I live in a community in which the school district has determined that students will not be able to return to campus in the fall. I know this same scenario is playing out all around the world. Alas, it appears we will have our K-12 students home for at least another semester, if not longer. My son, a junior, will be taking online courses from the local community college and despite my many misgivings, my sophomore daughter will be heading back to college halfway across the co

Ah, spring is in the air. Can you feel it? Bright sunlight flooding through the windows, warm breezes, a plethora of pollen (ah-choo!) and a general sense of ease as the days grow longer. It’s sneaky, this shoulder season between winter and summer. Here in the PNW we can reach a high of 70 one day and 50 the next, and don’t even mention those rain showers that spring up out of nowhere. It’s a good idea to keep an extra layer around for contingencies, but it’s perfectly reason

What day is it? With everyone home every day, it’s easy to forget what day it is, and it’s easy to let our work slide because we can always do it tomorrow. My own schedule has been a little up in the air and as the beautiful weather comes, so goes my attention span. What can we do to maintain focus and to make these unusual days count? Here are four ways to make your quarantine time work for you and your family. Create a New Room The sun came out this week and it feels like s

Here we go again, another post that hits very close to home. How do you manage your photo collection? Old memories and new memories, they all serve to show how remarkable your life is and how blessed you truly are. But over the decades, those memories can build into physical mountains of memories which clutter our homes, attics and garages, how do we make sense of it all? This week, with so much more spare time and in an effort to help my husband sort out the garage, I starte

I feel like I fell off the blog post-writing wagon last week. Sorry! And, not sorry. Building a a business and maintaining another business keeps this girl busy, busy, busy. Today’s trick helps keep me on track when everything else is going off the rails, maybe it will help you too. We’re a month in to the new year and a new decade. If you made any health or diet related resolutions, (who hasn’t?) this habit will help you to keep them. Preparing food ahead of time frees up pr

I know several people who have purchased new homes or are in the midst of purchasing a new home and are eagerly anticipating the move-in. I just love imagining how my furniture will fit in the new space, what decor will resonate with the interior and how gatherings will flow. But moving to a “new to you” home ranks among the top five stressors (right up there with loss of a loved one and divorce). Everyone in the family needs to deal with the disruption and it takes some time