feelings – sharing the stairs

What If…Our Positivity is Authentic

21 Nov 202021 Nov 2020

I belong to a Facebook group of educators across Missouri who share tips, tricks, 🎉celebrations, and 😵frustrations of teaching during a pandemic. There was a post the other day that…

WhatIf…We Remember All of the Days

5 Sep 20205 Sep 2020

Ken and I forgot our 💍anniversary one year. It was the year of the Joplin tornado, and our anniversary fell during those first days after the storm. There was so…

What if…We Remember to be Grateful?

23 May 202023 May 2020

It's effortless to complain, isn't it? 😞Sometimes, that grumbling reaction is the first one to the surface. As the saying goes- been there, done that. Some days seem to have…

What If…We Spend This Time Thinking

17 Apr 202025 Apr 2020

What if we keep doing our 🌟best? I posed that question last Sunday. What does that mean to you? What is our 🌟best? Your 🌟best? My 🌟best? I felt that…

What If…We Just Keep Doing Our Best

17 Apr 202019 Apr 2020

I don't really have some big picture post this week with connections to life and 💪health and 😍happiness. Honestly, I'm doing the same thing you're doing- just getting through this…

What If…We Focused on the Same Goal

9 Apr 202012 Apr 2020

It was March 13, 2020, when I wrote about my grandmother's experience with the 😷Spanish Flu way back in 1918. I was 📝working on another piece for my weekly Sunday…

What If…We Work Together?

20 Mar 20206 Jun 2020

These last few days have been a 🎢rollercoaster ride. I don't need to tell you that. The scariest thing is that we can't get off. It's like we had a…

What If…Everyone Cheered for Something?

1 Feb 20202 Feb 2020

It's been a whole lot of fun to jump onto my social media accounts over the past couple of weeks. Missourians are 🎉loud and proud for the Chiefs. The fans…

What If…We Remembered to Say Thank You

19 Jan 202019 Jan 2020

I'm big on the idea of saying the words. 💖THANK YOU! I say thank you to my husband when he 🍽cooks dinner. He's a much better cook than I am,…

New Year, New Decade, New YOU

Happy New Year! Happy New Decade! Can you believe that it's 2020? As a kid, I couldn't imagine the year 2020. I was born in 1963. Just the 2000s seemed…

Self-Care Sunday: Look for the Beauty

22 Dec 201922 Dec 2019

My husband and I had to divide and conquer💪🏻 this weekend. One kid was graduating from college in Arkansas while another was playing in a Premier Series volleyball🏐 tournament in…

Thanks, Living the Second Act

You guys- guess what? I am beyond excited to announce that Living the Second Act website asked me to write an article about my book! I've told you all about Lifeguard, which…

Self-Care Sunday: Celebrate Love

12 Oct 201913 Oct 2019

I'm sitting here in a freezing cold venue waiting for photos to begin. Our son is marrying 💍his bride in just a couple of hours. He's my oldest stepson. I…

Don’t Be Afraid to Do the Work

When I wrote my book, LIFEGUARD, I specifically wanted it to be a book and workbook in one. My vision was for readers to learn about my personal struggles and…

Kindness is Contagious

Have you ever had something turn out exactly like you hoped it would? I had that happen today, and I'm still smiling! You may have read in an earlier post…

Self-Care Sunday: Community

15 Sep 201915 Sep 2019

I know that self-care kind of sounds like things you do BY yourself. But- it is really things you do FOR yourself. Being a part of a community is a…

Devastating Loss Brings Outpouring of Love

Kids aren't supposed to die. Kids most certainly aren't supposed to die from cardiac arrest following an asthma attack at a high school football practice. Yet, that's exactly what happened…

Self-Care Sunday: Be Still

Have you ever noticed how much better you feel when you give yourself a moment? A moment to pray?🙏🏻A moment to meditate?😍A moment to gather your thoughts?🤔There’s power in stillness. It’s…

Self-Care Sunday

I love the idea of slowing down to focus on myself. I'm trying-honestly, I'm trying. It's just that life moves so fast, and I'm involved in so many moving pieces.…

First Week of School

Classes started for the kiddos in my school district this week. You know what that means, right? It means that students packed their bags with new school supplies. It means…