Melissa, Oh?

A few years ago I went through a period of time where I was working one and a half days a week for a newspaper in York, SC, designing their weekly newspaper. Every Monday night I would spend the night at my grandmother’s in Lake Wylie, as her house was closer to the newspaper office and [...]

I’ve talked briefly before about my 93-year-old grandmother’s quirky sayings. So has Kevin – if you need a refresher, you can find her talking about anatomy here, her playing dead in the hospital here, and trying to start a gang war here.  Today I’ll tell you a one-liner she gave me during my nephew’s birthday [...]

My niece Mia decided to be the entrepreneur of the day at our yard sale this past weekend with her lemonade stand.
She set up shop at the top of the driveway and she greeted every customer with a smile. She was savvy enough to offer the lemonade, wait for the confirmation, and then inform them it was [...]

My nieces came over last night for a slumber party. Mia likes to do “cuddle time” before bed which involves laying in bed and talking about her day and my day (or whoever she is cuddling with.) I told her about my day, then as she started talking about her day I had to stop [...]

So, Kevin is the awesomest brother in the world because he suggested a “fake triathlon” at our grandmother’s house (she lives on Lake Wylie.) This would help to ease my mind regarding any coordination issues that could with 3 sports in one event. Plus, it’d be a great excuse to try out my new tri suit! [...]

You might know it as a failing mall in an iffy part of town, but to me it was one of the best places in the world.
My grandmother, Mia, would take me to Eastland Mall when I was a child. It had both an ice skating rink and a pet store. Which meant endless [...]

Crystal reminded me recently that I haven’t done a blog post about my kitchen. You’ve seen some other rooms in my house: guest room, closet, hallways, and my master bedroom. So, here’s my kitchen:

The house was built to spec, so we got to pick out the tile, (which you see in the backsplash above), the [...]

Surround yourself with people who actually matter.
Surround yourself with people who love you and respect you.
Surround yourself with nature. It’s amazing the clarity that can be found on a running path or a mountain top.
Always choose coffee with a friend over an evening with the DVR.
Over the past few weeks I’ve dealt with tragedy, with [...]

Stealing this picture from Kevin’s blog because this is just what I need right now:

And lucky for me, I have an awesome brother and friends who invited me to go hiking/camping with them this weekend in Roan Mountain, Tenn. We will be leaving tomorrow evening and hiking 3 peaks (a total of 12 miles.) I [...]

Things I learned while staying with my grandmother at the hospital and rehab center:
= Nurses at the rehab center are not the same as nurses at the hospital. Nurses at a hospital are nice, with good bedside manner. And they come when you push the call button. And they don’t roll their eyes and act [...]