Recently in the afternoons, while my younger two nap, I’ve been listening to the most popular TED talks of 2015. TED talks are so great, they’re relatively brief but pack in so much new information and perspectives that challenge you to think in new ways. Since I started this new habit, when Tom comes home from
It was my idea to name our third baby after his daddy. And, ugh, that sentence is an example of how confusing it can be to have two people in your family with the same name. Saying “…to name Thomas after Tom” sounds convoluted. So far we’re calling the baby “Thomas” or more often “baby Thomas.”
I’ve mentioned before that Tom doesn’t really love dessert. That’s just one way he keeps such a trim frame of mostly sinew and muscle. He does love my homemade blackberry pie, though. I made it for Easter and figured I should share the recipe here since it’s probably the most complicated recipe I use that’s really “mine.” Here’s the
My mom mentioned the other day that the leaves were beautiful at home — one of the prettiest falls she can remember. It occurred to me that now that I live in Richmond, a relatively flat city, I miss out on the fall colors in the mountains. When I was growing up I took the
Before I begin this story, I think it’s important to note that it happened on my birthday. There are a lot of other qualifiers I wanted to include, but I decided that was the most important one, because if I’d been at a spa getting a facial and a massage this would have never happened.
Guest post from Tom: When we were dating I used to write Amanda letters all the time. On our five-year anniversary, I wrote her a letter. She always writes blog posts encourage friends and family and tell them how much she appreciates them, so instead of just writing her a letter, I decided to write
Right after Tom and I got married, we went to Costco and stocked up on some things. We bought a big thing of paper towels and a box of Ziploc bags that had several individual boxes of three different sizes of Ziploc bags. Five years, one cat, and two kids later we’ve finally run out
I have so many questions about the idyllic 1950s housewife. Is the Betty Draper housewife a myth? Or when husbands came home from work, did their wives really greet them at the door with a kiss wearing heels and lipstick? And then did they all sit down to dinner in their tidy home, with their
It’s 8:57 p.m. on Saturday night and Tom is trying to rock Mary Virginia to sleep. My best efforts weren’t working, so he’s taking a turn. “I’m done,” I said when I walked out of her room. When I’m tired and I’m frustrated, he takes over, and that’s when I’m most thankful that I’m part
Before I show you Tom’s Father’s Day gift, I want to give you a window into his personality. You know that ice breaker question: what you would do if you won a million dollars? Usually the conversation goes to vacations, big houses, live-in maids, and live-in maids who clean vacation houses. When I ask Tom