Today I’m giving myself a little pat on the back and a “good job, you made it.” This self-congratulating is because today is my daughter’s birthday. Good bye teenager. Hello 20s. She’s alive and thriving. I still have most…
2020, as sh!tty as it has been, has not been the sh!tt!est of years that I’ve ever had so on that scale I feel quite fortunate. I can quickly recall a couple years way worse for me. Covid19 struck both my teenagers several weeks ago, but they…
I venture to say that Easter 2020 won’t be one we will ever forget. I doubt we will ever have the conversation that goes “What year was is again when we couldn’t have an Easter program at church because of mass contagion?” It’s unlikely…
On Christmas morning, after gifts were opened and before the extended family celebrations began, my husband and I went to Starbucks. It was like an extra gift to us that no one was in the drive thru. The Starbucks angels were sitting there…
My dad was battling brain cancer. We had 2 pre-teen middle schoolers. Job changes were around the corner for both of us. Volunteering at school, sitting on boards, leading a team at church; to list a few. We were on the move. We moved so fast…
90/10. That’s the ideal ratio for my idea of the perfect guy. 90% chivalrous, charming, thoughtful, laughs at your jokes, just because flowers, remembers your mother’s birthday, does his own laundry. 10% drags you, consensually of…
My husband and I walked into a restaurant on Saturday evening. We were taken to a table where a waitress quickly appeared asking for our drink order. Our 16-year-old son’s band was the entertainment for the evening. The band was already on…
A few days ago, first thing in the morning, I had my first ever anxiety attack. I was sitting on the couch, eating my breakfast and watching the local news when my heart began racing. The Fitbit I was wearing on my wrist clocked that my heartrate…
Outwardly calm, inwardly turbulent. I took this pic from the window of an airplane yesterday. It was a beautiful, mild, spring day with blue skies and a spackling of fluffy white clouds. The sky looked calm and peaceful, yet the flight was…
No thanks. I don’t want to join your Body Pump Class. I appreciate you thinking of me though. I’m sure it’s great. You’re great. I’m just not interested. I’m cool with yoga only because, for the most part, people keep their eyes…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Randy.jpg300400Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2018-02-28 11:55:172018-02-28 11:55:17No Thanks I’m Just Not Interested
It’s cold in Kentucky. It’s cold all over this half of the country, but Kentucky is where I live and so I’m mostly pissed that it’s cold in Kentucky. Everything is frozen, even pipes. Also, house breaking a new puppy while the ice…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Winter-Blog-Pic-e1515078299203.jpg695501Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2018-01-04 09:06:242018-01-05 22:28:43It’s Cold In Kentucky and I’ll Be Okay
Predictable and stable, yet different every time. I can look at my phone and find out the exact minute it will fade into darkness. It’s never late. Never absent. Dependable and strong.
No matter where you are in this world we all look at…
A couple weeks ago something terrible happened to my daughter. Brace yourself. Take a moment if you need.
I don’t know how else to say it besides just coming right out with it: It was a Friday night and my teenage daughter had no plans.
It…
I've hosted Thanksgiving dinner most years, since we've been married, for my husband's side of the family.
I normally begin drinking around 11am when the turkey goes in the oven. By the time 5pm rolls around we are both baked. (Relax…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/thanksgiving-blog-pic.jpg745900Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2016-11-21 15:12:582016-11-23 10:26:08For Non-Perfect Family Thanksgiving Dinners:
I woke up at 2am, heart pounding, sweating.
It sounds like it could be a chapter opener from a cheap romance novel, but I am neither cheap nor romantic feeling at the moment.
It could have been the pimento cheese sandwich and big piece…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/rock-and-leaf-pic.jpg900675Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2016-11-14 07:14:372016-11-14 11:01:39Broken and Crumbly
Teenagers get a bad rap. It’s for good reason. I know, I have two of them.
They live in a world of polar extremes. Their ever evolving brains make them predictably unpredictable. I’ll watch my teenage son and daughter, sitting shoulder…
Last night, as I was preparing dinner, my 15-year-old daughter walked up to me and asked, “Mom, what is wrong with you? Don’t say “nothing”, just tell me what’s wrong.”
I had to stop and take a deep breath, feeling bad that I…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/pic2.jpg626900Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2016-08-18 14:14:202016-08-18 15:25:28Sorry For What I Said When It Was Humid
A few nights ago I was on the couch channel surfing for something good to watch on TV. There really are only three channels I watch. From the stories my mom tells, three channels is all she ever had growing up. I don’t feel sorry for her.…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FullSizeRender.jpg609692Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2016-08-11 02:00:472016-08-13 17:06:18Little Boy, Big Ideas
I found this picture in a drawer this week. The other pictures from this vacation are all in a photo album. It was one of the last times I actually printed off pictures and put them in an album. Now most of my pictures live on jump drives and…
https://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_2559.jpg822900Amanda Waggenerhttps://amandawaggener.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/no-grit-no-pearl-logo-550px.pngAmanda Waggener2016-06-14 11:42:032016-06-14 11:48:44Awkward Family Photos
Last week I kept waking up feeling heavy.
I’m not referring to the heavy from the unreasonable amount of carbs I indulged in recently. And seriously, it was an unreasonable amount. I have no self-control around a basket of warm, buttery…
