Meaghan Dawson | The Grit and Grace Project

Women Get Better With Age, and This Is Why

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture, Featured

We stood in a little, clustered semi-circle. Three women, not quite yet friends, but acquaintances testing the waters of friendship with tentative toes. Asking ourselves silently, “Will this work? Will she accept me for me? Could we possibly become friends?” We were waiting for our daughters to get out of gymnastics, a captive time frame, one where there is no easy escape if the conversation turns south or gets awkward. At least not until practice is over. So caution was taken, nothing overly controversial was broached, nothing daring or too revealing. We were still feeling each other out, waiting to see if our weirdness matched up with one another. It’s dangerous waters when you’re making new friends as an adult. Somehow, though, […]

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To the Woman Whose Husband Is Married to His Job

By Meaghan Dawson / Relationships

I see you over there, sitting in the audience filled with families—moms and dads, grandparents and children. I see you juggling your toddler, holding your baby, and trying with all of your might to get a good video of your kindergartener on stage in his first-ever school play. I see you there. Alone. I see you at t-ball games and ballet drop-off, every time, just you. I see you making dinner in shifts, keeping a plate warm with tin foil as you eat with the kids, because you know he’ll be hungry when he comes home. I see you doing bath time, story time, breakfast, and middle of the night feedings by yourself. All alone. I see you feeling so lonely you

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10 of the Best Pumpkin Recipes to Taste Fall Now

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

Oh, fall, we just love you for so many reasons. After summer’s heat and humidity, your cool, crisp air is a glorious change of pace. Your colors are astounding, bringing perspective each day as you turn the leaves into gorgeous shades of crimson and gold. Bundling up in sweaters and boots is exciting and new after a season of sweating it out in swimsuits and shorts. But nowhere is our love for fall displayed greater than in the explosion of pumpkin everything in the past few years. Long gone are the days when pumpkin made a single appearance in the pie at Thanksgiving. Now, pumpkin is the marker by which we usher in the entire season, with the release of the Pumpkin

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A Modern Day Esther: Finding My Voice Through a Hero in the Bible

By Meaghan Dawson / Faith

It was kind of like a modern-day beauty pageant, minus the talent section. It required no essay entrance exam or interview portion. There were truly only two necessary attributes to be invited into King Xerxes harem—beauty and virginity. That was it. Young girls from every province of the kingdom were screened, gathered, and brought into the harem based solely on these two qualities. Meet Esther. She’s an unlikely hero of the bible, and I like that about her. I get her. Even though thousands of years separate us (and, you know, one of us was royalty and the other not), she and I are not very different. Her lessons are my lessons, our hearts connected. It would be easy to dismiss her

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5 Ways to Get Your Teenager Off Screens Now

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

My oldest son has the most beautiful head of blonde hair I have ever seen. I know this is an odd statement, but it’s true. I have been stopped by strangers in public who compliment me on his cool hair, even though he is past the cute baby stage and well into the gangly preteen years. It’s the envy of his friends (I’m not lying about this,) and a color many women pay hundreds of dollars to maintain. But for me personally, I’m tired of seeing it. Let me rephrase. I’m tired of seeing just the very top of his hair as he stares down, neck craned in that awkward “I’m staring at my phone” posture. I want to see his eyes.

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How Social Media Impacts Your Potential Employers

By Meaghan Dawson / Work & Money

There was a time, not very long ago, when the boundary line between your personal life and your work life was exactly as clear as you desired it to be. You had ultimate control over what your boss and co-workers were privy to, and you could be as private or as public as you wanted. Limited to what could be inferred from conversations and workplace interactions unless you desired more, your work persona and private life could very well never intersect. Potential employers, they got even less. Your resume, your interview, references, and the random personality test here and there were the only clues he or she could get into who you really are and how you’d fit into the culture of

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My Life Isn’t Insta-Worthy, But I Love It All the More

By Meaghan Dawson / Purpose

If I could choose one phrase to perfectly sum up my stage of life, it would be “in the trenches.” I’m in the trenches of motherhood, playing carpool taxi, housemaid clean up, chief organizational officer, head referee, and principal disciplinarian every day. My life isn’t Insta-worthy. I’m in the trenches in my marriage, fighting for even a simple date night, fighting for connection in the busy, fighting to stay together through the hard stuff of parenting. I’m in the trenches in my life too, my own personal time of trying to grow my dream project from the ground up, putting in hours of blood, sweat, and tears often to little or no applause or grandeur. Yes, the trenches are where I dwell.

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5 Ways to Make Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child Easier

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

Friends, I like to think that I have a black belt in strong-willed child parenting. My oldest child is one for the record books. He’s loving, he’s kind, and he’s a joy to be around. Unless he’s ready to lock horns, at which point all bets are off and it’s game on. Parenting him has been a joy and a challenge. And after doing life with him for the past 10 years, I feel like I know at least a thing or two about how to handle him and maintain a relative amount of peace in our household. I have even managed to keep my own sanity, which as you may know is no small feat when you have a headstrong child.

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18 Recipes for the Best Super Bowl Party on the Block

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I am not a big sports fan. I couldn’t tell a touchdown from a jump shot from a home run. I tried faking it for years because I’m married to the biggest sports fan ever, but recently decided to give up the ghost and let my true non-sports fan flag fly. Luckily that’s not why he loves me, and 15 years in I guess it’s a little too late for him to bolt over a silly game anyway. But there is one thing I love from the wide world of sports, one event I look forward to every year… The Super Bowl. Clearly I don’t look forward to it because of the game.

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6 Job Interview Tips to Help You Get the Offer

By Meaghan Dawson / Work & Money, Life & Culture

No matter where you are in your career or how long you’ve been in the business world, interviewing for a new job is intimidating. Just the word alone is enough to strike anxiety right into the hearts of job seekers. And the actual act of interviewing, forget about it. It is a palm-sweating, heart palpitation-inducing nightmare for most of us. And that’s even when it goes well. Everyone needs job interview tips to keep that heart rate down. But here’s the deal: interviews are a part of life. You won’t land the job of your dreams without going through an interview process of some type. (Unless your life is like a romantic comedy where dream jobs fall into your lap. In which

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Growing Plants Taught Me 4 Lessons for a Satisfying Life

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

During the height of Covid quarantine, I, like many people, developed some new obsessions. Partly as a way to pass the time and partly as a way to distract myself from the horrors of a pandemic, I took up some very strange hobbies. I dabbled in sourdough. But, as one can only have so many carbs, I let that starter go after a while. I remodeled a few rooms and was happy doing it until my killjoy husband put a kibosh on the spending. And I even went through an unfortunate period of time where I wanted to learn an instrument despite being, for lack of a better word, completely talentless. Luckily for all of us, that was short. The one hobby,

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Making Peace Not War With the Elf on the Shelf

To the Mom Who Loathes Elf on the Shelf

By Meaghan Dawson / Motherhood

I want to have a very serious conversation with you today, friends. I want to talk about something I hate with the passion of 10,000 blazing suns. Something that is, for all intents and purposes, supposed to bring joy to the hearts of children everywhere. A newfound holiday tradition that should be yet another joyous addition to our Christmas repertoire. But I hate it. And I’m going to go ahead and go out on a limb and say that parents everywhere are with me on this one. I hate that blasted Elf on the Shelf. I hate him. I get the concept. It was birthed from a stroke of mom genius that morphed into marketing brilliance and has since become a parenting nightmare.

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9 Easy Holiday Recipes for People Who Hate to Cook

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

We all love the holiday season. It’s filled with fun, friends, and family. Oh yes, and food. We all love the holiday food. But what happens when you get an invitation to a party that says “Bring a Dish to Share” and you hate to cook? Sure, you can just run by the grocery store and grab a quick pre-made vegetable platter. It’s always an easy and pain-free option, but it’s also not the tastiest or the most festive, is it? Lucky for you, there are some amazingly simple and delicious holiday recipes out there for even the most reluctant of cooks. And to ease the pain of adding one more thing to your to-do list this busy holiday season, here at

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Goodbye Skinny Jeans, This Is Why I’m Breaking up With You

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

Dear Skinny Jeans, I’m breaking up with you. Please don’t be mad. So many others still love you. You have devoted fans everywhere. It’s just, I’m no longer one of them. But today I’m saying goodbye Skinny Jeans. We had a good run, didn’t we? We partnered on so many different occasions, in so many different ways. We went casual-cool, with riding boots, flats, and tennies. We were sophisticated and classy, all dark denim and heels for our date nights and girls’ nights. We went from ripped and rocker to high-waisted and mom-jean-esque. We even had a very unfortunate foray into the Ugg-trend in the mid 2000s. We’ve done it all. But, see, things have changed. I’m different now. I’ve grown. No

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To the Christian Woman With a Crooked Past

By Meaghan Dawson / Faith

As I sat in that stuffy, little room listening to the woman on stage, I looked around at the other women—some nodding along, some with eyes glistening with unshed tears—all with rapt attention. I listened to her testimony, heard her words, walked through her journey with the Lord. And with a bitter inward sigh, I thought to myself, “That’s it? That’s the best you’ve got?” Her story, it was beautiful. Her faith, it was unwavering and strong through the peaks and valleys of her life. I should have felt inspired by her testimony. I knew it took courage and strength for her to sit up there, in front of her peers, and bare her soul in words as personal as any words

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The Perfect Blended Mocha Recipe That Will Help Save You Money

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

My how we love our coffee. Our afternoon lattes. Our morning Joes. Our triple shot, soy, extra whip, hold-the-foam, caramel macchiato espressos. Whatever your drink, however you order it—there’s no doubt that you do. Americans are addicted to their coffee. And not just any coffee, though: I’m talking coffee-shop coffees. Those fancy ones, with the mermaid on the cup? Those, yes; we love them. What started as a social occasion has worked its way into our regular routines. A daily Starbucks habit isn’t even really considered a habit in many circles; it’s just a way of life. Brewing coffee at home isn’t quite as glamorous or even as convenient, and we’ve gotten out of the practice as a whole. The average American,

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15 Easy Slow Cooker Meals to Make in the Summer

By Meaghan Dawson / Life & Culture

I’m not sure how it is for you, but by the time summer break rolls around, I am absolutely drooling for a slower pace of life. I’m looking for some easy answers, like what I do well, easy slow cooker meals, Between the inevitable crunch of end-of-year activities at school, spring sports seasons coming to a wrap, and trying to keep up with life in general. I am flat-out worn out when summer arrives. During this season, I always find myself breathing a gigantic sigh of relief. I welcome this change, and I fully prepare my children for the shift in my mindset, telling them that we will be slowing down and living a more mindful life during the lazy days of

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