Home -

Want to be happier? Consider your hormones.

I’m a hugger. I love hugging people. Each time I throw my arms around someone, a little burst of pleasure shoots through me. Does this happen to you? If it does, you might be an oxytocin addict like me. Both a neurotransmitter and a hormone, oxytocin is often called ‘the love hormone.’ Hugging releases oxytocin and so does simply being kind to others. Spending time with loved ones boosts your oxytocin. Cuddling your partner, your child, or a pet can also increase your oxytocin. Nursing a baby and making love skyrocket oxytocin. Even telling stories kicks oxytocin through your system. […]

By Paula July 24, 2018

Your body doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be useful

While our daughters were growing up, I tried not to step on a scale and encouraged them to do the same. I didn’t want our girls to obsess over their weight. I purged the house of women’s magazines with skinny models and drove Cami and Lacy to soccer, volleyball, and horseback riding lessons. I wanted our girls to be strong. To be healthy. Not driven by thinness and beauty. I wanted them to realize their bodies were temples of God’s Holy Spirit, a house for their souls, and a gift to their husbands when that day came. When I began having […]

By Paula July 17, 2018

To Our Cabin With Love

Dear Cabin: I learned to walk on your front porch. Kissed a boy there too. Plucked slivers from my feet and painted my toenails with my cousins on your sunny deck. Tried to tan in mountain sunshine, got burned instead, and have hidden under an umbrella’s shade since surviving melanoma. This year, I introduced my new grandbabies to you. They don’t love you yet, but they will. S’mores will help. For more than forty years, I’ve done dishes on your back deck with my grandmas and Mom and now my daughters overlooking your cold blue lake. I love how your […]

By Paula July 4, 2018

Hey, young mom, you’re doing just fine… don’t Google it!

I’m so glad I had most of my babies before social media, before organic diapers, before those dangerous baby wipes that could make your baby’s butt fall off. I know. It’s a scary world for moms today. So much information out there. Should you vaccinate? Medicate? Hibernate? Maybe it’s better not to take your baby anywhere. Maybe you should just stay home and worry as you process every ounce of your baby’s absolutely pure and wholesome baby food. Don’t use a blender. Use a spoon. A green spoon. Not the color green. Don’t use anything painted around your baby, ever! […]

By Paula June 25, 2018

Happy Summer Reading

Before we fell headlong into farming, summer was trips to the beach, camping at our cabin, and curling up with a good book. These days with our harvest lasting all summer long, I have very little time for reading, but I can still dream. If you enjoy Christian historical romance, here is a great way to get to know some wonderful authors. You can sign up for their newsletters and enter to win free books. I feel so blessed to be a part of this giveaway and wanted to share it with all of you. Happy summer reading. Just click […]

By Paula June 18, 2018

Publishers Weekly found me amongst the fruit

Very excited to share today that The Mother Keeper made it into Publishers Weekly. Here is their review: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/single/978-0-692-88531-4 In a departure from her historical romances, Scott (California Rising series) delves into contemporary dangers with this inspirational novel about the power of secrets. In Colorado Springs, Colo., Jenny and Ken McBride believe that they are happy, strong Christians. But after their unborn child is killed in a car accident, the deep emotional and physical scars left on Jenny and Ken slowly bring their relationship to the brink of collapse. In Sutterville, Tenn., 17-year-old Ellie Ryan discovers she’s pregnant. Although she […]

By Paula June 11, 2018

Gift from the Orchard

The orchard is not the place to rest; to read, write or think. So begins my ode to Gift from the Sea, the little book that took New York by storm in 1955, yet still resonates deeply with women today. At least it does with me. The journalist in me wants to call the author Anne Morrow Lindbergh by her last name here, but Anne shares my middle name, just the way I spell it. I feel a connection with her, so will use her first name. Anne’s husband was a pilot like my husband, Scott used to be. She […]

By Paula May 30, 2018