Personal Blog
More time, convenience, and efficiency? No Thank You!
Our son and daughter both have their driver’s licenses now, and while I wouldn’t want it any other way, I’m not looking forward to the extra time, convenience, or efficiency in my schedule. Don’t get me wrong, our lives are as full as the next family’s, and sleeping another half hour in the morning because […]
Making Room for the Extraordinary
Today I went skydiving. I also bought a lampshade at Target and took our dog for a walk. It was an extraordinary, ordinary day. The skydive was terrifying, awesome, and even a bit life-changing. The experience itself is probably beyond what words can describe – feet hanging out of the plane, the plummet, the free […]
Many Hands Make Light Work: On the Value of Juvenile Humor
What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear! While exchanging juvenile riddles, we packed lunches today for kids who don’t have enough to eat. Through charitable giving and a cadre of volunteers, Kids Food Basket serves sack suppers to nearly 500[1] kids in our area so the kids can avoid going hungry. […]
An Open Letter to Our Daughter as You Turn 18
Turning 18 is a big deal indeed. Happy birthday, precious daughter! As the world opens its doors to you in new ways, and as you set off, here are some suggestions for the journey, honey. 🙂 Be Yourself – No one can be as good at being you, as you. Wherever you go, you’ll be […]
The Surprising Power of Disorientation: Admiring the Moon
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about disorientation because I just returned from a trip overseas. I think adventure is really about disorientation and I think we crave it because we long to be shaken up, surprised, and knocked out of our usual patterns – at least for a little while. In times that are […]
A Special Place in Hell: How Madeleine Albright was Right…and Wrong
Recently, Madeleine Albright said that there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. And while I don’t necessarily agree with all the conclusions she drew surrounding her statement, I do think she’s right – with an adjustment. I think there’s a special place in hell for people who don’t help […]
How to Bring Work to Life: The Power of Words and Trees
When I wrote Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work, I was living the dream. I was wife, mother, student, working professional, and participant in my community – all of that and more. It was a full life. It still is. But it didn’t lend itself to the limited containers of ‘work’ and […]
Stop Overparenting: How to Relax
We parents regularly agree and discuss ‘how fast the time goes’ and how fleeting our moments are with our children. But I was talking with a new dad recently and he said that sometimes he wishes the time would go a bit more quickly – during those sleepless nights or those clueless days of new […]
When it Pays to Lose: The Value of the Stretch
The indoor soccer session is complete and our team’s record is 0-8. The team lost every game, but it was a great season nonetheless. Actually, it was a fabulous season because of the stretch. Through a fluke in the rules, our boys were playing against men (think: facial hair, grown-up swagger, and serious girlfriends in […]
The Presents We’ll Never Open
This is the book that my husband will not be getting or Christmas, as much as he enjoys a good Grisham novel. And these are the boots that I’ll never own, as much as I really, really like them. And we’ll never open these gifts around our tree. We decided to try something different this […]