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Oh Look, It’s Christmas Time
Handmade presents are scary because they reveal that you have too much free time. -Douglas Coupland Has the frenzy begun at your house? This time of year is such a mixed bag. It’s the excitement and anticipation of the season, the baking and decorating, the seasonal beverages, caroling and family time. It is also the melancholy of missing those who are too far away to share the time with you, or those who have passed on, the stress of the holiday schedule and the futility of coming up with The Perfect Gift for someone. For those celebrating this season, there is hardly a moment to dwell on the pros…
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Hashtags and Happiness
When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. -Willie Nelson So, it’s November. It’s undeniably Autumn. The last thing I would want to do is shoot out one of those cliche “Thankful” missives, just because this month happens to include Thanksgiving. That’s exactly what this is, though. Only, not just because it’s seasonally appropriate, but because it is such an important thing to discuss. How often do you pause, with the sole intent of appreciating something? I have to tell you, I ended up on a gratitude journey a few years ago, very much by accident. Had someone tried to tell me, I never would have…
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How to Fall
Being a kid and growing up is such a cool part of life. -Devon Werkheiser Despite my valiant efforts to convince myself otherwise, Summer is gone and Fall has arrived. Even though it’s not my favorite, there is something really amazing about the changing of seasons. It’s going to happen, regardless of how much I’d rather it didn’t, so I might as well embrace it. Pumpkin Spice Everything!! Just kidding, that’s gross. But Bath & Body Works makes a candle called “Sweater Weather” and it is absolute Autumn perfection. It’s nice to be able to open the windows on the sunny days and cozy up with a blanket and a…
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The Dog Days of Summer
How many legs does a dog have, if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg. -Abraham Lincoln The dog days of summer have arrived. In preparing for this month’s blog post, I was looking up quotes that referenced the “Dog Days” and the above-quoted thought caught my attention. I mean, one of history’s greatest presidents bringing the sass to a conversation is entertaining enough, but I’d love to have been there for that chat. Beyond that, the widespread application for this little gem, is something of which to…
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What Then is Freedom?
What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes. -Cicero It’s July. This month is, like, peak summer and I am savoring every minute of it. It’s hot, there are fireworks, the pool water is finally warm enough to jump in, gardens are beginning to produce awesome tastiness and vacations are happening or creeping closer! Also? ‘Merica. This is the month where we celebrate our nation’s independence, so, let’s talk about freedom and living as you wish… Where and how do you live? Do you own, rent, couch surf? Are you a rolling stone with no designated landing point on which to grow moss? There are no wrong…
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Halftime Report – How You Doin’?
If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success. -James Cameron This is the 6th month. The end of the second quarter. The home stretch of the first half. How you doin’? Now is a great time to reevaluate your goals for yourself, your family and/or your business. Are you tracking your progress? Have you looked at your resolutions or goals or plans since you thought them up in January? Are you 12 lbs away from your goal of losing 10 lbs? Great news: No matter your answer, it’s ok. Every day is an opportunity to regroup and…
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I’m Asking For A Favor
Everybody has talent, it’s just a matter of moving around until you’ve discovered what it is. -George Lucas This is the month of Easter and Spring Break and baby animals and diamonds! (Well, if you’re fortunate enough to have your birthday in April, like me, it’s the month of diamonds. Sorry about the rest of y’all’s luck.) This is also the month where the housing market begins to simmer. Folks have used their Spring Breaks to come to the area and find a new place to call home and, soon, the moving will commence. For our area, a lot of this transition will be with military…
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Something Other Than Valentines
No kind action ever stops with itself. -Amelia Earhart It’s the shortest month of the year. We are that much closer to summertime. I know the easy path to take would be to focus on St. Valentine’s Day as a topic for this month’s blog post, but that’s been done. Better than some inward-focused Hallmark holiday, what if we took a moment to look around us? It just so happens that February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness day. Although it began as a late-summer event, specific to New Zealand, it has since become an international holiday, to celebrate each other and the goodness among us. Given the pervasive discontent,…
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Out With the Old
…but what will you do with the New? My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. -Steve Jobs Welcome to 2018. As we move into the unknowns before us, be it with trepidation or optimism, there is almost always a tinge of fear. The turning of the page can signify lots of things and often comes with pressure for change. Change is hard. Change brings a chorus of What-Ifs. Change can make us very uncomfortable. Maybe it’s the pressure of a New Year’s resolution, making you worry that you won’t stick to the changes and will…
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Umm, Breakfast Time?!
When travelling, one of my family’s favorite things to do is find a great local place to grab breakfast. We consider ourselves budding biscuit aficionados and, well, gravy is life. When we discovered that Maple Street Biscuit Company had opened in Knoxville, we all paused to count our blessings! The food is amazing, which is important for a restaurant, and provided in exceedingly generous quantity. I don’t mind telling you that Maple Street in Knoxville, TN, served the best sausage gravy I have ever had, outside my own kitchen period. My sheltered palate had never had spicy syrup and I’m here to say, I dipped everything but my napkin in…
