
We Just Disagree
Music feeds my soul. Songs play in my head around almost every memory, and I turn many conversations into brief impromptu musicals. ...

Day 31: Prologue
02/07/18 Task: Write about finishing Here it is—day 31! I’m so excited to have completed this challenge. Here’s a list of the things I...

Day 30: The complicated truth about parenting
02/06/18 Task—Write about innocence Because Beck needed a short five-hour stay in the NICU and I needed a little extra time to get my...

Day 29: Embrace the season
02/05/2018 Day 29 Task—Write what you know After Peyton Manning’s final Super Bowl win in 2016, it seemed as if everyone had an opinion...

Day 28: Let them dream big
02/05/18 Day 28 Task—Write your own eulogy. I took a different direction and wrote about dreams. A portrait of Dwight Eisenhower was...

Day 27: Work does not define us
02/03/2018 Day 27 Task—Write about work Since 2003, I have defined myself first as a teacher. Introducing myself to people as an English...

Day 26: Finding potential inside of disappointment
02/02/2018 Day 26 Task—Write about disappointment. I stood alone in the middle of the mountain trail, blisters the size of half dollars...

Day 25: My beachy dream
02/01/2018 Task—Write about travel When I was 21, I felt the ocean on my feet for the first time. It was Spring Break 2002, and I joined...

Day 24--Forming a habit
01/31/18 Day 24 Task—write without adverbs (specifically not, so, that, really and their -ly friends) Running is my favorite form of...

Day 23: The joy and disgust over messy endings
01/30/2018 Day 23 Task—Write the ending Frank Stockton’s short story “The Lady, or the Tiger?” has one of the most unsatisfying endings...

Day 22: Fear of what is to come
Task—Write about fear We recently moved a twin-sized bed into my two-year old’s room (He’s almost 2.5). His room has enough space we...

Day 21: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Task--Confession I’m from Kansas[1]. I love being from Kansas, and I am constantly on the lookout for K-State and KU apparel, so I can...

Day 20: What they brought me . . .
Today's task is to write about justice in a way that stirs the heart. When Vanessa entered my classroom the first time, her face was...

Day 19: Know when to fold 'em
Today's task--Take on someone else's voice. From the minute I pulled in the parking lot at the senior center, I could see things were...

Day 18: Waiting
Day 18— Today's task was to write about waiting. Because I'd eventually like to draft a work of fiction, I decided it was a good time for...

Day 17: Life lessons from SNL
The Task was to pick a fight. Not sure I really did that. Is there a saying out there that goes something like, "It was as anticlimactic...

Day 16: Where does my hope come from?
Day 16, Take 2 (It took two drafts to get this one written) Today's task is to write about hope. 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts revere...

Day 15: Evaluating my performance so far . . .
Day 15: Today's Task is to evaluate where I am with the 31-day challenge. Is this challenge igniting something within me? It's been...

Day 14: When food is home
Today's Task: Write about food When we pulled up to the old garden center near the ice rink in Boxborough, Massachusetts, we exchanged...