Learning Response-ability: Setting Boundaries to Respond in Love, not React to Triggers

The ride home from middle school pick up was filled with angst, yelling, manipulating and arguing. My eleven-year-old daughter Quinn wants to sign up for tackle football but the rule in our house—one we held her older brother Zaiden to—is no tackle football until you turn twelve. Because of Zaiden’s May birthday, he was able

Alone or Unloved?

I never felt loved growing up, despite having wonderful parents who loved me fiercely and did the very best they could. That truth has always haunted me as a parent: Not feeling loved as a young teen led me to make a lot of self-destructive decisions. Because of this, I carry so much fear that

Thirty-five and Rocking: Three ways to thrive during hard times

It was an unusually hot fall afternoon and I sat in one of my new porch rockers, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face. It was my 35th birthday and my husband surprised me with the rockers as a gift. They were the perfect spot to sit and reflect and as I did,

New year, new me? How to Embrace a Better Approach to Change

It was New Years Day and my husband arranged for me to spend a night alone in a hotel room. There was no agenda, aside from a massage scheduled the next afternoon. His gesture and my one-and-only new year’s resolution paired like sharp cheddar cheese and a fine bottle of cabernet. After years of failed

Finding the Skinny Truth in the Thick of all the Lies

I sat in the exam room of my primary care physician’s office, anxious to get the results of the bloodwork my dermatologist had ordered two weeks prior. My doctor came in, frazzled and busy, asking what I was there for. I told him his office had called me to schedule an appointment to discuss my

10 Life Lessons from Motherhood

Ten years ago, on the eve of Mothers’ Day, I gave birth to our firstborn son. His entry into the world made my husband burst out laughing with joy and my heart explode with wonder. I’ll never forget the “magic moment” when his tiny newborn frame was laid upon my chest. Life as I knew

Three Truths for A Thirsty Soul

“You’re a good mom.” The thought echoed across my dry, exhausted and overwhelmed soul as I began cleaning up our messy kitchen in the center of our even messier house. It was picture day at the elementary school and three of our four kids needed to look their best. Like a circus ringleader trying to

To my readers

Dear reader, This is a space to drink in the certainty you’re not alone; a place where connection can revive your spirit; somewhere to settle into the rest that comes from feeling understood. As I pull back layers and share my life, I hope you will discover pieces of your own soul reflected within my