Anita VP

Costco Food Court, here’s to you And your endless refills of Mt. Dew. Your pizza with too much cheese, The tiny humans it doth please. Your churros, spicy and sweet, Prove a likable treat for all to eat. All in the land to you will run For a hot dog, relish, and bun. Only you, dear Costco, can feed a family of four, For ten dollars and no more. So cheers to you, Food Court of Costco; After each shopping trip, we must go! #AnitaVP #costco #lovecostco #momlife #parentingwin

It's fair to say that I can identify with Snoopy, especially in the sentiment above.  Some days the juices are flowing; some days the well is running dry.  Hay, at least I'm not alone - and at least some days I do the Snoopy-dance! #AnitaVP #Snoopy #sometimes #thewellisdry #writemore

Stemming from the original term " weblog ", first used in 1997, the word "blog" as we know and love it today, was coined by a grandfather blogger, Peter Merholz , who as a joke divided the word “weblog” into “we blog” in 1999.   "Blog" soon took on both noun and verb form, thanks to Pyra Labs who created the blogging service Blogger . Blogs have taken the past score of years by storm, allowing professionals and laymen alike to share their voice.   From political pundits to mommy-bloggers, everyone seems to have something to say.   And why not?   The readership is there. All the way back in 2006, Pew Research found that, “Thirty-nine percent of internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs.”   That’s a truck-load of people!   And the number of internet users has only grown since then – to the tune of 4.1 billion people worldwide in 2018!   Blogs can serve an array of purposes from driving business to discipling to servin

One year ago today, I had this ray of sunshine on my own birthday.  I really couldn't imagine a better birthday gift, from God to me, every single year.  Like a little beam of light, he brings joy to any room he enters.  And he has definitely brought overwhelming joy (and cuteness) to my life. On his (our) birth day last year, things were a busy, hectic, painful, wonderful blur.  This year, we are able to relax a tad more and really enjoy the day.  I realize now that this in turn means the ushering in of a new era of birthday traditions for me - celebrating each year with the finest of gifts. Happy first birthday, Sunshine. #AnitaVP #birthday #happybirthday #wildone #sunshine #firstbirthday #baby #babyonmybirthday #beach #beachbaby #beachbum #maui

Our long awaited and longtime coming move from Colorado to Washington has finally come to a completion.  We've successfully made it in to the new house and have a majority of our things in. It'll take some time to get straightened, but today our new house has really started to feel like home.  For the first time, we were able to go on our regular morning walk and I enjoyed my first cup of coffee here.  Let me tell you how sweet and perfect that first cup is! For a long time, I've pondered the complete range of emotions that one must feel with a move of this magnitude.  With confidence, I can say that I'm able to better completely understand the gamut of emotions of this all (for the sake of my picture book manuscript about  moving, if for nothing else).  Nonetheless, the finish line brings a distinct sweetness and plenty of musings. #AnitaVP #moving #writemore #movingday

As someone who desires to be a published author one day, it's a regular debate in my own mind if I actually have anything worth saying.  The forces of resistance within my own mind talk unkindly to me and say, "well no, of course you don't." Good ol' Thumper's refrain of "If you can't say something nice, then don't say nothing at all" plays in my head.  Perhaps an even more valuable phrase would be something like this: If you don't have anything worthwhile to say, don't say nothing at all.  Nice is a relatively wide gate; worthwhileness weeds out a lot of "nice" things that perhaps would have been better left unsaid (or unread). There is nothing new under the sun, but perhaps anything that is worthwhile of being published will be something that blows the reader away.  How do you actually blow readers away? I'd argue that occurs by appealing to emotions. Books that make the reader laugh, cry, surprised, excit

Today, in the spirit of authenticity, I bring you this moment: My son sees some books.   He’s very excited for these books.   He looks so adorable looking at the books.   He points.   He coos.   He smiles.   This lasts for a complete four seconds.   He crawls away to get the better of some house plants.   Goodbye books – see ya later! I guess good thing I’m fast with a camera!   We’ll keep trying for reading that’s longer than the blink of an eye. #AnitaVP #realtalk #reading #readmore #baby #parenting #littlecritter

An article from CBC entitled It's never been safer for kids to play outside — or more dangerous to be inside caught my attention. Maybe it’s true?   Being outside is wonderful for children.   It helps them explore the natural world around them.   It encourages unstructured free play.   Smelling fresh outdoor air is also good.   There’s something about bare feet outside that’s good for the soul.   On and on. Maybe it’s not?   There are countless beneficial activities that occur almost exclusively inside.   Baking together, reading, coloring, and so on.   In my opinion as a mother, long gone are the days where (in most cities and towns) it’s a good idea to “send the kids to the park by themselves.”   See where this is tricky? I’ve reasoned that one thing that makes parenting young children today uniquely more challenging than most other times in history is all of the rigmarole involved with car seats.   There’s almost no way a child will be out of a f