I grew up loving college sports…but football. I’m from Nebraska after all. But when I moved to Indiana, Purdue wasn’t very good at football. Drew Brees had graduated and let’s just say it wasn’t necessarily the glory days. Still I ADORE college football. There’s just something about it. And part of that is that Nebraska has been traditionally really bad at …
A trip, beauty, and a Giveaway
This has been a quick week with a trip to North Carolina for a conference/vacation. I’ve had the opportunity to learn and present at a scholarship of teaching and learning conference tied to my day job while also exploring the North Carolina mountains with my family. It’s a last hurrah before life gets insane with the start of school and …
Living Life Well
Grandma was a constant in my life. She lived on the family farm until about four years ago and then she moved into a duplex in town. You always knew she was up for a game and taught us new ones into the last year. In September, she was still beating us in multiple games, but Five Crowns was a …
A Trip without a Laptop + Opportunity
There once was an author who forgot how to live without her laptop. She began to feel like she needed to have it with her all the time…just in case. And that small laptop became a weight that reminded her all the time what she SHOULD be doing. Then this author realized she was exceptionally bad at taking a break. …
A Quick Escape and Rediscovering the Fun in Writing
For years, I’ve written hard. In the chaos of life, while working other jobs, traveling, and so much more. I love all of my books, and writing them has pushed me in unique ways. Sometimes the pressure has removed the joy from writing. Have you ever had that happen? Something you love becomes a job rather than a joy? It’s …
Shelter in Place Activities and Giveaway
We are nearing the end of stringent sheltering in place in Indiana…it’s been a slow move…very intentional and methodical. While I still have no idea what the new normal will be, I thought I’d share a few of the ways we’ve been spending the time since the middle of March. Because we’ve spent three summers in Europe as a family …
Brainstorming, Changes, and Sales– oh my!
Right now I’m in the season of writing where I’m wrapping up one project and preparing ideas for new books. It means, a dizzying array of what ifs are playing through my mind. On Saturday morning I found twelve ideas just flipping through the headlines of the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal. Now I need to massage them, …
3 Tips to Lessen Summertime Craziness
Summer is upon us. After a winter that threatened to never end, the days are long, the weather is warm, and the pool is open. Summer Calendar going crazy? @Cara_Putman shares 3 tips to easy the #crazy. Click To Tweet If your family calendar looks anything like ours, it’s downright scary. We’re only four days into June and I’m already daunted. …
Celebrating 50 Years of Love
This weekend, my family flew to Orlando to join the rest of my clan for a celebration. My parents will celebrate fifty years together later this month. This is the clan on Saturday at Magic Kingdom. Mom and Dad are in the middle in the royal blue shirts, while the rest of us are clustered around. What started as two …
Finding Community in Family Craziness
Last weekend, my family and I did one of those crazy road trips. We left Indiana at 10:30 in the morning and drove all day to Lincoln, Nebraska. There we spent time with family all with the excuse of a football game pulling us to town. Then Sunday morning the kids and I drove back while Eric stayed for work. Crazy. …