Black ink swirled on my arm as the tattoo gun engraved “Warr;or” into my skin. I’m weird like that. I get tattoos to commemorate moments. Ink is my thing because it marks me for life. Later, I posted a photo of my daughter and I soaking in the sun with my new tattoo on display….
Maybe if we still tore our clothes today, people would understand the grief we’re experiencing, I think to myself as I end another Zoom meeting with one of my children’s teachers. Maybe then they would understand we are still sad, we are still grappling in the dark for normal, we are still grieving. I’m sure we…
In need of a workout routine, I quickly found out our new town of less than 3,000 did not have a gym. But what I did find was Jazzercise. It’s one of those workouts filled with friends, loud music, strength training, dance, and Pilates. If a girl had to sweat it out to say in…
It was a hot Saturday in 2017, and I was at the city dump surveying a massive pile of lumber that my friend was about to climb. Cindy knew better than to leave me home alone with my despair. I had just been let go from a job that was my everything. “My life is…
As the fireworks burst in the jet-black sky around us, I marveled how our date night was perfectly ordinary. We had been given the chance to get dressed up and make the best of the Fourth of July, since my in-laws had the kids for the evening. Instead, we found ourselves in t-shirts and jean…
In the final days of 2008, I walked into the woods of our backyard. We’d have moved into this house right after I graduated college as we prepared for the birth of our second child. My oldest child and husband were settled in for bed and I was feeling unsettled, lost, and unfulfilled. So, I…
I’m no expert. I don’t have a degree in psychology, nor am I a life coach or the life of the party but I love connecting with women. I love listening to their stories, raw, tragic, and beautiful. A deep thread of strength runs in each one. I shared one such moment with a friend…
Boldness has taken an interesting turn since childhood. As a girl growing up in the desert, being bold meant facing off with the rivers of flash floods. Or when I was in seventh grade, I punched a boy in the face for picking on my brother. I’m finding I’m not the same girl in my…
I get it all the time, “So you work from home? It must be so easy and fun.” Insert sarcasm and a quick prayer to Jesus to provide grace I need in this conversation before I respond. Going to work in your home office while wearing yoga pants instead of commuting an hour to an…
To my son, It’s the weekend, and your new friends are here. You’re surrounded by a whole crew of kids I haven’t met, and it brings tears to my eyes to see you in your element. I see how you handle them with grace and ease. Yet, when they aren’t looking, you look at me…
