BWell Blog

I can always count on Ava to hold the mirror up for me when I need it most.

After dinner the other night we all huddle around to play a game before bedtime routine.  Honestly, this isn’t my most favorite time of day as I’m an early riser and I tend to be begging for bed long before everyone else in our house.  But, it’s one of the few moments in our day when...

Ava shared her bucket list with us today.

I am inspired.  Here’s what I notice:

She is intentional.

She takes the time to write it down and posts it on the wall in the kitchen where she can be reminded every day.

She is committed.

It doesn’t take her long to complete (15 minutes or so).  Once her pen hits the paper, she goes for it.

She is clear.

As I watch her write, she...

40 things over 40 years that stay with me and matter most right now.

For Ava + Carson

Choose courage over comfort.
Your ability to be resilient changes everything.
Live and love with the long-term perspective in mind.
Humility is rare and beautiful.
Make self-care a priority.
Forgiveness will set you free.
Self-compassion first.
Find the humor in everything.
Be flexible.
Make time to do the things you...

Choosing means new commitments; choosing means things can change.

Choose:

To decide that a particular person or thing is the one that you want

To make a choice about what to do

To select freely and after consideration; decide; to see fit

To accept and embrace

I’ve been turning the word (choose)over and over in my head for a while now.  I need it to be active, in the present. ...

The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision.  So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. 

 –Neil Gailman
I start every year with a new word, a word that best describes my intentions and hopes for the year in front of me. This year, I choose quiet.

More quiet means recognizing...

There are few things that feel better than receiving a thoughtful, personal, handwritten note. Love notes are big around here in our home.  I started thinking about all of the places where notes show up and what they mean to me.

Welcome home notes Ava leaves around the house, when we arrive home from a trip out of town.

A love note written on Ava’s lunch napkin, I leave as a...

The anticipation and reality of a New Year comes with mixed emotion.  I often feel a bit of sadness as another year and holiday season pass, which is also goodbye to precious down, idle time with the kids.  It is also exciting and relieving (depending on the previous year)but never comes without an anticipatory anxious thread of expectation.  Inside the calm in the few days...

He didn’t understand why we were there and if I’m being honest, neither did I.   These were my ideas, my fears, my “what-if’s”; he was just along for the ride.  This is one of the many things I love about him; he’s always willing and ready to show up when it counts.  I didn’t want us to wake-up someplace we didn’t want to be...

It was a normal morning.  He even made them pancakes and for a school day, this is a treat. He hadn’t complained of any discomfort, there were no symptoms of what was to come.

Over these past couple weeks, I’ve become painfully aware of how much practice it takes to experience joy and gratitude in the presence of challenge.  In Brené Brown’s Gifts of...