top of page

be still and smile
Search


Dear Daughters,
I am so thankful for you both. When I was a girl all I ever played at and pretended was “house” and being a mom. With the help of the...
Lauren Wiatrek
Oct 2, 20193 min read
128 views
0 comments


The greatest love story.
When I was little I would go to bed fantasizing about my wedding. About the man I would marry and the four children I would have, 2 boys...
Lauren Wiatrek
Apr 21, 20194 min read
93 views
0 comments


A Letter to My Mother-in-Law
Dear Carol, As I look at my daughters’ blue eyes, energetic twirls over to wrestle with their daddy… my heart aches. I suppose it is a...
Lauren Wiatrek
Feb 1, 20192 min read
132 views
0 comments


The Magnitude of 33
Crying aloud as you entered the world; The world needed you, you had purpose. Growing with grace and the unfolding of a beautiful...
Lauren Wiatrek
Sep 11, 20182 min read
74 views
0 comments


Reclaiming The Summer Cancer Stole From Me Part 5
10th stop: Duluth, Minnesota: Over the Mighty Mac n Cheese (aka the Mackinaw Bridge) we went, entering the Upper Peninsula. We gazed out...
Lauren Wiatrek
Aug 27, 20184 min read
51 views
0 comments


Scars Show How Hard We Fought Back
Formal Definition: A DIEP flap is a type of breast reconstruction in which blood vessels called deep inferior epigastric perforators...
Lauren Wiatrek
Aug 10, 20184 min read
131 views
0 comments


Hung the Moon
When I was little…My dad hung the moon. Our saying became, “I love you to the moon and back a million, trillion, bajillion times.” We...
Lauren Wiatrek
Jun 17, 20185 min read
184 views
0 comments


Beauty is Within
This is something I am learning and reminding myself of daily. When I was a child I don’t ever remember focusing on an outward...
Lauren Wiatrek
Mar 20, 20183 min read
112 views
0 comments


I am okay with Valentine's Day
All I have seen lately are moms snappish about how much they hate Valentine’s Day… it bums me out. I mean don’t get me wrong, I get it....
Lauren Wiatrek
Feb 14, 20182 min read
35 views
0 comments

Through a Mama's Lens
Since my child was born I have been ecstatic to share all of Disney with her. Even when she was so tiny, sleeping in her Moses basket, I...
Lauren Wiatrek
Jan 5, 20182 min read
64 views
0 comments


Best of 2017
In the last few days I have seen everyone’s best nine photo collages being posted on Instagram from 2017. These rubbed me in a strange...
Lauren Wiatrek
Dec 31, 20174 min read
117 views
0 comments


On The Outside Looking In
It’s interesting how human beings work. We judge, and judge often. We don’t necessarily mean to, it is just human nature. Judging...
Lauren Wiatrek
Dec 26, 20174 min read
177 views
0 comments


Sometimes you just have to stop and cuddle.
Life with littles is hard. I find that I am so busy trying to juggle everything, I forget to go to the bathroom. My bladder has become a...
Lauren Wiatrek
Dec 17, 20173 min read
70 views
0 comments


Sometimes you just need to get lost. Lost Pines, Texas
Once my 16 chemotherapy treatments were completed and with my imminent surgery which would leave me destabilized for a while, I knew I...
Lauren Wiatrek
Dec 3, 20175 min read
54 views
0 comments


Acceptance
In the immediate days after my mastectomy I didn’t truly accept what had happened to me. I treated the recovery as if I had the...
Lauren Wiatrek
Nov 24, 20173 min read
291 views
0 comments


Silos + Homestead
I had three weeks to fill my schedule with fun excursions, before it was time for my mastectomy. One thing on my fall to do list was to...
Lauren Wiatrek
Nov 20, 20173 min read
74 views
0 comments


Jitters
I remember having pre-game jitters as a kid...t-ball. Being the center of attention when you were up to bat and that nervousness that...
Lauren Wiatrek
Nov 16, 20172 min read
128 views
0 comments


So much more than a football game.
Ever since I was a little girl I recall Saturday mornings like they were yesterday. My mom worked so she would bake blueberry muffins,...
Lauren Wiatrek
Nov 8, 20174 min read
97 views
0 comments


My circus, my monkeys.
I was told recently that there’s an old Polish (my acquired heritage by marriage) saying that goes, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” And...
Lauren Wiatrek
Nov 5, 20176 min read
91 views
0 comments


Five months and 2 days. #nomochemo
When I first walked in to the chemotherapy room I cried. The sad, slow, tears streaming down my face, and trembling…I was scared. But...
Lauren Wiatrek
Oct 27, 20174 min read
169 views
0 comments
bottom of page