Today’s guest blog post is from a new friend of mine, Deanna Pavlenko, whom I met through an online writing group called Novel Academy. We are in a small group called a “huddle” with three other women within that organization. We group-text everyday, asking how we can help one another and be in prayer for each other. Deanna heads our group and she does a fantastic job. As we’ve texted back and forth, she’s shared that her family is of Ukrainian descent. Last week, she told us the incredible amount of hours her family invests to make traditional Ukrainian and…
Read MoreHOPE IN AN UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD
Earlier this week, I watched a person give a live devotional with the camera placed in such a way that she appeared upside down. Her message was still excellent and the video was a-righted in time, but the captured moment seemed a perfect metaphor for the world we’re living in now. Upside-down world. A friend in Wisconsin recently posted on her Facebook page: Just so I NEVER forget….. April 2, 2020 Gas price a mile from home was $2.08 School cancelled – yes cancelled Self-distancing measures on the rise. Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help…
Read MoreTHOUGHTS IN THE TIME OF CORONA VIRUS AND SOME FREE STATIONERY FOR SPRING
Hello friends, Greetings in the time of the corona-virus pandemic. Hope you’re all hanging in there with your sheltering-in-place. I found some things to smile about today. Maybe you’ve experienced a number of them since your residential work relocation? I have to say, the first one, yeah, I’ve experienced it. But nothing that a bag of Cadbury mini eggs couldn’t help to get me going again. So, I’m an Enneagram 7 and according to Enneagram experts, 7s haven’t met a hobby they haven’t wanted to take up. Which is why there’s this next string of photos, because yes, I decided…
Read MoreFREE QUOTE BOOK FEB. 13-15, 2020
For all my life, I’ve collected quotes. So, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’m doing a three-day giveaway of my book on quotes, “Kissing the Shoreline: Quotes and Reflections to Live By” You can download a digital (e-book) version for free on February 13th, 14th, and 15th, 2020. Here’s one of my favorites from the book. “Friendship is the warm cloak we wear over our winter lives. Friends wrap us with affirmation, enfold us with understanding, and protect us against the cold winds of hostility and criticism. Friendship is the cool breeze of our summer lives. Friends sail along with us…
Read MoreTHE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Minnesota, USA. After our 2019 post-Christmas-ing, we bid adieu to our son, Jake and his wife, Jenny, as they headed back to their new home in Arvada, Colorado. Rick and I headed up to the cabin to make sure all was well. We drove separately because I wanted to stay an extra couple of days to do some writing. He got a ten-minute start. In the way-back of my mind, Rick’s words echoed in my head that supposedly there was a snowstorm in the area. I know some of you live according to The Weather Channel or a weather app. I…
Read MoreA SWEET AU REVOIR TO 2019, HELLO TO 2020, AND MY WORD FOR THE YEAR: PRACTICING
Happy 2020 New Year, friends! 2019 had its tough moments, such as receiving middle-of-the-nights calls that my mom had fallen. She had a tough year, fracturing her right hip three times, but is doing much better and loving living near my brother, Steve, and his wife, Debbie, at her new home at Praha Village in New Prague. But, 2019 is a year I’ll store in my heart for always. It was a year where I learned (make that, practiced) bridge (“Relax,” my fellow bridge players constantly say, but the pressure is real! I love the game and the women I’ve…
Read MoreA FREEBIE
Happy November! Hope your month is going well. Usually at this time of the year, I’m scurrying to create new items and have them printed and packaged for a booth I rent at Christ Presbyterian’s Holiday Boutique. This year, the boutique falls on my granddaughter Olivia’s birthday, so I won’t be there and I’ll miss seeing your kind faces and visiting with you. Being we’re nearing Thanksgiving, I’d like to say thank you to you, for reading my blog, for buying my books, and for buying at my Etsy store, juliesaffrinsstuff. I’d like to give you a freebie that you…
Read MoreWHAT DO I SAVE AND HOW DO I SAVE IT
I have reached a breaking point and could use some wisdom. I recently read the average household has 300,000 items. Well, I have three households and I’m overwhelmed with belongings and treasures. My mom was a saver, her mom was a saver, her aunts were savers. I have “inherited” both my parents’ things as well as my grandmother’s things. (My mom was an only child.) My mom moved into a senior living house 4 years ago. Since then, she’s moved three times. Each time, a little more has come home with me and now my house is stuffed. Help me.…
Read MoreWRITING A LETTER TO AN AUTHOR WHO CHANGED YOUR LIFE
I have a friend, Gail Helgeson, who is a marvelous note-writer. She writes a note to someone every day. She slips little sayings, usually from Mary Engelbreit, into her notes and usually has a sticker or two affixed to the envelope. Her letters are filled with encouragement, swirls, and her signature. Sometimes the notes are small in size, sometimes, they’re cut-and-pasted sayings on construction paper. All keeper words. All soul-touching. Yesterday, Rick and I were on our way up to our cabin in northern Minnesota, and we took the new way we discovered this summer to get there. There’s a…
Read MoreWHEN MOUNTAINS SING BY STACY MONSON. A REVIEW
My favorite kind of story is one that holds my attention, has memorable characters, and leaves you thinking about it after you have finished it. Well, it’s been four days and I can’t, nor do I want to, stop thinking about this book, When Mountains Sing by Stacy Monson. So many takeaways, including the title’s meaning. It’s beautifully written, with not an ounce of a saggy middle, and lots of belly laughs and touchingly tender moments. Most importantly, I’m not a person who likes camping so much, but I want to be a friend to HIKER GIRL! And you’ll want to…
Read More