Update on our family shenanigans and other transitions.

It’s time to rethink how I do work. Here’s to embracing “Slow Productivity.”

My approach to goal-setting for 2020, plus my holiday highlights photo album.

In which I talk about When Words Collide, the hierarchy my kids used to survive the weekend (and provide therapy fodder for later), the Adventures of Hagrid and Dumbledore, and purple hair. Also, a sneak peek at what’s coming next ‘round these parts.

In which I discuss the family vacation, progress on The Sphinx’s Heart, and introduce our trip mascots, Hagrid and Dumbledore.

Here’s a secret: We’re all afraid. Every person who succeeds at something has had to confront fear at some point to get to where they are. The trick is to start anyway.

Photo recap of a whirlwind weekend road trip to Seattle, Washington, with a ton of natural beauty along the way.

For some people, the Christmas season is their most difficult grieving season of the year.

Not me. With the passing of Noah's birthday on February 26, I have been descending pell-mell down the slope of anniversaries that bring up bittersweet memories of Levi.

Apparently, getting puppies is how I deal.

When one travels, it is easy to look in wonder at the big buildings, the different customs, the strange food, and wonder, "What is that for? Who made that? Why do they do it that way?"

The truth is, wonderful things are all around us, no matter where we live.

Tiptoeing through time and space back to India, where we made friends for life--and where our love story began.

This might look like greasy, fried Western food, but tonight, it was what relief tasted like. It was the flavour of a small victory after a long and frustrating day. It was safety after about as much adventure as we could handle at once.

I see you there, with your screwed-up face and your well-coiffed hair and your impatient gesture each time someone in the line in front of you dares to order one more thing. I was much like you for many years, and once in a while, I see your eyes looking back at mine from the mirror. May I remember that Kindness is Never Wasted. I hope you learn this, too, my Lady.

So often we think that it is words as sharp and cold as icicles that will sink the deepest. But really, it is love sown through kindness and respect that opens hearts.

Love. Faith. Family. These values will be forever intertwined in my mind. And each one, while grand in theme, can really only be made tangible through individual choices, small acts carried out in small ways each and every day. They are built or destroyed one day at a time.

One of the ways our loved ones chose to bless us in our grieving was to give us money to take a family holiday. We were already planning to take a quick weekend trip so that Jason and the boys could run in the Spartan Race in Westlock this past Saturday. Normally, we would combine that with a weekend stay at relative's, since they are only another two hours away.

But, in light of recent events, we decided to take advantage of our "time away" option and stayed at West Edmonton Mall for three nights in the Fantasyland Hotel following the race.