Dear Ruth, Ila, and Jane, A mentor of mine suggested I document moments when I saw your character as kids because I will begin to see signs of what you might be like as an adult. Today I want to recognize each of you for who you are at this moment in time: Ruth My…
My heart outside of my body.
"She Will Be Loved"--can't you tell Brian is playing guitar just for me as I serenade him with my alto-ness? Music. The very first thing that brought us together. The thing we continue to make as we grow together in spiritual, physical, and emotional love. Mashups of "Call Me Maybe" & "Payphone." Originals written together,…
I’ll never get this right…the myth of balanced parenthood.
Today is my last day as a "part-time" employee at my church. This past year has been wonderful because I have had the opportunity to work two days/week and then stay home with my kiddos three days/week at an extremely flexible job. Tomorrow I will be full-time again, clocking in at 36 hours/week at the…
Help me! I’m drowning in adulthood!
The week after vacation is always hard. When people ask how our trip was, I typically say, "it was great! I could've used a few more days." It's true. A few more days? Weeks? Months? Yeah, I could use a whole lot more of any of those. But life presses on and so must we.…
I don’t like holidays.
Pessimism does not come naturally to me. Positivity is in my top eight strengths according to Gallup, so when I say I don't like something, I tend to cringe a little bit. There's got to be a silver lining somewhere, right? But holidays are hard. Growing up, holidays were anything but joyous. Filled with the…
A Letter to My Daughters/When I Die (Part 1)
Dear Ruth, Ila, and Jane, If you're reading this, you're either old enough to read my writing now or I'm dead. Either way, wow! How did we get here? I'm so proud of who you are and who you will be. I think every parent wants to impart wisdom onto their kids, so I'm going…
It happened to me.
Capital "T" Trauma. Little "t" trauma. This is not a one size, fits all dilemma. Body image played a part. Not the whole part. It's never the whole part. We will celebrate you for your thinness. Your accomplishments will be because of it. Not your self-worth. Your self-worth is worthless. Like your thinness. Like you,…
February reads and recommendations.
You guys, these February reads. Phew! My goal for reading this year and from now on is to read and learn more from authors who do not look like me or have the same life experiences as me. I read a variety of literature, all non-fiction, but with diverse topics including personal essays, racial reconciliation…
Birth days: a tale of birth three ways.
Since Jane's first birthday is upon us, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the ways in which our children came to us. Ruth: adoption. Adoption is beautiful and complex in so many ways. We hopped off of the plane to Vegas to rent a car for the first time (we had just turned…
Am I doing this right? Parenting tips for dummies!
Am I doing this right? What else could I be doing? Is everyone else this tired? Overwhelmed? Overjoyed? Underwhelmed? When will I be simply "whelmed" again? If you've asked yourself any of these questions, you are a parent. My hats off to you. My best friend and I always say that before we were parents…
