Dear Younger Me
Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me: Don’t put Sun-In in your hair. It will create an ongoing cycle of peroxide and bleach that will only end when you move to Wisconsin sixteen years later and can’t find a hairdresser who will cut and highlight
Surprise! The Alliance Story Banner!
Hi, readers! I have been in selective "dark mode" since my September 15th deadline is drawing closer with every passing day. This means that I only check my email in the morning and at night; therefore, imagine my surprise when I
Watching the World Go By
“Hey, Honey,” the cashier said. “Got any plans for the weekend?” I was so caught off-guard, I almost laughed. “This is my second weekend here.” She smiled. “Oh, you like it?” I explained that I was actually returning to Tennessee after living in
Life’s Non-linear Adventure
It’s 9:37 on a Saturday night, and I’m confined to my toddler’s bedside, which is actually my bedside, because she declares she is scared of the new nursery. Whenever I glance over at her by the light of the computer screen,
Finding the Magic Wherever You Are
My best friend Misty’s idyllic farmstead, next to the Red River, flooded a few weeks ago. I called her home, and the line beeped as if her phone was off the hook. I tried her cell phone and left a
Going the Distance
Barn swallows are writing invisible calligraphy in the azure sky, and the unglaciered hills in the distance are brilliant, summer green. Hummingbirds are sipping nectar from the purple flower baskets hanging from the eaves. An abandoned windmill, in the next
Setting Our Broken World Right
This afternoon, as we waited for the results of my husband’s MRI and CAT scan, I looked around at the light flooding through Mayo Clinic’s wall of windows, at the pigeons pecking the flat roof of the building below, at
The Ring
My sister-in-law, for my twenty-ninth birthday, mailed me a tiny gold ring inset with a freshwater pearl. Her cards are always the best—each square inch of paper filled with words of encouragement—and in that card she told me I was
Why We’re Moving Back
Today, Father’s Day, seems the appropriate time to write that our family is moving back to Tennessee, because the reconciliation of family is what’s driving this return. Before we moved to Wisconsin in November 2014, I stood in the carport with
Radio interview, Writer’s Digest guest post, and more!
Hello, friends! Well, it's starting to feel like summer, isn't it? :) We just got back from a lovely trip to Tennessee, where I officially launched The Alliance, my third book baby, with signings at Burdett's Tea Shop & Trading Co.,