Author Archives: Franci

Three Months of Loss

Dark ocean with waves. Sand and beach shrubs in foreground. A few clouds in sky.
“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” –Vicki Harrison

Three of our dearly loved family members have passed away in a 3-month time span.

  • My husband’s cousin, a mother of 4 children, passed away unexpectantly in February. We drove to Tennessee to be with the family and attend the funeral.
  • My paternal grandmother, Oma Wilma, passed away in March. She was 90 years old.
  • In April, my aunt (dad’s sister) passed away. It was only a month after her own mother’s passing and the birth of her fifth grandchild.
  • Also, the one year anniversary of my dad’s death was the first week of May.

We have all been processing how to handle so much loss in such a short period of time. The emotions and feelings are overwhelming at times. We are finding comfort in each other and on the memories shared, but it is a difficult road. I’m learning how we all process death differently. I know grief can cause us to act in ways that are not true to our personality. I give grace, I accept grace, and I trust things will get better with time. Here is a list of things that are helping me cope.

(more…)

5-12-2018 | 4

10 Healthy Sack Lunch Ideas for Kids

10: Healthy Sack lunch Ideas: Peanut butter and jelly between two tortillas, cubed watermelon and sliced cucumbers.

This is our third year to pack school lunches. Our oldest, Grant, eats in the school cafeteria once a week (he calls it “eating out”) and takes his lunch from home the remaining days. We look at the school menu monthly, then he picks which days to buy a school lunch and marks those days on his calendar.

(more…)

3-08-2018 | 3

Hello Weekend

Tree limbs with translucent golden berries against a blue sky
This photo was taken at Martin Park Nature Center in Oklahoma City. One of our readers mentioned this might be a soapberry tree.

Friday is my chance to share bits, pieces, and insights with you that have encouraged, inspired, or simply just made me smile. I hope you find these things interesting and helpful. 

For a new snack try Trader Joe’s Chili and Lime Seasoning Blend sprinkled on sliced granny smith apples. The label says you can sprinkle it on mango, pineapple, and jicama. When we lived in L.A. we would always see the fruit vendors selling their mouth-watering fruit and this treat takes me back there.

Since I was thinking about fresh fruit carts, I remembered a good weekend movie recommendation. East Side Sushi is about a girl from L.A. whose dad owned a fruit stand. Very inspiring!

One of my goals this year is to always have some type of flower, plant, or weed on display in our bathroom. Currently, I have flowerless lavender stems from our backyard. That tiny little vase full of nature makes me smile every time.

Key to our marriage (only took us 10 years to figure this out): Franci needs a weekly date and Brent feels loved when his clothes are ironed. How simple is that? Too bad I hate ironing and Brent doesn’t like making reservations. Marriage takes hard work doing things you don’t like to do, but it also brings so much happiness.

I enjoyed this podcast recently. If you like inspiring stories that involve both fashion and husband and wife partnerships, then you should check it out.

As we go into the weekend, I’ll leave you with this quote which I have also seen labeled as a Mexican proverb.

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” ― Dinos Christianopoulos

3-02-2018 | 1

« Previous Page — Next Page »