On Saturday, Kevin and I loaded our pre-sweaty selves and some watermelon into the car and went to the North Liberty baseball fields to watch my little brother, Payton, play in the all-star tournament. Isn’t he cute? He’s really proud that he’s taller than me. Doesn’t take much, dude. He’s #2 on first base below. […]

On Friday, I didn’t have any plans yet for the weekend. People asked, “What are you doing for the 4th?” Um…I dunno. But things fell into place and the weekend turned out to be busy and relaxing all at the same time. My best friend Sara called me on Friday afternoon and wondered if I […]

I had a dream about Uzbekistan last night. It was magical. I could smell and taste and touch. The colors were brilliant and the streets were alive with marshrutkas, honking and weaving about. My dream was not from 5 years ago, but present-day. My Uzbek sisters were grown and they had not one, but two […]

It’s okay to be naive. Someday you won’t be anymore and the world suddenly doesn’t look as great. So if you don’t get that joke that they’re smirking at, just let it slide. You don’t want to know what it means, trust me. Your boobs will never stop growing. They may be nice A’s now, […]

Every time I see roadkill, a horror scene flashes in my mind of those huge glass, marble eyes beside my face that time the deer ran into me. Shudder. Waking up late is the worst way to start the day. It’s impossible to catch up. This happened Sunday morning when I woke up 13 minutes […]

“I have been waiting. Waiting for years to get a family portrait done.  Waiting for our family to be complete.  Waiting for the drooling to stop.  Waiting for everyone to be able to sit up on their own.  I think the waiting is over.  Now, I am terrified.  When to set an appointment? What to […]