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I’m sitting on the floor of our bedroom sorting through a basket of random crap. Gummy bears. Two nickels that are mysteriously stuck together. Box cutters. Three kinds of tape, which prompts me to form a tape pile. At least 20,000 yards of dental floss. Inexplicably two “sunrise” alarm clocks that are supposed to wake […]

The best gift we ever received (gift as in “object given for free,” anyway) came completely out of nowhere. A few years ago, before Mae was born, we invited some new neighbors over to the farm to meet the alpacas. At one point, the mom asked if we had any alpaca wool she could buy. […]

I swear the end of the year feels like riding in a mine cart downhill with no brakes. One minute it’s August 25th. It’s too hot. The kids are feral, running on hot dogs and popsicles. And you’re thinking, maybe summer won’t end this year. Then you blink, and it’s Halloween. You blink again, and […]

I ruined every family photo we ever took. From age zero to… well, probably beyond when it was still age-appropriate. For a solid stretch, I was intentionally making faces because I thought it was funny. Humor has always been my coping strategy, which, in this case, meant turning stress into slapstick. And those photo sessions […]

The week before Thanksgiving, our house briefly became a full-blown disaster zone. Our fourteen-month-old had already powered through six ear infections in his first year of life. In an effort to avoid nuking his entire microbiome with antibiotics, we decided to move forward with ear tube surgery. As surgeries go, it’s minor. But it’s still […]

Yesterday, I talked about contradictions: how this time of year turns us all into walking paradoxes trying to slow down while cramming twelve weeks of work into four. Today, I want to explore the paradox of loving a good deal while despising flashy “BUY NOW” marketing. For me, I can easily trace my love of […]

There’s a version of life I think many of us secretly long for. A slower one. A simpler one. A world where everything is handmade, nothing is rushed, and the whole village helps raise the kids. Sometimes I wish my to-do list consisted of churning, winnowing, and cobbling, not emailing, optimizing, and refining my new […]

Almost three years ago, I spent every dollar I had on a photography workshop in Florida. Going into it, I told myself: if this doesn’t work, I’m becoming a garbage man. I wasn’t joking. I figured I was in decent shape, they get paid pretty well, their workday ends early, and I don’t have too […]

About ten years ago, we adopted two kittens a few months apart. They were exactly what you’d expect: lively, playful, and often nocturnal, with no regard for our sleep schedules or personal space. I vividly remember being jolted awake from a deep sleep by a mystery object sliding across our dresser, followed by the loudest […]

Every January for as long as I can remember, I’d make a list. Not just goals. A complete overhaul of how I’d live life. I was going to wake up at 5am. Do yoga. Make a green smoothie. Write down 24 things I’m grateful for while I drink the smoothie and swallow a fistful of […]