The Proposal That Made a Boring Thursday Magical

Last week I mentioned in a short post that I got engaged in mid-April. After telling both of our immediate families the night of and the day after it happened, my fiance and I took the news online on Facebook only since both of our personal accounts are pretty much locked down and you have to be friends with us to see anything going on there. I didn’t blog about it, other than those few sentences last week, and I have been reluctant to announce the news on any of my personal social media accounts. It isn’t because I’m not happy or excited, it’s because I very much am both of those things. I am extremely happy about it obviously, otherwise I would have said no and I wouldn’t be engaged, but I …

#PhotoaDayMay: Where You Stand

This was taken while standing in my dining room, just as soon as you walk into the back door. The area rug desperately needs to be vacuumed, even though as soon as it is, it will just look like this all over again an hour later since it is the frequent sleeping space of my two cats who, I swear, have to shed an additional small cat a day each.

This is Vincent, who was snoozing on my slipper until I went and stood by him and he immediately woke up. Also, yes, those are yellow shoes on my feet while wearing green pants. It’s a good thing I didn’t grace the outside public with my mismatched presence today, but these shoes are seriously one of the most comfortable pairs of …

#PhotoaDayMay: A Favorite Place

We had our first pool day today! I think we may have opened it a little too early, since it still gets down into the high 40′s to low 50′s at night and we still have three blankets on our bed, but we have had several days of hot and humid weather this past week, and next week’s temperatures are being said to get well into the 80′s. When you live in Pennsylvania, the mention of 80-degree weather doesn’t go over too well and the air conditioners coming out of storage is always a reasonable course of action.

Before today, I had only been swimming once in the past 10 years. This is due to a series of different factors; I have long lived with anxiety and depression issues, I don’t …

#PhotoaDayMay: Love

Last month, on April 12th to be exact, my partner of six and a half years proposed to me. I will write out the whole proposal story soon, but for now, I can tell you that it was intimate, simple, and perfect. It was a milestone in our relationship and in our lives that was done in a way that truly exemplifies who both of us are at our core as people. My grandmother has, on several occasions, noted that it is fortunate that we have both found each other because she can’t think of anyone else who would have either of us. I think she’s right.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

#PhotoaDayMay: Grass

Every spring it seems as if everyone I communicate with retreats to their gardens and post plenty of pictures of the amazing things they have grown. Throughout the past few years, I have been remarkably jealous of these people growing their own vegetables and herbs because I had been living in an apartment with absolutely no outside space to call my own, and indoor container gardening was out because I have two cats who have completely destroyed whatever plants we had the audacity to bring inside. This year I stopped being jealous because I was finally able to start my own garden in the yard of our new house. (If you’re an apartment dweller right now reading this with a grimace on your face because you’ve been wanting to start a garden …

A Woman’s Journey Back to the Light — Love Thy Self!

Having turned 45 years old this fall and having lost all my children from the nest, I am in a reflective phase of my life. I felt very lonely and lost at first, but am now embracing the opportunity for reflection and a restart of sorts.

Growing up, I was a young girl looking for love any which way I could get it. I was manufacturing love all around me; I loved my gorgeous salesman husband, I loved my curious little children, I slaved to be the best wife and mother I could be. Periodically I felt resentment, loneliness, depression, and a feeling that my life lacked meaning. I had arrived at this place in my life in a daze. I felt like I had never consciously made any decisions for my life.

I pushed these feelings away and concentrated on loving and caring for those …