stories and pictures

Several years ago, as a gift to myself, I decided that as long as we are homeschooling our academic year ...
Read More

I don't know if this is a short-lived phase or the beginning of something, but I've become a Formula 1 ...
Read More

When I became a Mumford & Sons fan, Chuck and I were in the midst of trying to move back ...
Read More

In my former life, blogging was an almost-every-other-day thing. I had so much to say, so much to post, so ...
Read More

We don't get a lot of snow around here, but when there's a threat of an inch, schools and businesses ...
Read More

I have a short list of artists I want to see in concert. As a fan of not wasting time ...
Read More

January is supposed to be an inspirational month, a time when folks have the most amount of resolve to improve ...
Read More

Honestly, we did our best. It was a tough year, so it's hard to be festive during a time that's ...
Read More

We have officially crawled into Christmas break, and, to be honest, it wasn't pretty. The fall semester has been a ...
Read More

I signed up for the Santa Hustle Half Marathon in the Smokies back in the summer, not yet knowing that ...
Read More

My parents are moving back to Tennessee, and since they are already in the process of the move, it made ...
Read More

For a dozen reasons, we didn't want to leave Scotland. How can one look forward to a trip for more ...
Read More

By Day 9, we were acutely aware of how quickly time was passing us by. It was an impossibility to ...
Read More

Having spent one full day in Edinburgh and one full day in London, I for sure knew I was a ...
Read More

We arrived in Edinburgh Thursday evening just as it was getting dark. We were fortunate to find our Airbnb apartment ...
Read More

The night in Horsley near Newcastle was a delight, and the Airbnb apartment where we stayed was in an old, ...
Read More

Of all the unpredictable details of our anniversary trip - the pleasant weather, the ease in which we navigated the ...
Read More

The plan for Wednesday, October 10, was to spend the morning walking in Oxford and driving through the Cotswolds before ...
Read More

Last week I had a near heart attack when this site went blank. A corrupt plugin (or perhaps a plugin ...
Read More

Originally, my plan was to drive to Brighton, then Dorset and up to Oxford, but when I couldn't find room ...
Read More

Every day we spent in England was meticulously mapped out to make the most of our limited time. Scotland was ...
Read More

We visited more than just Hever Castle on Day 3, but my affection for Queen Anne Boleyn warrants its own ...
Read More

I've already confessed to the number of photos I took throughout our 12-day trip. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed, but ...
Read More

In 2006, Chuck and I started talking about taking a trip to the UK. Until last week, it had always ...
Read More

Chuck and I are going on a trip, but before we leave I have eleventy billion tasks to complete. I'm ...
Read More

It began on Tuesday night, September 4, when Major lost his mind. Evenings are typically low-key for our blue tick ...
Read More

We are fully immersed in the fall schedule - homeschool co-op classes, soccer for Jeremy, another round of equine therapy ...
Read More

We'd gone out to dinner one night this summer to one of those restaurants with TVs scattered throughout the room ...
Read More

Last fall, after Jackson finished nearly three months of occupational therapy to help with his spatial awareness, fine motor skills, ...
Read More

Earlier this year, Chuck started asking me what I wanted to do to celebrate turning 40 years old. Figuring that ...
Read More

We've caught a bad bug. Something happened this summer, and I can't necessarily pinpoint when everything shifted. The idea of ...
Read More

While our lifestyle affords us plenty of family time, Chuck and I don't get a lot of time just the ...
Read More

Typically, by mid-June, I'd be nurturing a well-groomed garden and plucking off a zucchini here, a tomato there. In previous ...
Read More

The first time Jackson asked to repaint his bedroom, which had been a shade of light blue since buying this ...
Read More

The original idea for one our 2018 Girls Weekends was to reunite in New York City where our friendship really ...
Read More

The moment we finished our last day at the homeschool co-op where the boys attend and I teach, my brain ...
Read More

Eleven years ago I entertained a personal physical challenge: could I run 13.1 miles?  For some, that was a reasonable, ...
Read More

There are good things that happen during a time of mourning - favorite stories are told, family members gather to ...
Read More

I don't remember the first time I met my future father-in-law, but it was sometime in the early spring of ...
Read More

Yesterday was a bad day of school. Those days happen. Sometimes it's on account of bad moods, other times it's ...
Read More

Are you ready for the longest race report ever? There are a dozen reasons why I shouldn't have run this ...
Read More

After our day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (and subsequent day of rest by the pool) it was ...
Read More

Previous post: Hogsmeade Village After lunch we walked through Universal to reach the discreet entrance to Diagon Alley, which was ...
Read More

We had one full day at Universal, and that limitation required careful planning in regard to arrival time, meal time, ...
Read More

As homeschoolers, we do what we want. It's glorious. It's magnificent. Our first spring break was spent at home, and ...
Read More

Five years ago I was accosted by a girl in my head. She showed up uninvited, as if she'd been ...
Read More

A couple of days ago I was on a six-mile run while listening to West Cork, an Audible True Crime ...
Read More

You can start here if you like. You can also start with Part One where I talk about the importance ...
Read More

Read Part One first. The reason to take care of yourself first can be summed up with a simple analogy: ...
Read More

I've been sitting on this post for a while. Sometimes it's hard for me to know when to share something ...
Read More

This post probably feels random for most of you, but bear with me. One of the things I decided to ...
Read More

Last week Jeremy got his tonsils and adenoids taken out after we realized that more than 50 percent of his ...
Read More

It all began with "Mr. Brightside" and Hot Fuss in 2004. It was a new sound, something I hadn't heard ...
Read More

Parts of Tennessee got its first snow of the year last week, but we weren't that lucky. Yesterday, however, we ...
Read More

When I was approached by my friend, Donna, to consider reviewing the weighted blankets she sells, I readily agreed. I'm ...
Read More

Since our experience in Hilton Head two Christmases ago was so positive, we decided to do it again. However, instead ...
Read More

There are three primary reasons why I have kept this blog active for more than 12 years. First, I created ...
Read More

It took the bulk of my day to finish this video, but that's only because iMovie is trial and error ...
Read More

We were all sad on Friday morning. Though we'd done and seen so much in three full days, we were ...
Read More

One of the best pieces of advice we got from our AirBNB hosts was to avoid the Blue Lagoon, a ...
Read More

When we got back in town Tuesday night, after our excursion to Reynisfjara Beach, we went to a local grocery ...
Read More

Continued from previous post: Adventure in Iceland - Day One The goal of Tuesday was to get to Reynisfjara Beach ...
Read More

So it went something a little like this: Him: What are your thoughts on Iceland? Me: I have no thoughts ...
Read More

It has been a busy season for all the hats I wear. Teaching, writing, photography - these things come in ...
Read More

I ran a beautiful, dry half marathon Saturday afternoon and earned my 18th medal. My time was totally average, and ...
Read More

In the interest of time and space, here's a recap of how I ran 13.1 miles in the pouring rain ...
Read More