She's back!

I have a little obsession.

Her name is NieNie aka Stephanie Nielson. I met her in October, accidentally. Bored one night, with a newborn at my breast, I followed a link from a link from a link, and ended up in the loveliest of places. A kaleidoscope of motherhood, marriage, family and inspired living. Its brilliant colours and patterns made real by the clear voice of a kindred soul.

I stayed up late into the night, and spent the better part of the next day soaking up every ounce of the NieNie Dialogues. I learned that weeks earlier, Stephanie and her beloved Mr. Nielson had been in a terrible plane crash, and were recovering from their injuries and burns in an Arizona hospital. Devastating enough to think of any stranger in this type of experience, but as I read through every archived post, I began to fully understand what Stephanie meant to her readers, and brought to everyone who knew and loved her.

I knew then, that to lose her voice, in all its warmth, passion, femininity, and yes, sometimes even humorously flawed human-ness, would be a real tragedy.

In my desperation to absorb all things Nie, I began to read the blog of her sister, CJane, who along with 3 of the Nielson's 4 children, inherited the responsibility of Nie's blog, and keeping her quickly growing fan base up to date on her and Mr. Nielson's recovery.

As the months progressed, and the Nielson's healed, CJane won me over in her own right. What is it about these sisters that has me hooked?

They are mothers, like me.

Wives, like me.

They center their lives around their faith, like me

Women, like me.

Passionate about their children, their homes, their marriages, their shoes (oh, what lovely shoes!), like me.

But somehow they are not like me at all. They are who I'd like to be. Resplendent in their womanhood, somehow they transcend the mundanities of life. They share a unique talent for celebrating all the little shiny moments that are too often dulled by dirty floors, drowned out by crying babies, and lost under heaps of laundry.

In doing so, they have inspired me to look for little gems throughout my day. Little nuggets of vibrancy in my oh-so-normal existence.

And today, I am celebrating, because Nie is back!