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What Have You Been Thinking About Lately?

December 13, 2019 By Jodi

Dear readers—I wonder, what have you been thinking about lately? What is on your mind, what are the questions you keep coming back to? What are the situations you can’t solve? Who are the people you’re loving? Do you find yourself pondering different questions in the darkness of winter?

...

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Missing My Dad, Three Years Later

October 13, 2019 By Jodi

My dad passed away three years ago today. We were still living in Sweden; I was five months pregnant with Zoë. It was late evening when my mother called, the sea and sky outside our windows dark. I felt helpless, and so far away from everything that mattered.

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A Life-Changing Way to Create Community

May 30, 2019 By Jodi

Years ago, when I was in the midst of an impromptu solo road trip around the West Coast, I was Couchsurfing (that's a real thing!) in Vancouver, B.C. at the home of a wonderful man called Simon. Simon is a life coach and a magnificent person, and he had this knack for flipping my world upside-down in every conversation.

One night we were having dinner in his loft, and I was telling him about my upcoming flight to Puerto Rico and the generous friend, Rich, who had offered to take me to the Seattle airport at 5am a week hence. I was saying that I felt a bit guilty asking this person to get up so early and drive so far, even if he had volunteered to do so.

Simon stopped me and asked, "Jodi, how do you feel when you help someone?" I felt good, I answered. It's always nice to help. It feels great when you can do something for someone that they really appreciate

"So why would you deny someone else the opportunity to feel good?"

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The Surprising Uses of Melancholy: Watercolor Painting and Reading Poetry

April 9, 2019 By Jodi

Watercolor flatlay

I may have mentioned that I went through a spate of melancholy recently. 😉 The good news it that I'm through it; the better news is that I got a lot out of it.

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Adult Supervision (not) Required

March 8, 2019 By Sonia Ruyts

small_animals_book_ruyts

When my first child was born, I was deep into baby care books, sleep solution books, and parenting books. I needed help, and I would read just about anything to get it.

Those early months were tough; I didn't have a circle of experienced women and babies around me to help navigate the ups and downs. So I turned to the experts for their guidance. Soon I was able to mete through all the opinions and recommendations and tune into my own parental intuition. By the time my second child was born, the books were gone and I was feeling pretty confident.

Of course, that's when things changed again, as they always do when parenting.

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How to Tell Who's Writing

March 7, 2019 By Jodi

Screenshot of a previous post

Sonia's next post is coming soon, and we want to make sure you can tell who's writing. If you haven't noticed already, just under the title of each post is some identifying information: when the post was published, and who wrote it.

You can probably tell by the difference in our writing voices, but if you can't, just scroll to the top of any post to see who the author is.

Hope this helps - enjoy reading!

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Boy at top of Spencer Butte

The Subtle Art of Showing You Give a F@ck

March 3, 2019 2 Comments

James and I are taking a parenting class offered by August's school. The class is called Parenting with Love and Logic (the link goes to a book by the same name). The basic idea is to use empathy with our children in order to empower them to handle their own problems and decisions. One of...

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How Much Alone Time Do You Need?

February 22, 2019 1 Comment

Last weekend I traveled without my family for the first time. While James has traveled for work regularly throughout our married life, ever since having kids I have been the one to stay put and hold down the fort. Also, I've had a nursing baby for most of the last seven years, so it has...

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Show Me Your Mess

February 11, 2019 8 Comments

Recently, I broke a nail while trying to clean up before a friend arrived for a play date. It was a snag that cut deep into the quick and was painful enough to stop me in my tracks. While I was nursing my wound, I had the clarity of mind to ask myself: why are...

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Sonia_Ruyts_Intro

Introducing Sonia!

February 11, 2019 Leave a Comment

I have exciting news to share: I'm bringing a new, regular contributor on board here at Dear Sabrina! Sonia and I met when our kids were at the same preschool, and I instantly admired her style, thoughtfulness, humor, and the community she had created as a local business owner in our small town. After many...

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About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

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Morning couch snuggles with our newest housemates. Morning couch snuggles with our newest housemates.
My wine did this yesterday. Is this a bad sign? My wine did this yesterday. Is this a bad sign?
How an evening should be. How an evening should be.
So the other night I was drinking a margarita by t So the other night I was drinking a margarita by the fireside and reading the Girls Night In newsletter. At the end they asked readers to respond it a question, so I did. (A bit tipsy, mind you). Apparently they liked my response, and they shared it with their IG community (just a cool 134k followers), and I have been over the moon with the response. The comments have been a treasure to read. Thanks, @girlsnightinclub, for what you do and the community you’ve created.
Glorious time at the coast today. Our first trip t Glorious time at the coast today. Our first trip to Seal Beach. Somehow everything was perfect about it and we ran around and tidepooled and flew kites and rearranged driftwood and rocks and ran in and out of the waves for hours.
We did the thing where you go to a place and there We did the thing where you go to a place and there’s stuff on the ground. 3 out of 5 had fun. 1 out of 5 denies having had fun, despite having had fun. 1 out of 5 wore THIN COTTON PANTS despite many better options and much advice to the contrary and was miserable the whole time and thus did not have fun.
Merry Christmas y’all. May something make you as Merry Christmas y’all. May something make you as happy as this Christmas special makes me.
{sigh} Missing our Swedish adoptive family so much {sigh}
Missing our Swedish adoptive family so much this year—and always. They made Christmas magical for the kids, and for us. The meals were magnificent, the laughter abundant, the candles extra twinkly. We are more for having known them, and less for not having them in our lives every day.
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About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
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