From the time we are children, we are shown that there is so much more to life than whatever is going on in our sleepy little towns. Whether we are on an adventure with Belle, desperately trying to get on-land…
Bright lipstick. Sequins on glitter on shine. Champagne and dance music. These are (usually) a few of my favorite things. This New Year’s though, I’m just not feeling them. I like holidays a lot. I’m not one to pass up…
*Your problems don’t go away if you ignore them.* I feel like this is a lesson I should have learned already in my life, first as a child, then repeatedly as a teen, and then again as a college student…
One of the most cherished parts of my time teaching freshman English was reading Of Mice and Men with my students. Steinbeck is one of my favorite writers, and I consider his works to be practically timeless. Of Mice and…
I held it together pretty well on the second-to-last day. I felt more like myself than I had all year. I joked with my students, laughed a lot, enjoyed myself. It felt like the fog that had descended earlier in…
I was in middle school in the 2000s, which meant that I got to experience the emergence of “emo” culture. When I was a nerdy middle schooler with no friends, my one desperate desire was to fit in. (God, I…
In an effort to spread beauty, positivity, and joy, I’m going to start highlighting some of the beautiful books I read, or what I like to “Rose-Tinted Reads”. These might be books that tell beautiful stories, share diverse perspectives, are…
Disclaimer: In light of the response I got from my last, more-honest-than-usual post on perfectionism, I’m going to continue in a similar vein this evening. If you are only here for unadulterated positivity, teaching stories, or reading recommendations, I might…
I’ve considered writing to be a near perfect form of catharsis for quite some time. I think this idea stems from the diaries of my childhood. Purple and pink soft-covered booklets filled with terrible sketches of flowers and ramblings about…
Last weekend I survived Ragnar Trail Northwoods 2017. What’s more, I didn’t just survive, I LOVED every minute of it. Ragnar, for those of you who are newbies or are unfamiliar with the term (as I was just a few weeks…