Life through Joy's Eyes.
On a family vacation to North Carolina, my cousin Matt and I had an unfortunate experience. We went floating down a mountain river in inner tubes. It took a few hours to make it to the end, but it is relaxing and worth it. Before we even got in the water, things went south. Matt ...
Disclaimer: This post is going to expose a beautiful nerdy streak that my sister and I both share. Prepare yourself. When Janine and I were old enough to stay home solo when mom and dad went out, we’d more often than not entertain ourselves in a simple way. We’d grab a game from the basement, ...
For those of you that have known me for any length of time, you are aware of the degree to which I avoid wearing dresses. This isn’t anything new by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, my dislike of dresses once made it to family folklore status because of the misjudgment of appropriateness that ...
I have no clue how we came up with this idea, but somewhere along the line in our childhood world of wonder, Janine and I decided that some of our collectible Beanie Babies that grandma had bought us had fallen in love, and of course, needed to get married. All we needed to do was ...
One thing I love about my sister is that she is optimistic, creative, and all around brilliant. I have the feeling that one of the worst things that could happen to our household growing up was a bored little kid me...especially when Janine was in charge of me. Somewhere along the line, Janine, or Janine ...
September 11, 2001 is a day that none of us will forget. Everyone has their stories of where they were, when they heard, how they felt. I am no different. Except that I made a huge mistake that day. It was a normal Thursday morning. Dad was already gone (either on a trip or to ...
I had my priorities pretty straight as a kid. Sleep often, eat well, and scream frequently - just for good measure. But my mother was also very thoughtful when it came to what we ate and drank. Admittedly so, I got a little out of hand when too much sugar was in my system. For ...
Back in the homeschool days, mom, Janine, and I would start the morning off by going for a trek through the neighborhoods. Mom and Janine would walk/jog and I’d ride my bike. It is no secret that I have a competitive streak and I have always loved winning via speed. Pause for a moment. We ...
Somewhere along the line, I made the inner determination that I would find a way to make anyone and everyone talk to me - whether they wanted to or not. I was determined to find that secret weapon - that one question or process that would open up the tightest closed mouth and unleash the ...
I didn’t grow up in a pro-sports home. The only time we watched it was on Sunday afternoons - and it was background noise for naps at that point. When I moved into the Swing house in 2011, I was quickly plunged into the world of sports. One of the things I remember learning that ...
