Fourteen years and three days ago I woke up, took a shower, and put on some Avon liquid foundation titled something like “Ivory” or “Nude” or “Bisque” (like the soup)? This was significant because up until that point, I had only worn foundation when I went to proms in high school

Our daughter Jordan Kate turned twelve today! Somehow she seems like such a mature little lady yet still such a sweet little girl all at the same time! Right around eleven years ago, Jordan had a terrible accident and for a moment we weren’t sure if she would survive.

March 28, 2020

Yesterday I had a most fabulous thirty-sixth birthday. It was wonderful being home with the family all day (unexpected natural consequence of the country’s COVID quarantine). I started my day trudging through the snow with my husband over to the church basement a little after 5:00 a.m. to lead our three day a week (Zoom for now) workout class. When we got back home I enjoyed a glorious hot shower followed by cheesy scrambled eggs as well as piping hot coffee with whipping cream and truffles (courtesy of my sister-in-law, Naomi). And all this before 7:00 a.m.!

Today is my birthday! It seems appropriate on this day for myself to introduce . . . myself (I never pass up a chance to quote “Austin Powers”), to share who I am.

Well I was really excited for this weekend because – up until about a week ago – the plan was for me to co-lead a women’s retreat at beautiful Outlaw Ranch near Custer, SD. This was a big deal for me. I have always known God gave me special gifts to find the best in and encourage others.

March 10, 2020 Blog #4 “Audience”

My first class as an elementary teacher was a group of third graders from Decatur, Illinois. It was reading time, so everyone had their bulky, hardcover reading books open to our story of the week. The first question in this situation was always, “Now looking at the title and the cover, what do you think the genre of this story is?”

A new friend and fellow coach of mine, Barbara, is so great about being intentional in celebrating milestones. The first time I was coaching her, she shared about a block party she and her husband organized. The block party was a celebration not only of the milestone of their family moving, but also to connect and celebrate with new neighbors. I love that! I am a big checklist person, and rarely do I make a point to stop, reflect on, and celebrate accomplishments– no time to stop and celebrate when there is still more on the checklist! (The sneaky truth is, there is always more on the checklist!)

The other night I was checking my email in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. My publisher had sent an email (let's pause right there for a minute – do I sound fancy or what?)

“Self promotion” is the phrase currently squirreling around in my mind. Last week I was coached on how to focus on self promotion. I chose that as my coaching topic because an Advance Reading Copy of my book (also getting used to that surreal phrase “my book!”) is being printed today (today!), and now it is time to promote the book. There are basic steps in the process of publishing, none of which are familiar to me. With that, I am praying for confidence, trust, and boldness as I discern each next step.

Blog. The word “blog” makes me giggle. I just like saying it. Blog. I want to write, always have. Apparently in today’s world that means I want to blog. So here I go, a-bloggin’.

When I was in first grade, I wrote my first story. It was called, “A Trip to the Store,” the most clever title of any story ever. The young girl in the story was asked by her mother to trudge to the store for a gallon of milk. This was easy for me to imagine because I grew up in a town of around 1,000 folks and trudged plenty of times to the store for staples like milk. In this story, the girl was kidnapped by a random stranger. Said stranger took the girl to the basement of a home. Luckily, the idiot kidnapper made the mistake of leaving the brilliant child unsupervised. Keeping her composure, she found some scissors, easily reached them, snipped the rope, called her mother (on a rotary phone), and gave her mother the exact address, as it was printed right there on the phone. The girl was rescued and the story ended with the clever quip, “And all this for a gallon of milk.”