Thank you for visiting my blog today.
Curious about my blog title? The plain part describes my first 24 years as a Mennonite girl in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and the fancy follows as I move south: first to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then to Jacksonville, Florida.
Watch for stories about faith and family knitted together by memory. You have stories too—or responses to what’s happening now. Do comment. I love words. Share some of yours!
Expect me to post Wednesdays weekly. Subscribe now, so you don’t miss a one.
Marian’s new book is out!
My Checkered Life:
A Marriage Memoir
Take an intimate look into one couple’s fifty-plus-year marriage in author Marian Beaman’s My Checkered Life: A Marriage Memoir. Using a quilt motif, the author stitches together stories that make up the fabric of their daily lives: the clash of cultures, crisis in a travel trailer, surviving a robbery, and enduring financial hardship.
Discover how the author and her husband learn the art of the argument with explosions both literal and metaphorical. Observe how they find common ground through their shared faith and commitment.
Readers of Marian’s first memoir, Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl can especially relate to her insider narrative, a closeup of one couple’s companionable union.
This volume contains excerpts from autograph books and diaries of the early 1900s, treasured family recipes, original artwork, and restored photographs—the legacy of multiple generations as two American families merge, one from the East, the other from the West. The author connects the dots of her life backwards, with detailed reverse engineering of events to discover meaning in her life as a wife.
Read the Latest
A Dozen Random Photos from My iPhone
12 Random Photos from My iPhone “We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.” ~ Katie Thurmes "A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away." ~ Eudora Welty Pinterest image Sisters Sisters Jan and Jean sharing...
Finding Treasures in Night of Miracles
I read to relax, to be entertained, and to learn something new. Learning something new is what happened recently as I turned the pages of Mary Pipher’s Writing to Change the World, a book chock-full of scholarly references and bunches of quotable lines, ending with...
Stressed, Exhausted, or Calm? Check out your Mood
What’s Your Mood? “I often felt blue when my children were younger and my husband and I were beginning our careers. Hormones could have also played a role in my emotional roller-coaster rides. I thought then too that a kick to our household finances and help from a...
Get your copy of Marian’s book
Mennonite Daughter:
The Story of a Plain Girl
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Purple Passages
My Word, it’s 2016!
Have you started a diet? Renewed your gym membership or decided to walk more? Maybe you have resolved to cut down on Facebook time this year . . . Along with such New Year’s resolutions, some of my friends each year choose a guide word to help navigate the unknown...
Kids, Oaks, and Quotes: Purple Passages for August 2015
A Short Story Once upon a time seven children from three different states came to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Some came from far away in a car, plane or train so they could see each other and get to know their grandparents and great-grandparents, who lived in...
Purple Passages in Rainbow Colors
Calm Thoughts, Relax Here Where we relaxed at the home place, counting cars on a Saturday night, swinging on the porch and eating watermelon! * * * Be grateful for calm skies . . . Forever is composed of nows. (# 690) Emily Dickinson * * * I'm going to enjoy every...
About Marian Longenecker Beaman
I publish my blog Plain and Fancy Girl on Wednesdays. Whether you are a commenter or reader only, I appreciate your noticing.
Book Reviews
Finding Treasures in Night of Miracles
I read to relax, to be entertained, and to learn something new. Learning something new is what happened recently as I turned the pages of Mary Pipher’s Writing to Change the World, a book chock-full of scholarly references and bunches of quotable lines, ending with...
Purple Balloon Announces Launch
https://youtu.be/H3lIVaUqzYk Launch Day! Find new book online through Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble or your favorite bookstore: Check out the "My Books" tab on this website. Or click HERE! Thank you! Blurb: Expect to laugh and cry and experience many...
How’s That Marriage Memoir Coming Along?
My press-proof copy of My Checkered Life arrived January 31, 2023. It was thrilling to open the package. https://youtu.be/UL9VfS3pn5I I found some errors in the press proof, so I submitted a revised version. If all proceeds as I hope, my print book will...
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