A Few Things

Now that I was getting the help I needed for depression and starting that process of unpacking my bags I was once again overwhelmed with ALL the baggage I was looking at. I wanted to just throw it away and start over. But we all know we can't do that. If we don't unpack that baggage our children will have to or their children will have to--and so on. So let's get started shall we? When you check in your baggage--a baggage agent or a TSA agent will ask you if you packed your own bag. As I looked at ALL of this baggage I asked myself that same question. Why do I have the baggage of family members, friends, and even strangers (I refer to strangers as the people who have no clue who you are but will talk about you anyway). The fact is--it wasn't OUR baggage--it was THEIRS! So I gave their past back to them. Aunts, Uncles, In-Laws, Parents, Friends, Strangers, Grandmothers, Grandfathers. I can truly say giving that BACK to them was the most cleansing thing I have ever do...

When we begin to have families of our own there is always this desire to make life just a little bit better than what we had. We attempt to unpack. My mother grew up with a father that was an alcoholic and she made sure that we did not grow up in a house like that. For that I am thankful. Unpacked baggage. When my husband and I started our family--in the back of my head--I wanted to do things that weren't done in the house I grew up in. My family moved a lot--I really felt my kids should start and graduate from the same school. Growing up we were not a church family and I always felt I missed something by not getting confirmed in a church so my three oldest kids (and I) were confirmed in a church. I needed consistency for my kids because I didn't really feel I had that. So I felt things were getting unpacked. And hopefully I was improving the lives of my kids. What wasn't getting unpacked was the real work. As I said last week-- when I was older there was a lot of tensi...

I am going on an incentive trip to Japan/Taiwan in October. I have been thinking about what I need to pack. I will be going for 10 days and I am only taking one carry on bag and a backpack so I really need to be exact on packing and give myself a little room for a few souvenirs. I am sad to say that I am one of those travelers where I think about packing all of the time but once I am home the baggage could sit there for weeks. I don't know why I am like this but I just have no desire to unpack that bag. In life we bring baggage with us wherever we go. I grew up in a home that was not a very happy home. We had some good times and as I grow older I find myself hanging onto those good times. My parents argued about finances a lot. There was always tension felt in the house.  Add my 13 year old brother, me as a 16 year old--with an attitude, and a 20 year old half brother that was in trouble with the law--the idea of a perfect family was NOT in the cards. They divorced when I was 16...

Welcome to A Few Things--- Before we get started I thought I would let you know a little about myself and what led to the creation of A Few Things. My name is Kristi Hinkle--I am 44 years young. I have four beautiful children. Brittany (21), Shelby (17), Justin (16) and our little surprise--Conner (8). I have been married to my husband for 20 years--yes if you do the math--I became a mother before I became a wife. I went from living in Long Beach, CA to Atlanta, GA to Lincoln NE to a very, very....v.e.r.y small town in South Dakota. Not only that--I married into a farm family. As a new young mom I can tell you small town, farm, cattle, and constant adjustments to life in general put me in quite a culture shock. I am a small seasonal business owner--I am also an International State Coordinator part time--that can sometimes turn into a full time job. I love to travel and am just starting to begin courses on becoming a travel agent. A Few Things was created in January of 2018 as a...