Day 16: Let’s make Soup Beans!
IT'S ONLY A little bit of a joke when I say if I'm ever on death row, for my last meal I'll be requesting a big hearty bowl of soup beans. And cornbread. Yes, cornbread, please! This is real mountain food—the ultimate comfort food—and as soon as the weather turned...
Day 5: The Dancing Trees
I LOVE A Christmas craft, particularly if it's something I can do while watching The Voice or Survivor or (my current fave) The Diplomat. I've had fun these last couple of weeks popping out a few of what I'm calling Dancing Trees. They're so cute as ornaments or...
Day 4: Thanksgiving, and tradition
The post below first appeared on The Daily Grace on Thanksgiving Eve 2011. So much has changed in the years since I wrote it. All of the grandparents have passed on. Eliza—the cute Party Girl in blue, above, is now 33, married, and has a sweet daughter of her...
Day 3: The joy of surprise.
IT TOOK ME forever to see. Tim swore it was there, in a photograph taken by our friend, Paul, when he and Stacy came to visit at the end of October. His was a shot of one of the two Autumn wreathes that hang on our front doors, October to Thanksgiving. I looked at the...
Day 2: Start small.
IT'S AN UNFORTUNATE reality that for the better part of the last two years, I've spent a large portion of most every day sitting on my bum, working at my computer. For good reason, nearly all of it, as with the publishing of my book there has been round after round of...
Day 1: Trust me on this.
DO YOU LOVE your holiday tunes the way I love my holiday tunes? Isn't Christmas music just THE BEST??? If the answer is yes (and I know the answer is yes), you're gonna wanna listen to this playlist starting now. I know, I know. It's called Cozy Christmas Jazz and...
30 Days of Joy! v.2025
MY HEART'S BEEN pulling toward another 30 Days of Joy, a holiday series during which I set the intention to look for, and to acknowledge, moments big and small that center me, that fill me, that remind me life is a gift meant to be enjoyed and savored. It's a practice...
Hi. I’m Cathy.
This is a blog about writing, creative living, and grace in the everyday. It’s my hope this little spot on the internet will be for you a place of quiet and reflection, a source for inspiration, and a reminder there’s beauty all around—we simply need to keep our hearts open to see it. Thank you for being here with me.