As you know, my husband and I moved across town just before Christmas. The apartment we left was the first one we shared together as husband and wife. We moved into it freshly married—6 weeks, in fact—and 2,000 miles away from what we considered “home.” Two years later, we’ve left that apartment with a dog in tow and a baby on the way. Our lives expanded in that little home. We began the lifelong adventure of figuring out how to love each other well and how to respect one another’s quirks. We . . .
Guest Post: Lessons in Love
My latest piece for Red Tent Living is up! This month, their theme is, "Do You Love Me?" Here's where that prompt took me: Lessons in Love Growing up, I loved playing “house.” I’d run around the basement pretending to be cooking, cleaning, and going on dates with my “boyfriend.” Everything in my game of adulthood was easy and lighthearted. There was rarely any conflict or hardship, which might be why his words, spoken fifteen years ago, cut me so deeply. I can remember exactly where I stood . . .
Is It Still Christmas Without Decorations?
I’m no Grinch, but I have exactly zero Christmas decorations up in my home. In fact, as Christmas draws near I’ve actually been taking down my home’s decor, leaving the walls blank aside from a few vacant nails. We’re in the process of moving. It’s a terrible process. Don’t get me wrong, we’re thrilled about the move, but moving is awful. It’s hard work and I always find I have so much more stuff than I originally thought. We’ll be getting into our new place this weekend, a week before we . . .
How #MeToo is Pulling Me Deeper into Advent
Last week I turned on the Today Show, as I typically do, and immediately noticed Matt Lauer’s absence. “He must be sick,” I thought, and went on with my morning. Several minutes later, I saw the headlines begin to populate my Facebook newsfeed. He was sick alright. Lauer had been fired for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. My stomach sunk. Was I shocked? Immediately, yes, because there is a shock factor when someone is at work one day, in their twentieth year on the job, and . . .
Guest Post: It’s Okay
Thanksgiving has come and gone and it's now socially appropriate to blast Christmas music during all hours of the day (yay!). The holidays are here, which can elicit wildly different emotions for each of us. Maybe the hope of this Christmas season feels incredibly tangible to you; maybe you know in your head that there is hope, but you're struggling to feel it in your spirit. That's okay. I am so delighted to welcome Elisabeth Klein to the blog today. She's sharing out of her newest . . .
Growing Gratitude: The Wednesday Morning Question
I was six weeks pregnant on our two year wedding anniversary. “Where do you want to go to dinner?” My husband asked me. “I’ll take you anywhere!” I had been looking forward to this and spent the days leading up to our anniversary looking at a number of restaurants, scouring menus and reviews; but, at the end of the day, I really just wanted a grilled chicken sandwich from Wendy’s. Thank you, pregnancy. So we hit the drive-thru and ordered a haul, then we went home and ate Wendy’s on the . . .