Does anyone else miss Oprah's Favorite Things episodes?? My freshman college roommate introduced me to the wonderful world of The Oprah Winfrey Show almost a decade ago in the dark ages (pre-DVR), so we had a standing 4:00 date with our beanbag chairs and the TV. Hands down, the BEST episodes were her favorite things… Continue reading Just a Few of My Favorite Things (and the Winners of our Giveaway!)

Packing with a toddler is no joke, people. Stuff goes in a box and comes right back out. Everything has to be handled and played with and turned into a "baby" or a "mommy". Everything is her "favorite" or the "best one" or "WE CAN'T GIVE THAT AWAY, PACK IT!" The actual taping shut of… Continue reading If These Walls Could Talk (on Packing Up Our First Family Home)

It's September, so lots of sweet young 18 year olds are headed off to their freshman year of college. Even the ones who were babies in diapers yesterday who I used to spend my Friday nights hanging out with while their parents had a (now I totally get it) much-needed date night. To add insult… Continue reading How to Not Start a Fire (and Other Important Lessons I Learned in College)

Lately, with all my extra "free time" (haha JK what is that?), I've been able to rediscover my love for cooking. Baking, too. There's something magical in the process for me. You usually begin with a whole bunch of ingredients that by themselves can be kind of uninspiring. Plain kale? Who wants that? Raw sweet… Continue reading 5 Ways to Be a Helper (and a Super Fun Giveaway!!)

Recently, the word gratitude has popped up a lot; enough for me to take notice. It's been in my Newsfeed (on FB, not the actual news sadly), in my books, and in my new favorite obsession, The Magnolia Journal. In fact, gratitude is the focus of their fall issue, and I just love love love it. JoJo… Continue reading Practicing Gratitude: An Experiment

Epiphanies are cool. Especially when they come out of nowhere and hit you, BAM! Two years ago, a very sweet student (and his mama) knew of my love of obsession with Harry Potter and bought me the illustrated version of The Sorcerer's Stone. Even though I've read it many times, I thought it would be… Continue reading On History, Making Mistakes, Revision (and a little Harry Potter too!)

This is really hard to write for some reason. But in an effort to be real and honest, here goes. When my husband and I discussed the actual possibility of my staying at home, I was 100% for it. I was, at the time, about 8 months pregnant, exhausted, had a particularly tough group of… Continue reading Losing My “Identity”

The best part about writing is that when you begin to look at the world through the eyes of a writer, it's like putting on a new pair of glasses with the perfect prescription. Everything seems brighter and crisper and clearer, and you start to see everything as a potential story, reflection, illustration. Interesting people… Continue reading On Women (and Why We Need Each Other)