It’s that time again. August was a wild ride and the stuff I learned this month? 

Pretty random. 

Here goes.

1. The Olympics are my favorite. Oh my word. I get lost in the backstories of the athletes, the drama of the competition, the rivalries. Love me some rivalries. You have medals? I want you to win more. You don’t have medals? I want you to finally win one! 
I will cheer for the USA as long as we are in the fight, and if we aren’t, I’ll pick some other country to cheer for. And my reasons for choosing are as logical as wanting to see the home country win or as random as having issues with the color of someone’s uniform. I love it. I stay up late to watch even though I know I could Google it to find out who won. But where’s the fun in that?! I know some people who just don’t care about the Olympics, but I am not one of those people. 

2. The InstantPot rocks. I got mine a few weeks ago when they lowered the price on Amazon Prime day. I’m still figuring it out, but I love it. Boiled eggs – perfection. They peeled so easily, I might actually be able to make some pretty deviled eggs now. Roasts in 70 minutes. Frozen chicken breasts become shredded chicken in under 30 minutes. I have dreams of meal planning and always being prepared when dinner time rolls around but I have yet to see them come true. The InstantPot is a lifesaver for someone like me

3. Lularoe for the win. Have you heard of this stuff? Leggings that are as soft as butter. Shirts that actually hang down long enough to cover your rear when you are wearing those leggings because—say it with me—LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS. My sister got me hooked on LLR and I now own several (cough, cough) pairs of leggings and a few (or, you know, 6) shirts. They are so comfortable. Seriously the most perfect outfit for a homeschooling, writer mom who needs to be able to run outside and throw the football one minute and then snuggle up with her laptop in the next. These are actual clothes—and they look like clothes—but they are as comfy as pajamas. What more could a girl want?

4. Always travel with $1 bills. Let me explain. I rarely have cash. When I do, it’s because I just hit an ATM. So I have $20s. $20s work just fine until you need some smaller bills. Say to tip the bellman at the fancy hotel you just showed up in. But you only have $20s. And he’s nice and friendly and he got your key card to work for you but $20? I’m generally a big tipper, but I can’t go $20. So instead you turn as red as your laptop cover and mumble how you don’t have anything to tip him with but could you please get his name and hunt him down later? And you can tell he totally doesn’t believe you will, and then you spend the next 3 days trying to locate him in the lobby of the hotel. Lesson learned. Keep some $1s and $5s handy. 

BTW—I found him. His name was Kevin and he was awesome and I was right. He didn’t believe me. We ended up having a lovely chat and he told me people say that all the time and then never follow through. So if you don’t heed my advice and fail to have small bills handy, promise the bellman a tip and then make good. It just might open up an opportunity to share a teensy bit of the Gospel with him and who knows what God might do with that? 

Me with Lynette Eason after the Carol Awards!

5. Listen to your mentors. Someday I’m going to talk more about this, but for now, here’s what I’ve learned. If God has been gracious to you and put mentors in your life, when they tell you you “must” do something? You should probably do it. I’m not going to say always, because humans are fallible and it’s possible they could be wrong. But if you have two mentors who gang up on you and INSIST you take a certain course of action? Yeah. Probably better just say, “Yes, ma’am” and do it. 

The screen shot that left me stunned.

In my case, two of my mentors (Lynette Eason and Edie Melson) ganged up on me last March and insisted I enter a couple of contests. Contests I had NO PLANS to enter. None. I said things like, “It’s a waste of time and money for me to enter.” They refused to listen. And now they walk around with big heads saying, “I told you so.”  

Me with Edie at the ACFW Gala.

6. Sometimes obedience is fun. Edie shared that little nugget with me a few weeks ago when I was being all angsty about winning awards. Recognition and awards are awesome. Really and truly awesome. But I struggle with it. I don’t want to be prideful—and I know how fast my sinful heart can go there. But I also don’t want to be ungrateful. As another dear friend (and frequent deliverer of spiritual Gibbs’ slaps), Lori Roeleveld reminded me, these awards are gifts from God. Gifts from my very good Father. And as a parent, how would I feel if I gave my children a gift and they said, “It’s nice, but I didn’t really want it?” So I’m trying to stay close to Jesus and enjoy the gifts He’s giving. And trying to remember that while sometimes God does ask us to do hard things, sometimes, obedience is fun. 

So what about you? Did you discover something awesome in August? Share it with us in the comments!

How is it possibly already the end of July? How? 

Anyway – it’s been a C-R-A-Z-Y month, but here are a few things I learned in July.

Dollywood has an amazing guest assistance program. If you travel with a child with any sort of disability, you know how difficult it can be to face long lines, loud crowds, and staring patrons. We spent two days at Dollywood this month and we were very impressed by their attention and care for their guests with disabilities. A quick stop at the ride accessibility office provided us with a card that gave us easy (and fast) access to all the rides, as well as a phone number we could call if we needed anything, or wanted access to Dollywood’s new calming room. The Calming Room was fabulous. Thirty minutes of peace, quiet, books, comfy places to sit, and a break from the crowds. It was just what our girl needed to get through the rest of the day. Who am I kidding…it didn’t hurt me, either!

Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Cacao Nibs are amazing. They are my new favorite writing snack. They are tiny, it doesn’t take much for me to feel like I’ve had enough (unlike milk chocolate which I can eat in large quanities and still want more), and they have the crunch from the cacao nib that makes them simply delightful. I’m a fan!

Lavender Oil is the BEST thing for burns. I promise I’m not going to turn into an essential oil evangelist, but despite my original skepticism toward them I have been blown away by how well Lavender Oil works on sunburns and kitchen burns (which I have a LOT of experience with). Our youngest managed to get a pretty bad burn after a day at the lake. I slathered him in some coconut oil that I mixed with the lavender. No complaints, no drama, and next morning, no redness. Even my husband was amazed. I keep Lavender in my kitchen for when I splatter myself with grease or attempt to reach into the oven and burn myself on the rack (don’t ask). It works every time. 

Chocolate Avocado Smoothie – I can’t call this health food because people have checked the calorie/sugar counts and shared them in the comments (just look), but this is way better for me than a milkshake, and it satisfies my sweet tooth. Even better, my kids hate it. Probably because of the flax seed, or maybe it’s because I don’t use as much honey as called for so it’s not super sweet. Regardless, I don’t have to share! 

Buy the big pot. I have several recipes that are part of our regular meal rotation. I make them often, and I usually double the recipe and freeze whatever is left to save myself some time and trouble later. The problem has been that I haven’t had a big enough pot to double the recipe without having to divvy it up into multiple pots or deal with lots of spillovers. I finally broke down and bought a BIG pot. WHY did I wait to do this? It made meal prep so much more enjoyable and cleanup so much easier. Take my advice…by the big pot. 

I really enjoy taking a few minutes to think back over my month and share a few of the things I’ve learned. (This idea is from both Emily P. Freeman and Modern Mrs. Darcy). 

Here goes:

1. I am incapable of being calm when surprised with good news. (Or . . . I *will* make a goober out of myself when something awesome happens). 

On June 17th, my phone rang and even though I didn’t recognize the number, I answered it. When the voice on the other end of the line said, “This is Casey Herringshaw . . . ” Well, honestly, I don’t exactly know what she said after that because there was only one reason for her to be calling me and I couldn’t quite let myself believe that it was possible until she confirmed she was calling to tell me that Covert Justice was a finalist in the Short Novel category of the Carol Awards. I don’t actually know what I said after that, but there was a lot of laughing (I’m calling it laughing…Casey might call it maniacal giggling). Other that that, it’s pretty much a blur—although that might have been because of my tears of joy. I generally try to act like a professional, but I must say, it was way more fun to enjoy the good news. Which leads me to the next thing I learned…

2. It is REALLY hard to keep good news a secret! I had to wait 10 days before I could tell anyone about the Carol final. It was *killing* me! I wanted to ask my friends if they had finaled (and quite a few of them did!) and I wanted to share it with the world. But I kept my mouth zipped up tight (no small feat for me) and waited not-so-patiently for the announcement on the 27th. 

3. Good news in one area will not fix the rest of your life—or even fix that part of your life. I had one of my most challenging writing weeks – ever –  in the space between finding out about the Carol final and being able to talk about the Carol final. Awards are awesome and fun, but they don’t actually make it any easier to write your stories, and I don’t know of a single one that will do your laundry. (If there is an award that comes with a laundry service, please someone let me know because I want to win that one bad). Life goes on. The plot line that was kicking your rear an hour before you get a “call” will still be making you crazy an hour later. The dishes still need to be done. The bills still have to be paid. People will still cut you off in traffic. It’s a very bizarre thing to be simultaneously joyful and despondent, but it is possible. 

4. I love to read the Psalms in the summer. I run to the Psalms when I am frustrated and frazzled, and summers are challenging for our family. Children who thrive on routine can struggle mightily in the free-wheeling, carefree days of summer, and that makes it hard on this mama. Without being consciously aware of what I was doing, I just turned to Psalm 1 and started reading . . . and realized I’ve done this before. My Bible is marked up in pens, pencils, and all sort of random notations, but there is nowhere that I can remember what I was feeling when I highlighted a particular passage as when I re-read the Psalms. 

5. The best way to wean yourself off caffeine is S-L-O-W-L-Y. I’ve gone cold turkey before and paid the price. In June, I took a slower approach and cut way back on my caffeine. I still had a few migraines, but it wasn’t anything like before. Now, I’m avoiding caffeine in most things except my morning coffee, and even there, I’m drinking less and going with a half-caff approach.  I’ve even skipped it entirely several times with no drama. I sleep better and don’t crash so much in the afternoon, and more importantly, don’t get the jittery feeling I had been experiencing far too often before I made the switch. And speaking of coffee…

6. Some things are worth the calories. I drank my coffee black for a while, but I just didn’t love it the way I had before. And yes, I could give it up entirely I suppose—maybe try to switch to tea—but I’ve decided that some things are worth the calories. I drink my coffee with a splash (or two) of half & half. I enjoy every sip. I sit on my deck with the Psalms and I get my head on straight before I dive into the morning. Life is too short to say “no” to everything under the sun just because it might be a tiny bit better for you. Some things are worth saying “yes” to for the simple reason that they bring delight to your day. Cream in my coffee is one of those things. 

I missed the April version of this post because…well….you can read about that in a minute. So I’m squeezing two months into one.

Here goes…

Cancer Sucks. This isn’t new information, but it was brought home to our family when my Mom was diagnosed with Stage 3C Ovarian Cancer. In the past few weeks, she’s been through major surgery and two of a planned six chemo treatments and she is A.MAZ.ING. She is totally rocking the “no hair” look and hats may become a permanent part of her style going forward. She’s a fighter and she’s battling this cancer with everything she has. 

Prayer Works. Again, not new information, but sometimes you get slapped between the eyes with prayers that you’d given up on ever being answered and then God does it in His own time and His own way and all you can do is stand back in astonishment and know in the core of your soul that “God did that.” 

I have the World’s Greatest Friends. You may think you do, but, I’m very sorry, because you don’t. (Unless you are in the same circle of friends that I’m in, in which case, you’re as blessed as I am). My friends have performed the friendship equivalent of Cirque du Soleil acts over the past few months. Watching my kiddos, bringing food, calling, emailing, texting, praying . . . They have loved me so well.

I really do love knitting. I don’t do it nearly as often as I would like, but I do enjoy it. I need to spend more time with my knitting needles and a little less with Pinterest or Instagram while I’m watching TV. 

It really is an honor to be nominated. You hear people say that all the time about the Oscars or the Emmys, and I have to admit I’ve often wondered if it is true. Well, it is. When I got the word the Covert Justice had been named a Selah finalist I couldn’t believe it. I never for minute believed I would win it, I was just thrilled to see my name in the same space as my mentor. (See this post for more info).

It’s fabulous to win. I had the closest thing to an out of body experience that I’ve ever had when Covert Justice actually WON the Selah award. I had one of those, “wait, was that MY name” moments and then one of those “I hope I didn’t hear that wrong and am making a huge fool out of myself” moments as I walked back to the stage. If there were bubbles over my head filled with my thoughts all anyone would have seen was, “What?” “Really?” “Did I hear that right?” “I wonder when they’ll realize they tallied the votes wrong?” “Is this really happening?” “I hope I don’t trip” “HOW did this happen?” and “I can’t believe it!” The best thing about the evening was that I didn’t have to make a speech because it would have been a disaster.

Reading outside my usual genre is something I need to do more often. I write romantic suspense and it is my favorite genre to read. I’ve never understood people who only read one genre, but over the years I’ve found my own reading frame narrowing, not by choice but necessity. There are only so many hours in the day! But over the past couple of months I’ve picked up a couple of fantstic books and while I certainly didn’t learn anything about how to better write a suspense novel, I hope the way the authors laid their stories on the page—with unique structures and prose so beautiful I often had to stop and savor the words—will inform my own writing in ways I can’t yet know.

Middle School isn’t so bad after all. I cannot begin to tell you how I dreaded making the transition to middle school with our daughter. A new school, new kids, new teachers. So.Much.New. But she has thrived. She loves it so much that we are all dreading the long days of summer ahead. She particularly enjoyed all her Special Olympics activities—especially cheerleading. That little bitty one in the front? That’s my girl.