Many of you have heard I FINALLY WROTE the book I’ve been talking about since high school. Many of you also have questions, so I hope this post helps to answer some of them. I am going to post some of the questions I have received and answer them as best as I can. Are…

Today, Braden and I went to apply for passports. Neither of us had ever been issued a passport before, so it was a first for both of us. The lady handed my application back to me and told me that I needed to fill out the top part which was asking for my parents’ names.…

Lately, especially planning my wedding, I have grieved over the life I would have given myself if I were the one making the plans. (This happens when I’m feeling it all or approaching an important day.) In the life I would have given myself, my parents would be able to attend my wedding. That’s not…

The world has changed so much in the 12 years since my Mom was here. From technology, to parenting, to the newest trends. Sometimes I think about what she would be like in today’s world. Would she have an iPhone? Would her world-views have changed? When I reflect on all of this, it brings me…

Throughout life, we are always learning about the world and about ourselves. I have found that I am extremely self-aware. What a great thing it is in many ways, but I often feel like I know way too much about myself and then I can spend hours analyzing myself in ways I wish I didn’t.…

I bought this mug and blanket before I moved into college at 18…in Raleigh, NC…studying to be a counselor. I didn’t know it then, but none of that was going to work out. As I use them still today, it’s a reminder to myself that things still worked out, in a different way. A way…

My mom had a painting of the Jefferson Memorial over her beloved couch originally. The colors matched the couch perfectly, and the painting was during cherry blossom season so the pink accentuated the pink on her couch. When the house was sold, we all picked things, and I couldn’t take the larger of the 2…

My last few weeks of summer vacation are winding down and soon I will be a first year teacher in the thick of it. I’m embracing my time off but also trying to use it wisely. A week ago I moved 2 hours and 45 minutes away so I’ve had a lot of things to…

As a Catholic, I believe in the communion of saints and I often wish more people did too. I so strongly believe that our loved ones who have gone before us are not gone forever, but instead play an active role in our lives. We cannot see them, but they want you to feel their…

I remember the day you were born. Mom was holding you in the hospital bed when I arrived with Danielle, and a nurse came in telling Mom that she needed to take you out for more bloodwork. Mom questioned her asking,”Really, more?” Dad then made a joke about where he slept in the hospital since…

There are empty spaces where your carefully drawn out decorations used to be Your belongings disappearing slowly but right before my eyes like the sun in a December sky Tonight I sat in the empty spaces that were once full There is a calm in what is empty, a stillness To be empty is to…

My mother passed away on December 24, 2010 and since then, two of her three children have inhabited her home filled with her things everyday, thanks to the work of her husband and their stepfather, Ed, who worked to keep it. Now the time has come to move on and let go of her beautiful…

I have found the title for my book about my life if I ever write it. “The Life of The Few”. It’s perfect, and it sums up exactly how I want to describe my life in just a few words. I have started it, but I will dedicate my life way more to it once…

She’s unique.She holds an ocean inside of her chest that often seeps into her stomachThe ocean’s waves crash against her, and she can feel the roughness of their final push back as they come in and carry themselves out into the vastness of itself.At certain times they are constant, heavy, with frequent peaks.They are unsafe…