April 2018

Today, nothing went according to plan.

Arden and I have a few days to tour around Florence before my conference starts on Wednesday.  The weather has been great and both of us had a list of places we wanted to visit over these three days.  Sunday we did everything we planned and it was wonderful.  We even took a nap in

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When in Rome . . . or even in Florence!

Today was our 41st wedding anniversary.  We had a wonderful day, exploring and learning new things.  We had made arrangements for a special evening, dinner and a concert.  After dinner we were waiting to go into the church about 45 minutes ahead of when the concert was going to start.  Just in front of us,

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Choose to notice!

Arden and I were traveling for 19 hours from the time we left our home in Carnation to when we finally were able to rest at our hotel in Florence Italy.  We were exhausted and excited to finally be at our destination. The journey can be daunting.  Some people recently confided to me that they wished they

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Take care of yourself!

It is a popular greeting in our culture when we are finishing a conversation with someone else.  Take Care of yourself!  Often we are sincere but sometimes it is just something that we politely say. This next week, Arden and I are taking this to heart.  We are leaving today on a dream trip to

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Wait! Stop! I got on the wrong ride.

When I was a young mom, I was not naïve; I knew that life has it ups and downs.  I expected a Merry-Go-Round, and got a Roller-Coaster. I thought that my life would go up and down, up and down, in gentle expected cycles of highs and lows.  I didn’t anticipate the sudden terrifying plunges,

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We underestimate others.

We have all heard the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  The warning is to not make quick judgements about people.  If we don’t dig beneath the surface, we can underestimate them, which also means we can undervalue them. At first glance, in a public setting, Nick is an adult male, typically

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Are you willing to ask for help?

One of the biggest lessons I have learned from taking Nick in his wheelchair with us wherever we go is to ask for help from others.  A few weeks ago we went to Portland Oregon to see the new Cirque du Soleil show titled Crystal.  It was amazing by the way.  We had never been

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Is life like a chess game?

Nick lives in the moment.  Yes he can have anxiety about future events, but he doesn’t spend his time strategizing to create certain outcomes in his life.  He either enjoys or tolerates what is currently happening.  Sometimes he does ask, “What’s next?”  But that is usually after he’s finished dinner and he’s wondering what his

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