What have I to prove, and to whom, and why? I am keen enough to want nothing more than to live a simple, humble, unfettered life.” — Donna Lynn Hope I’ve spent a lot of time thinking that my life hasn’t amounted to much. I never got the advanced degree…

It was not what I expected — In 2001, I met a man that my heart instantly recognized as the man I had been looking for my whole life. I was interviewing him for an article I was writing. He was the trails manager at a prestigious public garden. When I walked down the path to his…

We upsized when the advice said we should be downsizing — When I stand in my kitchen and look across my big dining room table and out the window to the woods that surround the house, a great sense of well-being comes over me. When we have company and seat 8 people at that dining room table, with room to spare…

Practicing joy as an act of rebellion — Joy imagines the world in which we want to live. — Christy Tending Recently I was in my kitchen stirring together the batter for a batch of spicy pumpkin muffins, the quintessential fall treat. There was good music playing, the sun was streaming in the windows, and I was using…

Or at least hate it less — If you are in the Northern hemisphere, winter will soon be upon you. Winter is a difficult time for many people. The cold; the dreary days of rain or snow; the lack of light; the colds and flu; being cooped up indoors — these are all things that can make…

It’s more than decluttering; it’s making spaces that spark joy — Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that minimalism is having a moment. It’s become very trendy to get rid of most of your possessions and live with as little as you can get by with. The reasoning is that you will have less stress and more time…

My week in photos — Monday, October 30 I started this week with a cold. This slowed me down from the busyness of the past few months, as we have been in the throes of moving and settling into our new home. While I was not sick enough to be in bed, I was forced to sit and…

I’m enjoying having a cold because I have permission to rest — We have recently moved and we have been busy from dawn to dusk for four months now. We are still not completely settled and I feel like we won’t be for several more months. That’s why when I started getting a sore throat I thought, “Oh no! I don’t have…

A week in photos — October is my favorite month. Nothing sends my soul to the heights that fall color can, and this year has been especially glorious since we are spending our first autumn living here in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. I have taken so many pictures it was hard to…