I’m a member of a Toastmasters Club at my office. Twice a month we get together at lunch to brush up on our public speaking skills. People give organized speeches, we answer table topics, and share short stories centered around a theme.

This week we shared stories related to “March Madness”. I wrote something quickly on my commute into work that day and shared it with the group, and then I decided to publish it here on my blog! This is a little off-beat from my typical posts, but I thought it would be fun to shake things up. Let me know what you think! …

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At the end of every year I take time to pray, mediate, and journal about the last twelve months and about the year ahead. I always fill out some sort of New Years worksheet to help guide me. In the past, I’ve either used my own, or one created by The Well Studio. I’ve done this since 2014 and have kept all of my old worksheets. Yesterday I spent some time reflecting on the last five years. It was so encouraging to visually see how I’ve grown, where my priorities have changed, and how God continues to show up with each passing year…

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There are many age milestones in a person's life. Each of those milestones comes with a set of feelings, and for each person those feelings can be different. For many, turning 30 is the first time some people start to feel "old." This can also be a time where people compare themselves to others, or compare themselves against a list of things they thought they'd have accomplished by the time they turn 30. There's no normal or expected way to feel. Today is my 30th birthday, so I thought it would be fun to document how I'm feeling about it! ... 

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Shay and I have this joke where we say that "work always gets in the way"... it gets in the way of us having fun, spending time on our hobbies, and even pursuing a creative side business. If we're being really honest though, all jokes aside, our day job provides the means to do all the things I just listed. I think the deeper issue, the one most people have struggled with at some point, is finding a balance.

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It's the last day of my week long sabbatical. On February 24th I left a job that I've had for nearly five years to take a chance on something new. While it was sad and scary to leave a place where I felt comfortable, it's also exciting to open a new chapter that's different and challenging. 

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I feel like generally there are two types of people. Those who hate the idea of setting New Year’s goals and those who love setting goals, but quickly break them before the end of January and forget what they were by December. I think that's because too often we put such high expectations on the New Year, and we set goals that are vague, surface level, and unattainable. 

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There’s a social media challenge making its way around the interwebs called the #loveyourspouse challenge. For 7 days you’re supposed to post pictures with your spouse and tag someone else who is married to keep the celebration of love going...

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Over the weekend Jerry, Dina, and my baby niece, Lucy, came down from Milwaukee to visit. It was beautiful on Saturday, so we strolled (pun intended) around the neighborhood where we got the most delicious toast at Bunny and some fresh juices from City Press. After that we spent the afternoon at our cousin's house where people came from far and wide to meet Lucy. Seriously, it was quite the turn out! Then, on Sunday we went to Church and patio hopped all afternoon - IN TANK TOPS AND SHORTS. Sorry for the all caps, I got a little excited there. (Summer is coming!) ...

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Everything on earth has it’s own time and it’s own season. Ecclesiastes 3:1

I read a statistic once that people spend an average of 10 months of their lives talking about the weather. In some parts of the world where the temperature is predictable day to day this may seem outrageous. As a Chicagoan, this statistic is believable. In just one week we've experienced multiple seasons and drastic weather conditions...

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Many times when people come over they compliment me on my decor (which I absolutely love!). The truth is, all my home decorating can be credited to Pinterest, Google, and the various home furnishing catalogs that come in the mail. I'm not so good with a blank canvas or going with my gut on design decisions. But, I'm really good at identifying what I like, and then copying the look as best I can...

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By the time 2014 came to and end, Shay and I had already done a lot of chasing. For this reason, last year we decided to keep our New Year's Eve plans simple. We made last minute reservations (literally, called a BYOB sushi place at 4:00 to reserve a table...

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This  year was a Christmas of "firsts". It was the first time I didn't spend the night at my parent's house and wake up Christmas morning in my hometown. It was the first time our family spent Christmas Day at the Lake in Wisconsin. It was my first time visiting a hospital on Christmas Day...

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I remember shortly after closing on our condo, Shay and I were standing outside admiring our little 3-flat when we noticed something strange... a window, that appeared to belong to our unit. We did a double-take, and then went inside to find the mysterious window. It turns out...

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Gatsby turned 3 years old on Wednesday. This was a big deal in our household, because it means he’s 21 in human years, and officially an adult pup (even though we’ve been taking him to the bar since the week we brought him home)...

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It hit 40 degrees over the weekend in Chicago. For some that meant T-shirts and bare legs. It's so fascinating to me how our perspective of "warm weather" shifts throughout the year - especially living in the Midwest. We've dealt with frigid temperatures for so long...

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