- Some of our best friends spank their kids (and they’re wonderful parents, by the way). But we choose not to.
- Some of our friends have little girls that know all of the Disney Princesses by name. But our girls don’t.
- Some of our friends watch “The Office.” But we can’t stand it.
- Some of our friends had their babies in hospitals with all kinds of gizmos and gadgets and machines. But we didn’t.
- Some of our friends prefer to carry around their babies in infant car seats. We prefer to take our babies out and put them in carriers (those car seats are heavy!).
The point is that we have a lot of friends – and we have a lot of opinions. Opinions are good (very good). And everyone has them (even the people who don’t share their opinions or who say “everyone should just do what’s best for their family and keep their thoughts to themselves…” – oh, boy, do they ever have opinions!).
It’s easy to be intimidated by Opinions. I state a lot of them here on my blog. I state them because Tim & I think about a lot of things…we read a lot of books, we have a lot of conversations, and we have very intentional reasons for almost everything we do.
Sometimes I notice people shy away from conversations with me for fear of causing waves. Or they may think, “She’s just so different from me…with her natural-birthing, breastfeeding, only-watching-1-hour-of-TV-per-WEEK, [insert your-topic-of-choice], ways.”
BUT please know: I want to hear your opinions too. I want to hear your reasons and your point-of-view. I want to hear your questions…and your answers. So we can argue and contemplate and sharpen each other. So we can: GROW.
So State Your Opinion, please.
And know that we can still be friends. We can have lively discussions. We can laugh and share hobbies and go on family camping trips. We can pray for each other, encourage each other, enlighten each other, embolden each other, believe in each other. Yes. We can.
That is my opinion.
Do you share your thoughts and opinions freely with people in your circle? Why or why not?


One such “chain” is FOX Restaurant Concepts – “a collection of original, thriving boutique restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Kansas.” I’ve only been to two of their restaurants, but if those experiences are any indication, I would recommend them all. The atmospheres are modern and decidedly upscale – and the food is fresh.

WIN IT! One winner will receive a $25 gift card to FOX Restaurant Concepts. To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Friday, June 4th at 11:59 p.m. All generic comments like “Enter me!,” “Love it,” and “Cool stuff!” will be disqualified. Winner must provide a U.S. mailing address.




Every once in awhile, some scary emergency happens and you end up at the hospital. You hope and pray for a caring, compassionate, and intelligent nurse to watch over you and/or your precious family member. You don’t know it, but…you’re praying for someone like Dayna Hadden.



When I gave birth to each of my girls, they did NOT come out after 10 minutes of labor (although that would have been nice…). I did not scream obscenities or act out of character when I was pushing. I was not instantly svelte again immediately after the birth. Now that they’re a little older…they do NOT know about Team Jacob or Team Edward (



