SRKindredSpirits

What if I all I want is a small, slow, simple life? What if I am most happy in the space of in between. Where calm lives. What if I am mediocre and choose to be at peace with that? The world is such a noisy place. Loud, haranguing voices lecturing me to hustle, to improve, build, strive, yearn, acquire, compete, and grasp for more. For bigger and better. Sacrifice sleep for productivity. Strive for excellence. Go big or go home. Have a huge impact in the world. Make your life count. But what if I just don’t have it in me. What if all the striving for excellence leaves me sad, worn out, depleted? Drained of joy. Am I simply not enough? What if I never really amount to anything when I grow up— What if I am not cut out for the frantic pace of this society and cannot even begin to keep up? And see so many others with what appears to be boundless energy and stamina but know that I need tons of solitude and calm, an abundance of rest, and swaths of unscheduled time in order

I knew my son, QW had not been feeling well.... he had been complaining of headaches that last week, but I didn't really think too much about them, figuring, it would pass. Then he started having a fever - not super high, but enough for me to worry. After a few days, he wasn't eating.... We knew something was wrong. I took him to the med express center. They ran a throat culture, and tested him for the flu and strep - all came back negative, but they said that sometimes the strep test can be wrong, so they sent us home with antibiotics saying it was probably strep.  The next two days, QW kept getting worse. I finally took him to the Emergency Room on Sunday, May 28th. They did blood tests and took a CT scan and said that he had acute sinusitis (a bad sinus infection that was deep in the air pockets of his face) and sent us home with a stronger antibiotic. Memorial Day, May 29th, QW seemed better - he ate lunch and walked outside.... we thought he was feeling

After an emergency brain surgery on our ten year old son, five weeks in the hospital, a second surgery to put the bone flap in, daily infusions at home........ Our once active big little boy unable to ride his 4 wheeler, bike, jump on the trampoline, or run, but rather see him sitting on the sofa hooked up to iv's.... After a surgery for me (the mom) and health issues with another major surgery ahead. A 16 yr old who is working, learning to drive, recently graduated and looking at colleges, while starting to spread her own wings..... A Hubby (who is my rock) that is hitting his midlife crisis (which may or may not) explain the brand new Ford F150 pickup truck in his shop...... And a seven year old little girl who had to grow up way to fast this year..... as she spent most of her summer away from her mom.... Life this year, has definately taken a different turn and we are trying to find our new normal. Sometimes life has a way of changing so quickly t

I fell in love with Leah Heffners "If you give your husband a kiss" article and I wanted to put my own spin on it for this time in my life. My hubby works long hours, we live on a hobby farm, own a home business, home school three kids, have a special needs son, and try to keep up with everything else that makes up this life we live.... but I still love kissing my hubby and nestling my head under his chin.... So here is my version... If you give your husband a kiss, he’ll probably want a hug to go with it. You’ll nestle your head under his chin, and just breathe him in. The smell will remind you of when you first started dating and you didn’t want to be anywhere else but nestled under his chin. You’ll think back on some of your favorite first dates – ice cream, long walks, holding hands, and late night talks. Before you can get too carried away, a child (or dog) will probably interrupt you, breaking apart your hug. You’ll open your eyes to see dishes tha

While my son, QW was in ICU of the Children's hospital, we were moved to the ICU Burn Unit due to the regular ICU being under staffed. We ended up staying in the ICU Burns Unit for 4 1/2 weeks out of the five weeks that we were in the hospital. We came to like and know most all of the burn unit staff and some of the patients..... including a little (3 or 4 yr old) girl called Miesha. Oh, my goodness, she was the cutest little thing!  She was already there when we arrived and was still there when we left. She was burnt from head to toe and could hardly walk or talk when we first met her, but every day she got a little bit stronger.  The kids in that unit would do their walking therapy in the hall. Miesha would stop and wave at our sons door when she did her walking therapy and my son and I would stop and wave at her door when he did his walking therapy.  Some days you could hear her just scream and scream when they did dressing changes. Other nights you could hear h

Oh, my goodness.... what do you do when you get two different books from two different publishers and both are not at all what you thought they would be??? That's the predicament that I currently find myself in! The first book was "I Almost Forgot About Me" by Terry McMillan. I really thought it would be about a lady finding herself, what she wanted to do with her life, looking at her past along the way, and how she got to that decision. I wasn't completely wrong, but most of the book was made up of Dr. Georgia Young going back to all the men she had 'loved' (had sex with), her two horrible girlfriends, and a whole lot of bad language. It was defiantly colorful - and I don't mean that in a good way - I have never read a book so crude and with so much swearing in it. Ever. I don't mind a little swearing, but this was just too much. The three friends were extremely foul-mouthed, promiscuous, women who come across as lacking the abilit

I live just 45 minutes south east of Alexandria, Indiana and although I've heard of Joey & Rory Feek - I've never kept up with all the buzz on social media or of them in the news. I wasn't sure that this book would hold my attention, but I thought I'd give it a try and see who these 'Feek' people were and what the fuss was all about. ..... I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed this book! Rory's writing style was interesting and held my attention.... I read the whole book in one day! Grant it, I was in the hospital with my son, so I had the time, but still, usually it takes me a few days to get through a book -even a really good one. I love how God can take a broken down individual and make them into something great! I love that the author is raw and honest - it isn't all fluffed up - it's just the plain, hard truth. "I've leaned that it is never too late to start over. Never too late to impact someone in a good

2/3 cup fresh orange juice 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice  1/3 cup packed brown sugar  1/2 teaspoon grated orange or lemon zest  1 teaspoon vanilla extract  Bring orange juice, lemon juice, brown sugar, orange zest, and lemon zest to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside to cool. (Note - don't simmer too long on too high heat or it will be to thick - I kept it a thin liquid to pour over the fruit.) 1 cubed fresh pineapple  3 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced  6-8 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced  1 bunch of 4-5 bananas, sliced  oranges, (I used a bag of Cuties) peeled and sectioned  1 lb. each of  green and red seedless grapes  Layer the fruit in a large, clear glass bowl in this order: pineapple, strawberries, kiwi fruit, bananas, oranges, and grapes. Pour the cooled sauce over the fruit. Cover and refrigera

Our beautiful daughter, Faith graduated from  High School this Spring - so I wanted to have a graduation party to recognize that accomplishment... only problem was, trying to keep it simple, and not spend too much.... here's what I came up with.... Our theme was blue (her school colors), gold, silver, black, and white with pink peonies for a touch of elegance.               The Guest Table -  We had guests sign a JENGA block with a message. (If you couldn't make it, but want to still give her a note... we have lots left... let us know and we'll have you sign one!) Picture frames hung on the wall. A Vase of flowers, a card box, and a basket for the JENGA blocks on the table. We also had a quiz about the graduate for guests to fill out. You can see the quiz here. The Gift Table was pretty simple - it was the top of a garage cupboard... I glammed it up with a sign and flowers... We had her diploma, more pictures and some of her