What a blizzard we had yesterday in New York. No school, no work, no power, no problem—well, for the kids at least.

My girls’ biggest challenge was trying to keep their backyard snow angels in tact. Not easy when the wind and snow just won’t let up.

The few emails I was able to send to work with my spotty internet connection wound up in my own Drafts box. A lot of good that did.

Shoveling the driveway wasn’t so easy either, but with a neighbor’s help (thank you, neighbor!) it all got done.

I was determined to slip and slide my way into work today so I could tie up some loose ends before heading out of town for a week. With the girls off of school for their winter break, we’re leaving tomorrow for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It’s going to be some celebration down there, where Super Bowl fever is still running high.

We’ll catch a truckload of beads and trinkets at the parades, and come back and decorate those snow angels that are a bare outline in our backyard. The weather forecast says cold, cold, cold in New York for the week ahead. Those snow angels aren’t going anywhere in the freeze. And that’s fine with me. I’ll have good neighbors and angels watching over the house while we’re away.

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Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

I hate to lose things because it feels like a comment on my character. Still, it happens.

On Friday, January 29, I lost my monthly commuter pass on the way into work. I'd used it on the bus that morning but couldn't find it when it was time to show it to the train conductor. Without my monthly pass in hand, I had to pay for the ride in—those are the rules.

There were so many other things I would have preferred to spend that $13 on. Besides, my train ticket was tucked in a really nice leather card carrier given to me by an old friend. And tucked in with the ticket were school pictures of my daughters from every year since preschool. Those were irreplaceable. And then there was the expensive train ride home I'd have to pay for, too.

I stuck the receipt in my wallet. At least I hadn't lost that, with my driver's license, credit cards, etc. And it was the last day I'd need my January ticket. My new February ticket (safe on my desk at home) would go into effect on Monday. If I had to lose my January ticket, I guessed there was no better day for it! I counted my blessings till the train pulled into Grand Central Station.

On my walk through I passed the Customer Service window and stopped to tell my story. Was there anything I could do? "You seem like a nice person," the man said. "Give me a minute." He stamped something official, dated and signed it—a free train ride home! "Sorry I can't help with those pictures," he said.

At work I called the bus company, a real long shot considering there were hundreds of lines running all over the county and who knew where I'd even dropped my ticket. "I'm glad you called," the bus man said. "You got some cute kids. Tell me what bus you'll be on tomorrow, and I'll get the card carrier to the driver."

The world seemed to be full of caring, helpful people. Maybe losing something can be a blessing. And a positive comment on my character that I'd recognized it.

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Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

I just got some great news that will help keep me warm for the rest of the frigid northern winter. This summer I’m going on a four-night “Bask in the Bahamas” cruise, where I’ll play host to friends of ANGELS ON EARTH and GUIDEPOSTS who want to join me for some fun in the sun.

I’ll tell all about what I do as editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH, and what goes on behind the scenes at the world’s only magazine devoted to angels. And I’ll have some help—from my two favorite earth angels, my daughters Louisiana and Evangeline, who believe (rightly so) that their mom has the best job in New York City!

Can you imagine lounging around on deck sharing angel stories in such a heavenly setting? The Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Majesty of the Seas sets sail out of Miami, July 12-16. I hope you’ll join us for an angelic adventure on the high seas. To book your reservation or get more information on this and other GUIDEPOSTS tours, go to travelwithspirit.com/guideposts.

Tell me, is it summertime yet?

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Find more All About Angels blog posts.

Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

There’s a lot of that going around at home in New Orleans this week. Along with a whole lotta prayers for the Saints to win the NFC Championship game in the Superdome this Sunday.

I just wish my Mam-maw and Gramps were around to see it. They renewed their season tickets to the Saints games for years and got to know all the season ticket holders around them.

Gramps would go on and on to me about somebody that sounded like he should have been as close as family but I’d never heard of him. “But who are you talking about?” I’d ask. “Ohhh,” Gramps would say in his slow, Cajun way. “So and So sits two rows above us, three seats over to the left. In the DOME.”

If it was a home game, Mam-maw and Gramps left the house extra early so they could savor every minute in their beloved Dome. I always figured they were the first people there. Gramps liked to get his hot dog and jalapeño nachos before the line started. But the peanuts came to you.

If the game was out of town, Mam-maw and Gramps sat side by side in their recliners, rooting like mad. Mam-maw was the more emotional fan. Boy, did she love that Archie Manning. But she could come unglued during a bad play, slapping the arm of her chair and directing the team: “Throw it!” “Catch it!” “Get him!” “Run!” and lose her voice from yelling at the television set in a bad loss (which used to happen frequently).

Look at us now: We have a shot at the Super Bowl. I bet Mam-maw and Gramps will be watching on Sunday after all. From the best seats in the house—front row, with all the angels and (the other) saints. Geaux Saints!

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Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

It was hard reading the paper this morning in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. All those desperate people, feeling safer outside in the streets for fear that whatever buildings remained standing would crumble in the aftershocks.

I looked closely at the photographs, studying each tired face, knowing there was surely someone that person loves who was hurt, or worse, or who is not accounted for yet. And I ache for the people right here and all across the country who are waiting to hear word from family and friends in Haiti. Waiting and worrying and praying. Like my co-worker, Philip.

I can’t help thinking about the long days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit my hometown of New Orleans in 2005. When I turned on the TV to check the coverage at night, I couldn’t seem to turn it off. The pictures, all that damage, those displaced people… Sometimes my mind played tricks on me and everybody I saw on the screen looked familiar.

Sure I love to go home during happy times like weddings and Mardi Gras and the birth of a new niece or nephew. But when I miss home the most is during the hard times. That’s when it hurts to be so far away. And that’s when we want to send in our place the love and protection of angels.

Perhaps that’s why I was so taken with the people in those photographs this morning. They were as familiar to me as my own family, and I will be praying just as hard for angels to surround them.

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Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

I have so many Elvis ornaments on my Christmas tree, my den looks like Graceland. (Don’t worry, there’s an angel at the very top!)

My friend Sr. Violet knows what an Elvis fan I am, so she sent me “a concert.”

Click on this link to see Elvis singing “Blue Christmas” as a duet with a digitally added Martina McBride. “Modern technology at its finest,” says Sr. Violet.

Merry Christmas to all of you from Sr. Violet, Elvis and me.

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Find more All About Angels blog posts.

Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

Sometimes it’s all just too much for me. Working full time, trying to keep a (relatively) clean house, figuring out what to make for dinner, staying on top of my daughters’ social calendars—then throw in Christmas shopping this time of year. Where would I find the time?

In a frenzy over the weekend, I went online and ordered each of the girls a special edition Barbie. Holiday Barbie 2009 for Evangeline, and the more sophisticated Generation of Dreams Barbie for Louisiana.

With a click of the mouse it was done. The girls would love them! Maybe I could get my Christmas shopping done after all!

The box arrived at my doorstep when I came in from work early the next week. It was a bigger box than I expected. I tore into it before going upstairs. Inside were the two Barbies I wanted—hurray!—and a second Generations of Dreams doll.

Don’t tell me…I checked the order form. Sure enough, I’d accidentally ordered a total of three dolls. How could I have been so careless?

Now I’d have to go through the hassle of making a return. Easy enough most of the time, but my dumb mistake threatened to put me over the edge. I hid the box away in the garage and trudged upstairs. What to make for dinner?

Louisiana appeared in the kitchen while I was staring into the refrigerator hoping to be inspired. “Mom,” she said, “help! I completely forgot about Sydney’s birthday. It’s tomorrow and I didn’t get her anything and she’s one of my best friends. I’m sunk!”

Of course we found a solution. It had arrived at my doorstep that very day. Next time I won’t look into the refrigerator for inspiration. I’ll look around for the angels who turn mistakes into small Christmas miracles. You bet I’ll get that shopping done. 

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Find more All About Angels blog posts.

Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

Our angel tree is up! Good thing too, because three wonderful handmade angels have already arrived.

My favorite ornament so far is an adorable felt choir angel from MaryEllen Befring in Loves Park, Illinois. I want to hang it next to the cutest felt choir mouse sent in last year. (Yes, the mouse has wings!)

MaryEllen also included Christmas greetings to our staff: “I hope you enjoy displaying little Annalisa on your tree as much as I enjoyed creating her. I am so very blessed by the stories in ANGELS ON EARTH, and wish all of you continued success.”

Please get out your sewing baskets and craft buckets, and put together an angel for our tree. Plus, read our story about the history of the Angels Tree!

Send it to:

Angels on Earth Angel Tree
16 East 34 St
New York, NY 10016.

Help make this year’s tree the best one yet.

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Find more All About Angels blog posts.

Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.

Coming up on 15 years ago, ANGELS ON EARTH was just an idea on paper. A good idea, for sure.

A whole magazine devoted to the mystery and wonder of a hidden world was irresistible. But how could we ever find enough true stories to fill its pages? After all, most people don't "see" angels.

That kept me up nights, because I was managing editor of the fledgling publication, and responsible for getting the material we needed. We solicited stories from readers of GUIDEPOSTS, our flagship. We called on friends and family. Word spread and soon our mailbox was stuffed with envelopes, our inbox was full.

We made assignments to magazine illustrators who then wanted to tell of their own experiences with angels! I'd say we've printed something in the neighborhood of 2,500 stories in the magazine alone.

We've got books full of stories too. And here on our brand-new web site you'll find even more. All true stories, all original, all from regular people just like you.

There seems to be no end to them. You see, I learned that you don't have to see angels to know they're near. They make their presence known in ways I never dreamed. I sleep a lot better these days, expecting angels at every turn.

Do you have a story to tell? Or remember an experience you could never quite fully explain? Tell us as a 15-year anniversary present. Be part of the celebration.

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Find more All About Angels blog posts.

Colleen Hughes is the editor-in-chief of ANGELS ON EARTH magazine, a GUIDEPOSTS publication. She's been at GUIDEPOSTS for 20 plus years, and lives in a Hudson River town with her two daughters and two cats.