Sunday Sentiments: Saying Thanks

 

Just a couple of days ago, I learned of the passing of one of the ladies who had a big impact on my life and early faith journey. Her name was June, and if you’ve read here for a long time, you’ve probably seen a post or two about her, because I’ve mentioned her before.

            June and her husband, Harold, were good friends with my parents. For years, Mom and Dad had a group of friends they spent friend-holidays with: New Year’s, Memorial Day, 4^th of July – you get the idea – and they were part of that group. Harold was the friend who made the kitchen island I wrote about not long ago.

            June was my Sunday School teacher for a couple of years, and as I’ve written before, she was the one who taught me how to look up chapters and verses in the Bible. And if you’ve ever heard me speak on the topic of Pouring In, Pouring Out, you might remember June from the story of when she invited me to join her in the choir loft to sing.

            I always appreciated how she made time to see me and to ask about what was happening in my life. I showed up on the scene after her own kids were grown and gone, but she still took time to care and invest in me, and it made a difference. The small, simple things she did made a far weightier impact on my heart than she ever could have known.

            I was sad when I heard about her passing, but she has had a hard few years, health-wise, and I also know she is now healthy and whole in Heaven. I wouldn’t wish any different for her!

            I hope that as I live my own days on this earth, I can have the kind of quiet, simple impact on others that she had on me. I hope I see them and make a place for them and give them an opportunity to know they belong.

            Thank you, June, for investing in my life. Thank you for pouring into me! I am so thankful you were part of my story. I celebrate the life you lived so very well.

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 

ONE. 

I read this post last week and thought it held some pretty good advice for keeping your focus while cleaning or looking for lost objects. I can be such an Amelia Bedelia when it comes to cleaning up. I pick up something and on my way to put it away, find three more things to tend to. If I would use this post’s advice instead, I might be able to stay focused on the room I’m in and the work to be done there!

TWO. 

It. Is. Hot. Out. There. Bring me all the ice water and anything cold to eat or drink, right? This post has a bunch of sweet treats – on the healthier side – that are cold. Like frozen cold. Have I tried them? No. Do I want to? Yes. If you need some ideas, here you go! BONUS: Another recipe I want to try? This healthier version of a fruit pizza. I love fruit pizza. Anyone else?

THREE. 

This video tour of a little cottage is ADORABLE. I think my two favorite things in the house were her garden/outdoor entertaining area and the storage on the back of the bathroom door. Pure genius – and has me pondering… I aspire for the outdoor feel of our house to one day resemble the outdoor feel of hers. We’re getting there. It’ll take some time. (OH! And the little tags in her garden are also so stinking cute. I might have to go put those on a someday wish list.)

FOUR. 

As those who have been in our church this summer know, I’m all about tangible reminders for pretty much anything in life. They really do help me concentrate on things that matter. (For example…my Ambassador wristband kept me pretty convicted in some traffic yesterday. Eek!) Anyway, I stumbled upon this post with a simple and effective visual for specific ways to pray. It’s intended for children’s ministry, but I think it’s a win for anyone!

FIVE. 

Ryan found this one! We had a lot of fun reading through it and seeing the different splurges people took on their homes! We also had fun seeing what we have tried before, too. We had a mini split in our Marion house, and it worked great! And of course, we are big fans of a lake home! How about you? Any of these on your list? (Or would you choose something different?)

SIX. 

Back when we lived at WillowBridge, Ryan bought me an apron, and I love it. I wear it often when I’m cooking or baking – because let’s face it: I’m kind of a walking disaster when it comes to keeping my clothes free of melted chocolate or butter splatters. This post links to some really pretty vintage aprons. I love them, and their prices, too! Are you an apron person?

BONUS:

This week’s capsule wardrobe photos!

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Monday, June 17, 2024

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Friday, June 21, 2024

Flashback Friday: Writing Your Story One Week at a Time

 

Happy Friday, friends! Hope your day is beginning well, and I hope you have a minute or two to ponder this week’s prompt for writing your story. I found it this week and thought it was a good one – even if a potentially heavy subject!

            Do you have any unfulfilled dreams?

            There are so many subsequent questions that can come from this one.

            If you do…do you think they will ever come to pass? Are they in your power to see through to completion? Will you feel like life has been incomplete if this dream isn’t fulfilled? How do you find contentment in your everyday even without the fulfillment of these dreams?

            I do have unfulfilled dreams, and I don’t find that to be a bad thing. For me, unfulfilled dreams means there are still dreams out there waiting to be realized! It’s exciting!

            Some of my dreams are unlikely to ever come to pass.

I doubt I’ll ever get to experience being a teacher. It was what I wanted to do with my life when I was heading toward college, and I stand beside my reasons for not following that path, but I often wonder what life would have looked like if I had given it a shot. I study curriculum all the time and imagine what teacher life would be like, but I probably won’t ever know. Sometimes it makes me sad, but I try to keep my focus on the ways I get to teach others, even if it’s not in a classroom setting.

I’d love to own a B&B or coffee shop or ice cream shop, but I am pretty sure those will not happen for us. (Part of that is because of the travel dream: see below. Hard to own a business like any of these and travel extensively.) But it’s fun to think about and sometimes envision.

            Some of the dreams are wildcards.

            I’d love to publish more books, but I don’t know if that will happen. I am so grateful to live in a time in history when self-publishing is an option, so there is always the chance I could publish them myself. At the moment, I’m just not sure.

            I’d love to do the big cross-country road trip with Ryan someday, but who knows!? Who knows if we will ever be able to make it happen? I work on planning it, just in case, and I find a lot of joy in that, even if that’s all it ever is.

            For me, unfulfilled dreams are just an excuse to keep dreaming. I make Pinterest boards. I jot down notes in my journal. I talk to people who are living any one of these dreams and enjoy the stores I learn from them. My life is rich and full in many beautiful ways, and I am experiencing the realization of many dreams even now. What a gift that is!

            I’ll keep dreaming. And as the Lord opens doors, perhaps some of those will come true! How about you? How do your unfulfilled dreams mark your story?

Routinely Speaking: Essential Oils

 

            It’s probably been close to ten years now since I was first introduced to the world of essential oils and decided to try using them in our home. I had a friend who had signed up with Young Living, and she sent me some samples to try. I ended up purchasing their starter kit – which came with ten or so common oils, a diffuser, and some additional sample products.

            That purchase became the gateway to a near-decade of decisions to slowly use cleaner products in our home, and though our story probably looks very different than many who would start with the paragraph I started with, I am still grateful for the story we have and what it has meant for us.

            For example, we didn’t stay with Young Living, and the driving factor was the cost. I simply couldn’t keep up with all I had to do to earn points and place monthly orders to be able to purchase at a discount. I wasn’t interested in building a business to get other people to make purchases that would, in turn, allow me to buy at a discount. I ended up finding Selah Essential Oils a few years ago (through a blog I read) and decided to switch to their company instead. I can purchase when I need to – and if a long stretch of time passes when I don’t need to, that’s okay. I can earn referral points if someone buys using my code, ** but if no one does, I don’t get kicked out.  And my favorite thing about Selah is that they are a Christian organization, and they send portions of their earnings to support those in need. I love that.

            So today I wanted to share how we use oils in our home!

            When we started using oils, we pretty much stopped burning candles. I’d read up on the toxins in candles that use synthetic fragrances, and it just didn’t seem worth it to keep filling our home with them. Last year, starting in June, I sat down with Pinterest and researched all kinds of oil blends that are perfect for the month of June. Lots of citrus scents with some herbs mixed in. I found that, much like a capsule wardrobe, if I regularly interchanged the same oils, I could fill my oil shelf with my favorites and use them on the regular.

            So every day (that we’re home for the bulk of the day) I fill the diffuser closest to me with that day’s blend. (We have diffusers in four rooms, so I just pick my room and use that diffuser.) When I started my new day planner this year, I recycled the same blends from last year’s planner. I’ll do it again next year! Today’s blend is Lemon, sandalwood, and rosemary. Sometimes, if I have an extra minute, I’ll read up on what those oils help with, just to remind myself a little extra of how we’re benefitting from what we’re breathing. Inhaling lemon, for example, is said to help improve your mood and relieve stress. Sandalwood is said to help with stress as well, and can help you relax. Rosemary has been said to help with memory and brain function. (Lynne Ford always tucks rosemary sprigs into cards because it’s for remembrance.) The point is, the blends smell good and clean – and they don’t just fill the air with scent – they help in some way.

            We’ll also diffuse specific oils if we have a specific need. We often diffuse an immunity boosting blend if we’ve been around people who sounded like they were sick, and we diffuse lavender at night to help us relax and sleep.

            I will say we’ve noticed an improvement in our immunity since we started doing this, so I’m going to keep doing it!

            I carry some of the most commonly-used oils in my purse so if we are out and about and don’t feel well: upset stomach, headache, sniffles, etc., we can apply some of what we need topically to start counteracting it. Yes, we still take traditional medicine, but we have found this does help.

            I stopped using perfume and use Sigh (similar to Stress Away) as my perfume.

            So that’s our simple oils routine. I have, in the past, incorporated oils into cleaning products and laundry. I’ve used it (and still do) in insect spray. But we’re pretty simple overall. And yet – it seems effective! Our home has fewer toxins, and we feel better!

** If you use the affiliate code when you order, then I earn points that I can redeem for products. 

Wishlist Wednesday

 

            I thought I’d do something a little different and fun today, and share a Wishlist Wednesday post. Yvonne at Stone Gable collaborates on a Wednesday Weekly Wishlist post, and I always find fun things on there. For today I thought I’d share some actual things from my running wishlist. Maybe you’ll find something fun for yours too!

I have these slippers on my list, because the slippers I have (and adore) are quite fuzzy and insulated, and I’m sweating my way through the summer in them. These look more summer-friendly!

A few years ago, I fell in love with quilts for bed covers, and I absolutely love the one we have had on ours for about the past four years. Alas, it sustained a little damage during Lexi’s chew-on-everything phase. We’re still using it because it still has tons of life left in it, but I have earmarked this one for our next quilt. I love the colors!

It shouldn’t surprised ANY of you that I have many books on the list. Here are a couple:

We Will Feast, by Kendall Vanderslice, is a book about worship and community. I read another book by Kendall a few months ago and loved her writing style, so I want to read this one too!

I’ve been following Nicole Burke on Instagram for a while now, and I have learned a ton from her about garden planning. She has a couple of books – and this one, Kitchen Garden Revival, is one I have on my list.

I read (probably on Instagram) about this hair styling product, and it came with rave reviews. I have it on the list in case I ever feel like trying some new things in the world of hair!

I love this hourglass from The Keeping Company. It is a five-minute hourglass and has an inscription with the quote “Only one life, twill soon be past…only what’s done for Christ will last.” I love what it represents!

Similarly, I love this “tears in a bottle” from Mary & Martha! The item is cute, but the representation is what matters most!

You know how much I love Lindsay Sherbondy’s art. This boat and water themed print is gorgeous!

So there’s a peek at my list…what’s on yours?

Summer Capsule Wardrobe

 

For the last couple of weeks, you’ve seen (on Saturdays) my capsule wardrobe outfits using my summer capsule, but I haven’t yet shown you what’s in it! So today is the day! 😊

            The summer capsule feels harder than the others because when you live in heat and humidity, the last thing you want to do is layer. So this wardrobe feels bigger to me than the other seasons, because I need more mix and match parts, since layering is less of an option. Also, this summer is a wild mix of needing to dress up and dress down, so I also feel like I need more options for each category.

For winter and spring, I used inspiration capsules from Clothed in Grace, and she has a summer capsule too, but alas, she hadn’t published it yet when I needed to make sure I had all the pieces and parts, so I actually used this capsule from Putting Me Together (from a previous season) as my inspiration.

            I reused quite a few pieces from spring and also stuck with many of the colors I’ve been loving: navy, white, pink, and a little green. I added a few new things, and in a really rare move, I actually got a few of them brand new. (Gift cards and birthday money.) Many of the pieces have a coastal feel to them, which feels appropriate both for summer and for living on the lake!

            Am I doing this perfectly? Probably not. Am I having fun doing it? Absolutely.  

            I’m writing this post to you at 10:30 the night before it needs to post, and I just realized I forgot to take pictures of the shoes! But I only added two new pairs of shoes beyond what I used in the spring. I have a picture of one, I know. So I’ll throw that in. The other pair came from the thrift store but was, I’m pretty sure, new! They’re wedge espadrille heels with a blue toe cover. I love them!

            So, without further ado, here is my summer capsule!

Dresses:

I kept the navy and white t-shirt dress I had in the spring capsule. I love this dress and how much it feels like jammies.

I also pulled out a tropical-looking maxi dress I bought about five years ago for a cruise. It’s been sitting in the back of the closet for the last 2-3 years and I decided to bring it back.

I bought a brand-new sleeveless navy dress from Kohl’s that I love. I think it was about $20 and it’s super lightweight, super comfortable, and the bonus? It has pockets! I wore it to church this past Sunday and loved how it felt.

I brought back a similar, but different, navy dress with cap sleeves. I bought this last year for my Easter dress. It’s a little too big this year, but because of the style of the dress, it still works, and it’s comfortable, so I love it.

And finally, I found at the thrift store a pink striped beachy sleeveless dress. Comfy and affordable – double win!

Layering Pieces:

I don’t need many of these and am not sure how much I will use them, but I want to have them on hand in case.

I kept the thrifted lightweight navy cardigan from my spring capsule. It’s dressier, so if I need to attend something that might be heavy on the air conditioning, I’ll be set. (Also I’m not going to hold my breath on that.)

I also kept the thrifted denim button-down shirt from the spring capsule. I figure it might come in handy on a chilly lake evening. (Later.)

I also kept the thrifted white button-down shirt for the same reasons.

And I kept the khaki vest I’ve had for several years.

Button Down Shirt:

I found this cute, lightweight, beachy striped button down in all the right colors. It was at a thrift store, and it felt like the perfect fit for the collection. It does run a bit on the short side, so I wear a cami underneath it, but I love how it looks!

Sleeveless Shirts:

Since it’s so hot out, sleeveless shirts are a must!

The white shirt was free to me several years ago – and I haven’t worn it a ton. It’s a little dressier than I would choose for this capsule, but I already own it, so it works!

The navy sleeveless shirt was in my spring capsule and was also free to me several years ago. It’s dressy and longer, but it works for this one!

I found the blue and white sleeveless shirt at a thrift shop – and it works for dressing up and dressing down!

I found the white sleeveless lacy top at a thrift store – and it’s also good for dressing up and down!

The tan sleeveless lacy top was part of my spring capsule – and is a repeat of my thinking above!

Dressy Shirt:

This navy print shirt was a repeat from the spring capsule. It’s one of my favorites!

T-Shirts:

These finds are a mix of plan and graphic tees, and because summer is all about comfort, I did add in a couple of extra ones.

The pink and black t-shirts were both thrift store finds for the spring capsule, and I moved them on over to summer.

I found the Lake Girl shirt at the thrift store for just a couple of dollars.

You’ll recognize the “It’s a Good Day to Write” shirt that my sister gave me for Christmas. It’s been in every capsule so far!

Grow in Grace was a thrift store find before the spring capsule that I moved to summer.

The Perfectly Imperfect shirt was a thrift store find – and while I don’t adore how it fits, I do adore the message and the price!

Skirts and Dressy Pants:

I kept the tan knee-length skirt from the winter/spring capsule. I had gotten it at a thrift store and it works great.

The navy skirt was one I had purchased last year at a thrift store – but never wore. The color worked, so here it is!

I found the print maxi skirt at a thrift store and grabbed it for a little extra fun.

The two linen pants were brand-new purchases from Kohl’s this spring. Both feel like jammies and have a good beachy look to them!

Shorts:

I found the striped shorts at a thrift store and loved their beachy feel.

I purchased the white shorts at a thrift store just a few weeks ago – and they are perfect! I am pretty sure they were brand new.

The denim shorts are ones I’ve owned for several years. They don’t fit very well, but until I can find a replacement pair, they work.

The tan pair came from a thrift store and also appeared to be brand new!

Jeans/Pants:

None of these are new! The jeans were all part of the spring capsule, the tan pants are recycled from the winter/spring capsule, and the white pants were free to me several years ago!

I told you I forgot to take shoe pictures, but I do have to show you this one pair I bought as a fun splurge. Got them at TJ Maxx. Aren’t they cute?

 

So there you go! Capsule wardrobe for summer!

Memory-Keeping: What's Worth Keeping?

 

For the last month, Ryan and I have been working nearly every evening to sort and clean out storage tubs. As some of you well know, when you make it to 45ish years old, you’ve managed to accumulate quite a stack of life-long memories. (More so, I’m sure when you make it to your 60s and beyond!) And even though we have done our best to be diligent to let go of things each time we’ve moved, we still had a lot of, well, stuff.

            Our house isn’t huge. Our storage options are minimal. And we don’t want to pay for external storage. So…what’s worth keeping? It’s been the question of the day for the last month or so.

            Today I thought I’d share with you the thought processes we’ve tried to adhere to and the principles we’ve used in deciding. They’re not foolproof. Perhaps some would work for you and others wouldn’t. But I’ll share what we’ve done and let you decide how it might work for you!

1.       Ruthlessly pick and choose what life-long memories to keep. Ryan and I learned that both our mothers kept almost everything from our childhoods – right down to every single card they received for every single baby shower. The memory-maker in me was kind of giddy about that, but the space-saver in me had to make some decisions. So as we went through the boxes, we chose to keep the things that meant the absolute most to us in our own memories. One of Ryan’s? Bubby – his little stuffed bunny that he carried everywhere as a kiddo. One of mine? The dress I was wearing when I was dedicated in church as a baby. We tried to whittle down all the childhood/high school/and pre-Shafferland memories to about six tubs combined. And it’s possible that if we go through these again in a few years, we might weed out even more.

2.       If it’s in a tub you’re probably unlikely to miss it, so don’t overthink letting it go. One of the things I learned from photo management classes is that photos in a tub aren’t being enjoyed and appreciated, so it’s almost like they don’t exist. I think that can be applied to most stored memories. When I started to feel sad or worried about things I was letting go of, I reminded myself that in some cases, I didn’t even know the items existed until this month, so I’m probably not going to miss them long-term. Items that can stay in long-term storage without being missed are probably okay to go.

3.       When in doubt, keep it. Every now and then, we encountered something we just weren’t sure we were ready to part with – so we didn’t. We kept it for now. We’ll revisit it again and maybe by then, we’ll be ready to let it go. If you have the space for it (and this doesn’t become the story for every single thing), it’s okay to keep it until you’re sure one way or the other.

4.       Honor the things that mean something to you. In my sorting, I found a photo of kindergarten Bekah, taken at a VBS. It was glued in a popsicle frame bearing the words “Jesus, I will follow you.” I kept it, because it was right around that same time that I chose to do just that – follow Jesus. I am going to keep that picture on my desk as a reminder of a pivotal time in my life. In my sorting, I found two letters from authors who inspired my own writing journey. I’ve been carefully keeping those letters for 30ish years, but what good are these letters in a box? So I framed them and Ryan is going to hang them in my office. In my sorting, I found an award I won in college, so I pulled that out to keep in my office, too. The things that mean the most shouldn’t be in storage anyway.

5.       Put the things that need work where you can reach them. I have an entire tub of pictures and memories that I keep meaning to sort and organize, but the truth is, they keep getting placed out of reach. Up high on a shelf in the garage or buried in a stack of tubs. They are now in a place I can access easily, so I can begin going through them little by little. I’m excited to do it.

So those were our guiding principles. Our rule for our home is that if something doesn’t help tell the story of us, it doesn’t stay. We’re trying to use that same idea as we sort memories. If we can’t remember or don’t know – why keep it? If it doesn’t tell the story of us, does it need to stay?

Maybe one of those things will be helpful to you! Happy memory-sorting!

Sunday Sentiments: Sitting with the Father

 

Happy Father’s Day to the dads out there who may be reading along today. Ryan and I are thankful today for our own dads – thankful that they are still here with us and part of our lives! And I’m thankful for Ryan, who is a great dad to Braeya and Lexi.

            And today I’m thankful for my Heavenly Father, too, and all the extra time I’ve been able to spend sitting with Him over the past few days. (That may sound like I’m reaching, but I promise it’s so very true.)

            I’ve been working so hard to write the messages I’m sharing at church this summer, and that has driven me to spend so much extra time in prayer and Bible study. I’m learning so much. I’m making notes in my Bible. (I have run out of room on some pages and have moved on to adding sticky notes to the pages!)

            I am grateful for the chance to learn, to think, to understand, and to find a fresh hunger to do more and more of the same.

            I am grateful for the beauty I’ve seen in the world around me – when I look out the window, when we go for walks, and when I sit on the porch as the sun slides down for the night.

            I am grateful for the memories I’ve encountered lately – memories of the journey God and I have taken together over the years.

            I’m just grateful. And today is a good day to make mention of it and soak in it.

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 

Good morning, friends! Happy Saturday to you! I have many goals for this day and the first one involves SLEEPING IN. We’ll see how far I make it. While I’m still snoozing, here are some fun things for you to check out!

ONE. 

Okay THIS is fun! I follow (on Instagram) this baker named Karli, and she is doing a summer baking challenge. You can go to this page on her website to download her free Bingo card, and then you have from now until September 1 to try recipe challenges and potentially win a gift card. Even if you don’t actually enter the gift card challenge, this is so fun to try something new over the summer, don’t you think?? (Bonus: She did the bingo card in black and white on purpose so you can color it!) And guess what? I’ve already started! Made my first two things this week.

TWO. 

A couple of years ago, Ryan and I watched a series that was on one of the HGTVish channels. (Maybe it was actually HGTV – not sure.) It was all about homes with history and the people that bought them would restore them to their accurate historical glory. It was really cool to learn more about how people lived in early American history and to see these homes restored. Even though I live in too “new” of a part of the country to ever own a home that old, I now have a fresh appreciation for their craftsmanship and significance! This one popped up on my Facebook feed this week – for sale in Pennsylvania. It is beautiful. Look at all those fireplaces!!!

THREE.

I am excited that I found some fun new (to me) dresses for the summer – both casual and nicer for when I’m speaking. I appreciate the good breeze that you get when you wear a dress in the summer! Anyone? Anyone? Audrey over at Putting Me Together has some suggestions for some summer dresses, and I think they’re super cute! If you’re looking for ideas, take a look at hers!

FOUR. 

Yvonne at the StoneGable blog has a TON of ideas for a summer patio. Fun to read! We have several of these, and a handful are on my list of maybe-someday ideas. You’d have to have a porch the size of the Midwest to incorporate every idea, probably, but maybe you can find an inspiration piece or two on there. (Fun fact: we have had to clear our back patio to have work done on it, so right now, our front porch is fulllllllll. This adventure has helped me better understand what I do and do not want to do out there in the future. Meanwhile, we’re enjoying the alternate view!)

FIVE. 

“There is a price to be paid for our exhaustion. There is a price to be paid for our restoration. Which one are you more willing to pay?” This post by my friend, Brenda Jank, is excellent. I would love for you to spend some time considering it!

SIX. 

Father’s Day is tomorrow, and if you’re still scrambling for a thoughtful gift, you’ll find some good options in this post. (And they’re different from the typical list of grilling supplies, ties, etc!)

BONUS:

Here are this week’s capsule outfits!

Saturday, June 08, 2024:

Sunday, June 09, 2024:

Monday, June 10, 2024:

Tuesday, June 11, 2024:

Wednesday, June 12, 2024:

Thursday, June 13, 2024:

Friday, June 14, 2024:

Flashback Friday: Writing Your Story One Week at a Time

 

Happy Friday, friends! This week has been a full one for us, and we are excited to welcome this weekend! I’ve done a lot of writing this week, which has left my heart as full as my week, and it also has provided some fodder for today’s “write your story” prompt.

            As Ryan and I have sorted through so many storage tubs from my parents’ house, I’ve encountered dozens of early versions of my writing. Many were pieces I saved from my childhood and college days, but I found a few gems Mom had saved that I didn’t even remember!

            So it brings me to this question:

            Is there anything about your life that you discovered in your childhood – and do you have any tangible, preserved memories of that skill?

            I think about all the hours of American Idol I watched in the early days, and sometimes they would have blurry home-video footage of the contestants singing at home or church when they were just toddlers. Who ever would have known, when those shaky-film moments were being recorded, that one day they would play them on television while that sweet toddler – all grown up – competes for a music career?!

            I think about my friend Amber and all her incredible artistic talent, and probably somewhere in her parents’ house, there are tubs of her early attempts at art. (And those, by the way, are probably still way better than what most people can produce as adults!)

            And while I’m not American-Idol-contestant material or art-show material, I do love to write, and I loved running across the places where I first tried those skills.

            I found projects I wrote in elementary school, scrawled in questionable spelling across that paper with the dotted lines down the middle of the writing lines.

            I found journals that had entries beginning with “Dear Diary.”

            I found a very creative letter I wrote as a prank to a guy in my class (which was TOTALLY out of character for me) and he actually believed it. Even my parents were kind of impressed by that one.

            I found my first (unfinished) book that I wrote in longhand in a notebook.

            I found short stories typed on my word processor (!!) back when I filled my summer days with writing all manner of short stories.

            I found a play I wrote together with my Mom for a kids’ missionary service at church.

            I found a letter I wrote to the Tooth Fairy (also creatively done).

            Some of my pieces were not worth keeping. But I didn’t toss too many. These papers show how I started as a writer. They might only be meaningful to me, but they are meaningful to me. And I absolutely love it that these early versions of my writing exist. None of us knew it would end up being my love, but I’m so glad my first attempts are preserved for my memory collection!