When I was in Iraq, I participated in a memorial ceremony for an Army Colonel who had committed suicide.  He was a rising star in the Army, so when he made the unfortunate decision to end his own life, it was a huge shock.  On the surface, he seemed to...

In last week’s blog, I gave you some ideas on how you can spoil your spouse any day of the week. I was greatly encouraged to hear how so many people appreciated the ideas. In fact, several people are already trying them. I had one friend call me to thank...

Oh my, only 26 days until Valentine’s Day! Are you stressing out yet? A little dramatic, I know, but for some couples, planning Valentine’s Day is a big deal. Where I live, if you want to have a nice dinner out, you have to make reservations weeks in advance. However...

It’s 61 degrees, raining, gray skies and the blahs of winter have set in. I don’t know about you, but am I the only one who is struggling to get going in 2017? I am typically optimistic and a big planner, but so far I seem to be spending more...

I hope you had a great Christmas and your new year is off to a great start. It seems like for my family, based on recent events, this year is going to be all about a “fresh start.” With your tree likely down, your gifts unwrapped, and the weather keeping...

I told myself this year was going to be different. I was not going to allow myself to create New Year’s resolutions that I knew I could never finish. I love making goals and creating lists but in the past, my lists were far too long and quite honestly, unrealistic....

Sometimes it takes getting a dose of your “own medicine” to finally get the message. For the past few weeks, I have been operating with a flurry of activity. I had so much to do to get my life in order (or so I thought) before Christmas, that my goal...

There is probably no other time of the year that the spirit of giving is more apparent than the month of December. In fact, over 30% of our country’s annual giving occurs in December. This makes a lot of sense because the meaning of Christmas for many people is often...

Is there such a thing as work/life balance during the Christmas holidays? I recently spent some time going through my calendar for the rest of this year and was excited to see that I have some extra time to be at home during the holidays. I thought about this for...

I was a little surprised. One of my family’s Thanksgiving traditions is to go around the room before we eat and share something we are thankful for. This year there were some great things shared, but as I thought about it a couple of days after, there was not one...