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    • March 22, 2023
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    • February 16, 2023
  • This is a picture of Gunner on the day he went back to the surgeon to make sure his luxated hip was indeed firmly back in place.

    Searching for Awe-Filled Moments and Finding Them With My Dog

    • January 16, 2023
  • 50 Years of Wisdom: What Fifty Years Has Taught Me and What I’m Carrying Forward

    • December 12, 2022
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The Benefits of Anticipatory Awe: An Awe Practice

LiaMarch 22, 2023 Leave a comment

Spring is proof that we can consciously go looking for an emotion as grand as awe – and find it. I look forward to the spring season every year with great anticipation. Spring is a time when life is…

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General The Journey

50 Years of Wisdom: What Fifty Years Has Taught Me and What I’m Carrying Forward

When I was younger, I remember thinking thirty was old, fifty was really old,…

Lia December 12, 2022
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Fisherman and young boy at dusk.

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Blog Categories
  • Abundance
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  • General
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  • The Journey
  • Writing Craft
Recent Posts
  • The Benefits of Anticipatory Awe: An Awe Practice

    • March 22, 2023
  • Searching for Awe-Filled Moments and Finding Them in the Midst of my Day-to-Day Mundane Experiences

    • February 16, 2023
  • This is a picture of Gunner on the day he went back to the surgeon to make sure his luxated hip was indeed firmly back in place.

    Searching for Awe-Filled Moments and Finding Them With My Dog

    • January 16, 2023
  • 50 Years of Wisdom: What Fifty Years Has Taught Me and What I’m Carrying Forward

    • December 12, 2022
  • Abundance and the Power of a Single Word to Shape Your Year

    • October 31, 2022
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I chose my word for 2023 in early fall last year, I chose my word for 2023 in early fall last year, or should I say my word chose me during a trip to South Dakota. That trip was an encounter with the divine that left me speechless, in awe, and full of wonder at what existed around me. I live in an old farmhouse surrounded by one-hundred acres of farm land that also leaves me in awe on many occasions – but what I experienced in South Dakota was profound in some otherworldly way that I wanted to hold onto, while stretching my edges into the mystical and spiritual. So I made awe my word for 2023, confident that whatever it was that I was after would make itself known.
 
Then, in early November, before the New Year even arrived, awe made its first impactful appearance.

It was a rainy Tuesday that started with a deer landing on my husband’s windshield, and turned into Gunner, my work buddy, my writing buddy, my walking buddy—my shadow, and my best friend laying spread-eagle on the floor whimpering and unable to move.

We would learn that he had a luxated (dislocated) hip and would need surgery, then miraculously a few days later (before surgery) we would watch him walk out the back door, lift his luxated hip and pee on my plants. Talk about awe!

Gunner dodged surgery and is still peeing on my plants, and I am still in awe. Which is how my yearly word always works. Do you choose a yearly word or phrase, or set goals or intentions?
#graceandgritblog #awe #wonder #wordoftheyear #mybuddy #miraculous
Dear 2022, Thanks for the memories! Dear 2022, Thanks for the memories!
Christmas 2022! I’m grateful for time with all o Christmas 2022! I’m grateful for time with all of these smiling faces! 

We had to celebrate Mom from a distance, but we couldn’t let Christmas Day pass without seeing her too. 

#merrychristmas #christmas2022 #celebrate #makingmemories
Help me wish my husband a Happy 50th Birthday! I w Help me wish my husband a Happy 50th Birthday! I won the jackpot when I married this man. He give’s everything 125%. His business. His passions. Our family. Our marriage. I’m grateful for this man!

Happy, happy, happiest of birthdays to my EVERY thing.

#birthdayboy #fifty #myeverything #lovehim #happybirthday
My Mom & Dad made birthday dinner a special tradit My Mom & Dad made birthday dinner a special tradition in our family. We always got to pick what we wanted to eat on our special day. 

This year my sister-in-law had a special place in mind, since it was mine & Dwayne’s 50th, and since Samantha now joins us in our December birthday celebration. 

I’m grateful for good food, my brother’s entertainment that kept us all laughing, and time together.

#birthdaycelebration #timeisshort #dontblink #traditions #memories #grateful
Today marks fifty trips around the sun, and I’m Today marks fifty trips around the sun, and I’m feeling grateful for my loved ones, my health, the many places I’ve been able to visit, and all the experiences I’ve had. 

There was a time that I thought I’d dread this milestone, but instead I’m making big plans for my next fifty years. 

I want to soak up all the moments, especially those with my people. I want to meet new people, see new sights, experience new things, read a ton of great books—and publish at least a few or even a couple dozen. Mostly, I want to relish this gift of life that I’ve been given. 

I’ve created a list of fifty nuggets of wisdom I’ve gained over the years to remind me of this desire to soak up the moments, to not take time for granted, and just in case you need an invitation to live I’m sharing my list here with you. (See comments for rest of list.)

1. You are allowed to have needs.
2. Take action around your desires, hopes, and dreams. Without action they will only remain desires, hopes, and dreams.
3. Stop waiting for Saturdays, holidays, somedays. Life doesn’t begin when this or that happens. The time is now. The day is today.
4. Flawed doesn’t mean imperfect. Flawed means human, and that very thing you consider a flaw is the very thing the world needs more of.
5. Grace and Grit are the how of everything.
6. Grace is medicine for healing. Grace brings you out of hiding (shame) and allows you to be your fullest self. Grant yourself grace. Grant others grace.
7. Grace (love) is the answer to every single thing. Shame? Throw some grace on it. Pain? Throw some grace on it. Anger?  Smother it with grace. Joy? Expand it even further with grace.
8. Boundaries are for you not them. 
9. People are messy. Allow them to be who they are.
10. Sometimes the goal is to just keep going. 

#overthehill #graceandgrit #grateful #lifeisshort #lifeisshort #soakitup
Make the time. Do your thing. I’m committed to Make the time. Do your thing. 

I’m committed to doing the work to make this book dream a real thing. I work with a phenomenal book coach/editor to hold me accountable, and I continue to show up to the work. 

I had a pretty big submission due, so I got away for the weekend for some much needed quiet time and thinking space. I had my cheering squad with me, and I’m feeling good about what we accomplished. Now we wait to see what my coach thinks. 

What is your thing, your dream, your goal? Are you making time to put in action that will help you see results?

#makethetime #doyourthing #buildyourdream #actionsgetresults #writer #fictionwriting #buttinchair #wordswordswords
I’m a huge @brenebrown fan. Huge! I love her boo I’m a huge @brenebrown fan. Huge! I love her books, TED talks, and televised specials on her research into courage, shame, vulnerability, and wholeheartedness—all of which are intricate pieces (in my mind) for why we give and withhold GRACE from others and ourselves. And since grace is my jam, I always find myself wanting to learn more from Brene’. 

Enter @nicole.lewiskeeber and Brene’s Dare to Lead Class. (Which is a class developed from Brene’s book by the same name, and her research into courageous leadership.)

Nicole is a trauma-informed business therapist, mindset coach, and certified Dare to Lead Facilitator who knows how trauma shows up (and comes out sideways) in businesses, relationships, and our lives (when we let it run amuck). 

Nicole has offered Brene’s class for the last two years, and this year I finally signed up! The class was eight weeks of intense and informative hard work, a deep dive into all the ways I “armor up” to protect myself from vulnerability and shame, and, for me, much needed Grace-defining work. 

#brenébrown #daretoleadtrained #grace #nomoreshame #newperspective #mindsetmatters
I’ve heard them called God Moments — those une I’ve heard them called God Moments — those unexplainable goosebump induced moments of magic, mystery, wonder, and awe. I had a lot of these moments while my husband and I were out West in South Dakota, and I don’t want to wait to experience more of them until we get the chance to go back. Which is why I’m going to intentionally seek out these awe-filled moments in 2023. 

Every year I pick a guiding word to serve as a reminder of something I want to achieve or become, some character trait I want to polish or refine in the new year. And every year I am surprised by how the simple act of choosing a word and focusing on that word throughout the year creates change in my life —and within me. 

I’ve picked the word awe for 2023. I want more wonder, magic, “woo woo” in my life. If that sounds like something you might also be interested in, follow along with my Searching for Awe-Filled Moments Series, beginning January 1st on the Grace & Grit Blog. 

Have you ever chosen a word to guide your year? I challenge you to choose one for 2023, and to share your word with me. 

#graceandgritblog #godmoments #wordoftheyear #awe #wonder #lifeisshort #seizetheday
Tomorrow is November 1st, the start of NaNoWriMo ( Tomorrow is November 1st, the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a month to crank out as many words as possible—50,000 is the NaNoWriMo goal. I’ve participated in years past, and I loved being in community with a group of writers dedicated to a goal. 

I’m not striving for 50,000 words on a new project this year, but rather I’m committed to continuing the work of bringing clarity, depth, and marketability to the novel I’ve been working on, and always the joy of cheering my fellow writers on. 

After all, the spirit of NaNoWriMo is to build the habit of writing, to get words on the page — the old adage that you can’t edit a blank page. 

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? Maybe you’re getting a jumpstart on your health and fitness goals before the New Year, or even some other goal. No matter your endeavor, let me know your November goals. I’d love to cheer you on. 

Onward we go!

#buttinchairhandsonkeyboard #youcanteditablankpage #chasingadream #justdoit #amwriting #writer
Do you have a dream, a goal, a secret hope, a proj Do you have a dream, a goal, a secret hope, a project, business idea, book idea—vision you desire to make a reality one day? 

Do you have enough clarity around your desire that if you closed your eyes you could you envision yourself doing the thing, living that life, being that person? 

Do you have a plan for how you will reach your desire? 

AND, are you willing to pivot into new opportunities around your desire as you learn and grow along the way?

I’ve been listening to Alex Banayan’s book THE THIRD DOOR on Audible. Alex had a desire at the tender age of eighteen. He wanted to interview a list of successful people and uncover their secrets to success, which he would share with his generation. 

Pitbull wasn’t one of the interviewees on Alex’s original list, but Pitbull was one of people that helped Alex learn, grow, and clarify his vision along the way. Pitbull showed Alex that success - true success - was about a willingness to learn and grow into new possibilities while on the quest to your dream. 

You can watch others. You can admire others. You can desire what others have, but don’t lose sight of your vision in that comparison place. Your vision is yours to nurture and mold and tweak and refine on your journey to becoming the fullest expression of you!

#thethirddoor #alexbanayan #pitbullrapper #youonlygetonelife #lifeisshort #dothedamnthing #authenticallyyou
I’m celebrating thirty years with this amazing m I’m celebrating thirty years with this amazing man today. Knowing what I know, going through what we’ve gone through, I’d choose him again and again and again, and again. I love you, Dwayne Cook! 

#30thanniversary #myman #dontblink #celebrate #takethetrip #dothethings #makeeverysecondcount
I had all three of my kiddos home and under one ro I had all three of my kiddos home and under one roof this weekend. ❤️

#myheartbeats #happymomma #emptynesters #youcanalwayscomehome #savoreverymoment
What could be better than a beautiful fall day in What could be better than a beautiful fall day in the mountains with your best friend?

Julie kept telling me about these beautiful frescoes at a small church in West Jefferson. We made the usual someday plans. Then yesterday became that day. 

Ben Long created awe-inspiring works of art, but more than that these pieces are spiritual experiences with stories all their own. 

We learned there are more Ben Long frescoes in Charlotte and Statesville and Wilkesboro and Montreat, which means more road trips in our future. 

#lifeisshort #makethetime #roadtrip #mybff #moutains #benlongfrescoes
I see you with that painted-on smile and tears in I see you with that painted-on smile and tears in your eyes. You don’t have to be strong. You don’t have to keep pushing through. Grant yourself grace.

I see you arriving home bone-tired, numb, and unaware of the last ten miles of your day-end commute. Take a long hot bath. Treat yourself to a relaxing massage from your very own hands. Grant yourself grace.

I see you replaying those hurtful words in an endless loop, and with them the look on that person’s face. Shame is not allowed to live here. Grant yourself grace.

I see those old stories, programming, conditioning—lies telling you what good looks like, talks like, acts like. Open your eyes and your ears to the truth in your heart. Those stories need to change. Grant yourself grace.

I see you grimacing when that name pops up on your phone, declining that call, ignoring that text … that person, that issue. Emotional boundaries are a real and necessary thing. You absolutely are doing the right thing attending to your emotional health. Maybe you’ll tackle the issue when you’re more resourced. Maybe the issue was never yours to tackle. This is granting yourself grace.

I see you saying no, then questioning if it was wrong, selfish because of the push back you received. It’s not wrong. No is a valid and healthy response. It doesn’t need further explanation. Trust yourself to know your limits and to enforce them. This is granting yourself grace.

I see you in your pajamas on a Saturday afternoon, leaving things undone, lounging on your couch, and staring out the window at the elongated shadows of the tall trees.
Savor this moment. This is granting yourself grace.

I see you making time for you and the things that you like, need, desire. This is you granting yourself grace.

Grant yourself grace upon grace upon grace upon grace to do, to be, to fail, to try again, to have boundaries, to set limits and expectations, to know what you need, to ask for what you need—to believe you are worthy and deserving, because You Are.  #graceandgritblog #grace #boundaries #selflove #selfcare
Lunch with these two smiling faces. Mom said it’ Lunch with these two smiling faces. Mom said it’s been a while since she had her two kids to herself. 

#lunchbuddies #makingmemories #mymomma #mybrother #mypeeps
It was Parent Weekend at ECU and I got to see my A It was Parent Weekend at ECU and I got to see my Addie Boo. She’s loving college life. 

#eastcarolinauniversity #piratenation #doingherthing #livingherdream #mygirl #missher #emptynestlife
I’m working out a new and exciting angle to my m I’m working out a new and exciting angle to my manuscript, and these masterpieces are my guides. Any ideas or guesses on my new angle?

#greatbooks #ilovebooks #bookstack #amwritingfiction #authorinspratiin #persistancepaysoff #doyourthing #chaseyourdreams #writerlife #thelostapothecary #thehusbandssecret #leavingtimenovel #midnightatblackbirdcafe
South Dakota, I will miss you and the brushstrokes South Dakota, I will miss you and the brushstrokes of God’s hands painted all over your land. You made this an Anniversary I will never forget.  #emptynesters #southdakota #chapelinthehills #badlandsnationalpark #custerstatepark #spearfishcanyon #wow
Sturgis, Spearfish, and Deadwood, South Dakota, we Sturgis, Spearfish, and Deadwood, South Dakota, were our playground today. We shopped, rode through Spearfish Canyon, hiked to a waterfall, and watched Wild Bill Hickok loose a shootout. 

We head back to Charlotte tomorrow but we are already scheming our return. This area is unbelievable, unreal, beautiful, amazing, WOW, and every other superlative we have used over and over again as we’ve traveled South Dakota’s roads. 

#emptynesters #ilovehim #southdakota #sturgis #spearfishsd #deadwood #roadtrip #jeep
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