A Day for Love

I feel about Valentine's Day the way people say we should feel about Christmas, but that one feels a little more vague to me.

Anyway, what I mean is that I try to not save up my love for this special day. Don't get me wrong. I love to go out to dinner with my special someone. This is our 15th Valentine's Day together, by the way. I'm quite sure I gave it a whole lot more thought when there might be a little romantic surprise in my locker or something.

But, as a grownup, I don't think I'm better at expressing my love for him or anyone else that I care about today than any other day. Probably worse actually because it's easy to get caught up in the "should"s of Valentine's Day. And I'm never great at doing what I should do. Rebellion and a bad memory combine for some serious deficiencies.

Most days that I stop to think about it, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for all the love I have in my life. My heart definitely has no trouble overflowing to those around me. I am filled up. Every day.

Now making every day like Christmas feels like a bigger challenge. I just don't know what that means. I get that we should celebrate Jesus every day, but it's a little harder to recreate that type of halted and still adoration every day. I'm just saying.

Happy Valentine's Day to all my people. Love ya today and every other day, too.

looking both ways

One of the reasons that I love the holidays is that I love thinking back and looking forward. I don't really have to remind myself to stop and reflect. More often, I find myself saying, "Self, enough reflecting and planning. Now just do it."

The turn of the year offers a great chance for that. And this one is extra special because it's the year that Erick and I will celebrate our 10-year anniversary. That's right. A whole year to reflect on our first ten years of marriage. I'm giddy with excitement. So, it may come up a lot this year. Or it may not. We'll see.

Regardless, I'll be thinking about it. And talking a lot to Erick about it. He loves that. He actually does, but I think his ears may get tired sometimes. Anyway, reflection is my favorite. Birthdays, anniversaries and the holidays are therefore also my fav.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We're celebrating the removal of snakes from Ireland, right? But we all know that St. Patrick's Day is about much more than that. For many, it's an excuse to drink green beer and get a little raucous. For others, it's a chance to remember a heritage that is simultaneously turbulent and charming.

For me, it's just a chance to dig a little deeper into why Irish culture is so appealing.

Rebellion is appealing.

The accent rocks.

The land is gorgeous and wild.

Somehow the Irish people have come to embody spirit and fire.

My favorite thing is that Irish people have become known as great story tellers. They have some awesome stories to tell, and many Irish people really do seem to have a gift.


What do you like about Irish culture? What appeals to you about this holiday?

Love this Day

Mother's Day might just be the best day of the year. Most of all, I get to celebrate being a mom to this kid:

It's a day set aside to celebrate women who have had babies. I happen to love my baby, and I just love my job. I hang out with and help the coolest kid I know develop her already incredible personality.

Also, on Mother's Day, I get to relax and let Erick change the poopy diapers. He does that a lot on weekends anyway, but on Mommy's Day, he doesn't even look to see if I'll get it first! What is not to love about this day?!

Happy Mother's Day!

National Day of Prayer

I have noticed today that many conservative Christians are upset by President Obama's decision not to hold a public National Day of Prayer event.

I am just interested if anyone here has thoughts about that particular situation. Is your opinion affected by Jesus' instructions in Matthew: 5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

I find it refreshing to see a leader who views his faith as something personal and chooses not to exploit it for political purposes. He could have scored some points today, but he chose integrity. That's my opinion.

Happy May Fifth!

God Bless the Irish

The Irish bring us lots of good things: Bono, Gabriel Byrne, Guiness, leprechauns, red hair, and the list goes on.

I just hope you're wearing green and dancing like heck.

Happy Columbus Day!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! Aaarrrrrg.

Avast, ye Maties! Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! From Cap'n Billy, here are the

Top 10 reasons to raise your children as pirates

(10) Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to be a pirate, and he’ll steal other people’s fish for a lifetime.

(9) Divvying up booty is good quality time with the kids.

(8) When other parents hear you’re raising your children as pirates, they’ll stop asking you to volunteer at school.

(7) It’s fun to watch the emergency room doctor’s reaction when you say your son was injured during “a little mishap boarding a merchant vessel that refused to surrender.”

(6) You’ve always preferred the title “Captain” to “Mommy” or “Daddy.”

(5) You can spend your kids’ college savings on more important things, like a trip to Las Vegas.

(4) Your children already smell like pirates, so the transition will be easy.

(3) The family that plunders together, stays together!

(2) Replacing “family movie night” with “family terrorizing the neighbors with cannons night” is a wonderful change of pace.

(1) Cap’n Billy wants you to do it—and the last person who didn’t do what Cap’n Billy asked was set adrift in a rowboat with only a day’s supply of water.