Binkies and Briefcases

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Go Get It

By: Stephaniecomment

Backpacker

Beginnings are everywhere. 

As we stand before the blank canvas of a brand new year, that is what has been put on my heart to share with you today. 

Have you been waiting until today to start working on a resolution? Why? 

You do not have to wait for the sake of waiting. 

If there are goals that you want to achieve, work for them now. 

Maybe you have been waiting for New Year’s Day and your time is now, or maybe your time was last Tuesday in the Burger King parking lot at 3 p.m. when you decided to make a change in your life– so you did. 

The calendar does not reset our minds. We do.  

Do not set “one day” goals and resolve to do them in the future. 

You are not guaranteed a future. 

Yes, death and illness and failure happen. 

However, there is good news. 

Guess what else happens? 

Hard work and success happen. 

Goals are met, dream are achieved. 

But these dreams do not manifest themselves. 

You do that. Yes you. 

100 pound, 1 million dollar, 1 novel written dreams. 

They don’t happen every time, but they do happen. 

They happen to people who all have three things in common: 

Big Faith, Big Drive, and Big Determination. 

If you are motivated, willing to work, and you believe it will happen, then I believe it will happen for you– if not this year then maybe next. 

Whatever the “it” is for you. 

Go get it. 

Penny Is Three

By: Stephanie2 Comments

Little Miss Penelope Christine is three today. 

Three. 

A big kid. 

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She is our baby with the keen sense of humor who suddenly turns very serious and somber whenever anybody else is around. 

She really isn’t very fond of most other people. Her idea of a good time is hanging out on the couch all day, reading and watching movies. She takes after her mother like that. She hates having her hair brushed and she has a very particular fashion sense (in that she would prefer to be naked or wearing the exact same summer dress every day, even though it is December).  

It is almost impossible to get her to smile for a photograph. It always has been. 

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She has perfected the art of the silent treatment and, for the most part, will just sit quietly and just take it all in. Whatever “it” is. But if it gets to be too much for her, she is not shy about voicing her concerns. 

In the comfort of home, in her own familiar world, she is happy to play and sing, to make up jokes, run and have tickle fights. Once you introduce more than two or three other people, she becomes a quiet observer of humanity. 

Always watching. Thinking. Our philosopher. 

Experimenting with new words and facial expressions and making up jokes. Then occasionally she will turn very sad and start to cry for reasons she never can quite explain. 

Sometimes I wonder already if she has the tortured soul of an artist brewing. But what is there– at three– to brew about? Apparently a lot. 

When she is not lost in her own thoughts, she is a sweet girl with a sweet tooth who is obsessed with the movie Frozen and the color pink. In other words, she is three. 

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Small Business Spotlight: The Popcorn Loft

By: Stephanie1 Comment

 

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Penny’s birthday is tomorrow and we have family driving up from Maryland for the occasion. Because her birthday is sandwiched between two holidays, things tend to get very rushed and I throw together a small last minute party for her. Luck for me, she’s still too young to know the difference right now. 

I wanted to do something to make her feel special, so this morning I called The Popcorn Loft to see if we could stop in. This is a new family-owned business in our area and several of my friends have been telling me I should go check it out. They have about 75 different flavors of popcorn, which they make fresh in their store, as well as fudge and old-fashioned candy, taffy, and sodas.

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The ladies behind the counter were super friendly, getting tons of samples for the kids (even Birthday Cake flavored popcorn for Penny) and giving us free reign to explore the store for a little while. 

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It is like a cross between an upscale candy shop in New York City and an old time penny candy store, with a heavy focus on popcorn.

My kids decided they liked the Oreo popcorn best, so we bought 3 mini bags and they threw in a fourth bag for free. I’m not sure if that was a blogger perk or just because we’re lucky enough to live in a community where people do nice things like that all the time.  

If you are local, stop in and see Angie and Steve at The Popcorn Loft as soon as you can. It’s a very cool experience and the kids really liked it!  

(Plus, I feel like I should get bonus points for this, all of those glass jars were still in tact when we left!)  

This is not a sponsored post. I decided to drive to this store and write about it all by me onesies. 

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