If you’ve come here looking for the final explanation of the confusing world of relationships, I’m sorry to disappoint. I don’t have the magic formula. However, I sort of believed in one. Not literally, of course, but when Mike and I were engaged, I kept having a funny feeling that ‘this was too good to Read More…
Author: Jennifer
The Report on Saving Money Sanely
Recently, I posted about my plans to trim down some of our living expenses but without returning to my maniacally frugal ways. I wanted to report on how it’s going! Before my new plan, on our weekly shops we were routinely spending about £10-15 more per week than we ought to be to stay on Read More…
The Cultivation of Contentment
People often talk about how contentment and happiness are different, often to make the point that contentment, not happiness, should be our goal.* I.e., you can feel a calm contentment, a spiritual quality, without needing the excitement of happiness or feeling deficient if happiness isn’t your overriding emotion. I certainly agree, but my experience is Read More…
The Online Dating Experience
It’s always interesting to see people’s responses when Mike and I tell them we met online. For the most part, I think any stigma attached to online dating seems to have dissipated; even my mom (who might be expected to be the most cautious, at least proverbially) didn’t bat an eyelash because she’s seen plenty Read More…
Saturday Thoughts on Simplicity
Proliferation seems the great tendency of life. Not just that it tends to become more and more full – like the branchy tree outside our window that suddenly leapt into leafiness one day – but that each branch splits and multiplies. This complexity often manifests itself as a shortage of time. Our commitments have multiplied, Read More…
Why I Become Afraid of Planning Ahead
I should start by saying that, most of the time, in fact I’m a big planner: I like to plan things in advance and know what I need to do, what events are coming up, and feel assured that nothing will be forgotten. Normally, for me, planning includes the following: Making to-do lists, both daily Read More…
Walking Down Memory Lane
On our recent visit to my family’s house in Texas, I decided to pare down the contents of my old room at home. It was never my intention to keep a full room of belongings there after becoming an adult, but when I decided to go to graduate school I ended up with one summer Read More…
Finding Order in Beauty
Recently I was reading a book by Sandra Felton called Messie No More. It’s a bit dated, but interesting because it takes a look into the psychological reasons that people are messy or struggle to keep their homes clean and organised. One chapter is entitled ‘Finding Order in Beauty’, and at first I actually thought maybe Read More…
Saving Money Sanely
It’s time to admit that I’ve often had a very unhealthy relationship with money. And by ‘unhealthy relationship’ I don’t mean ‘It’s just never there for me when I need it, sigh’! Anybody who knows me knows that I’m fairly frugal, but over the years I’ve realised that my frugality sometimes goes to ridiculous extremes. Read More…
Misery Reduction in the Kitchen
I’m back after two weeks in America! Mike and I visited my family and then took a little trip ourselves to the Rocky Mountains. While we were there, I devoted some time to troubleshooting a couple of problems I’ve discovered in my meal planning. So this post is a bit more practical than some have been. Read More…