My daughter Annie wrote a blog about what she knows for sure. She was inspired by Oprah's book "What I Know For Sure." And, the inspiration continues because Annie's blog inspired me. I loved Annie's honesty when she wrote, "What I know for sure is that I need more time to figure out what I know for sure!" Don't we all? She's dedicated to figuring it out and sharing what she knows for sure in her health coaching blog. So, she got me thinking today while I'm at the beach...What do I know … [Read more...]

For the last couple months, I've been working on a writing project with my friend, Lisa, that involves perusing our old journals and reading old letters we wrote to each other. Lisa and I started writing to each other after we spent a summer working together on Capitol Hill in 1979. And, surprisingly, we both kept most of those letters. We're not sure why we stopped writing letters except that the letters seemed to slow after the advent of email. As we have shared portions of our letters … [Read more...]

I've been texting my brother this morning about some Christmas returns that we need to make. Then I told him I have a new computer and wondered if he wanted my old one. "Yes!" he texted, "if mom doesn't give it away first like she did the last computer you gave me." I forgot about that. I gave him a computer a few years ago and mom saw it in her house and gave it away to someone else. She's been known to give away some pretty big things. Several years ago, she really wanted a dog. My aunt … [Read more...]

It's Christmas and the last thing anyone wants at Christmas time is a sad farewell to a friend. On the other hand, when the hallmark of that friend's life was a deep love of Jesus Christ, the very reason for Christmas, there is something sacred about her leaving this life at at this beautiful, celebratory season. Dana Sue Kimball Israelsen died last Sunday at age 59 of lung cancer. She never smoked a day in her life and was never overly exposed to secondhand smoke.  Yet, two years ago, she … [Read more...]

It's Black Friday weekend. That means it's officially Christmas.   It's time to deck the halls with boughs of holly and all that other fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. We just have one slight decorating dilemma... For the last few years, Doug's niece, Teresa, a professional decorator, has decorated our house for Christmas. And, we have absolutely loved it. Two years ago, she visited us in Virginia and brought suitcases full of ribbons, garlands, giant snowflakes, and other holiday … [Read more...]