My dog might not be the worst dog in the world, but she’s certainly not the best. We got her in December of 2018, almost exactly a year after our beloved first dog died at the age of 10. When my husband and I decided that we were ready for a new dog, we allowed our two boys to pick one out. Of course, we got final approval, but we wanted to let our boys experience the joy of choosing a new member of our family. You see, I am a dog lover, and I knew that whatever pup we brought home would find a way to fit into our family and into our hearts. It really didn’t matter that much to me what type of dog we got. As the months have gone by, this sweet pup has chewed up shoes, made messes, chewed up kids’ toys, dug holes, stolen food off tables, whined, begged, and begs for food.

Even with all of that, I do, indeed, love her, just as the rest of the family does, just as I knew we would. Loving this dog has taught me a great deal about inherent worth and what it takes to...

In Georgia, the heat has been unbearable. It seemed that Fall would never come. We had highs of 97 into October. To say that it was “unseasonably warm” would be a drastic understatement. Then, one day, Fall arrived! We had a glorious cold front come through, and you could finally feel that delicious crispness in the air! It was the second weekend of October, and I decided that it was time to Welcome Fall!

Not only was I ready to Welcome Fall, I was ready to have a genuinely clean house! We had been out of town for Fall Break, and I just had not made the time to do a proper cleaning of the house in a while (you know, working mom and all that!) So, I started cleaning on Friday, and I promised my two boys (ages 9 and 5) that we would get the Halloween decorations out after the house was clean. This was meant to be an incentive to get the boys to help with the cleaning, and that did help with their motivation. Now, I don’t know if this happens to you, but every so...