It's August, the boys have already been in school for a week, and my productive Mondays have returned. Ahhhh. I am welcoming back my calm energy for rhythm and creating that seems to vacation elsewhere every summer. I love the back-to-school season, as you can tell, and consider this the start of my "creative year." There's so little thinking time, let alone work time, during summers with young kids. Whether it's buying new clothes for the kids, outlining a podcast, or picking a paint color. Over the summer my to-do list gets longer and my mind gets more crowded with... Continue reading

From the Loops and golf carts of our past to the decaying bedspreads and fancy vacuums of our present, today we're chatting about cheap and splurgy spending habits. Plus we share the ways we spend differently than our spouses and our favorite cheap thrills. Mentioned on the show: Kelsey's Wisconsin... Continue reading

Today we're digging into the seven-layer dip of parenting, also known as navigating screen time for kids. We share how our kids are using screens currently, how we evaluate media, and what's on our "nope" list. Plus we bravely look ahead to the teen years and think about we how... Continue reading

A new school year is on the horizon for us already since the boys go back in late July! Our school calendar will now be a modified year-round calendar with school starting in late July, a two-week fall break in October, two-week holiday break, two-week spring break in March, and school letting out just before Memorial Day. I think it'll be a good rhythm for us. Plus it gives the boys more time off during the times of the year when we can be outside. I always look forward to the start of a new school year. I love the... Continue reading

Thank you to the Phoenix airport employee who was so kind to take our photo! Recently I flew with Maeve twice, to and from Minneapolis for our Eau Claire trip. Each flight was about two and a half hours and I was nervous about how it would go. That's a long time to be stuck in a confined area if your toddler is unhappy! I'm happy, and relieved, to report that Maeve was a champ traveler and I truly enjoyed traveling with her. In case anyone else will soon be traveling with a toddler I wanted to share some tips... Continue reading

We're half-way through 2022 so I'm revisiting my goals for the year to see what progress I've made, what I might want to let go of, and to reinvigorate myself for the rest of the year. Word for the year: NOURISH At the beginning of the year I wrote this about choosing nourish: "The idea I kept coming back to is a desire to focus my energy on the things in my life that are the most important and bring me the most fulfillment (family, writing, podcasting, taking care of myself) and simplifying everything else." I also said, "I want... Continue reading

I'm back home in Gilbert after spending a month in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where we bought a house this spring. Before arriving I had never been to Eau Claire and had only been to Wisconsin once before several years ago. I felt a bit lonely and untethered when we first arrived, understandable since I have so much routine, familiarity, and community in Gilbert. But as we prepared to leave I felt sad to go. Chris and I both fell in love with Eau Claire and the surround region as well as our Eau Claire house and neighborhood. Now that I'm... Continue reading

Let's talk about what we're reading this summer! We share our recent reads and what's on deck. Plus we discuss how we know when to abandon a book and what our summer reading habits are like. Mentioned on the show: My Oxford Year The Throne of Glass series Court of... Continue reading

We recently took a short road trip from Eau Claire to spend five days in Madison, Wisconsin. During our stay we had our first HomeExchange experience and it was really positive so I wanted to share a bit more about that. I first heard about HomeExchange from my sister-in-law who's been using HE for several years. She’s had great travel experiences with her family as well as good hosting experiences. Hearing her positive first-hand experience made me feel comfortable trying it out. The cool thing about HE is that you can arrange reciprocal exchanges (you stay in their house, they... Continue reading

here's our house; we think it's so cute! I'm really looking forward to a fresh coat of paint at some point next year / University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus and Rod and Gun Park Yesterday we woke to rain. Glorious rain. When we checked the rain gauge on our deck in the afternoon it read nearly 1.5 inches which is a bit shy of a quarter of our annual rainfall in Arizona. I've become relatively acclimated to the very extreme climate in Arizona and so now marvel at the most mundane weather. We still have two weeks left in Wisconsin... Continue reading

We're sending you a calendar invite to chat about time management. So pencil us in to hear what systems and tools we currently use. Plus the time management challenges we are trying to conquer. End-of-school madness and summer schedules, we are definitely looking at you. Mentioned on the show: Jumbo... Continue reading