Some Reflections on Serving an 18-Month Mission in a Foreign Country

Ten years ago yesterday, I wheeled my two suitcases into the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, said goodbye to my family for a year and a half, and began what will surely remain forever as one of the greatest adventures of my life–the chance I had to serve a religious mission for 18 months …

Negotiating Like a Ninja + “That’s Depressing as Frome” {Self-Assigned Reading, Winter Term}

If you’ve been following any of my posts recently, you might already know that this is the term of self-assigned reading that very nearly did not happen. Like, at all. In fact, there were several points throughout the last month when I was seriously tempted to just call quits on the whole thing (this “whole …

Why Tracking My Net Worth Has Been a Game-Changer (& Why I Think Everyone Should Do It)

If you would have asked me what associations I had with the idea of tracking my net worth a few years ago, I might have told you that it conjured up images of Prince John in the Disney movie Robin Hood–in other words, someone who greedily counted every coin and dollar and was constantly thinking …

Products and Books I'm Enjoying in March 2023

Loving and Learning Lately {10}

Welcome to Round 10 of this new little series I started of all the things in life I’m loving and learning lately! Here you’ll find everything from the books I’m currently reading to the products I’m loving to the shows I’m watching (which, spoiler alert–won’t be very many or very exciting, since I’m not a …

How Not to Be Closed-Minded About Food {Or, Thoughts on Cooking Through a Whole Cookbook}

A long time ago (okay, about six and a half years ago), I went on a cruise to Alaska. Each night, we went to the formal dining room for a multi-course dinner, and I came face to face with a truth I had never considered before: I was a LOT pickier than I thought I …

2019 List of Home Updates We Hope to Tackle

(Today’s post inspired by In Honor of Design’s similar post) A funny thing happened once we become homeowners for the first time—the first couple months, we were all gung ho about DOING ALL THE PROJECTS, and we got a ton of painting done, the majority of the unpacking completed, and a bunch of work done …

Muvvy the Elf, Back Problems, & a Christmas Surprise {December in a Sentence a Day}

If you’re new around these parts, this monthly series is an exercise in brevity as I try (but not very hard) to summarize each day of our month in one sentence. (Also, I’ve been taking a picture of my daughter–and now my son, too–every day since they were born, and this is a GREAT place …