grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Lake Girls. Lake Time.

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Lake Girl, Lake Time

Lake Girls. Lake Trip.

This weekend marks our first lake trip of the year. Our first official trip of summer, not that summer is here yet (but you know what I mean). Now that Momma and Staci are both living in Fayetteville, we are much closer to Lake Norfork. And we can go for long weekends. That was practically impossible to do when we lived in Texas.

So we’ll kick off lake season the way we did when we were all living together on the farm, when Staci and I were kids, before college and marriage and family and careers. We’ll spend the weekend doing many of those same things we always do when we go to the lake. Lake girls are like that.Continue Reading

One Little Word 2019

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One Little Word for 2019

It took me a while to come up with my One Little Word for 2019. I ended the year on a bone-tired note and began to wonder if I wanted to continue blogging at all. (Hahaha, of course I do!) But the truth is I’ve felt drained as of late, mainly because I let outside influences influence me. Seriously, the negative news and dialog can get to a person.

Anyway… If you aren’t familiar with One Little Word, click HERE and read all about the concept from founder Ali Edwards. In a nutshell, you choose a word for the year and rally around that word as inspiration throughout the year. The brain really is incredible. It’s amazing what will happen if you focus energy on the positive.

A single word can be a powerful thing. ~ Ali Edwards

I believe it.

In past years I’ve chosen these words: believe, balance, focus, savor, grow. Whatever I happened to be doing, I’ve made my word part of the equation. And for the most part, my word helped keep me centered, take the next step, and reach goals.

But everything feels different this year. Like I need a restart button. Maybe even a brief timeout to think and reboot.

So that’s where I’m starting.

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How to Hibernate

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Hibernation Mode

This time of year all I want to do is hibernate. I wish I could disappear underneath a cozy quilt and read book after book after book with breaks to snooze along to Christmas movies, old ones like White Christmas, and maybe drink steaming hot soup from a coffee mug. Even though I LOVE winter and wouldn’t dare want to miss it, I’m a little envious of the animals who burrow inside toasty dens and wake to spring.

True animal hibernation is about conservation of energy, not sleep. My version of hibernation is about self care—sleeping and resting and escaping. It’s a time-out away from the busy-ness of life, especially during the holidays when invitations and commitments seem to align one after another.

Last weekend I hibernated on Saturday. And I plan to do it again whenever I can, an afternoon here or a snow day there. I would love to have an entire WEEK of hibernation, preferably in a well-stocked cabin in the woods (with high thread count sheets and a fireplace). Hibernation is not about roughing it. Not in my world.Continue Reading

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