Every year I marvel at how fast a year goes but how much it holds. Before I look ahead to 2025 I'm reflecting on 2024, all that it held, and what I learned. I hope you're finding some time to reflect on that past year, and to set some intentions for the new year. If you'd like to reflect and set intentions with guidance in an encouraging workshop setting, Your Year to Shine is still open for registration. All the workshop content is available now and we'll have our first workshop meeting on Sunday, January 5. And now to reflect... Read more →

Hi, friends! This coffee date is brought to you by a pumpkin cream cold brew and a quiet early morning writing session, courtesy of our kids sleeping over with family (thank youuuu!). August was chock full, and also so so hot. Let's catch up a bit... Settling into routine We're over a month into our school year and I've started to notice that we're settling into routine. Our mornings are going smoothly and I'm really enjoying being back in a work routine. Our days are not without parenting challenges but I always really notice how good the routine of school... Read more →

I know so many people are just hitting their summer stride, but we are already wrapping things up over here. The kids start school next Tuesday! I've been kind of dreading this week, even since before summer started. I knew that our vacation to San Diego would be over, that we would not have any camps or childcare this week, and that it would be scorching hot. All true! This week I'm straddling being a summer mom and a back-to-school-work-mode mom, and I'm feeling very ready to shift into school routine and work days. To make the most of our... Read more →

A "welcome home from camp" chocolate pie which has become tradition Hi, friends! I'm sipping a cold, cold black cherry sparkling water because at this time of year I'm constantly just a little bit warm, even when I'm inside in the a/c. And happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans! We're flying the stars and stripes today, and also thinking a lot about what we hope for the future of our country and our upcoming election in particular. An early morning hike with a view that paid off We're in the depths of summer weather here with temps above... Read more →

Recently, Chris and I kicked off a day date in our favorite way: with a coffee + budgeting session. It was a particularly fun one because we were incorporating Chris's new salary as a full professor and projecting out a few years to include some possible big goals. After diving into our budget I wanted to share a few places where we are trying to manage spending, and a few budgeting wins lately. If you'd like to see more about our budget, last year I wrote an overview post about how we manage our finances and a post about our... Read more →

I can't believe it's time for my "designing our summer" blog posts again, which I really enjoyed writing last year (kid summer, my summer). But here we are with a week and a half of school left!! Today I'll share what we're thinking in terms of summer kid activities, daily routines, and family fun. Later this week I'll share a post with ideas for how I'm designing summer for myself as well. Summer big picture Here's a fun little realization I've had this year: as much as I dislike the extreme heat of summer, I kind of love planning for... Read more →

Recently we drove for two long days to arrive in Austin in time to see the total solar eclipse on April 8. Originally I thought I'd do a recap post just about our experience traveling to and seeing the eclipse. But on the way home we drove along the border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border for many miles and I can't separate the two experiences, solar eclipse and border wall, and so I had to write about them both. On the road again We were all road trip pros after our recent trip to California and overall the kids did... Read more →

Earlier this week, I wrote about the first half of our spring break trip to Joshua Tree National Park. I'd love to share a recap of the second part of our trip in San Juan Capistrano, California. Let's go! San Juan Capistrano After the remote desert of Joshua Tree National Park, we were excited to get to the beach. Our trip to San Juan Capistrano came about through Home Exchange when a woman reached out to me with interest in staying in our home. Otherwise San Juan Capistrano would not have been on my radar for a trip. But I'm... Read more →

Hello, friends! We arrived back home after a nine day family trip that included two nights at Joshua Tree National Park and six nights in San Juan Capistrano, both in California. I'll give you a recap today of our trip to Joshua Tree National Park and later this week our trip to San Juan Capistrano. Maeve doing the "cool" hand signs like her brothers! Remote desert beauty To drive to Joshua Tree National Park from Arizona you first drive through hours of open desert. There are long stretches without even a gas station in sight. At one point we could... Read more →

It's been so helpful for me to reflect on the family routines that we are working to get more shipshape: screen time, chores, and, today I'm chatting about behavior. Your comments and suggestions have been so helpful and encouraging – thank you! For each of these aspects of family life I caught myself thinking, "How did we get here?" as the new year started. It seemed that all of a sudden I didn't love things that were happening in screen time, chores, and behavior in our family. So Chris and I had good conversations about how to address each of... Read more →