Extended unemployment is one of the more challenging things that life can throw at anyone. Six months after we married, Scott and I found ourselves facing just that. The aircraft company we worked for in Northern Idaho was hit hard by the tanking economy. Along with dozens of other employees, suddenly we both were unemployed. Neither…
Simple Hospitality
When I was growing up, our home was filled with people. My parents didn’t have much, but their door was always open and we often added just one more can of tomatoes to the soup or made a last minute batch of bread to stretch our meals to feed whoever was gathered around the table…
Happy is the new perfect
As an outsider, we tend to judge moments of messy faces, meltdowns and mid store bribes on a scale of how perfect each mother is. We say things like “I’ll always” and “I’d never” and we mean it too. We mean to give our future children the very best. And from over there it is…
What’d You Dream the Next Night?
My grandpa has always been one of my favorite people. He never says a lot of words, but that doesn’t matter. Ever since I can remember, being around him has made me feel warm and loved. And when he laughs, it’s contagious. For most of my life, I’ve lived thousands of miles away from Grandpa and Grandma. But…
When You Meet a Kindred Spirit
I’ve always had this silent camaraderie for Anne Shirley. My life and hers couldn’t be different in a million ways and more. But sea of shining waters, and white way of delight were like lines out of my own imagination. She and I? We both see the world through some sort of poetic lens of imagination….
The Day My Great Grandma Proposed
My great-grandmother had impeccable tastes. She always dressed herself as neat as a pin. Her skirts were just so. Her hair was always in perfect place. I remember sitting in her farm house as a tiny little girl, in awe of her perfectly smooth beds and pretty glasses and china. Her name was Blossom Madaline….
All Birth is Brave
Today I need to say something. I am a csection mama, and I’m not ashamed of it. It’s not been exactly easy. Sometimes I still run my hand against the scar and ache inside a little. At the same time, I am grateful. That cut means today, I have a living baby girl. I had…
Morning turned beautiful
I woke up to the sound of rain drizzling down. I sighed. Our landlady and the bug guy decided that early morning was a good time to treat our house. Early enough that the baby would still be asleep. And then? He showed up even earlier than scheduled. I wasn’t thrilled. After all, one of…
what’s on our table
Art comes in many different forms. For me, making a pretty plate with local food is one of the ways I unwind. When I try something new, and it looks appetizing on the plate, it makes something in my heart feel alive. Here’s what’s been on the table at the Brankshire home this summer. Best…
what I love about autumn
For most of my life, I didn’t like autumn. I didn’t like anything about it–not the cooler nights, or the frosty mornings, or the single day in which most of the leaves fell. It was depressing. The abbreviated intro into yet another long, dark, cold Alaskan winter. It felt like I was watching Summer’s dying breath…
