This year is already half over, and I don’t know where it went. Well, in all honesty, I do have flashes of memories: a crazy train ride to bring my mom to live with us, getting sick with shingles that decided to settle in my lungs (not fun!), editing quite a few books, and writing my own.

The first six months of the year have been a wild ride. Some of it very good, and other parts of it, not so much! But I imagine that’s how we can sum up life as a whole. The tough times always make us appreciate the good. We’re told to give thanks in all situations, but as you know, that’s not always easy. Still, I do my best to keep my Pollyanna attitude with my chin up and my smile in place. Here’s a picture Mom took of me on our train ride. And if you didn’t read my January newsletter, be sure to click on it and find out the details of our crazy ride.

The photo is a bit blurry, but as I said, I was doing my best to smile–and even laugh–at all we went through.

It’s been hard for Mom to live away from Idaho and all the friends she left behind, but she’s settled into her new life here, and we’ve all learned to be a family again. She’s found out about the unpredictable Tennessee weather, for sure! First, she experienced a horrible ice storm, and now, we’re having torrential rain compounded with excessive heat. The kind of weather that makes my glasses steam up when I go outside after a rainfall.

It’s also what makes our grass and trees so green. She commented on the brilliant shade of what I like to call “color-book green.” I remember being in awe of it when I first moved here. It reminded me of the crayon I used to color greenery in coloring-book pictures when I was a little girl. A color so vibrant and lovely that it didn’t seem real!

Every place on the planet has its ups and downs, so just like the good and bad I described above, we can appreciate the beauty of the landscape and let that overpower the ugly storms.

I finished my ‘secret’ project, and I’m very happy with how it turned out. Soon, I hope to share what that’s all about! Just waiting for some answers first. In the meantime, I’m still editing other people’s books, and my mind is spinning with my own stories–which I’ll be diving into shortly.

I look back on all the books I’ve written since I started my writing journey, and I feel good about where this adventure has taken me. People often ask me which book is my favorite, but I can’t choose. They’re all my babies, and a mother loves all her children.

I hope you’re all having a good summer! It’s been a hot one here. but like someone told me in an elevator once, “It’s hot because it’s summer.” Mmm, hmm. That’s right. Makes sense to me.

In closing, I want to share a photo of one of the gorgeous sunsets we recently had. We’ve also been seeing fireflies, which I love. They’re harder to photograph, because they don’t stay lit up long!

Please drop me a line when you can. I always love to hear from you!

God Bless,

Jeanne