Don’t let all those smiles in the pics below fool you, Dear Reader! This happy camper spent years battling depression, when smiles were few and far between. But God is so good!

I tell hubby, Tom, he’ll need a little red wagon in heaven to carry around all the crowns he’s earned by living with me over four decades. (Yes, Tom and I were infants when we married<:) Tom and the Lord make a great team holding what used to be a hot mess named Alice together. 

I like to think their love and patience now  spills over onto those around me. And I praise God for showing up in the hard places, including an urban alternative school where He started breaking my heart for others in my world. Students, whose worlds were filled with poverty, abuse, hunger, and anger, taught me more about loving and giving (and a whole new vocabulary) than any pastor had.

When I’m not writing, I spend too much time on social media and video games. I start sewing and painting projects that sometimes get finished, and sometimes not. I love decorating shows and magazines, and trying out their ideas in our space probably more than Tom would like.

We started as “Star Wars” fans on the big screen, and grew into MCU. Streaming channels have enabled my bingeing tendencies with shows like “NCIS” (‘cuz Mark Harmon is still pretty cute), “Madam Secretary”,  and yes, I’ll admit to “Chrisley Knows”, (Who’s really running the show?). 

My happy place is our home when the kids and grandkids gather for a meal and to hang out. I love that we still watch the “Claymation Christmas Special” because we always have. I love that we’ve been making burritos together since  we had them the first time at a “dive” Mexican restaurant that’s still a family fav forty years later. Family means traditions, large and small, to us.

By God’s grace I’m not the hot mess I was for years, but still not quite altogether. I’m thankful Jesus invited me on this journey of faith, hope, and humor. (We’re created in God’s image, so surely that means He has a sense of humor, too, right?)

I’m thrilled you stopped by today, Dear Reader! My prayer is every visit will bless you with exactly what you are looking for in the moment.