• Date Night

    20 Winter Dates for 20 Bucks

    I’ve got 20 easy, FUN, and cheap date ideas for winter! All under $20. Just try one. Capiche? Make cookies. You can go homemade or buy a mix. ...and give them away. Package them up in Ziploc bags and deliver them to neighbors or retirement homes near you. Have a kitchen showdown! Challenge each other to a cook-off – you can split the $20 at the grocery store however you’d like, but each person must whip up as full a meal as possible with what they’ve got. This is my Chicken Marsala – do not and I repeat – DO NOT – challenge me to a cook-off. 4. Put together a…

  • Relationships Take Work

    The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

    If you’re following along, you might know about Sacred Saturdays.  They evolved from my husband’s and my need to hold time aside just for us. The time that has worked best is Saturday mornings. The name came later as we realized just what this time means to us and what it has contributed to our relationship. “Sacred” in the name does not mean that we do something specifically related to God every time, although we sometimes do. It means that this time is a priority and it’s special. I explain how it came about and what we do on these mornings in the original story. We’ve been doing Sacred Saturdays…

  • Life Advice

    Never Lonely with Me

    Rubbernecking is one of those things we all hate in principle but engage in at some point in our life.  Most people just can’t seem to help it. Have you ever felt simultaneously curious about something macabre and guilty for that same interest? I have. I’ve also been the unwilling subject of that kind of interest. You might have been, too. My husband, Bobby, is a professional Champion drag racer. One of these stories starts with Bobby landing the Chrysler sponsorship for our fledgling racing operation.  It started small. Our Hero at Chrysler didn’t even know what a funny car was when he said yes to Bobby. He asked if…

  • Relationship Advice

    Be fun. Be close.

    Singer Van Morrison contends that All Work and No Play  makes you… really boring.  Haha! I agree with him. One of the things I love about my 37-year relationship with my husband is that he is still fascinating to me. He’s really intelligent and he’s bold. So, his thoughts are interesting and unlike other peoples’ thoughts. And, he has not stopped striving for things. But also – he’s reaaaaaly fun. Because we’re so close, we don’t have to be doing much at all to have fun. However, finding new innovative things to do together keeps us close. And out of a rut. It invigorates our love! I encourage you to…