April 1, 2018
One of my favorite Easter traditions is from my husband’s family. Back in Ohio, they lived on a several-acre property that spanned into the woods. Every Easter, all of the aunts, uncles and cousins would come over for an Easter…
March 25, 2018
My husband and I are those people. We have had our 7-year-old dog, Lilo, since she was just 12 weeks old, and we treat her like she is a member of our family. We go out of our way to…
March 18, 2018
Every year, I tell myself that I am going to get better at keeping up with maintaining my health, my home and my relationships with friends and family. I have started using my calendar to help me to stay on…
March 11, 2018
When my husband and I became parents, we tried to prepare ourselves. We took classes, read books, talked to other new parents, and scoured parenting blogs and social media accounts. We knew to expect less sleep, less freedom and less…
March 4, 2018
Tonight, the Academy Awards ceremony will commence for the 90th time. These awards, also known as the Oscars, recognize excellence in the American film industry, with awards for everything from sound to costume design to best overall film. It has…
February 25, 2018
I like to consider myself somewhat of a clean freak. My floors are clean enough to eat off of, I sanitize my phone twice a day, and I carry hand sanitizer with me at all times. I wash or disinfect…
February 18, 2018
It never fails. Whenever I am with my mom or even on the phone with her, we end up talking about food. What we ate last, what we plan to eat next, and inevitably, what we plan to have for…
February 11, 2018
Part of adding good habits to your life also includes breaking bad ones. I am making hard efforts to cut down on unhealthy food choices, and I have resisted the urge to stay up too late watching mindless television. When…
February 4, 2018
Recently, many of us were shocked to receive warnings of a ballistic missile headed our way. Shortly after the false alarm, I saw plenty of sharing. People shared what they were doing during the warning, and what they did after.…
January 28, 2018
One of the best things about moving from a condo to a single-family home four years ago was the ability to use a large storage shed. My husband Scott and I finally had a place to stash all of the…
January 21, 2018
At our house, we have many keys. There is one to get into our outside gate, one for our backyard, one for our screen door and one for the front door. I’ve color-coded the keys to keep them in order,…
January 14, 2018
I am a sucker for buying in bulk. I have mentioned it in this column before, but I just adore wholesale clubs. I could spend literally hours browsing the aisles and thinking up uses for many of the items I…
January 7, 2018
Every January, like many other people, I vow to become more organized. So far, I’ve kept my promise to myself. Yet, there is always room for improvement. With a toddler running around and a seemingly endless flow of new toys,…
December 31, 2017
I love dogs. When I was little, even though we had our own family pets, my cousin and I would borrow dogs from my neighbors and pretend they were ours, too. We would spend the afternoon taking them for walks,…
December 24, 2017
Growing up, my family always went big for Christmas Eve. My parents would throw a huge family party. We would gather around the fireplace, and the adults would pretend they heard someone on the rooftop. We would hurriedly run outside…
December 17, 2017
I first met my husband’s grandfather, Joe, when I was in high school. He lived in a nearby nursing home, and we hit it off immediately. I would often visit him and play games with the residents while chatting and…
December 10, 2017
According to the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans own a smartphone, and more than 10 percent of American adults depend on their smartphones for the internet. (They only access the internet through their smartphones and do not have…
December 3, 2017
I started putting up Christmas decorations long before Thanksgiving. I couldn’t help it. My daughter, Lina, is nearly 14 months old now, and this is the first year she’ll be able to open presents and really experience the lights and…
November 26, 2017
While many retail stores put up their holiday displays back in October, the unwritten timeline for holiday decor is the day after Thanksgiving until a few days after New Year’s. Browsing for decor always puts me in the holiday spirit,…
November 19, 2017
Confession: In high school, I was voted biggest partier. We used to host gatherings regularly at my parents’ house, and the whole family took pride in our role as host. Luckily, my husband enjoys entertaining just as much as I…