off for a weekend in Memphis. We left early Saturday morning and drove straight to the National Civil Rights Museum.The main building of this museum is closed for renovations until January 2014, …
At the recommendation of a favorite teacher, I picked up A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park for the kids at the library. It is based on the true story of one of the lost boys of Sudan, who leaves his village during an attack. He is separated from his family and left …
In January I joined up with a fellow blogger who was hosting a read-along of Bonhoeffer’s biography by Eric Metaxas with the understanding that we would post our thoughts on the first half of this book today and then do the same for the second half of the book on March 15. I’m so grateful …
A few weeks ago for Martin Luther King Jr Day, we watched the movie, Ruby Bridges. It is such a wonderful movie. Mary Polly first saw it in elementary school and so we checked it out at the library and watched it as a family after she told us about it. Simon was a baby …
Today is Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. The wait for spring. For Resurrection. This treasure of a book, Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, has been my Lenten companion for several years now. It is a collection of essays by all different writers. It opens with this beautiful quote from Graham Greene: …
I am continuing a series of posts about a Mediterranean Cruise I took with my thirteen year old daughter in the fall of 2012. Today I am talking about The Lovely Port of Olbia, Sardinia, Italy Olbia is on the northeastern side of the island of Sardinia. There are several lovely beaches there, or so …
Month 1 of Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess So, you may remember that in back in the fall, I read Jen Hatmaker’s book Seven. I mentioned then that a group of us would be tackling a similar project in 2013. Well here it is. We are a week into Month 1 which is FOOD. …
A Visit to K. Hall and Sons Produce Market for Shrimp Boil Saturday Our friend, Josh, has been telling us for a while that we needed to come visit him and his family and take a walk up the street to this local produce market where they have a shrimp and crab legs boil every …
I have found the most wonderful recipe for Crockpot Jumbalaya. I have used it now three times, because it is so easy. You throw everything in the crockpot in the morning, including the raw chicken and dinner is ready when you walk in the door in the afternoon. How easy is that? I served …
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen was our latest evening read aloud at the Chino House. An old favorite, this book won the Newberry medal in 1957. It is a precious story of a family who returns to the mother’s ancestral home in the country when the father has trouble re-entering life after being …
I am continuing a series of posts about a Mediterranean Cruise I took with my thirteen year old daughter in the fall of 2012. Today I am talking about our One Glorious Day in Rome! (The Port of Citvitavecchia) First stop in Rome, The Colosseum. Pulling up to the Colosseum was one of those surreal …
Arkansas Hiking Trails: Tollantusky Trail A couple of weekends ago we were looking for a day hike close to home and we stumbled upon the Tollantusky Trail near Conway, Arkansas. The trailhead is at the Cadron Settlement Park, which is located on AR-319 W off of Highway 64. This park is also home to restored …
I finally finished The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson last week and I cannot recommend it highly enough. The Great Migration is such an important (and much overlooked) part of American history. So many individual stories of leaving gathered together into a movement that changed America. Isabel Wilkerson has taken apart the movement …
I have posted this wonderful recipe before but it just seems like the most perfect appetizer to make for your Super Bowl weekend, unless of course, it does not fall on the list of seven foods you are eating for the month of February. If you need an entire menu for your Super Bowl …