• Life&Land

    Feeling Like Fall

    Our latest weather report shows the first frost of the season descending on our little town in southcentral Idaho tonight. Some weather reports I raise an eyebrow at, questioning if the prediction will prove true or not. Despite the summer-like days weather we have been experiencing, warm days and warmer nights, I do not question the weatherman’s claim for tonight’s frost. Yes, I think it will freeze. I can feel it in the air. The cold breeze. The harvest sky. The sudden drop in temperature. And just the unmistakable feeling of fall. Loving Fall I have always loved this time…

  • Life&Land - Purse

    The Secret to a Simple, Affordable Life

    It is all too easy to get caught up in the fast-paced atmosphere of juggling work, family needs, family fun, community commitments, building up friendships, and still having time to yourself. All too often we find ourselves just going, going, going.  The morning rush of getting ourselves off to work. The kids, if you have them, off to school or daycare. The brisk pace of your workday. Then the hectic juggle of activities in the afternoons and evenings. Not to mention finding time in-between it all to prepare and/or eat food. Our exhausting, often competitive, routines become a whirlpool of…

  • Life&Land

    Follow-Through: A Commitment to Do Better

    One of the many sayings my mother-in-law uses is “onward and upward.” I think these two words and the images they create in our minds can differ slightly depending on the context we place the phrase during any moment of our day. But ultimately, both words invoke the idea of progress. Progress forward, progress upward. I have come to love this portion of a catch-phrase. Onward and upward. One of the unfortunate realities of life is that we all falter. We all stumble, and occasionally fall, on this personal journey we each are trekking. And although it is often tempting…

  • Life&Land

    For the Love of Writing

    I have always loved writing. Writing, for me, has been a form of not just communication to other people, but a way of communicating with myself. It is brainstorming, finding clarity in my own thoughts and my own beliefs. Writing is therapeutic. It gets things out of my head so I can then move on, like removing the pressure of a thought. Writing has always been a huge part of my life (at least it has been a huge portion of my life when calculating the numbers of my life I’ve spent doing in :). As a student in high…