friend Archives - Anna Christine Boulier

Writer & Coach for the Soul

Hello and Happy New Year! To start off 2021 in the right direction, I want to introduce you to my friend, Susan Arico from New England. Susan writes with a focus on our beautiful souls.

In her own words, I believe a soul is a beautiful thing to have, and a terrible thing to waste. Many of us are wasting our souls without realizing it by giving them away, a byte at a time, to our cell phones. Susan Arico

Isn’t that just beautiful? While also being an eye-opening statement.

I knew I struggled with letting my cell phone take over my life before I met Susan. I was aware of the problem but had no clear steps for how to take back my focus on the right things.

Susan’s website and blog (www.susanbarico.com) are FULL of wonderful advice, tips, tricks, and soul-searching ideas to help you focus more on your soul and less on your cell (phone).

One of the wonderful things (out of many) about Susan is her gentle guidance and encouragement to conquer your cell phone use. Teaching you –

"your soul matters. less cell (phone), more soul." Susan Arico

She has a quiet, authority which is powerful and uplifting. I love to hear her talk about this subject. Her passion for our souls and well-being is clearly heard in her voice and resonates with my soul.

For 2021, I want to learn to let my soul rest and my phone to not dictate my comings and goings. Thanks to Susan’s passion, I have a way to do this.

Besides blogging where she supports your phone goals and soul growth, she also runs personal phone challenges to help you stay accountable and offers screen coaching to help you go deeper in your journey.

For this new year, she created a 21- day challenge to help you create a new relationship with your phone to help you make the most of 2021.

Susan puts heart and passion into everything she does. She not only writes about the soul, but also has a passion for ending slavery and sex trafficking, and just a love of kids in general.

She talks often about her family (husband and four kiddos) and you will hear the love for them in all of her writings. Definitely check out her blog posts about living in Greece for three years.

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about my friend, Susan. I truly feel her ministry is an important and impactful one. I hope you check out her website and learn more from my wise friend.

Until next time, may God’s grace surround you,

Please note photos for this blog post are from my friend’s website.

Hope Writers

Hope*Writer Mastermind Series: Daytona Strong

December 10, 2020December 9, 2020 Anna Christine

Classy Baking Food Writer

For part two of my Introduction of The Talented Women of the Hope*Writers mastermind, I want you to meet Daytona Strong. Daytona is a journalist turned food writer and author of several GORGEOUS cookbooks. Specializing in Scandinavian baking steeped in a rich heritage from beloved grandmothers, she puts her love of family and community into every aspect of her life.

The first time I saw Daytona was in the lobby of our hotel for a mixer the first night together in our first March meeting face to face, she was in a lovely, classic dress and the smile on her sweet face would have lit up a small city.

To me, Dayton is a mixture of the best qualities of Donna Reed, Martha Stewart, and Jackie O all rolled into one sweet friend. Classic, motherly, and a wonderful cook, this vibrant woman can do anything she sets her mind to do. Being around her makes you feel you can do anything with a friend like her in your corner.

Her career started in journalism where she learned to “interview” life.

What do I mean?

To me, Daytona is a mixture of curiosity, honesty, and sincerity. When she asks you a question, it’s because she truly wants to know you better. She has a way of learning more about you all the while empowering you to look at life from a different perspective.

One of my first encounters with this sweet woman was when she introduced herself to the group and explained why she writes about Scandinavian baking. A touching story that had the entire group in tears.

While my family is very small, (really just my mother, sister, and I), because of Daytona’s kindness in sharing her story, I was reminded of the precious gift God gives us in families, no matter the size.

I’ve had the privilege in the last few months to have zoom meetings with her and one of her best friends. She pulled the three of us together knowing her friend and I would hit it off over a mutual love of mysteries and all things Jessica Fletcher. We call it Tea Time and spend an hour laughing, catching up, and supporting each other through prayer and community.

Daytona lives in Seattle, Washington but has strong ties to Norwegian roots by way of her dad born in Norway and her mother’s Norwegian heritage growing up in North Dakota.

She is an AVID reader, devouring books like the wonderful treats she bakes! Her love of the classics such as Jane Eyre, The Great Gatsby, and Les Misérables fits wonderfully with her classic character. She loves cats and is grateful YouTube has cat videos in abundance. Her tuxedo kitty named Ella is a recent addition, but already a loved member of the family.

She has a food blog, Outside Oslo, which is loaded with tons of great recipes. I’ve been delighted to see she has gluten-free recipes for me to try. Her Swedish Meatballs are on my list to try because the recipe is GLUTEN-FREE!

Be sure to check out her Instagram and Facebook pages because the photos are stunning and will have you drooling on your screen.

I hope you enjoyed meeting, Daytona, a remarkable, talented woman I am blessed to call friend.

Until next time, may God’s grace surround you,

Please note photos for this blog post are from my friend’s website and Instagram feed.

Behind the Curtain

Editor & Friend, AKA my Mom

November 12, 2018January 1, 2019 Anna Christine

This past Saturday, I had the privilege to throw my mother a surprise birthday party! It was her first birthday party ever and so many friends came out on a cold, November evening to celebrate my sweet mother. I can’t tell you all the kind things said but it was all about how wonderful she is and how blessed everyone felt to know her.

It was wonderful for her to hear these words from friends and family. She doesn’t always understand how truly special and unique, she truly is, to not only me and my family but to others, she blesses with her love and kindness.

I’ve truly been blessed to have her in my life. She’s been not only a mother, but friend, counselor, confidant, sneaky co-conspirator, shopping partner, BFF, and on and on I could go.

One of the most wonderful ways our relationship has grown has been through my writing as she has helped me edit my books.

Continue reading “Editor & Friend, AKA my Mom” →