Low rumbles called us out of bed at night. We met her quietly in the dining room where she gathered us both into her lap. The storm door open, we sat on the floor, our noses inches from the screen, raindrops dampening our hair. The flash of lightning and crack of thunder sent us into…
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Fear
A Letter to My Younger Self
Dear Younger Self, This is going to sound crazy, but the most important thing I need to you to know is that it feels SO good to love yourself. At nearly 30, I’m still working toward this, but there has been an enormous weight lifted in the past year or so when I realized that…
Minimalism for Military Families
There is a very clear and obvious advantage to embracing a minimalist lifestyle if you are a military family. Every time you PCS, you’re packing up your entire life and toting it across the country (sometimes the world) with you. The less you have, the less you have to worry about. Bedding and towels. Keep…
My First Marathon: 26 (.2) Miles of Gratitude
This year I ran the San Francisco Marathon. Not a great choice for a first-time marathoner, but nonetheless I met my goal of *finish and don’t die.* 🙂 As I ran, I meditated on something that I was grateful for in my life for every mile. It kept me focused and positive as I completed…
Read This on Days You Don’t Feel Like an Athlete: A Letter to My Future Self
Self, I know, today has been a rough one. You’re feeling slow and useless. Out of shape and even fat. You’re hyper-focused on everything negative about yourself – you haven’t worked out in days, you’re not as fast or as fit as your best friend or the girls you hold in high esteem on social…
Self Care for the Perpetually Anxious: 12 Go-To Strategies
To me, anxiety feels like moving at a million miles per hour. It’s a constant vibrating; hovering just outside of my body. It’s 100 rushes of adrenaline per day and forgetting to eat or pee or sit down. It sounds like humming in my head, like radio static. It sometimes looks like smiles and never-ending…
Why Everyone Has Their Sh*t Together Except You
While mindlessly scrolling social media, I often find myself wondering how in the actual hell all of these women have got such perfect lives. How are they working full time and taking care of several babies and exercising every day and maintaining happy marriages while I’m over here barely able to feed myself after a…
10 Things to Love About Living in the Desert
My husband and I are preparing for our second cross-country move in 5 years. Now that he is enlisted in the Navy, we better get used to lots of relocating and the fact that, due to the branch of the military he chose and his rate (job), we will probably never live in this beautiful…
Leaving the Place I Love: Why it’s Ok to Move On and Move Away
I love to travel. I love to explore and see new places. Already this year, I’ve been to Mexico (twice), San Francisco (twice), Chicago, and all over Michigan. My husband and I have often dreamed of all the amazing places we might someday live, and now suddenly those dreams are happening. Brett joined the Navy,…
8 Tips for Moving Across the Country… WITH PETS!
In 2013, Brett and I shipped most of our worldly belongings in a U-Box (U-Haul’s version of a POD), packed up our two-door Pontiac, and spent a week camping across the country from Michigan to our new home in Arizona. It was quite an adventure and we enjoyed taking our time and seeing as much…