Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by.
Nothing real exciting or earth moving last week... oh wait, usually my life doesn't have that anyway - and I am grateful.
For simple.
For authentic.
For just Being.
Here in Appalachia Virginia, it's not unheard of for us to get snow. Or even ice.
What's been the difference this time, its been on the ground more than two weeks.
Sure, it's happened before.
But not often.
The surrounding mountains are truly breathtaking.
This past week was just working every day, coming home to a warm cup of tea and a cozy house.
Evenings were filled with my favorite You Tube channels and crochet.
Making three of the baking sets for the 18 inch dolls.
Made some progress
The pattern for the little hearts is a easy one so I decided to make some extras of those for the letters I am preparing for my daughters letter basket in England.
One of my Christmas cactus started blooming and is absolutely beautiful.
Got out and about on Sunday. It was a beautiful day. The sky so very blue against the white ground.
At a local small grocery store/butcher shop - as I approached the produce section, I could smell the tomatoes. It was almost like being in a garden with them.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
In journaling, I am working on the big black journal that I actually started in 2006. I have written in it for many many years. Not daily of course. I skipped some of the years all together.
In the back of it are my passwords to MySpace. hahaha A few years before Facebook.
I chose this year, 2026, to be the year that I finally complete this journal.
I wrote a lot in it in 2025 but have written a entry every single day in 2026. The book should be full some time in March of this year.
After that, I will read through it all one more time.
Add any important dates for events that I may have written about into my google calendar. And then I will ship this book off to my daughter in England, who has requested it.
When I complete it, I will share some photos of it on this blog and perhaps a few of the entries and decorated pages.
I have another black journal ready to begin on that day - but it is not my intention to take twenty years to fill that one.
The journaling habit every day is deeply seeded in me now.
Just an ordinary life I lead.
But a life filled with love, with faith, with gratitude, stillness and with peace.
I also have a daily gratitude journal which I use to end every day. I write five things I am grateful for that day. Lots of times, its things like my health, my faith, my family, my friends, a cup of coffee, hot tea.....
But some days its how the snow glistens across the back yard - like a million diamonds from the glow of a full moon.
Or how the sunlight shimmers through the barren trees.
Or a little bird who stopped by to eat from a feeder in one of my trees.
Or memories from a kindness that I received in my life, or a kindness I displayed - as something in the now reminded me of that moment from the past.
I'm also doing a devotional 365 day reading of the Bible as well as 30 days devotions set to particular themes each month.
I am re reading Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach. A year long journey.
And I have a goal of reading 25 books this year - using the alphabet for a challenge.
I have a page dedicated to that on this blog.
For February, I am journaling a One word prompted entry, also prompted entries for Winter and for Self Care. Every month this year, I will do a different type of journal challenge.
A quiet life.
A simple life.
A little more than a year ago, I wanted to change myself. To fit it - ya know.
Lotsa people. Parties. Busy-ness. Accomplishment. Achievement.
The more, the bigger, that better.....
I thought that was who I was.
I thought that was who I wanted to be.
But a year of healing.
Of solitude.
Of finding my way in the world, I began to listen to my authentic self.
I began to find out who I really was.
The one who spent her life being co-dependent.
Relying on the actions of others to feed her happiness and to determine her worth. That was not who I was.
That was from long ago trauma.
And that was simple.
But yet has been so complicated to maneuver through.
This year, my faith has been renewed.
Above the door to my room, is a sign.
It says.
Be Still. And Know.
I thought it was just a season. A healing season maybe. I figured some of the old thought patterns and desire to become that which I am not would return.
Somewhere I have expected that.
Because somewhere I guess I thought that was how it was supposed to be, because it had always been that way.
I'm beginning to see differently though.
The changes in me.
The comfort I now have in my own skin.
The quiet life I cherish.
The stillness.
Even the silence.
Last year, I lost myself more than I had ever lost myself before. I became very ill. And very desperate not to feel alone. Not to feel that I had failed. That I wasn't worthy. That I wasn't enough. Or maybe I was just too much.
On November 1 of 2025, God spoke to me in a random song that I had never heard before, and I didn't expect to hear where I was standing -- being in the midst of a crowd of people - trying to fit in and feel as if I belonged. And perhaps I did belong. Perhaps I didn't. But the song was sudden. It was such a moment - one of those moments many of us just do not ever forget.
One song later - among the company of friends and laughter, I knew without a doubt where it was that I belonged and to whom I belonged to. And who had never left my side, never abandoned me. Always remained there to catch me when I fell, to carry me when I couldn't or wouldn't get back up. And to steadily help me to my feet when I was ready. And when we are ready, the teacher appears. Out of nowhere. Even in the form of a song.
My life is open to friendships.
To family.
To love.
To trust that if anything in this life is meant to be - it will be.
If its not, it will not.
Simple. Yet complicated.
It's where wishes collide .
My life is wide open
To company and noise.
Yes.
But also to silence and to solitude.
And the wishes that collide, well, they are part of life too.
Please understand that I am still finding my way.
Every day.
Just like we all are.
♥♥♥
This blog is part of that journey as well.
I've had it on and off for many years, and some of you have followed for a long time.
There will be 52 entries in 2026
Every single Monday.
Some may be pretty boring.
Some may be funny. Or profound. Or sad. Or uplifting.
Some may cause you to roll your eyes... I can be pretty lame sometimes. lol
But it is my hope to cause a little inspiration. Faith. Strength.
And even help someone understand that resilience is not a bad thing.
And silence is nothing to fear.
But one thing will be for certain, the posts on this blog will all be from my heart and from my life - and from the person that I have always been, but have only recently discovered -- that I am someone that it really is okay to be.
Just me.
♥♥♥♥♥♥
One of the dream catchers in my room. I bought it in a gift shop on my last visit to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
The tree of life.
We, as people go through our seasons as well, just like the trees. It's all part of creation and how we are different but the same.
I encourage each of you to find the glory in every season.
Even the difficult ones.
The light will break through. Sometimes in the darndest way.
I encourage you all to stand strong in your faith. Your beliefs. Be kind and accept others for who they are. But at the same time, expect others to accept you for who you are as well.
Cheers to you.
This time is a British Blend of black tea.
Frankie sends her love to each of you.
