4 minute read
One More Day.
Welcome to “So Every Day,” a blog devoted to embracing the ordinary. It’s full of the funny, the fashionable, the flavorful, the faithful, and the feels of life – and that’s just in the Five Finds Fridays. The blog is equal parts adorable and authentic, playful and poignant. (And that’s all the alliteration we’ll subject you to for now.)
Lacey (Eibert) Keigley, ’95, began the blog around 2007 after a family member who lived in another state wanted to see what her family’s days at home were like. At first, Lacey was reluctant. But it soon became a gift.
“I was a young mom, and my days were overwhelmingly filled with diapers and decisions,” she said. “The blog became a way to talk about a book other than Goodnight Moon and to process emotions and feelings of all sorts of life changes I was having.”
The blog’s tagline is “embracing the ordinary,” and Lacey keeps her content as down-to-earth as her life is. No frills, just a mom of six kids sharing glimpses into their daily life. She talks about taking her teenagers on college visits, finding a new favorite pair of boots (and on sale), homeschooling kids who would rather be outside playing, hot tea on a rainy day, morning walks on a sunny one, hilarious things her kids say (bonus points if they don’t realize just how hilarious it is), hard life questions she’s wrestling with, vacations to the family’s favorite dude ranch, resonating with an old song in a new way, daughters trying new hairstyles, sons living adventurously (the backyard counts), and much more.
Embracing the ordinary comes naturally to Lacey, and, though she recognizes that isn’t the case for everybody, she thinks society is coming around.
“Without trying, I tend to see the silver linings in things. This was just a fun aspect of my life until I found myself in more difficult and trying situations. Then the gift of finding the hope became more life-giving and necessary,” she said. “I think, in some ways, people are getting better at embracing the ordinary. We are beginning to see the power in the small. We are beginning to understand how life-giving slowing down is. Our world is SO, SO loud. Choosing something quieter, savoring what is directly in front of you – I think those things are becoming more and more important as we see the consequences of ignoring our need for rest and for focus.”
Slowing down enough to think, feel, and write has provided a good discipline, helping hone Lacey’s skills of succinct writing – cutting to the chase. It’s even led her to start writing a book. And it has continued to be a great avenue to process life.
Today, “So Every Day” provides a source of income, travel, and fun for Lacey’s family. She has been able to take her kids on trips all across the United States, ziplining, kayaking, and more. They squeeze in their travels around Lacey’s regular jobs as a homeschool co-op co-director and the website owner of Travelers Rest Here, a website all about Travelers Rest, South Carolina, where the family calls home.
It isn’t that Lacey’s life is always pretty – the point of the blog is that nobody’s life is. Stress, frustration, confusion, and disappointment aren’t new to her. But she has found renewal in her time with the Lord, the grins of her children, and the constant practice of choosing gratitude and joy. And she has found that, in the big things and the little things, she is not alone. Friends around her and the strangers who read her blog have shown her that humanity is more connected than we think we are. We all experience the same feelings, we all need help sometimes, and – though our days might look different – we’re all just taking it one day at a time.
Photos by Jane Howard
Check out Lacey's blog at www.soeveryday.com and see her other work at www.travelersresthere.com
