Jul 22, 2018 | Community Life
I love my birthday! Growing up, my mom always made them so special, unique and one-of-a kind celebrations. So, the tradition continues. Now, I host my own birthday parties and I love to plan occasions that are a treat for my friends and a celebration of how much they...
Jul 16, 2018 | Community Life
It can be really intimidating to host a large number of people. How do you feed them all? How do you make sure everyone is having a good time? I want to know that my guests are having a good time, feel comfortable and walk away chatting about how glad they were that...
Jul 9, 2018 | Community Life
Hospitality fatigue is a real thing! My mom often mentions how crazy I am with the amount of people we serve in our home (or outside the home) and I shrug it off thinking “I couldn’t love it more.” But recently, I’ve felt physically and mentally exhausted which means...
Jun 21, 2018 | Community Life
Guest post by Mel K. In light of last week’s Fostering Friendships Challenge, I wanted to share my personal experience. The challenge couldn’t have better timing because it took place just before my annual tea party! The Problem One of the problems I have...
Jun 6, 2018 | Community Life
Summer provides a lot of opportunities to foster our friendships. The warm weather and long nights allow us to gather after work, get outside on the weekends and enjoy time together. But to nourish and encourage the depth we want in our friendships, we will need to be...
May 16, 2018 | Community Life
So you are new to town or you just started college or maybe you’ve just decided it is time to step out of your comfort zone and meet your neighbors. At different seasons in our lives, we will have to repeat the steps of making new friends. I wish the process got...
Apr 30, 2018 | Community Life
We have been celebrating Cake Day for quite some time in the Hurley Homestead and we can begin to see the fruit of consistently meeting together with our community. First, if you are unaware of Cake Day, it is a gathering that happens on the first of each month where...
Apr 24, 2018 | Community Life
When I was growing up, we practiced the tradition of leaving May Day Baskets on our neighbors’ porches. It usually consisted of baked goods or flowers, sometimes even paper flowers I had made at school. We would place the basket on the porch with a little “Happy May...
Apr 16, 2018 | Community Life
Tim and I are approaching our third year of marriage and we certainly don’t claim to “know-it-all” but we would love to share with you some things that have significantly impacted our relationship and how we communicate life in our home. Preemptively Set Expectations...
Apr 9, 2018 | Community Life
Calling all book worms! It’s one thing to spend time with our friends, it’s another thing to engage with your friends’ minds, ideas and faiths. If you want to take your friendships to a new level (or just have an excuse to get together once a week), consider grabbing...
Apr 2, 2018 | Community Life
My husband and I have an obsession with pottery kitchenware. It began the year we were married when we were gifted a beautiful pottery bowl made from the clay of my home state, Kansas. Immediately, we felt like this piece was not just another snack bowl in our house,...
Mar 27, 2018 | Community Life
My husband and I picked up a book called The Tech-Wise Family this winter and began to intentionally set boundaries around our technology use. We still love a good television show and can certainly bond over a funny YouTube video, but we felt like there was this...
