The Great Debate

I love a good debate, but when it comes to one topic, there seems to be a hard line drawn, and very few stand in the gray area and survive.   

A huge pile of candy with skeletons and rubber spider rings sits in a bowl on the dining room table. The cobwebs are ripped from the bushes and tombstones pulled up from the ground to be replaced…but by what? Is there a cornucopia of gourds on the table or do you deck the halls with boughs of holly? 

Are you a Thanksgiving die-hard or a Christmas whovillian?  

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Imposter Syndrome: Am I Doing Homeschool Right?

As a homeschool veteran of eight years, I get a lot of friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers who reach out to me to ask about what real homeschool is like. They say they are looking for advice, but almost always the conversation ends with me reassuring them that they are fully capable of teaching their children and being successful at homeschooling.

Very much like a favorite topic of mine when I’m consulting with new entrepreneurs, I believe these homeschool parents suffer from a well-known doubt in oneself that we call “imposter syndrome.”

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Explore the World from Home

If there is one thing in this crazy new world norm that I miss the most, it’s the ability to hop on a plane, jump into my car (road trip!), or cruise across large bodies of water to discover somewhere new.

Anyone who knows me also knows that sitting in one place too long makes me jumpy. I like adventure and new experiences. I want to meet new people and discover weird facts. I’ve made it to four of the seven continents, and my travel bucket list is long enough to cover the next 30 years of my life!1.

Can you imagine that quarantine life has been hard?

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Military Spouse Entrepreneurship

Last year, I attended a conference in Austin, Texas, that centered on military spouse employment. I discovered that unlike the national unemployment rates of 3-4%, military spouse unemployment was at around 24% (pre-Covid-19 statistics).

Fortunately, the room was filled with bright minds and outside-the-box thinkers that were working hard to find solutions to this problem. I was intrigued by the percentages they shared and concerned about the room filled with women and men that had advanced degrees but could not find a comparable job.

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Isle of View

My grandparents are adorable.

Grandpa had a big smile and loved overalls, living a country life, and Boy Scouts of America.

Grandma was an archeologist that participated in numerous digs in South America and the southern United States. She barely reached 5 feet tall and would stretch on her tippy toes and eventually had to climb onto a step stool to mark how tall each of her 60 grandchildren had gotten when we came to visit.

At some point in their love story, they coined the phrase, “Isle of View.”

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Forever What?

My soldier came home last week and told me he was three-quarters of the way done with his retirement papers.

Yeah… That is my face. I think it’s stuck that way right now and maybe for months to come, because the mixture of emotions, fears, anticipation, and excitement that come with this announcement are all mixed into it.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Be excited or terrified.

Tell the world, or keep it a secret.

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5 Weird Inventions I Secretly Love

It all started when I saw an article about a “weird invention” that was a baby stroller/scooter hybrid. I thought it was brilliant. If I’d had a stroller/scooter when my kids were little tikes, I like to think we would have gone so many places—so much faster.

I’m pretty sure it appealed to me because I recently purchased an adult scooter. Yep. The same thing the kiddos ride around on except bigger.

All because of Rocco. Rocco is my 5-year-old handsome cattle dog who loves to run.

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The Best Medicine

I thought March was supposed to go out like a lamb.

Baaa.

No lambs here; we’re all still dealing with those March lions running around crazy trying to eat everyone.

That’s how this month has been. I’m stuck right now deciding between telling you a few things…

Like how I got arrested last week. Yeah, I—the person voted “least likely to break the law” in high school—got arrested. It was crazy how it happened. I mean, my next-door neighbor is a police officer and even he didn’t have my back despite it being his fence I was crawling over…

Or, have you heard of that weight-reducing cauliflower milk called “Caulk?”

And last, but not least, I would love your thoughts on the New York City Police Department’s announcement of a “Feline Unit” to supplement their Canine Unit.

Isn’t life crazy?

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Homecoming

By the time you read this, my soldier will be home from a deployment.  

It snuck up on us this time around. A few months ago they said he might go home early if they could find a replacement for him. There was a lot of “maybe this” and “maybe that.” 

It dragged on for months. I’m used to that kind of Army talk.

Then all of a sudden he says, “Hey, I’m coming home in two weeks.”

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