fashion clothes

It seems like every time I start one of these prompts, I'm evaluating just how different things are than they were just three years ago when I did this the first time.Back then, I wrote about my desire to banish cancer from the world.I still would like to do that, incidentally, though maybe not as wholeheartedly as I once thought. Cancer is awful, don't get me wrong. It has killed people I love, it...

One thing that I've said too many times this year and listened to too many people around me say is this:It is what it is. And it is.  Life isn't always pretty. Life isn't always fair. Life isn't always easy. Life isn't always fun. As much as life can test us, as much as it can put us through, as hard as it is, as cruel as it is, it is always something else too.  It is always beautiful....

The last time I wrote this seems in some ways like it was a million years ago. In reality, it's been less than three years. But wow. The first time I answered this one, I wrote about coffee...which is still true I suppose. I probably could stop drinking coffee, but I have no desire to do so. Day 15 ~ Something or someone you can't live without because you have triedThe answer I'm giving this...

Dear Dad,I've been thinking about you a lot lately. It always seems like this time of year makes me think about you more than I ordinarily would. Your birthday, the holidays, the drama. The garbage disposal that always stopped working when there was a house full of people, like clockwork, and how you'd have to put in the very expected emergency call to the plumber, a family friend, and how he'd always...

I'm not the kind of person who generally puts people on pedestals. Never have been. The last time I wrote on this prompt was tough, because it forced me to be completely honest with one of the most painful experiences of my life up to that point - the death of my grandfather.I was almost exactly the age when my grandfather died that my youngest daughter was when my Dad died. I promised myself that...

I'm not actually here right now, and I actually wrote this yesterday, so in the event that something happens in the world today that deserves mention, my bad. My oversight was actually due to too much planning ahead. If you know me well, you know how out of character this is. I am generally a professional procrastinator.Anyhow, off we go.Elected HypocritesLet me preface what I am about to say...

This one is one on the easier end of the spectrum in the challenge, I suppose, but mostly because my entire life is narrated by background music.When I originally wrote this, I wrote about the Foo Fighters, specifically about one song of theirs that spoke to my heart at a time when I really needed it.There is a great deal of irony that they are the band I chose that day, though I'm not about to reveal...

This is one of the more bizarre prompts in the challenge, because it forces you to not only think about something worthy of compliments, but something that you never actually get complimented on. So you have to be kickass at something all ninja-like so no one knows...or something like that.The first time around, I actually did dig pretty deep on this one, because I wrote about how I have spent most...

I'll be honest.At first I was going to go totally superficial on this one, like I did last time. Last time I wrote about my eyes, because they are without a doubt my favorite physical asset. The picture I included was awful though....and tells me that I've come a long way with my photographic skills.I intended to write about my hair this time, but I stopped myself because that's actually a pretty...

I have four children. I have dealt with gestational diabetes all four times, with it getting worse with each pregnancy. With my oldest, I wasn't diagnosed until my third trimester, then was able to control it with diet alone. He was admitted to the NICU for prematurity and never had issues with his blood sugar. With my second, I was diagnosed a few weeks earlier than the first time, but still able...

Some of these questions are easier to answer than others, and this one goes into the easier category.When I answered it the first time, my answer wasn't a whole lot different than it will be this time, but the reasoning was completely different.What a difference a few years can make...Day 10 ~ Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn't knowAt the end of the day, the answer is the same as it was...

This challenge doesn't get easier, you guys.The last time I answered this one, I wrote about a dear friend from college. We've since reconnected, though still not as often as I would prefer. One of these days, I WILL get out to see her and her new baby girl. Distance is such a jerk, sometimes.Like everything else it seems, the answer to this one will be different this time, and not because I ever...

This damn question.I hated this one three years ago, and I reached a bit, writing about the woman who asked my grandmother who I was at my grandfather's funeral, then insisted that I couldn't have been related to the rest of them because I looked so different.Black sheep, I am. Literally.Seriously, that complete stranger did a number on my self confidence.Day 8 ~ Someone who has made your life hell...

I tried, really I did. I tried not to rant too much during November. I tried to do whatever it took to avoid writing my TTPMOT pieces during this month.Last week, I was super duper distracted by the piece I was writing about diabetes and my mother, so I wasn't really in the place to rant anyway...which was good.This week?Oh, it's on.If Your Kid Is Wearing A Dead Chicken....I really try hard not to...

Oh, this challenge.It's a tough one, for sure.The last time I did it, I wrote about my husband. Things were different then. They're different now.Day 7 ~ Someone who has made your life worth livingWhat I am writing as my answer this time shouldn't come as a surprise, not to anyone that has children anyway. My kids are the center of my universe, they are why I do almost everything that I do.With that...

When I did this the first time, I talked about never wanting to take a pet on that last walk. I talked about how hard it would be to put a deeply loved family pet down. Less than six months later, the puppy that we brought home to fill a void left after we lost our first baby, the dog that became a part of our family, the beagle that alternately drove me crazy and made me laugh had a seizure.Or at...

In preparing for this entry, I did some background research, only to find that something I had long believed to be true wasn't.I hate that about life, sometimes.I've lived most of my life believing something about my ancestry that isn't accurate, though the actual story is fascinating for its own reasons.The first time I wrote on this topic, I talked about all the places I wanted to visit one day.This...

What a difference three years can make. When I did this the first time, I spun it in my sarcastically humorous way and talked about needing forgive my husband for making me get rid of a pair of boots.God, I must have seemed shallow. And I was, I suppose, but it was totally intentional. I wasn't really writing about the first thing that came to mind, if you know what I mean. I was struggling with my...

My deepest and most sincere gratitude to those who were willing to share their stories with me. Diabetes is a complex disease as it is, but the fact that so many people have an emotional relationship with food makes it worse. Add in the fact that food is a necessity to survive, and it becomes more so. We have to eat. Having diabetes just makes every meal difficult. Every choice becomes important....