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How I Almost Forgot the Meaning of Thanksgiving…

November 13, 2023

I sent this out Thanksgiving of 2019, in the midst of a lot of chaos. We received so many wonderful comments, I thought it would be worth sharing again. Although I’m very blessed to be hosting family members at my home for Thanksgiving, I almost forgot to be thankful… The plan was to move my husband,…

Happy Halloween!
My Grandma’s Eternal Halloween Departure

October 29, 2023

Happy Halloween! On this peculiar holiday that celebrates death, I thought I would share a very crazy, but 100% true story about my Grandma’s Eternal Halloween Departure. Hey, I’m not the one who invented this holiday! So, if it sounds a little weird to celebrate this story, well… it is. But, death is a natural part of…

Processing Emotions: Why Facing Tough Stuff Hurts and Helps

October 15, 2023

This website is primarily dedicated to optimizing the process of learning. However, learning has no greater roadblock than negative emotions. For that reason, I am planning a series of articles on “emotional intelligence.” Frankly, I’m long overdue to address this topic. But as they say, “hindsight is 20/20.” Several recent situations keep bringing this topic…

Advice from Dad: The Original “Soft Skills”

June 11, 2023

When I was in middle and high school, my dad was home to greet us after school every day. He and I would often drift into long conversations while enjoying a snack together (usually saltine crackers with butter). Looking back, those “cracker conversations” with Dad were my personal “Soft Skills University.” It was during those…

Back-to-School Prep: Pandemic Edition

August 4, 2020

Every year at this time, we usually share our evergreen article, 21 Days to Back-to-School Bliss. I wrote it before I had children of my own, but have since referenced it for 15 back-to-school seasons as a mom.  Yet not one of those seasons has ever compared to this year! Nor does any one of…

A Salute on Teacher Appreciation Week 2020

May 5, 2020

It’s May, 2020. Teacher Appreciation Week is upon us… Where are the words?? During this global pandemic, you shifted on the turn-of-a-dime. There simply is not a way to properly express “appreciation” for what you’ve done for our students. My daughter’s teacher happened to made a social media post last night, expressing a sense of…

When Addiction Changes Your Life Story

December 11, 2019

As the holidays approach, this time of year often amplifies grief. Loss of loved ones, or even loss of “what used to be” becomes more… well, MORE. I doubt anyone reading this has not been impacted by addiction… in some way, shape, or form. Today, I want to share a very important, powerful, and raw…

The Story of Us… and SOAR

June 29, 2019

Today, Brian & I celebrate our 20th (!!) anniversary. I feel like I’m barely older than 20… how is it possible that I’ve been married that long? You may not know Brian, but he has manned the helm of the SOAR Ship for the past eight years. He is the unsung hero behind every product…

The Story of Us… and SOAR
pg. 3 of 3

June 29, 2019

continued from page 2… Eight years later, we are able to pick up that dream, again. This time, we can mold it into something so much more beautiful and “human-friendly,” as we create a secondary school. Something that will redefine the experience of being 14-18-years-old. Something for: our children, their peers, and (God-willing) many future…

The Story of Us… and SOAR
p. 2 of 3

June 29, 2019

continued from page 1… Five years later, the dreams I thought would take a lifetime to achieve, had already come true! (Thanks to lots of support from you and family.) Very soon, it became evident that the child I once thought would get in the way of my dreams, was actually the North Star to…

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