I’ve never been good at saying words out loud. Something about hearing them come out of my mouth makes me immediately doubt everything I’m saying, no matter how much the opposite is true. Even as a child, if I needed to apologize or say something hard to my dad, I wrote it down. It was …
I never thought this challenge would affect my life so much. This month, I challenged myself to write and post one haiku a day on Instagram. The idea was born out of a desire to live and love my real life. For a while, I’ve felt on autopilot – each day home with the kids, …
I’ll never forget my first fireworks show as a married woman. Sitting on the hood of our car, together with my new husband, our marriage was barely out of its first trimester. We parked in a dirt lot, away from the excitement of the celebration, with a few other families. I had moved south and …
It can be easy to get caught up in the logistics of a move. Often, many things have to happen in a short time. And having things to do keeps your mind busy. It’s easy to put your anxieties about a move to the side when you have a to-do list a mile long and …
If you’ve never had to house camp before, it can be tricky to think through it. House camping is when you’re still at home but without all your things. This can be on the leaving end, either after your stuff is in boxes or after it’s on its way to your next duty station. Or …
My husband and I have been married for 10 years. And the vast majority of that time, we’ve lived overseas. My first official duty station as a military spouse was Japan. When we were offered the chance to stay overseas, we took it—and moved to Italy. In all the years we were overseas, we only …
Decluttering is a learned skill. It takes practice. And I’ve learned it’s best done when you have some time. Under the pressure of a deadline, you may be tempted to get rid of something you wish you hadn’t. I usually start going through our things 6 months to a year before our scheduled move. That …
Years ago, I had a regular habit of documenting what I was learning. Although it fell off for a while, it feels important to come back to. Maybe it’s because my kids are young and so many of our days feel the same. It can sometimes be hard to keep track of how we’re spending …
This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to rush the process while in the kitchen. But it is the most recent. I often forget how messy the middle can be. But there’s nothing like making something with your hands to force you to pay attention to the process. What to do When the Buttercream is …
I’m at the airport. Again. God works in mysterious ways, and it seems that over the last few months, I’m really getting to live the jet-setter lifestyle I always wanted. Unfortunately, these trips haven’t been for great reasons. Our family traveled to see my family in October, and it was a very good trip. Then …
