Christmas Under the Bridge

Rachel HauckLisa Wingate, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

Happy Monday everyone! It’s finally December.  The month of sleigh rides, and silver bells, and flying reindeer.  It’s time to bake delectable treats, wrap packages, sing carols, graze at buffet tables filled with delectable holiday treats. Who’s excited? I love Christmas.  I love everything about it — from setting up the tree, to picking out gifts, to the smell of …

Talking Leaves and the Power of Story by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

Rachel HauckShellie Rushing Tomlinson, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

I remember the woman interviewing me was using an actual pad and pen, and I remember how I liked that. It felt good to watch our conversation filling up the pages of her notebook. It reminded me of a quote from Sequoyah, a Native American hero who made it his life’s work to give his people access to the “talking leaves” of the white man. Sequoyah spent twelve …

Just Enough, More Than Enough, and a Gracious Plenty by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

Rachel HauckShellie Rushing Tomlinson, Southern Faith, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

Let me tell you a story about three men I know… Just Enough, More than Enough, and A Gracious Plenty. Just Enough has a decent paying job but he spends all his time making sure the money doesn’t run out before the month does. Just Enough goes to church but he has a hard time getting there regularly. He tries …

Fall for Mississippi

Rachel HauckJulie Cantrell, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

 This week, the Belles are writing about autumn. I’m guessing many of you think autumn is the best time of year, and I’d love to hear what you love most about this magnificent season. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of autumn here in Oxford, MS is harvest. October and November are filled with the …

Drum Roll… Meet The New Belle Wednesday!

Rachel HauckJulie Cantrell, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

Hi everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  We’re taking a break from this week’s topic for something very special.  We know that all of you on the porch have been waiting and wondering… who in the world could POSSIBLY fill the empty glass slippers of our departing Belle Wednesday? Who could step confidently onto the porch and keep the mid-week conversation going?  Who …

Writers and Readers Reach Out

Rachel HauckLisa Wingate, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

Welcome to another week on the porch everyone! This week, the girls at BelleView are on a mission.  Thanks to Belle Friday, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, the Southern Bellevue community is participating in a program called Writers and Readers Reach Out… where writers and readers reach out to support a good cause.Each year, Shellie researches a worthy opportunity for giving. This …

Security Checkpoints Can Pose Problems by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

Rachel HauckShellie Rushing Tomlinson, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

  I’m not so sure Facebook is all that unusual a way to reunite these days, but the social media site sure springs to mind as I consider this week’s conversation starter supplied by our gracious Belle Tuesday, Beth Webb Hart. Tanya’s friendship request opened up a floodgate of high school memories. I remember grinning when I saw it, almost …

Meeting Up With The Cow Man

Rachel HauckRachel Hauck, Southern People and Places Leave a Comment

After I graduated from Ohio State, I traveled a semester for my sorority, Phi Mu, before landing my first corporate job.There was this guy… isn’t there always?… I’d crushed on my senior year. But after graduation, we’d gone our separate ways. While I traveled with my sorority and later my corporate job, he traveled for a food company.Elsie the Cow …