Politics, Stories
Sarah Holland
Campaign Update: March

"How's the campaign going?"

It's the question I get most often. It's also the question I'm never quite sure how to answer.

Good? ... Great! ... Your guess is as good as mine. ... We'll see May 17th!

The truth - I suppose - all depends on what you're measuring. 

Campaign Update: March
Celebrations
Sarah Holland
Felix's Winter ONE-derland

This weekend we hosted a Winter ONE-derland party in honor of Felix's first birthday. Considering this child was born during a snow, it seemed like an appropriate theme. Well, the weather had other plans and it was 70 and sunny! I could have hosted the dang party outside! 

Felix's Winter ONE-derland
Stories
Sarah Holland
Ruby

For my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 things I wanted to do. One was to write a historical fiction short story. This is the story and as Ruby keeps calling to me here lately. I thought I'd share it here. 

Ruby
Food
Sarah Holland
Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals

One of Nicholas's New Year's resolutions was to try freezer meals. He'd prepped meals for the week on and off through 2015 and wanted to see how it would work to prepare an entire month's worth. Then, we could just pull a meal from the deep freeze, throw it in the crockpot, and on a busy day dinner would be waiting for us.

Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals
What I Learned
Sarah Holland
5 things I learned in January

Dear 2016, Slow. Up. I just picked my word for the year and finished off my New Year's Eve champagne like five minutes ago and now it's two days until February!

Whew.

5 things I learned in January

An Open Letter of Apology to my Firstborn

I feel like every month another open letter of apology makes the rounds on Facebook. The letter is written to the second or third child and is a tongue-in-cheek apology by an overwhelmed momma for all the things she DIDN'T do this time around. 

There were no prenatal yoga classes or germaphobic protections taken. There are no baby books filled with mementos or perfectly planned outfits. Instead, the "poor" second or third child is subjected to boisterous siblings and lack of 100% supervision.

I hate these letters.

5 Ways We Beat Head Lice

I didn't think there was a limit (unless imposed by my husband) to what I would share on social media. Turns out I was wrong. There is and I discovered it the second week of December.

Griffin was sent home with head lice. 

If you follow me on social media, you saw nary a word about the incident. 

Both boys had been itching for several days but, when a cursory look over their head didn't reveal anything, I just figured it was dry scalp. In reality, I didn't know what I was looking for.

Griffin had it. Amos had it. I had it. 

(Take a moment to shudder. It's cool. I get it. I can wait.)

My word for 2015

Every year I chose a word that represents something I want to work on for the upcoming year. It could be something I want more of in my life. It could be something I want to focus on in specific areas of my life. Either way - in addition to resolutions - I like to pick a word as a guiding concept to keep me centered all year long.

I've been picking a word for three years now. In 2013, my word was simplicity. In 2014, my word was growth. I've felt the power of having a word - especially this last year. 

Unfortunately, I was having a lot of trouble picking a word this year.

My Favorite Post of the Year

My word for 2014 was growth. I had hoped it would represent our growing family as we added a new member but the universe had other plans. Instead, it represented incredible personal growth for me both as an individual and as a wife. One of the biggest lessons I learned along the way is contained within this post and I was so incredibly thankful to hear it resonated with so many of you.

The Truth That Changed My Marriage

What Worked for Me in 2014

I LOVE this last little bit of time as the old year ends and the new year is about to begin. I love reflecting on a completed year and planning for an upcoming year. I basically complete every year-end reflection I come across and had just finished this personal audit from Unclutterer when I saw one of my favorites Modern Mrs. Darcy shared her similar reflections on what worked well for her in 2014. 

So, here you go...

What worked for me in 2014?

My Most Visited Post of the Year

In many ways, our entire year was defined by the week of April 10-15. I spent the winter dealing with a pregnancy I knew was not right. I spent the spring grieving the loss of that pregnancy. I have spent the summer and fall pregnant again - feeling full of hope and trepidation.

So, I suppose it is appropriate that this post is the one the most of you read. I poured my heart into this post and y'all responded with such compassion and support that I can't imagine how I would have gotten through it all without you. 

Thank you for reading. Thank you for being there. 

April 10-15, 2014

The online home of Sarah Stewart Holland