Getting through post-holiday blues

Welcome to 2019 dear friends, family, and fellow-people! Christmas is my favorite holiday: it's filled with joyful memories, cheerful celebrations and it really just feels like a magical time. Moving into the new year after a time of festivity and time-off can be challenging. The weather may or may not be damp, cold or dreary …

Being okay with the everyday

I can hear laughing in the background.  Well, not really. I can imagine laughter in the background. Why? To be honest, I am not always "okay with the everyday". While from my exterior I might simply appear sweet and kind (which sure, I am), I am actually a highly competitive person, too. A cabled sweater I …

The wonder that is Christmas

Christmas has always felt special to me. As a child I lived in a very snowy area of the US and enjoyed the winter every bit as much as the other seasons. Each day after school I would excitedly bundle up in my many layers of pants, snow pants, sweaters, coat, mittens, scarf, hat, and …

Sleeping in the car the night before my interview at Yale

Aren't road trips great? A few years ago I drove out to Connecticut for an interview at Yale. I know, crazy. What was I doing there? I was a somewhat non-traditional college student, starting my studies in my mid-twenties, instead of the typical late-teens. The first two years of my four-year college education began at …

Christmas around the corner

Christmas is really coming up fast. Thoughts of fir trees, red bows, and holiday baking have been dancing in my head. While autumn is my favorite season of the year, Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. I know it's still a bit early to get going on some  of my Christmas preparations. It's definitely not …

Time apart bringing us close

Last night was the first night I spent away from my daughter since she was born two years ago. It wasn't exactly a vacation, as I spent the night in the medical clinic. No worries, though! Nothing terrible happened, unless you can call being hooked up to about 25 or 30 wires all night terrible. …

Thanksgiving thankfulness

At the moment I am sitting in my favorite chair, a comfortable wooden rocker with brown paisley print upholstery on the cushions. The floor lamp is casting a warm light over my shoulder, and my daughter's red, plastic slide and polka-dotted tent and tunnel are situated casually in front of me on the floor. Outside …

Fall leaves, fallen and beautiful

Fall leaves. I just love them. I love them on the trees, brilliant and gorgeous warm hues. I love them fallen, soft carpets of color, shining jumbles of nature's gold. I love them fragrant, the smell of earthy decay. Fall leaves. I just love them. I love them crunchy, crumbling on the ground. I love …

Somewhere under the rainbow

While driving home today I saw a big, soft rainbow spreading across the sky right in front of me. It seemed as if the colors brightened as I drove, because the realization that it was there came on slowly. It made me start thinking: isn't it better to be somewhere under the rainbow, after all? …

Slovenija: reflections

It's October. This is the month when I moved to Slovenija all of... 14 years ago. It's staggering to me that it's been so long since I moved there and so long since I've moved away. It feels like a lifetime ago, and also like a moment ago, all at the same time. There are …