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

Why I told people my baby was difficult and why I stopped

Why I told people my baby was difficult and why I stopped

Boy, did I have this coming. Baby Felix plays super-sweet for everyone then screams in my face when no one is around. Still, I don't call him difficult. I learned that lesson with Amos, as I shared in this post originally published on Salt + Nectar a few months after Amos was born. 

At first, you just want sympathy. Your baby is being difficult and you just want to talk about how hard of a time you are having. It starts innocently enough. Then, you realize you're sharing more stories about the stress your baby brings, instead of the joy.

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Why I'm voting for Hillary not Bernie

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I love Bernie. I’ve always loved Bernie. I loved Bernie before loving Bernie was cool.

He was always my favorite Senator to hear speak during my time in the Senate. After I moved home, every time he’d come on The Diane Rehm show I’d crank up the volume and agree loudly with everything he said.  As he’d passionately defend the working poor and rail against the growing economic inequities, I’d testify like I was in church. “Amen!” “Let ‘em know, Bernie!”

But …

I’ve been here before.

5 Ways My Life Has Changed In 5 Years

One of my favorite lyrics from one of my favorite songs of all time is the line from the Indigo Girl's Watershed - Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good laugh.

Last week, I completed my FIFTH year of a Week in the Life and the anniversary gave me just a chance to look back and have a good laugh. As I flipped through my first Week in the Life in 2010, I was overwhelmed by how much our lives have changed. The years have passed so quickly that I haven't been able to take a step back and see that in almost every area our lives are different. 

Dealing with others helicoptering your kids

This little guy - who struggled with the second level of the playground - struggled with being "the ONLY first grader" who couldn't do the monkey bars. Again, I stood back and let him learn on his own and I was reminded of this post that is as true now as it was then. 

If someone were to ask me the personality trait I most want to teach Griffin, it would be independence.  My ultimate goal is to raise a confident, capable adult who does not need me to do his laundry or fight his fights.

As an infant, I would sit him down inside a play yard to play on his own. As soon as he could crawl, I baby-proofed his room and would allow him to play by himself in there (much to my mother's chagrin). I never saw it as my job to entertain him or show him how every single toy worked.

Book + Friend Bundling

These two guys were my first book club guinea pigs. 

These two guys were my first book club guinea pigs. 

I'm on Modern Mrs. Darcy - one of my FAVORITE blogs - talking about my new favorite way to connect with friends and family.

I love to read, but realized I was only finishing one or two books a month. I love connecting with friends and family, but realized recently I was going months without talking to the most important people in my life.

Then, I discovered “temptation bundling.” “Temptation bundling” is linking together two activities — one you should do but maybe avoid or have trouble making time for; and one you love to do but can be easily forgotten among more urgent tasks.

What if I combined my goal of reading more with connecting with family and friends?

Read the rest on Modern Mrs. Darcy

Featured
The past, the present, and the future
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Gray hair
My word for 2017
Running for office as a woman
"Boys will be boys."
Exit the Echo Chamber: Bipartisanship As An Act of Faith
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My little secret to staying Calm
How to quit yelling at your kids
How to quit yelling at your kids
My newest podcast obsession
Floating: My 90 minutes of bliss