I received a unexpected phone call yesterday from a lady named Mary from Compassion International. One of our Big 6, Compassion is a charity that Jason and I LOVE. …
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Maintain Perspective
The Best Christmas Present Is…
A while back, I ran across this dad who draws on paper bags for his kids during his lunch break. Pretty neat stuff. But he's also used his creativity (and a box cutter) to elevate the humble cardboard box into an even more awesome structure of play. …
When Fun Becomes Stressful
Halloween has come and gone. After bribing Lucy with M&M's (her new favorite treat), she DID put on her Elmo costume long enough to get a plastic pumpkin half-full of candy. Victory! Last year the three of us donned themed costumes. (Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein and their pet skunk... um, yeah. I know... go with it.) So, a while back as October 31st drew closer, Jason and I started chatting about THIS year's theme. With an almost two-year-old, a major consideration was what we could actually convince her to wear. Considering "no" is her favoritest of words, we knew we'd have …
5 Ways to Forget About That Stressful Job Search Thing
Are you looking for a job? Do you have a hard time sleeping because you can’t stop thinking about living in a van down by the river? Do you feel guilty when you go to the bathroom because it’s taking you away from the almighty job search? The goal of this post is to give you permission to forget about the whole job search madness for a few minutes. I know, I know, somehow it feels more productive to coerce the universe into giving you a job by worrying, stressing out and doing a lot of frantic busywork. And how’s that working for ya? …
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The Hard Work of Being Optimistic
Labor Day weekend is upon us; the unofficial end of summer that reminds us, “Quit goofing around, it’s time to get back to work.” Perhaps you’ve heard the rumor that unemployment is really, really high. If not, it’s probably because it’s been drowned out by all the other bad news being reported by seemingly every media source. The economy is depressed. Terrorism is on a rampage. And the Earth is melting. (Or is it freezing -- I wish they’d make up their minds.) If you listen to the pundits for too long, you’ll become convinced that we’re living in the worst period of time in the …
When a Mess Is The Last Thing On Your Mind…
I never was one of those boys who were magnetically drawn to mud puddles. That's not to say that I didn't make my share of messes. My Mom only brought out the Play-Doh on special occasions because she knew her post game activity would be picking dried Play-Doh crumbs out of the carpet. These days, I enjoy when things are neat and orderly. But I've been gaining a new appreciation for messes. (I am sure that this in no way has anything to do with me having a 20-month-old.) …
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All You Can Do
I saw someone get really bad news today. It was upsetting to witness. We were walking along the always interesting State Street, Madison's hot spot for fun and folly. This woman in her mid-20s was on her cell phone and it was obvious that she had just received news that would change her life. She stood there devastated, crying and hiding her face from the crowded street, shuddering into her boyfriend's arms. I couldn't help but wonder. What happened? …
Memories Over Messes
Being a mom has been WAY harder than I ever imagined. (Mom, you sure made it look easy!) Amidst many recent moments of second-guessing (the norm for first-time parents of a toddler), I am excited to report that I had a major breakthrough last weekend. You see, it was a perfectly beautiful summer afternoon in Madison. Days like that are the reason I endure Wisconsin's never-ending month of February. …
How to Avoid the Dark Side of Metamorphosis
Have you ever gone through a major metamorphosis? Are you in the middle of one right now? Metamorphosis was the "word of the week" on Sesame Street this week. [Side note: I love how Sesame Street talks UP to kids, challenging them to not only say a five syllable word, but also to understand the meaning. Very cool!] As Elmo explained to Abby in his screechy, glass-shattering voice, "It's a B--I--G change!" Tadpoles transforming into frogs and caterpillars turning into a butterflies were given as examples. As I heard this theme echoed over and over throughout the episode, I couldn't …
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Key West Wisdom #1: Look Up
We recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Key West, Florida. With the little one in excellent hands back home, we had a chance for some good old-fashioned doin' nothing. While soaking up some rays and enjoying the surf, we were hit with some bits of wisdom regarding stressing less and having more fun. So we decided to create a six-part video series sharing some of the thoughts we had while we were in a Key West state of mind. In this first tip, Kim discusses the importance (and benefits) of taking time to "look up" from the busyness of life once in a while. Sign up to …