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.

My Checkered Life: A Marriage Memoir
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

Buds, Breezes, and a Blunder

Buds, Breezes, and a Blunder

Is it spring? Is it winter? As I write, the Weather Channel reports that a late winter storm is blanketing the Northwest and the Midwest while warm temps tease those in warmer climes. Author Kawaguchi of Tales from the Cafe expresses eloquently the fickle fits of...

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5 Reasons Why I Blog

5 Reasons Why I Blog

"Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell reclaims her life by cooking every single recipe in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the span of one year. It's a hysterical, inconceivably redemptive journey -- life...

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Focus Your Gaze, Feel Renewed

Focus Your Gaze, Feel Renewed

When life speeds up, I want to slow down. As I change the tempo of my life, I notice my breath deepen, my pulse slow, and my gaze narrows its focus. I may fix my eyes for a while on something small that catches my attention: a lizard-y critter scampering along the...

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Get your copy of Marian’s book

Mennonite Daughter:
The Story of a Plain Girl

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Purple Passages

Kids, Oaks, and Quotes: Purple Passages for August 2015

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...

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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

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I love hearing from my amazing readers. You can contact me to make a suggestion or offer a comment.