Writer, Author & Speaker
We met in the city where our friendships began. We came from Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee, North Dakota, and Minnesota to spend 48 hours together. Back in the day, we forged our friendships through homework, tests, first kisses, prom dresses, broken hearts, early morning bible studies, and late night slumber parties. We went rollerskating & sledding. …
I tried to capture the moon in the picture. To my eye it was full and bright. To the camera it was faint. In a few of my photos you can’t see the moon at all. You can barely see it in this one. And isn’t this true with other things in life as well— …
I pulled weeds and raked a little patch of greenery in our backyard today. I call it greenery because very little of it resembles grass but the weeds are still very green. It made me think of the lush green lawn of my mom and dad’s house of my growing up years. I miss being …
It was the fall of my second year of homeschooling and I had given birth to our fourth child in October. I remember holding him, looking at a table full of dishes while the other three children danced about the room as I tried to herd them to nap time. I was happy, but tired. …
Today the caterpillars were on the move. They were booking along the pathway. One after another racing along…until I came to the ones that were still. So maybe that’s why they were moving so fast. Maybe they need to go fast enough so they don’t curl up and stay forever on the path. They need …
I was 24 and I stood in the empty parking lot next to my loaded car. The wind blew my hair into my face as I glanced around the place that I had called home for the past nine months. I had worked to the end of the school year. I had finished. I hadn’t quit. …
The daffodils are gone now. They have given way to the flowers of the pink Japanese magnolias, the fluffy white flowers of the Bradford pear trees, the bright yellow vines of the forsythia bush, and the soft purple flowers of the red bud trees. The green grass is poking through the ground. Spring has sprung. …
The pink magnolia flowers have begun to open on the tree outside my kitchen window—a splash of needed color against the gray and dreary sky. The daffodils by the creek wave their bright yellow petals, reminding us that spring is coming. Our hope for warmer days and growing things is not in vain. The world …
December 2010 was a memorable one. My husband had been out of work for 5 months and we were still knee-deep into the season of ‘being-anxious-about-every-single-thing-we -purchased.’ Should I buy this bag of coffee? Do we need it? Isn’t coffee a luxury? Will I regret buying this later? The time had finally come to decide if we …
Once upon a time a young dad and a young mom were busy changing diapers, folding laundry, picking up toys, reading books over and over again, and making meals for a four. a three, and a one-year-old. Occasionally they remembered that it had been just the two of them once. They knew it in their minds but …
I like to speak them, write them, listen to them, and read them. I have a college degree in words – they call it Communications, which also happens to be the name of my top strength in Clifton Strength Finders. My love language is Words of Affirmation. I have always loved the smell and feel …
It’s hard to put into words all that the cross country families have meant to me. We’ve mostly seen each other for seven consecutive Mondays in the fall for five years in a row. I’d like to wax eloquent about this —it is Jack’s senior year after all. But I can’t find eloquent words; actually, …
Mondays by Midnight I work well by deadline. I can get so much more done in a condensed amount of time when there is a pressing deadline. Especially if someone else makes the deadline. One of the hardest parts of homeschooling for me was being the one who makes and enforces the deadline: ‘This is …
A guitar hangs on the wall. Its broken string testifies that it’s been awhile since anyone strummed it. The half-marathon medals still clang a little bit when the rocking chair hits them even though it’s been a couple of years since I’ve run at all, much less run a race that handed out a medal. …
In honor of my birthday — which was three days ago — here are five tidbits of trivia about me (in no particular order): I spent the last 20 years educating all four of my children at home. It was a great fit for our family. I loved it (not every minute of every day …
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… Storybook, Lost Timber, and Horton Haven you each have a place in my heart From my first love to my current love From two weeks at a time to visiting for a day From cleaning bathrooms to washing pots and pans From leading cabins to …
Thirty-one years — as of July 3rd my husband & I have been married for thirty-one years. We celebrated unceremoniously by getting up from our kitchen table where we were planning a week of camp. We went to a local pizza joint called Salvos. We didn’t spruce up; we simply wore the shorts and t-shirts …
We drove past the rolling Illinois farmland late into the night. The sky was warm with orange and pink. It was the night of the summer solstice, light lingering longer than any other day of the year. It reminded me of late summer nights in northern Minnesota sitting at the campfire when I wouldn’t realize …
The journey of motherhood is always changing. This year only one child was with me in person to celebrate Mother’s Day. I chatted with the other three children on the phone at different times. It was a lovely day. I was more content on this Mother’s Day than I have been over these last few …
I chopped an onion and sauteed it in butter with the minced garlic in one skillet while I poured chicken broth into the 8-quart soup pot and turned the burner to high. I added three kinds of meat into the pot: one cup of chicken, ½ pound of sausage, and the last small bag of …
