• Family - Marriage - Parenting

    Never Say Never

    April 8, 2025 - By 

    Sometimes the most surprising blessings come from unexpected places. When we moved to Iowa, we thought we were finding our forever home. When we moved to Kansas City, we hoped, yet again, we were finding our forever home. And here we are, for the umpteenth millionth time in our lives, moving again. The decision to make a move is never straightforward. It is always bittersweet. There are tears and heartache but also hope and anticipation. It is a time of so many emotions, so many things to coordinate, and so much physical and mental energy. But, if I could be…

  • Family - Marriage - Parenting

    Our Story

    March 14, 2024 - By 

    We met at work in 2006. After I agreed to go on a first date with you to another state where I would meet your entire family and stay at your mom’s house and run around the farm in a dress and heels on our way to said date so you could help your dad smoke a badger out of the barn (also my first time meeting your dad) (WHEW) I guess something must have gone right because here we are. We’ve lived in small houses, in bigger houses, with roommates, without them, in apartments, and – for a time…

  • Family - Marriage

    Shirts, Blankets, and Bedsheets

    March 4, 2023 - By 

    As the designated Household Manager, I am the person in charge of the laundry. Which, for the record, is NEVER ENDING. I’m usually washing a load of something every day, because between four people, towels, sheets, blankets, dish cloths, and miscellanea, there is always something that needs cleaned. Today, I chose to wash my husband’s white t-shirts, throw blankets on the couch, and our bedsheets. These are the only three things I washed this day. Sitting on the couch this evening, watching one of our favorite shows, I pointed out how the throw blankets we were snuggling under were so…

  • Fun - Marriage

    The Gift that Keeps on Giving

    November 12, 2022 - By 

    For Mother’s Day this past May, the Husband gifted me a subscription to a “flower of the month” club. It works pretty much as you would expect – each month I receive a box. Packed inside is a flowerpot. At first it looks just like a pot of dirt, but with time and water the bulbs that are planted underneath emerge, revealing themselves and gracing our table with pretty blooms. The bulbs are chosen according to seasonality – Daffodils in April, for example – although I can’t easily identify them all because the packing slip does not provide any information…

  • Family - Fun - Marriage - Parenting

    Camping… Sort of

    April 23, 2022 - By 

    Now that most of the major outdoor house projects are complete (**fingers crossed**), the husband and I have made a goal to spend some weekends going camping as a family. We really haven’t done this (with kids) but once, at a campground just a stone’s throw from our house in Iowa. It was amazing, and we stayed in a tent, but it wasn’t quite like true nitty-gritty camping. You can read about it here. Well, the weather looked to be warm, and we didn’t have any plans, so we decided this weekend was going to be our inaugural Missouri camping…

  • Family - Marriage - Parenting

    I Had a Miscarriage

    October 15, 2021 - By 

    Let’s talk about it. I’d hope, by the title, that you will realize the serious content of this post. This is not funny, or witty, or irreverent, or insightful. It is raw and real and painful. But please, I hope you can do me (and my baby) the honor of reading it all the way through. I had a miscarriage. Let’s talk about it. I mean, let’s not just talk about my miscarriage. Let’s talk about them all. Statistics show that as many as one in three pregnancies can end prematurely. The odds are that you know someone who has…

  • Family - Fun - Marriage

    The Things that Bring Us Together

    August 14, 2021 - By 

    “Mom,” my oldest son asked me, “why are you taking a picture of your shoes?” “Well bud,” I replied, “Do you know I haven’t worn these shoes in a long time? Do you know the last time I wore these shoes?” He shook his head. “My wedding. When your dad and I got married.” His eyes got big. “Yep, over 10 years ago. Before you and your brother were even born. So, I took this picture to remember how much has changed since then. And how much I love everyone and everything in our lives.” Okay, so maybe being at…

  • Family - Marriage

    Journey Cake

    March 14, 2021 - By 

    Today marks 12 years of marriage for me and the Husband. If I can say one thing about marriage is that it’s not an event. It’s not even a state of being. It’s an evolution. Okay, that was three things, but they’re all connected. This is because marriage is a union of two people – two imperfect people – and therefore marriage, by default, is an imperfect union. A happy, fulfilled marriage doesn’t just “happen” to you. Instead, you happen to your marriage. What I mean by this is that, as a person, I grow and change throughout my life.…

  • Family - Marriage - Parenting

    Confusion then Chagrin

    January 6, 2021 - By 

    Everywhere our children go, they turn on lights. And don’t turn them off. Whenever we are getting ready to leave the house, I have to build in an extra five minutes just to go around turning off lights that they’ve left on. Last night, before bed, Chris went downstairs and noticed that our youngest child (the last one to set foot down there) had left EVERY SINGLE light on. Chris turned them off and we had an exasperated laugh together about it. This morning, after I’ve gotten the boys off to school and long after Chris has left for work,…

  • Fun - Marriage - Throwback

    How We Met

    December 22, 2020 - By 

    The boring version is that Chris and I met at work in Arizona, in the early months of 2006, dated for about three years and then got married. The more interesting version is that a guy I barely knew from work randomly asked me to fly out to Iowa with him as his date for his 10-year high school reunion. And I’d meet my future-mother-in-law when I stayed at her house for an extended weekend, where I’d also meet all of his siblings and attend his brother’s college graduation. And the first time I’d meet my future father-in-law it would…