When is the last time you replaced your mattress? My husband and I decided that ten years was long enough between our last mattress and a new one. And before that, it was ten years between mattresses. So, today, a new mattress is being delivered to our house and the old one is going away.
The old one was purchased when I was pregnant with my daughter. It has dips on each side where my husband and I have slept over the last decade. The springs aren't as comfortable and the pillowtop is more flat than cushiony. It was time. My shoulders every morning concur in their aches and stiffness.
The thing is, in the last ten years, mattresses have changed and improved quite a bit.

Do you have a recipe that means something to your family? Or a recipe that makes you think of times when you were all together?
I'm reading a book right now called The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold. It follows a girl dealing with a lot of issues in her life who hides away for a while at the family's old farm. There, she finds a handwritten notebook full of old family recipes and some advice and proverbs to go with it. I highly recommend the book. It's so good.
But it's definitely making me want to bake and cook more. Along with some other things that have happened in my life.

I had the radio on in the car the other day. Not always a safe choice, but the station I was tuned to is fairly clean. The kids and I were headed to school and a popular song came on.
I quickly turned it off.
"Why did you do that, Mommy?"
"Because that song makes me mad."
Of course, then I had to go into a whole discussion about what part of the song made me mad (they're used to us muting or turning off songs with bad language, but they could tell this was different).

For the last five years, I've been blessed to be able to go on a teachers' retreat to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area in Tennessee. This weekend was it for this year.
Every single time, the mountains take my breath away. And not just because of the narrow windy roads that make you feel like you might fall over the side.
Even this year, with the clouds covering part of the majestic peaks and hiding some of the tops, it's still awe-inspiring.
​And I just want to sing.