Author: Libby

Five Tips for Planning Intentional Self-Care

Libby, , , , 1 Comment

I’m sitting here listening to the hold music at my doctor’s office on speaker phone while I drink a big cup of coffee and draw up a lazy grocery list for this weekend. I want to make sure we get a lot of fresh veggies in our systems so I’m thinking a big salad for lunch… grilled chicken and veggies for dinner, and I’m wondering if peaches will satisfy our after dinner sweet teeth or if we should just admit it and get some cookies. And when are we going to get some movement in? If we can’t go to the water park, maybe we can take a park-tour or walk up and down main street. Or maybe even both… My best friend is coming to spend the night and I want to make sure that I’m at my very best while she’s here.

This planning ahead is something pretty new for me. Sort of. I’ve always been the type who likes to know what to expect but this is different. I’ve learned, recently, that if I plan certain things ahead, I’m more in control—not in control of what happens but more in control of how I feel. I’ve started seriously planning my self-care. And it has made all the difference. I’m not going to say that I feel like a whole new person… but I can tell you that I feel more in control of myself, these days.
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Sunday Suppers at the Table

Libby, , 3 Comments

Twice a month, I go to the home of some dear friends, along with dozens of other people. And we gather along long tables and share food and talk to each other and learn about one another. There are so many different types of people in this gathering, too, and that’s the very best part. We’ve got mild-mannered, head-covered Mennonite ladies sitting across the table from a sailor-tongued, crop-topped atheist and what are they saying to one another? “This broccoli-cheese soup is so good, who made it? Do you think I can get the recipe?” Or the most commonly heard phrase, “I have needed this so much.”

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Photo: Blue Muse Photography

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Let’s Make Enchiladas

Libby, , 6 Comments

Last week I posted a survey on Facebook and Instagram asking about which light-hearted topics you’d rather hear about: what I’m wearing or what I’m cooking? The results were overwhelmingly… split exactly down the middle 50/50 (not counting those who suggested that I share what I’m wearing while I’m cooking—answer: leggings and baggy t-shirts). And since it’s a lot easier for me to photograph what I’m cooking than what I’m wearing, you get a recipe post today.

I’ve been eating these leftovers all week. And a lot of times when I’ve eaten leftovers a few days in a row I start to get sick of it. But every single time that I nuked these in the microwave and piled them high with tomatoes and lettuce, I did a happy dance. They’re gone, now, and I miss them.
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Virtual Book Club: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie + August Book Choice Reveal

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I became familiar with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie through her TEDxEuston talk, We Should All Be Feminists—from which this book was adapted. My friend, Jessica, reminded me that I also knew of her from Beyonce’s video for Flawless.

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