Joy Goggles
Cara McLauchlan celebrates the simple joys of life in her blog, Joy Goggles. It's a chance to look at our days through "Joy Goggles" and discover the beauty in ordinary moments.
Showing 26 - 50 of 73
Lovely Freedom
January 11, 2011 3:00 pm
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I just bought freedom. It was only ten bucks. There is something oxymoronic about saying "I just bought freedom." It has the same funky feeling as "grandma, put the saw down." It simply does not go together. Yet, I gladly paid my ten dollars for it. If you haven't heard of "freedom" -- it's a new application you can download ...Read More
I just bought freedom. It was only ten bucks. There is something oxymoronic about saying "I just bought freedom." It has the same funky feeling ...Read More
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It's a wonderful lasagna
December 10, 2010 8:47 am
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"Eating a warm meal nourishes the body, preparing it nourishes the soul." I wish I had written that -- but I actually read it in a magazine today. I think it's amazing that not everyone feels this way. Actually, I don't always feel this way. Cooking is one of those things that I find sometimes satisfying and other times overrated. ...Read More
"Eating a warm meal nourishes the body, preparing it nourishes the soul." I wish I had written that -- but I actually read it in ...Read More
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My Holiday Pinata
November 17, 2010 8:41 am
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I like order. I especially like it when it comes to the holidays. Tradition trumps chaos as a theme of comfort to me during this season. I think that’s why singing the 12 days of Christmas song is so much fun. I know what comes next as I enjoy putting things in their perfect rightful order. Partridges before Turtle Doves ...Read More
I like order. I especially like it when it comes to the holidays. Tradition trumps chaos as a theme of comfort to me during this ...Read More
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The End of Mid Life Crisis Cooking
September 15, 2010 7:50 am
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Today I gave up cooking like I'm having a mid-life crisis. It began with the meatloaf. Kindly, my lovely neighbor brought her extras from dinner to spare me the trouble of cooking. I called her blessed as I was relieved of having to come up with a meal for one less day. As my husband came home from a long ...Read More
Today I gave up cooking like I'm having a mid-life crisis. It began with the meatloaf. Kindly, my lovely neighbor brought her extras from dinner ...Read More
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Going Off the Grid
August 25, 2010 8:16 am
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One Mom’s Adventure into the Wilds of Home schooling Home-schoolers are weird. They are the people who make meals out of dryer lint, wear clothes from hemp seed and study the sonar tracking of bats. Or so I thought. Until I became one of them. This week, I read that according to the United States Department of Education, an estimated ...Read More
One Mom’s Adventure into the Wilds of Home schooling Home-schoolers are weird. They are the people who make meals out of dryer lint, wear clothes ...Read More
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Gaps
August 16, 2010 4:44 pm
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When I hear the word “gap” I think of Leon Spinks and fourth grade. If you don’t remember Leon – he was the heavyweight champion of the world, amazingly defeating Muhammad Ali in 1978, exactly when I was 9. You probably remember him as the unlikely winner with the huge gap in his front teeth – not a slight gap, ...Read More
When I hear the word “gap” I think of Leon Spinks and fourth grade. If you don’t remember Leon – he was the heavyweight champion ...Read More
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Hockey Love
August 10, 2010 2:34 pm
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Loving hockey is like loving that misfit family member that demands all of you and smells bad. This blazing hot Southern week has been spent in the confines of an ice rink. Despite the bad fluorescent lighting and high stink factor of the locker rooms, I have counted myself blessed to freeze my hockey mom buns off. Rather, more ...Read More
Loving hockey is like loving that misfit family member that demands all of you and smells bad. This blazing hot Southern week has been ...Read More
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Birds, Bees and Me
July 6, 2010 12:45 pm
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Every summer, I take a little time to have "a talk" with my son. I was inspired by a dear friend who shared how she used to have "grown up time" talks with her son each summer as he grew through the years. She started simple with a very basic "bees" talk, that continued to expand. I loved this idea ...Read More
Every summer, I take a little time to have "a talk" with my son. I was inspired by a dear friend who shared how she ...Read More
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Waking The Grateful Dead
May 25, 2010 8:26 am
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I've been working on a grateful experiment lately. Garbage in, garbage out was how it got started. I was stringing together too many days of negative attitude and something was beginning to stink (me). So I decided to start thinking differently. I'm always telling my son "use your mouth to speak blessings" -- it was time to walk my talk. ...Read More
I've been working on a grateful experiment lately. Garbage in, garbage out was how it got started. I was stringing together too many days of ...Read More
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Go on, smell the Honeysuckle
May 10, 2010 10:22 am
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Have you ever time travelled? I tried it out this week during my morning walk. Trudging along my typical path, I got this overwhelming hit of honeysuckle, now blooming like crazy in North Carolina. All of the recent rains and quick humid weather have flushed out this tropical gem. Inhaling deeply I was transported back to the 1980s. There I ...Read More
Have you ever time travelled? I tried it out this week during my morning walk. Trudging along my typical path, I got this overwhelming hit ...Read More
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Bad Mommy
April 30, 2010 3:20 pm
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I was a bad mommy this week. I actually sent my son to school without lunch, without snack and without his schoolwork. Why? Because it’s his responsibility, not mine. I know, I know, he’s only a child, he can’t keep up with all these things all the time. But my thought is, why not? I think he should be able ...Read More
I was a bad mommy this week. I actually sent my son to school without lunch, without snack and without his schoolwork. Why? Because it’s ...Read More
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Defunkify Thyself
April 19, 2010 3:38 pm
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I've been in a funk lately. I'm not sure why or what it is about. Call it post-break blues or pollen brain. Whatever the name, for some reason I have been struggling with my attitude and spark for life. I can't even blame it on anything good like Seasonal Affective Disorder or the winter blues. I just feel funky. So ...Read More
I've been in a funk lately. I'm not sure why or what it is about. Call it post-break blues or pollen brain. Whatever the name, ...Read More
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Operation Beautiful
March 10, 2010 11:17 am
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On a recent Sunday morning visit to the gym, someone left me a secret message. I have to say it put a smile on my face and a curiosity in my mind. It left me wondering how many lives could be changed with the power of a little encouragement. I opened my gym locker to find a note saying "don't ...Read More
On a recent Sunday morning visit to the gym, someone left me a secret message. I have to say it put a smile on my ...Read More
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Casserole season
March 2, 2010 12:32 pm
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It’s been casserole season lately. Winter’s final exhale has brought a mixture of bittersweet to my circle of friends. There’s been a layoff, a cancer diagnosis, a divorce, a heart scare and a new baby. Along with these changes, comes the ever-present casserole. It is simply the right thing to do. There is something wonderful about a square of comfort ...Read More
It’s been casserole season lately. Winter’s final exhale has brought a mixture of bittersweet to my circle of friends. There’s been a layoff, a cancer ...Read More
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13 reasons why women should take up boxing
February 23, 2010 5:25 pm
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I'm a lover not a fighter. But watching my friend Lisa box makes me wonder if she is onto something by taking up the sport this year. Watching her go from already pretty fit to now superwoman level has been stunning to watch. Let me be clear -- I'm not talking about taking a class on boxing (although that could ...Read More
I'm a lover not a fighter. But watching my friend Lisa box makes me wonder if she is onto something by taking up the sport ...Read More
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Birthday love
January 25, 2010 12:33 pm
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I'm feeling very loved. After a small avalanche of birthday wishes on Facebook, topped off by a cozy family evening of fondue and red velvet cupcakes, my love tank is full. It doesn't take much to make me happy these days. After all the sadnesses of Haiti, a friend's husband struggling with brain cancer and another gal pal who is ...Read More
I'm feeling very loved. After a small avalanche of birthday wishes on Facebook, topped off by a cozy family evening of fondue and red velvet ...Read More
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The Christmas Collage
December 11, 2009 2:26 am
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Every Christmas season starts with the ratty little collage. I made it more than ten years ago. I was newly married, but still lacking the confidence of how things were supposed to go. My collage was really just an oversized piece of poster board. It featured a quote I read in a book that spoke so loudly in my head, ...Read More
Every Christmas season starts with the ratty little collage. I made it more than ten years ago. I was newly married, but still lacking the ...Read More
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Purse Memories
November 19, 2009 11:53 am
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It all began with the missing iPod. I knew it was somewhere in the contents of my purse/snack bag/portable brain of mine. Out of desperation, I dumped the entire contents of my purse on the counter for total reconnaissance. After sorting through the immense pile, I began to notice the contents were sort of bag-like-scrapbook of my life. Spread out ...Read More
It all began with the missing iPod. I knew it was somewhere in the contents of my purse/snack bag/portable brain of mine. Out of desperation, ...Read More
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Little Cowboy
November 3, 2009 7:34 pm
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We are counting down the days until my son gets to unleash his "inner buckaroo." As we make our way to the motherland of rural Michigan, we arrive just in time for the opening of deer hunting season. My 8 year-old son is completely beside himself at the idea of the great outdoors, guns and wide open spaces. It may ...Read More
We are counting down the days until my son gets to unleash his "inner buckaroo." As we make our way to the motherland of rural ...Read More
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Getting Scary
October 27, 2009 9:12 am
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It's scary season and in the spirit of things, I have been working on scaring myself daily. Last week I read "do something every day that scares you." I was trying to remember the last time I attempted something truly scary. Usually it's life that does the scaring -- watching the news, praying with a friend that was struggling with ...Read More
It's scary season and in the spirit of things, I have been working on scaring myself daily. Last week I read "do something every day ...Read More
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Remembering Mom's advice on staying well
October 14, 2009 4:23 pm
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I’m feeling a bit draggy lately. With all the news about the flu and its impending doom, I wish I could go ahead and get sick. That has to be better than listening to the constant barrage of ranger danger talk on the news or reading how many new cases there are today. No amount of antibacterial wipes can convince ...Read More
I’m feeling a bit draggy lately. With all the news about the flu and its impending doom, I wish I could go ahead and get ...Read More
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Lunch funnies
September 28, 2009 7:52 am
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Day in, day out making the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich for an entire year of elementary school lunches can get old. I have tried other things in my son's lunchbox. But nothing reminds him of home and the goodness of mankind like PB&J. I completely understand. When I was a kid, I went home for lunch. In today's ...Read More
Day in, day out making the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich for an entire year of elementary school lunches can get old. I have ...Read More
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Small Time is Big Time
September 11, 2009 9:30 am
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If you had to come up with one little thing that would make your life better, what would it be? Repeat, little thing, not big thing. I recently read this idea about teeny tiny changes and thought the chances of something small making a difference are only that, small. Nevertheless, I thought I would give it a whirl and my ...Read More
If you had to come up with one little thing that would make your life better, what would it be? Repeat, little thing, not big ...Read More
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Building a Better Lunchbox
September 2, 2009 6:42 pm
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67 pounds of trash. That’s how much the average child creates in waste every year with a disposable lunch. (Source: www.wastefreelunches.org) This trying-to-be-green momma wanted to start the school year off in a kinder way for the environment. So, instead of stocking up on all the plastic baggies, single serving snacks and bottled waters, I did some homework on building ...Read More
67 pounds of trash. That’s how much the average child creates in waste every year with a disposable lunch. (Source: www.wastefreelunches.org) This trying-to-be-green momma wanted ...Read More
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The End of the Morning Crazies
August 18, 2009 2:03 pm
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School is here, cue the deep sigh. Yes I love that back to school feeling with the fresh crayons, brand new notebooks and shiny shoes. But with those 48 crayons and the built-in sharpener comes an amazing level of everyday stress that simply doesn’t exist in July. My sentences now begin and end with “hurry up” in the mean mommy ...Read More
School is here, cue the deep sigh. Yes I love that back to school feeling with the fresh crayons, brand new notebooks and shiny shoes. ...Read More
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