Author Archives: megan

I Voted …

Posted on November 6, 2012 by megan

Today … I’m voting. When my kindergartner gets out of school today, I’m taking both of my daughters to the polls. We’ll probably have to park some distance from the fairgrounds, and it’s supposed to be raining, and then I have to find the map that shows my district and stand in line until it’s my turn. I can’t forget my identification and I always get nervous that I might mark something incorrectly. Taking a 3-year-old and 5-year-old to do all this with me certainly doesn’t make the task easier, but I want them to KNOW.

When the poll worker hands me three stickers, I will explain to my daughters, as I do every year, what it means to be an American and what it means to be a female American. Then, I will proudly walk through the rain hand-in-hand with my two daughters—wearing stickers on our lapels.

Small Town, Big Dancing

Posted on November 1, 2012 by megan

When I received the magazine entry (below) for our upcoming “Saying Yes!” magazine issue in my inbox on Saturday, I couldn’t help but smile (even though it came in too late to make the issue). Stacy Boe Miller was expressing her feelings for the little town that she and I and all of MaryJanesFarm call home. And while she was doing so, I was randomly mailing my mother-in-law earrings that Stacy had made and sharing her website with all of you! What are the odds, really? Well, pretty good in this wonderful little place called Moscow, Idaho.

Small Town, Big Dancing by Stacy Boe Miller of Moscow, Idaho …
When my new friend Julia called and asked me to a local concert, I almost didn’t say yes. My husband, three kids, and I had just moved to northern Idaho from Minneapolis, and though I was eager to make new friends, some days I just found all the meeting and greeting a little too tiring. I decided at the last minute to go, and through this one evening out, I learned a lot about the little town I was now calling home …

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Meanwhile, the barn goes on …

Posted on October 28, 2012 by megan

Do you see those ominous clouds behind the new barn we’re raising? Winter is coming! We all cried a little tear last week when we had our first snowfall at the farm. Not that we don’t love winter—we just hope it comes after Halloween. It’s a little cold walking around trick-or-treating in your Elvira costume. Fall at the farm is so beautiful, we hate to see it go. Brian is especially hoping we stave off those little white flakes as long as possible. He’s stuck in the muck of “mud season” trying to get our new barn finished before the white stuff seriously piles up.

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blue eyes for blue eyes…

Posted on October 27, 2012 by megan

My mother-in-law has brilliant blue eyes that she passed along to her son, and now, our oldest. It works out well when both grandmothers have blue eyes—someone is bound to inherit them.

On the drive to meet my mother-in-law for the first time, prior to her being my mother-in-law of course, I was so nervous, the sweat was …

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Make a Difference Today

Posted on October 25, 2012 by megan

The fourth Saturday in October is National Make a Difference Day. I love this and can’t wait to properly celebrate this holiday.

Did you know there is an actual Make a Difference website where you can organize a project, register it so others can sign up to help, download the logo, and possibly receive an award for your service? Not that we need awards for making a difference, but getting help with a big project is surely appealing! And if you don’t have time to do all that, you can join a project already in the works and make a difference this coming Saturday …

In honor of…

Posted on October 16, 2012 by megan

…my mom.

It’s National Bosses’ Day and in honor of my boss, I just wanted to say…Mom, you’re the best there is!

kat-uh-kree-sis

Posted on October 14, 2012 by megan

Do you ever have one of those mornings when dawn shatters at the sound of the alarm clock?

You literally fly out of bed, realizing that you only have a shred of time before an early phone appointment.

Leaving the blankets bunched at the foot of the bed, you lunge for the loo and end up tripping on a table leg.

Ouch!

Who put that nightstand there anyway?!

(We all know the answer to that one.)

So, there you are, holding your pummeled pinky toe and

shouting daggers,

when a lovely little lilac of a face peers through the doorway and coos,

“Good morning, Mommy! I love you!”

Ahhh …

The world melts at your feet (one of them still in your hand).

Your heart drizzles dreamily back into its proper place,

And, just like that,

the day sheds its dour demeanor

and begins to dance.

Can you guess what all of the bold phrases in this entry have in common?

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Happiness …

Posted on October 8, 2012 by megan

We all know happiness can’t be bought or sold. And we know we can’t expect anyone to create happiness for us, right? So if you can’t buy something to make you happy and you’re supposed to make yourself happy, how is that done exactly?

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The Teachers of the World

Posted on October 5, 2012 by megan

Our little Stella started school this fall. It has been life changing. I cannot believe how much she’s learned in just one short month. And, most important, how much she loves it. She picks out her little outfits each morning, requests different types of braids most days, and then off she goes. When she gets home, she is so eager to do her homework that we work on it right away. We’ve set up a chalkboard in the living room so she can pretend she is the teacher. She has an entire class of well-behaved stuffed animals and dolls.

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