Today was a long, busy day filled with cleaning, homeschooling, kids making constant demands, and entertaining friends. On days like today, I don’t have a lot of time to just sit down and write (which is why I am forcing myself to sit up and write this now at nearly 11 pm). However, I did have a chance to write some ideas for a story down in a notebook. I wasn’t really looking for a story to write – but this story keeps calling to me, begging to be written. I am eager to write it and see where it takes me. I am energized and excited by the prospect…

Today was rough, not for any overarching reason, it is just part of life and parenting. Some days go great and others just don’t. Lately, there are a lot of rough days, the kind of days where I just want to collapse in bed as soon as I finally get the kids to sleep. The last thing I want to do is sit at a computer writing something that I don’t even have the creative energy for (which is what I am doing right now). When I say that it was a rough day, I don’t really mean terrible or even bad – more exhausting. I am fortunate enough to…

It is 2:30 am and I just realized that I didn’t get a blog post out yesterday. So naturally, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my computer. I may have broken the streak officially, and I will need to start fresh, but at least I can keep with the spirit of the goal and get up and write something before the new day really starts. Normally, I would have gone back to bed. The blogging streak has been broken, I can start fresh in the morning and save my energy now. However, I know myself and I know that as soon as I just let it go and allow…

It can be difficult to find the time to writer, especially with kids. Before I could even finish typing that sentence, I had the four year old yelling for me from her room. My kids are both incredibly sweet, but they have a habit of clinging to me. When my four year old was younger I called her my “velcro baby” and the velcro behavior still continues aside from the couple of hours she goes to preschool each day. Yesterday, I sat down to write and almost immediately had both my four year old and my dog climb into my lap. Something similar happens each time I start to write.…

“Where are you from?” or “What’s your hometown?” is a question that I have struggled in figuring out how to answer for a lot of my life. For those who don’t spend their lives in one set place, how does one determine what their hometown is? Is it the place where you are born or the place you spent the most time in? Is it the place where you graduated high school and became an adult? Or is it the place where you first start growing up as a kid or preteen? Is it the place where you find yourself and feel happiest even if that isn’t until well into…

As a mom, it becomes all too easy to let that role define who I am. To define myself by my relationships with other people. To see myself as a mother, a wife, a daughter – rather than just me. I still remember the day one of my psych professors asked the class to write down a list of who they are. Studies have shown that women are significantly more likely than men to identify themselves through their relationships, and that certainly held true for me. Although the activity made the difference clear, it also made me feel like there was something wrong with my choices and perceptions. The more…