After so many trips to the DMV I expected a bench in our name, my fifteen-and-a-half year old daughter, Chloe, finally passed her driver’s permit exam; For her, that white sheet is a ticket to ultimate freedom, adventure set to the soundtrack of...
My husband, Justin, had a dentist appointment several days ago to replace a broken crown. At dinner time that night, as I prepped the salad, he came up behind me and whispered in my ear words that would rattle any wife: “I have a confession to make...
My husband cannot, for the life of him, sing a correct song lyric. The extreme wrongness of the words he chooses instead of the actual ones are so shocking that I’ve given him a lay diagnosis of some sort of chromosomal abnormality. Today we rode...
I stared at this blank page for several minutes, realizing I feel the same about writing this week as I do about this phase of my life: Blank, not knowing where to start, not knowing what this next part will even be about. The kids are all in...
My ten year old daughter, Paige, just started at a brand new school on Thursday after two years of homeschooling. The nerves about it have been evident for months as we’ve prepared, and talked the decision through at nauseum. She needs a lot of...
When I last left you, Nash had been found. We anxiously awaited news that the truck carrying him had pulled into town. After we received the text, we arranged to arrive on the ranch where he was being held the next morning early. I felt almost sick...
I had a whole other topic to write on and post for you today. It’s funny how life takes sharp turns, when you aren’t expecting, but a new story lay out before me in a whirlwind, and must be told: The story of when Nash the Backyard Steer came to...
Deep inside, I knew it would happen someday. I knew that Nash the Backyard Cow would grow and need a whole lot more space. I never dreamed that eight months after my dad brought him to me, a starving, one week old orphaned calf with tears in his...
It feels like it’s been three years worth of thirteen; Like it has always been, and will always be this way, with her rolling her eyes, holed up in her room. There has been a lot of push and pull; Nights when I’ve stayed up alone crying, Thinking...
There has been a lot of talk about dads this last week, so this feels like a good time to highlight the dad in need of the most support: The dad of teenage girls who are beginning to date. We are in the thick of this phase right now. The girls are...