After 10 years of working in higher education, I am used to the series of questions I get every summer: “Do you have the summer off?” “No.” “Oh really? Because my cousin is a professor and he doesn’t work in the summer.” “Right, well, faculty members sometimes take it off, but staff members don’t have… Continue reading Surviving Freshman Orientation: Guest Post on Grown and Flown
A popular hashtag in the wake of tragedy is “#WeAre[insert name of person/location].” Maybe it’s slacktivism, but I’ve always appreciated them. They convey unity, solidarity, and the acknowledgement that while this particular event happened there, it can just as easily happen here. I think those are important messages to send to suffering families and communities.… Continue reading Dallas Strong
I was feeling cocky last fall when I wrote my “Next Summer” post and gloated about our 70-degree weather in October signaling that summer in Texas was finally coming to an end. There is a flip side of course to all that, and it looks like this: Alas, summer has fully descended on us and… Continue reading Next Summer is Now
As a parent, you learn to make the most out of the rare moments of alone (or at least “child is distracted”) time. You can turn a 30-minute episode of Paw Patrol for them into a completed blog post for you. You figure out how long it takes the toddler to eat a snack and… Continue reading Finding “Me” Time Abroad
When you are flying with young children, it quickly becomes an all-consuming endeavor. Luckily, in a matter of minutes, you can find abundant advice online. Articles and blogs will walk you through everything you need to know, from what to pack to how to eat dinner in the bathroom of your hotel room while your… Continue reading Remembering How To Travel Without Kids
This is from my Confession Vault. We all have one of those, right? Okay good. Every Sunday morning, my husband, JB, and I take our toddler twin boys to music class. We have been doing it for a year, but I can still remember my hesitance in the first session. The class’s philosophy is very… Continue reading That Time I Did All The Judging
Yes, I know summer officially ended over a month ago, but here in Texas, this is the first full week it has actually felt like fall, at least temperature-wise. Of course we have had the same pumpkin patch photos, seasonal-flavored lattes and gourd-decorated front porches as everyone else. But until now, most summer activities were… Continue reading Next Summer…
Birthdays, especially ones that get you within arm’s length of a new decade, should provide obvious blog inspiration. When the decade knocking on your door is your 40’s, you seem poised for a humorous, reflective, thoughtful post about the passage of time, what you have learned, what you still don’t know and how this birthday… Continue reading Thoughts On 38 (Or Lack Thereof)
This post was pulled from the archives. And by “archives,” I mean I found it on the desktop of my computer from about 16 months ago when I was in the throes of life with newborn twins. I can’t remember if my hope was to start a blog right then and there or to just… Continue reading 10 Things I Learned on Maternity Leave
journey to napa 