the window to my mind...

  When I began travelling back and forth from Fort Wayne, IN to Kalamazoo, MI for work a few months ago, I decided to download some audio books and listen to them as I drive. The driving only lasted for about a month but I am now hooked on my audio books! Even though there are so many genres available, I decided to listen to the classics...those books I have always wanted to read (or finish reading) but have never found the time to do. I started with Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Beautiful & the Damned, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and, well, the list has gone on! I was so amazed by some of these books. For instance, I am also addicted to a podcast called  Stuff You Missed in History Class  and in an episode a few years ago, the co-hosts were talking about how Mark Twain actually prided himself on writing in a more casual tone than people were used to because he wanted to appeal to the general public, those who weren't normally...

 I know this article is about 2 months old but I couldn't not comment...Carmen Reinicke writes in this article that "Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over time would boost paychecks and reduce poverty" (see article here:  The US is closer to a $15 federal minimum wage after Biden win ). That sounds great, right? Except for this...I currently make more than $15/hr and less than $20/hr. I am clearly not alone in this world. My income won't be raised as a result of this. I will actually suffer, along with millions of others. This will NOT reduce poverty. It will simply raise the poverty level to account for the higher pay. Think about it. If I go to the grocery store and every cashier and stocker and bagger makes $15/hr instead of $8 or $9/hr, how will the owner of that grocery store compensate for that huge increase in payroll expenses? One of two ways: lay people off and work with a skeleton crew which means the lines will be even longer and the shelves...

  On my last post I shared about the first leg of our 2018 family trip. We affectionately dubbed the adventure our "Great Lakes Tour" because the plan was to visit all five Great Lakes in a single trip. After two days, we had visited our first lake - Michigan. In actuality, we also visited Lake Huron because that is the lake that Mackinac Island is on and Mackinac Bridge stretches over the Straits of Mackinac that are the convergence of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. See...you're getting a geography lesson here too! However, I wanted to count each lake by taking photos of them from shores that I had not visited yet, or in the case of Lake Michigan, that I rarely ever visit. So Lake Michigan's photo was taken on its northern shore from the Upper Peninsula. Let's continue on with our journey, though, shall we? Day 3: Leave St. Ignace and head north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. For me growing up, these were the most amazing waterfalls ever. Whenever anyone would t...

 In 2018 I planned the trip of a lifetime. Ok, well, kinda. For me, it was a pretty cool trip. For Maria, not so much. But regardless, Maria, Ben, and I headed out on the road in mid-May. The plan was to visit each of the five Great Lakes in one trip. This was especially exciting for me because I had never seen Lake Ontario...AND we were going to visit Niagara Falls in the process...somewhere else I had never visited before.  So, I guess I should probably preface this post by explaining that I am a Michigander by birth. I was born and raised in southwest Michigan and most of my family trips as a kid involved somewhere in the gorgeous state. But even more than that, we Michiganders have an abundance of state pride. And part of state pride is pride of the Great Lakes. I mean, we are the Great Lake state, after all.  My kids, however, are Hoosiers through and through. Even though all of my kiddos were born in Michigan except Ben, they were all raised in Indiana (well, except...

 Last time I posted, in May, I mentioned about wanting to become a writer. Well, just to clarify, I already am a writer. I have this blog, even if I don't keep up with it. I have journal upon journal full of entries dating back to my teens. I even have several started books. I AM a writer. However, I am NOT published and I have not really shared much of my writing with anyone, except for here in this blog.  So, that said, I have decided to continue this journey that I have been dreaming about since I was a kid. I am determined to become a published author. Now comes the hard work...and I don't mean writing. I mean deciding on what genre of writing and which topic to tackle. UGH! Too many decisions! Well, one friend mentioned that I should begin by just posting more frequently on here. She is wise. So hopefully you don't get too sick of me...and even more hopefully, you will share my posts with those you know who may benefit from what I write or who may be entertained by it!...

When is someone 100% transparent? And what exactly does that even mean? I have been trying to live my life for the past several years as transparently as humanly possible. If you were to run into me at the grocery store, I would be the same person as I am at my job. If you were to come into my home, I would be the same person as I am at church. I am who I am, whether it's hanging out with my family, surrounded by co-workers, or standing at the pulpit.  The problem with this is...even though I have shared the most "dark" areas of my life, I have been bottling up emotions surrounding them. To the point that I have gone so long without addressing those emotions that sometimes they start to boil over. Just like what happened in 2016, when difficulties start multiplying, my coping mechanisms just want to shut down. I've believed for so long that if I can bring myself to share the facts of my difficulties, then that's being transparent. Or if I can sometimes share ...

Why is life so hard? I mean, seriously. I feel like I am constantly treading water just to keep my head above the waves. Where's the sand bar? Where's the calm waters even? Nowhere in sight. The one thing that keeps coming to mind is that I could not imagine going through my life without knowing that I have God to lean on. What would I do if I didn't have His unconditional love and understanding? Who would I turn to if I didn't know that He is my Comforter and my Friend? When I feel like I cannot take it anymore, which is fairly often, I simply fall to my knees and cry in the arms of my Heavenly Father. He reassures me that I am loved and that He is with me. He reassures me that all of my work and all of my heartache is not in vain. He reassures me. The above was written and saved as a draft in February of 2016. God must have known that I would need some encouraging in August of 2018. And I smile because I am reminded of everything I endured in the remainder of 2016. ...