Leisure How to Grow Vegetables in Pots I have never had a green thumb. If a plant is alive and I take possession of it, it is sure to die within weeks, sometimes even days. I decided two summers ago to attempt to grow some fresh vegetables on the front porch of my city apartment. I had
Uncategorized When you die, There is grief. Since I am very involved in the widowed community I read all types of things across the internet. On Facebook in particular I'm friends with widows who have lost their spouses to "natural causes", heart attacks, cancer, accidents, drugs and suicide (to name a few). Several
Uncategorized Preparing I am in the place where widowhood isn't my every day life; here my biggest concerns are the headaches I'm getting from fluorescent lights and the backpain I feel from an uncomfortable chair. He doesn't fly across my radar every day. When I think
Uncategorized Media Fun Big thanks to Fresh Widow who organized this "Sh*t People Say to Widows" video - it was fun to participate in this and to see the final result. While I understand now that many people have good intentions in what they say to widows, it still doesn&
Uncategorized My Would-Be 5th Anniversary 5 years ago today it was a blustery and abnormally chilly February Day. Single digits. Snow the night before. I wed my first true-true love on this day 5 years ago. I have had to do the math several times to believe that 5 years has really passed since we
Local Best Coffee Shops in Lancaster, Pa I love coffee. I love food. Living in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania requires this of me. Because of my addiction to the strong black brew, I have loved exploring the fabulous coffee shops in downtown Lancaster, Pa. Prince Street Cafe, located at 15 North Prince Street in Lancaster, Pa, is a
Life How to Find Jobs in a Tough Economy I have had numerous jobs over the past 10 years, everything from dining room hostess to Mary Kay consultant. I tend to start, and never go anywhere. For those of us in the same boat, or for those who have found themselves unemployed due to this tough economy, there are
Life Trust to Empowerment Trust is fickle (been itching to use that word). We give it. We tell people they need to earn it. We test it. We take it away. We use it to manipulate. To taunt. We question it. I don't know why I lacked trust after Kevin died. Kevin
Uncategorized Climbing to 2012 Even as 2011 rolls bumpily and noisily on its way to 2012 I see that life, God, everything that is "planned", continues to remind me that life is not a plan. It is certainly not what I planned anyways. 2011, much like 2008 but thankfully not nearly as
Uncategorized Freedom from... Paul Atkinson shared this today: You have been called to live in freedom but don't use your freedom to satisfy yourself, use your freedom to serve one another - Gal 5:13 The word "Freedom" has been more pronounced in my world as of late. I
Uncategorized Degree in Life Today's post is inspired by my widow friend Kim. Kim is a bit insane, like most of my great widow friends. We all have something that ticks a little different. Kim is back in school for a degree in Marine Biology (I believe) and today she posted this:
Life Crying Won't Kill Anyone When the article about my story came out this week. The reporter stated "She said her support system dropped off months after Kevin died. Friends stopped communicating with her and later told her they didn't know what to say or do." While I was fortunate to
Life Grateful Mentality As I bitched about my job yesterday I realized that it was inappropriate, but I didn't care. I wanted to complain. I wanted to be annoyed at the situation which is out of my control (reminder Bren, everything is out of your control). Even when a widow friend
Leisure You Will Not Be Forgotten - Supporting a Historical Project Imagine your life having no marker on earth. Buried in the ground and 100 years later, no one knows your body is there. Passed away without a record of your life except for the ticket of sale for your body. This is where my friend Andi comes into this scenario.
Local When Death Leads to Life - a Guest Post by Shawn Smucker I'll admit, I have a writer crush on Shawn Smucker. Don't tell his wife Maile, but truth be told, I kind of have a crush on her too. They are a powerhouse team, and I know this because without doing life together, I don't
Life F in Grief A friend on Twitter posted this tweet this morning "It's amazing just how restorative and re-centering a long weekend can be." I think the exact opposite. I knew this weekend would be busy. I knew I'd have 2 days of semi-rest and relaxation and
Life The First Boitson Thanksgiving Excerpt from the memoir "Keepin' it Kevin" on our First Thanksgiving as a married couple: For the first time in as long as I could remember we had no Thanksgiving plans. My grandmother was having knee surgery, and my Mom’s side was waiting to get together
Life Your Facebook/Twitter Status Brenda Boitson is looking forward to seeing her friends tonight. Brenda Boitson has diarrhea. Which do you think is more appealing to an audience of 627 of your "friends"? Your status on your choice of social networking sites becomes you. Once it's out there in cyberspace,
Life Safety Vortex There is this vortex of grief that you don't know you're in until you somehow manage to break through and sneak a peak of the outside shell. Anything can set it off really. I knew that choosing to sleep in one of his old Jerseys the
Uncategorized How to Have a Girls Night Out on the Cheap We all know that hanging out with "the girls" can be budget breaking. In an economy where every penny counts, it has become harder to go out with our favorite friends without going over our spending limits. Here are a few suggestions for ways to find cheap but
Life How to Begin Going Green You hit the snooze alarm, boom, boom, boom. I know I have done it at least 1000 times, but this time, you are using a solar alarm clock. You crawl out of bed, and instead of turning on the lights throughout your house, you open up the blinds and let
non profit Fitness and Cancer Today's guest post is from David Haas: I am a cancer patient advocate who has seen friends and family members struggle from all different types of cancers. I write and research in order to find information and share that information in order to help better people's
Life Taking Time to Find Yourself So much of my grief journey has been engulfed in trying to find myself, to find time to recreate who I am or I thought I was, and to identify what I have become in this process. My friend Dianne recently brought up the topic of identity on her blog
Life A Year in the Life of a Widow Meet Alicia O'Cull. I met Alicia in an airport on the way to Camp Widow. The back story is that we knew each other from (you guessed it) Twitter and through a serious of direct messages, realized that she was going to be on the same flight as
Local Prince Street Cafe in Downtown Lancaster Prince Street Cafe on 15 North Prince Street in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania has become the mecca for all things coffee in Lancaster County. This popular spot is in a beautifully renovated former storefront across from the famous Fulton Operahouse, and is restored with subtle lighting, comfortable seating, and gleaming hardwood
