Positively (Im)perfect

Have you seen this yet? Three beautiful minutes of "Preach ON!"

I recently spoke with a friend who was struggling with her transition from the military into motherhood. At nine months pregnant, she'd just moved across the country, left the Army, lost her support system, started grad school, and set up a new household. In my eyes she was a superstar. "But," she told me,  "when my husband comes home and asks me what I did all day, all I can say is, 'Nothing, really. Well...I emptied the dishwasher.' Megan, I just feel so lazy and unproductive!" "Ohmigosh, me, too!" I gushed earnestly, "seriously, if only you knew!" We commiserated for almost an hour. I know her pain. And I know others do, too. As an "experienced" mom of three (stifling a laugh here) in a crowd of friends leaving jobs and venturing into motherhood, I get a lot of cries for help with the same theme. "I feel you!" I say.  "I've been there, too," I say. [More like I am there]. "It's nor

On the eve of September 11th, my husband asked if I had planned any activities with the kids. I hadn't thought of doing anything specific. But when I woke up the next morning to a bright sun and blue sky, similar to that morning 11 years ago, I decided to take my husband's suggestion and do something with the kids that would hopefully leave a little impression. That something was a visit to the Veteran's Memorial in our town. I had tried to prep the kids with a simple explanation of why September 11th was important to us in America. But my four-year-old is pretty inquisitive, and her questions are not of the simple variety, especially when it comes to things involving death or senseless evil. She knows that Mommy and Daddy used to be good soldiers in the Army, and that lots of our friends are good soldiers who are trying to put bad soldiers in jail right now. But we’d never really explained the connection to the events of 9/11. Her shock that that some “mean men” wou

...Positively (Im)Perfect! Glad you could stop by for the Grand Opening! Or premier, or launching, or whatever it is we're supposed to call these things. Point is, the fun has begun...officially! For those of you who are new around these parts, this is the new and improved professional counterpart to Home Sweet Hjelmstad! (you can mosey on over to Home Sweet Hjelmstad for the official announcement and reasoning behind this awesome new blog. And don't worry; Home Sweet Hjelmstad will still be in business, where pictures and videos and updates on everything Hjelmstad abound!).