The toughest thing about Wisconsin life for me is icy winter days that keep me indoors. We’ve had, on the whole a pretty mild winter, and last week February seemed to forget that it was winter all together and we hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit–an all time record! But we’ve gone back to our regularly…
Category: Move
Making & Using a Standing Desk
One aspect of the writing life that can be challenging is all the sitting. In my most glamorous writing dreams it’s sitting at a wrought iron round table at some French Bistro all morning with espressos and leather bound journals, and in the more realistic version it’s sitting in the corner of a bedroom…
Escape to the River: Milwaukee & Paris
I am not really a city girl. Outside of my infancy in San Diego, the only other time I’ve lived in a city proper before this year was the summer I spent in Paris after my sophomore year. I haven’t accrued a lot of hard-earned urban wisdom. But the lesson that I’ve…
Walks in the Woods with Friends, the Rhythm of the Ordinary and Extraordinary
During our month in Atlanta, I continued to slowly work through (and very much enjoy) Alan Jacobs’ biography of CS Lewis, The Narnian. Like all good biographies, this one is also a great deal about the time and place of the person, and Lewis’ early 20th century England and Ireland are fascinating. One…
On Risk & Beauty: Hiking Blood Mountain, Georgia
With the exception of golf courses, the northern suburbs of Atlanta is a difficult place for someone who loves to walk. In particular, where we’re staying there aren’t a ton of sidewalks connecting one strip mall to another industrial park. Instead, sidewalks sort of start and stop around housing developments, or are only…
Lent, Coffee, Moving & Anxiety
It is Lent. I want coffee. It is winter. I want spring. It is unsettled. I want routine. But here we are, at the tail-end of winter, at the very beginning of Lent, a week and half into the adventure of Wisconsin. There is sometime so very physical and embodied about Lent…
Walking in the Winter: What Clothes to Layer in the Bitter Cold
Originally, I didn’t think that I needed to post about investing money in walking, because walking is cheap: go outside in some comfortable shoes and clothes, and walk. But now that the polar vortex is dipping down again, and Maryland is acting like Wisconsin, the clothing necessary to be “comfortable” when it’s 10 degrees…
6 Reasons I Love Long Walks
reason one :: walking & stories For as long as I can remember, I have loved to walk and think of stories. It seemed so natural to me, that I was surprised to discover early on in marriage, that Evan did not do the same thing. He, if left with open time on a walk…
Getting Good Sleep: Routines and Resources for a Good Night
Sleep is one of those things that you don’t think about much until it’s gone. But when a big event is looming, a stressful season strikes, or sickness robs you of your z’s, suddenly sleep becomes an important riddle to unravel. But, like they told you in high school psychology, sleep truly is still…
The Cultivated Life: Reflections on Rocks & Tree Roots Part One
Last week I was invited to share at my church’s women’s ministry brunch on their theme for the year: the cultivated life. It was a sweet time of reflecting together on the tree metaphors in the book of Colossians and how we’re growing through the hard things we face. I would like to continue…
A Defining Retreat – Deciding to Leave Grad School
Church retreat weekends have always had a special place in my heart. I love the change of scenery and being in nature. I particularly love the way that being apart from the routine seems to stretch time. It allows you to look back on yourself and your life in new ways. Each spring, our…
A Moving Meditation, yoga and prayer
On vacation my mom, sister-in-law, and I will often do yoga together. My mom goes to yoga classes a couple times a week at home, and she is a good sport about trying my routines. Our exercise time in Yellowstone last week was mostly devoted to hiking, but we did squeeze in a quick…
Creative Movement
Ballet has shaped how I think about exercise and movement. My experience with ballet was marked with beauty and strength, focus and challenge. And that’s how I want to move now. I want to move within beauty. I want to grow stronger. I want to learn to focus, control, and challenge both my mind…
Making Time to Rest
Seven Springs ago, when Evan and I were falling in love, we spent a lot of time outside walking, picnicking, and just being out in the sunshine after the long Illinois winter. One of our best early dates was to the gorgeous local arboretum. That summer when he visited me in northern Wisconsin,…