Packet of Wildflower Seeds

My anniversary is approaching. In honor of that, I wanted to write a little about my husband. When I first told him that I was going to start a blog, he said he didn't mind if I sometimes talked about him. I suppose this will be a test of his sincerity! J, as I will call him in the public sphere, went to the Air Force Academy. It was his goal to attend USAFA starting sophomore year of high school. He liked planes, and while he found the design of military jets to be particularly interesting, he thought the prospect of flying them was even more alluring. With the aim of becoming a pilot, J worked to gain his appointment to the academy. He was well into this process when I entered the picture, and our relationship was still new when he learned of his acceptance. I was unsure what distance and a military commitment would mean for our future, but I was very supportive of J. He seemed pretty enthusiastic. A brief emotional withdrawal during my graduation party was the only hint of h...

Things can get a little lonely when you are a parent of young children, especially if you stay home with them. You might not have much interaction with other adults on a daily basis, and your kids are probably not a source of deep conversation. It was this reality I faced when my birthday approached this past spring. I generally do not have high expectations for my birthdays, but I looked forward to getting a few more texts than usual and maybe having a small party with close family members. I hoped the sense of isolation would subside for a bit. That didn't happen. An unexpected number of individuals forgot my birthday. Only one friend checked in with me on the day itself. My mom bought cupcakes, but we didn't eat them together as a family. Due to some incorrect assumptions and miscommunication, there was no party; no one sang to me. I felt a greater sense of loneliness than usual. I'm not the kind of person who needs a lot of gifts, and I dislike being the center of...

My thoughts might look something like this if I paused to record them: I have a moment when the kids don't need my immediate attention and nothing is scheduled. What should I do? I should probably clean. I think the bedrooms need to be vacuumed. Or I could wipe down the baseboards and windowsills. I read that you should wet wipe those once per week. I definitely have not done that. If the kids develop lead poisoning, it will probably be my fault for not wiping the sills often enough. Now that I'm thinking of the house, we have so many projects. Wiring, the bedrooms, stripping and repainting the trim, finishing the bathroom, maybe tearing down the porch. Should we build a deck there? A patio? What would we use the most? How can we make the backyard more user-friendly for the kids? Hmm, maybe I should do something with the kids. Pinterest craft? Music time? Cultural enrichment? I could read them a book about math or science. I wonder if I read enough to N. I feel like I hav...

Last fall, I received an unexpected e-mail from a relative. He asked if I had ever considered writing short stories because he enjoyed reading my social media commentary on everyday life. Truthfully, I had considered writing as a profession. In high school, we were asked to write a journal about potential career choices. I explained that I didn't know what field I wanted to pursue because I was interested in so many different things. I enjoyed writing, but I also really liked science. Other topics caught my interest, as well, including history, architecture, and design. I was afraid if I limited myself to one area, I might get bored. My teacher wrote back that perhaps  I should consider writing for a publication such as National Geographic ; I would have the opportunity to learn and write about a variety of topics, minimizing the threat of boredom. At first, this sounded like a great opportunity to me. I retained it as a possibility for awhile. I remember telling my sister abou...

Before getting together with my husband, I only had one "official" relationship - which didn't last long - and a handful of complicated friendships. I am sure at the time I worried if I would be alone forever, but in hindsight, I see the benefits of starting my first serious relationship when I was more mature. Since I was single throughout most of high school, I had a lot of time to focus on myself and my friendships. This meant that I had a pretty good idea of who I was and what I wanted out of life. If I stumbled, I had close friends who could set me straight. Yes, I wanted to have a boyfriend, but I wasn't so desperate for a relationship that I would pretend to be someone else. I saw plenty of cases where this was not true. In fact, one of my best friends in high school suffered through a terrible relationship. When she met her next boyfriend, she was so happy he treated her well that she spent her free time only with him. Once we graduated, my friend group ne...