Celebrate Get Gutsy Week January 19-23! Getting gutsy is all about stepping outside your comfort zone to reach your goals and live a life that makes you truly happy. This post is my entry for Jessica Lawlor’s Get Gutsy Essay Contest. To get involved and share your own gutsy story, check out this post for contest …

Here is some good advice for 2015 (with a little help from Barney Stinson / aka Neil Patrick Harris’ character from “How I Met Your Mother”): Be awesome! I came across this photo and quote this morning.  I loved it.  And I love the show too.  From a writer’s stand point, it’s such a unique, …

Maybe it’s just me. I’m often an exception to the general trendy rule but I’m so sick of seeing people in society put one hand on a hip in every photo they take and share. This goes especially for women and even more specifically for little girls who are the same age as my oldest …

I don’t mean to sound crude but all I really want these days is to “potty” in peace. Yes, potty. There I said it. I know, it’s such a juvenile word for an adult to say but that is my wish. I want to be able to sit on a toilet alone and quietly. I’d …

Over the weekend, I was watching “Bee Movie” with my oldest daughter. This animated film is about an ordinary bee who is trying to determine his long-term career choice. Barry B. Benson, the star bee (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld), struggles with being a follower among his hive. He cannot fathom doing the same job for …

I received the nicest note in the mail about two weeks ago.  It was a total, wonderful surprise from a dear person in my writer’s group.   This is what it said: It was a very short note but those three bullet point statements were so touching.  A wonderful woman, Joetta told me that that I …

About two months ago, I pushed myself to try academic and business writing.  Why not try it, I thought to myself?  I work in higher education.  I work for a business outreach center.  It makes sense.  Still I was nervous. Luckily I found three successful leaders to interview and gain insights from – they helped …

Many people think December is the craziest time of the year.  For us, it seems to be the month of October.  Our family absolutely loves the Fall season – cooler weather, various shades of leaves (red, gold, brown, etc.), lots of festivals, fairs, pumpkin recipes, pumpkin patches and the birth of my first pumpkin daughter …

I keep this small quote book in my bathroom.  This particular one is “Positive Quotations” and it has a page for all 365 days in the year. I don’t read it every day, just whenever I remember to glance at it or whenever I feel like I need a little bit of a spiritual boost.  …

Whew, what a wacky week!  Ants, missing keys, lost power and clean closets sum up the majority of the past several days. I locked my keys in my cars at work on Tuesday evening.  I hadn’t done that in years!  I was parked across the campus and had to call a co-worker to come pick …