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- “Having it all doesn’t necessarily mean having it all at once.”
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© 2011 Amy Volk. Site design by S.Joy Studios.
051812 • Live Better Friday:The Shops at Target
It’s no secret that I love Target, but I just fell in love with them even more when I discovered The Shops that they launched this month. They are a group of boutique stores from around the country that have made special lines just for Target. Who knew you could love Target even more?
My favorite line from The Shops is Privet House. 
It’s Ballard Designs style with Target prices and they have fabulous pieces that you can use to organize your home and live better! Here are two I just have to have.
tabletop chalkboard
wooden crate
The Shops also have a dog boutique, a clothing line, a beauty line, and a candy shop. Go this weekend and check out the collection because you know that they won’t stay around long and I promise you, you will be sorry when it’s gone.
Oh, here is one more totally cute and totally functional piece from Privet House.
Key Holder
051612 • Get Packing:There’s a Sale Going On!
I travel a bunch and always looking for the best ways to pack and best ways to organize my stuff when traveling. Right now, The Container Store is having a huge luggage sale and I’m so excited!
In addition to ordering a new small suitcase, I also found some other ideas I thought you might like too. These packing cubes by Rick Steves are great because they are ventilated and flexible. You can organize your suitcase by outfits or by types of clothing, like sweaters in one, pants in another.
Rick Steves Packing Cubes
My favorite kind of toiletry bag is one that hangs. I can hang it on the back of the hotel bathroom door, on the shower rod, from any towel bar and it folds up easily in a suitcase. Plus, I can see everything I have when I’m getting ready. Here is one from the Container Store made by Amelia that comes in 2 colors. Perfect.
051512 • Love & Being 13
I’m “camping” this week with my 7th grade twins at a ranch for the schools Environmental Camping Trip. Each year, the entire 7th grade does this trip..a week-long semi-learning, lots of bonding, and lots of spiritual journey making.
I was asked early last year to be in charge of it, meaning get all the volunteers needed to make it happen and coordinate lots of details with the teachers. I am honored to be a part of it and also sooooo tired. Our theme for the week is Love. Using many scriptures and real-life examples, we are looking all week to exhibit, practice, and show love to others.
While it’s only 2nd day I am already amazed at what the kids are learning (a herpetologist, beekeepers, & living history dudes) and equally amazed at what I am learning.
1. When you (read “I”) are around 13 year old kids, you feel both very old and very 13. The flood of middle school memories came back and along with them, the feelings of total insecurity did too.
2. Taken out of a school environment, most kids are really sweet.
3. No matter what the environment, manipulative kids are still manipulative. Sadly, it’s all for attention and any attention will do. We all know some adults like that too.
4. Love is ambiguous and abstract. Unless you are shown it in a healthy way growing up, we spend our whole lives trying to relearn it. Us adults can do a lot of damage to kids by not knowing true love ourselves.
5. Sometimes when nothing else works, simply braiding a girls hair tells her how much she is lovable.
6. I don’t like snakes and yesterday proved it.
051212 • Mother’s Day:Letter to My Mom
Happy Mother’s Day! While I get to celebrate this sweet day with my own kids, there is a tiny place in my heart that feels a little sorrow on Mother’s Day. My mom died 20 years ago this summer and has never seen my kids. I miss her, but it’s not a daily-ness miss. As time has moved on, it’s more of a special occasion miss. Like on my birthday or Christmas and especially Mother’s Day.
I have often thought about the things I would like to ask her or say to her. So, this Mother’s Day I am writing her a letter. If you are blessed to still have your mom alive (no matter how hard the relationship might be), write her a letter this year. If, like mine, she is gone, write it still. I’ll go first…
me & my mom1969
Dear Mom,
Happy Mother’s Day. I miss you very much and I hope you know that my life has turned out well. I am assuming you know that I married Dave almost 20 years ago and we have been blessed with twins, Mallory and Riley. Oh mom, you would love them. You always loved kids and were great with them and you would have had so much fun with them.
They are 13 now and transforming before my eyes. I remember being 13 and I can say now, I am sorry for giving you any grief. From the eye-rolling to the stubbornness, the teen years are a journey in patience and grace. I know I blamed you for a lot of things and now I know you were doing your best, given the circumstances.
You taught me many things that surface on a daily basis. I learned to be organized from you and to make my bed everyday. I think I learned to eat fairly healthy from you because you would never buy candy or junk. Except Twinkies. I wonder why you bought those, but not chocolate. Sometimes when I am telling a story or with my friends, I find myself thinking of you. You were so animated and a great story teller. Everyone loved being around you.
There are many times that I need to ask you questions. Like, how to make a turkey at Thanksgiving. And did I grow much past 8th grade (this is a question Mallory is asking because she is still quite tiny and worried about not growing)? What kind of child was I? Serious? Fun? Did I have trouble studying in school? I also wish I could ask you about how to raise a teenager and questions about God.
While your voice and image in my mind are vague, I still remember watching you put on your makeup and tweezing gray hairs. You were so pretty.
Thanks for always taking me to church and teaching me how to make meatloaf. Thanks for instilling the love of reading in me and taking me to the library. Thanks for reminding me to always have clean ankles, because you never know when you might be in an accident and end up at the hospital. You wouldn’t want dirty ankles at the hospital.
Thanks for bringing me into this world and loving me and teaching me to be independent. I miss you today because it’s Mother’s Day and everyone deserves a mom, but lots of times, I just miss having the safety net of a mom. You know, like someone who always has your back.
I still love you and I hope you are proud of me.
Love,
Amy