Personal Blog

A lot of people say that “traveling with kids” is really just “parenting in other cities”, citing it as a reason for not going to the places they want to go.  But …

There are many reasons I love living in Donelson, one of which is our proximity to Donelson Station. It gives us quick, easy access to downtown without having to pay surge pricing …

The author recounts a long weekend trip to the Bourbon Trail with friends, exploring four distilleries and enjoying local cuisine. While not a whiskey enthusiast, she embraced the experience, secure in an …

The recent family trip to South Dakota and Iowa was memorable, particularly as the child was old enough to enjoy and remember the experiences. Highlights included visiting Sioux Falls, Harrisburg, the annual …

The family hosted foreign exchange student Pau, an avid basketball fan, and surprised him with tickets to a Memphis Grizzlies game. Their mini-adventure included exploring downtown Memphis, the Peabody Hotel Duck March, …

I love data. Fitbit stats, banking transactions, attendance rates on my learning sessions at work. I like knowing the hard facts to make data-driven decisions instead of relying on gut feelings. So …

I’ve always been a less-than-adventurous eater; I ate PB&J sandwiches or peanut butter & crackers every day for lunch from Kindergarten through 5th grade. (Not kidding. Not even a little bit.) As …

Do y’all remember when the internet was fun?  Strong Bad. Livejournal. The End of the World. Chat rooms and geocities sites. Web comics and personal blogs. It was a place to find …

Two nights ago, we went with friends to see the 20th anniversary tour of one of my favorite musicals of all time: Rent. Rent is an imperfect play. Its creator died before …

What strange phenomena we find in a great city, all we need do is stroll about with our eyes open.  Charles Beaudelaire Back in 2018, when Justin and I were first planning …

8 years ago I married this stud, formalizing our love and partnership, and so far we’ve enjoyed a beautiful, exciting and sometimes challenging beginning to this lifelong adventure called marriage! We don’t …

We had to recently say goodbye to a dear friend: my ceramic hula man. This hula man was gifted to me for my 16th birthday by my little brother to put in …

Yep. I’m that mom who took a not-quite-3-year-old to see a stage musical. And ya know what? It was a great experience! Those who know me well have heard me sing along …

The stack of postcards has been growing for close to 15 years. I’ve managed to keep them all in a box in one of the plastic drawer sets that have followed me …

I posted this on Facebook yesterday but decided to post it here as well: I don’t even know where to begin. Today was one of the weirdest days, and I am so …

This past weekend, we set up our Christmas tree. Yes, it’s a little early — we’re still days away from gorging ourselves for Thanksgiving, after all – but we bought our first …

One of the ways that the pandemic has affected the way we think about travel is that we’re currently looking for ways to experience a place while actively avoiding people, which sucks… …

For the first time in 511 days, I went to an airport, boarded a plane, and flew to another city. I can’t think of a time in my adult life when I’ve …

Dakota Confusion My 7th grade geography teacher assigned yet ANOTHER diorama, and while I usually relished a fun, creative, easy project like that, I did not relish not getting to choose the …

Traveling can force you into compromising your food habits, especially the bad ones. Sometimes you have no choice but to choke down cold pea gazpacho so you don’t appear rude to your …