Posted by Tagged with art, creativity, Play, rest Posted in Uncategorized

PLAY

I have been thinking a lot about the word PLAY. Spend a day with a small child and they will remind you how delightful playing can be. Kids love building things and creating colorful worlds with their imagination. They are always on the move – dancing, bouncing, flipping, and jumping. They make a lot of noise, strange sounds, and funny faces. I’ve observed kids confidently share their stories and observations without any fear of rejection or criticism.

Here are 4 things I’ve observed while being around children. These words spell P L A Y.

PRETEND – Kids enjoy making up stories and imaginary worlds in their heads.

LAUGH – Kids laugh at everything. They think the littlest things are hilarious.

ASK – Kids ask a lot of questions. Questions are normal and expected.

YELL – Kids yell and cry a lot. They tell you what they are feeling and they don’t care whether it’s a good time or not.

As adults, we stop speaking up because we don’t want to be a bother. We stuff our feelings and stay quiet to keep the peace. We stop pretending, laughing, and asking questions.

What are some ways we can continue to “play” as adults? Here is a list of ideas my 7 year old helped me make.

Ride a scooter or snow mobile
Dye your hair
Play with bubbles.
Color or draw in a sketch book.
Fly a kite
Make homemade jewelry
Do a DIY craft
Play at a park.
Get some new picture books at the library
Have a spa day.
Make a fun music playlist
Go rock climbing
Play volleyball outside.
Invite someone to your house to play together

Whatever you decide that “Playing” means for you, I hope you will intentionally work it into your life. I’d love to hear your ideas.




Posted by Tagged with hobbies, rest, Selfcare Posted in Uncategorized

Plant Lady?

I’ve never paid much attention to plants. Lots of people own house plants. Some more than others. I always just saw these small green things as a luxury that I could pass by. When I’d walk into Trader Joe’s and see the plants, I would admire them, but never consider buying one because I was usually mentally adding up the cost of groceries and would rather eat than spend the money on something to look at.

Then one day I bought a plant and realized, “gosh, I really get a lot of joy out of being around this tiny living thing.”

I told my friend Melinda, “I have this one flowering plant in front of my house and I just sit and look at it every morning as I drink my coffee, and it makes me so happy”.

She said “Wow. If one plant makes you that happy, just imagine if you had a whole bunch of them how happy you would be”.

I start noticing plants everywhere I turned. Last winter, I bought a couple plants at IKEA and started watering them. I was so shocked that they stayed alive more than a month. One of them even started growing like crazy.

What is happening? These plants are staying alive! The one that surprised me the most was this one.

I got it as a gift from my daughter’s friend, Jose, last spring. It died for a week and then it came back to life and it’s been flowering ever since. I brought it inside and it is still going strong 6 months later. It’s like the little plant that never quits. It has died and come back to life multiple times. This little pink beauty reminds me that we cannot predict the future. So much is out of our hands, but we believe the best for people, and sometimes they surprise us.

My favorite houseplant right now is this one.

It started very small when I got it last winter. It has grown so much, and I love it. I am so easily impressed since I never expected these small living things to stay alive.

Here are a few other plants I’ve enjoyed watering that are no longer with us. (I guess they are not all meant to have a long life).

Do you love plants? Give me your best tips. I think I’m a plant lady on the verge of conversion!

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20 years of marriage

I talk about my kids a lot. What I don’t talk about as much is my marriage. This does not mean my husband is not important to me. On the contrary, Mark Haugen means the world to me. He is, hands down, the most influential person in my life.

Let me explain.
Mark is a big thinker, a big personality, and a carrier of big ideas. When I met him, I had zero vision for anything I hadn’t seen before. Nevertheless, I was attracted to his energy, positivity, and big vision. Something in me said, “I want some of that.”
I was his opposite. Quiet, cautious, and the ultimate people pleaser. My motto was “we live in a perfectly good boat, why rock it?” Mark was exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

Our wedding reception was my first taste of what life would be like as the wife of an event planner and DJ. After all, who names their wedding reception “Uproar” and has T-Shirts made with a logo?

Here are some examples of the types of adventures Mark pulled me into in our early days.
– A spontaneous road trip from MN to Texas to see a concert.
– Flying a group of drummers from across the U.S. to Minneapolis to do an all night drum and dance event on leap day.
– Hosting dozens of youth retreats, picnics, concerts, and events.
– Bringing a techno/dance group from Sweden to the U.S. for a New Years Eve youth lock-in at Discovery Middle School in Alexandria.
– Traveling with family to the Czech Republic to serve at Freak Fest and serve local churches there.
– Setting up a pop-up art gallery, complete with Skychairs in a St Paul skyway.


– Creating a studio during Covid in a basement on Grand Avenue where he recorded a podcast and hosted musicians for micro-concerts.

Being married to a visionary has its challenges. There are many things we disagree on, but we have plenty in common too and I do love how our relationship is a great picture of how opposites attract.

My husband is a great companion who stretches me to move outside my comfort zone. I know he would say the same of me. I keep him grounded and teach him about empathy. I teach him the importance of daily tasks and bring a sense of calm to his crazy.
We have both changed a lot since we got married, but at our core, we still love people over things, and want what we do for work to be what we love. We are also both artists who believe we should never stop creating and dreaming.

Have you grown stronger through being around someone who is your opposite? Have you seen the power of walking beside someone who challenges you to see things differently? It doesn’t necessarily need to be in marriage. Learning to walk in love beside people with unique personalities that are different than your own is one of the hardest, and potentially most rewarding parts of being alive.