We really love the green-pink combo. It's September, we're settling into routine, and I have one foot into fall while also feeling grumpy about the persistent heat. Sounds about right! In August we saw the completion of all the big house updates we've been doing, whew! Having the entire interior of the house painted took about two weeks and was unfun to live through (but not as bad as getting new flooring!). I love the way our paint colors look with our new flooring and the overall fresh, calm look. When the noise and energy of the house feel chaotic... Read more →

It's August, the boys have already been in school for a week, and my productive Mondays have returned. Ahhhh. I am welcoming back my calm energy for rhythm and creating that seems to vacation elsewhere every summer. I love the back-to-school season, as you can tell, and consider this the start of my "creative year." There's so little thinking time, let alone work time, during summers with young kids. Whether it's buying new clothes for the kids, outlining a podcast, or picking a paint color. Over the summer my to-do list gets longer and my mind gets more crowded with... Read more →

We're half-way through 2022 so I'm revisiting my goals for the year to see what progress I've made, what I might want to let go of, and to reinvigorate myself for the rest of the year. Word for the year: NOURISH At the beginning of the year I wrote this about choosing nourish: "The idea I kept coming back to is a desire to focus my energy on the things in my life that are the most important and bring me the most fulfillment (family, writing, podcasting, taking care of myself) and simplifying everything else." I also said, "I want... Read more →

It's a bit of a wild story that includes offering on a house we had only seen virtually and having never actually visited the city it's in. But we are thrilled to share that we've closed on a second home in the lovely Midwest city of... I wore my new Wisconsin shirt for our closing and afterwards we celebrated with iced coffees Eau Claire, Wisconsin! We are excited about the house, the city, and the time we'll spend there as a family. I'd love to share all the details with you. But first let me remind anyone who is new... Read more →

March was early spring nostalgia and swapping the flannel bed sheets for percale. April will be family celebrations, Chris's busiest work season, and holding on tight on to spring before it slips, just like that, into hot summer days. I noticed another sign of spring recently in the absence of something: drinking hot tea. It's been weeks since I made myself a cup of hot tea which I love to do on winter mid-mornings and afternoons. I suppose I only crave it when there's still a chill in the air at 10 a.m. and those days are already past us... Read more →

It's March. The warm sun lingers longer day by day and the tree canopies in our neighborhood are getting dense with new bright green leaves. March is also full of memory and nostalgia for me. I find myself keeping company with the memory of waiting for Dashiell, belly round and full, not knowing what birth or parenthood would be like. Also with me is being so joyfully pregnant with Maeve, my daughter. It doesn't seem that long ago, and it does. And then layered on top of that are less joyful memories: bewilderment and fear as the world shut down... Read more →

Hey, 2022! Come on in. And please behave yourself; we've had some trouble with your predecessors. This blog started with a post about my goals for 2011 so writing this annual post always reminds me of sending my words out into the internet for the very first time. I'm so glad that I did. Keeping up the practice of reflecting, setting goals and intentions, and capturing my thoughts on life as it happens has helped me to live more intentionally, to find community with people who I would otherwise never be able to connect with, and has lead to other... Read more →

Costumes for 2021: a Minecraft character for Dash, a last minute costume change into an improvised zombie for Cedric, and a dinosaur for Maeve. She has the cutest dino hoodie but didn't want to wear it. / Halloween High Fitness with my friends who were the most amazing Barbies! / our grilled Halloween pizza that turned out a little ugly but was completely delicious I had the realization this week that November 1st kicks of my favorite, best four months of the year. From now through the end of February we have great outside-every-day-weather, there's the holiday hubbub and then... Read more →

On October 1st I biked the boys to school and felt a definitive coolness to the morning air. Right on time and oh so welcome. Let me be clear that it's usually still warming up enough to wear shorts. But stepping out of our door no longer feels like entering an oven. I am thankful. Erica and I recently recorded and released our annual Fall Extravaganza episode. It was so fun, as it always is, and not only gave me a chance to reflect on the new season and also to be silly with a good friend. That felt really... Read more →

I'm popping in for a quick summer hello. Hello! And this post is just in written form but I do plan to return to audioblogs on the next post. I've had this post in draft and need to get it out before July is over. I'm sitting with my hot coffee on a balcony with a tree-ful view across hills and fields in Bastrop, Texas. I'm here with six other women for a two-night "Light at the End of the Tunnel" retreat organized by Sara. The company, conversations, and food have been a gift. I've been looking forward to being... Read more →