i love you so much

I have only been away from my daughter for a little over twenty-four hours, but my heart is completely hurting in her absence. While everyone says to enjoy the mommy break, I find myself wishing to hear her sweet voice whispering "Mommy,  I love you so much" as she cuddles into my arms. I need …

four and a half years ago

It's inevitable that life is going to change.  It has to, right?  I mean each day we not only get older and wiser, but we also learn from past mistakes or take chances that we used to be too scared to take.  Some days we wake up and know exactly what to expect, while other …

i’ve been staring at the edge of the water long as i can remember, never really knowing why.

Since my first birthday over thirty years ago, I have been lucky enough to have spent at least one of my summer weeks relaxing in my favorite vacation spot, Stone Harbor, New Jersey. After spending my early years boogeyboarding in the ocean and building castles in the sand, I came to find this small beach town …

it’s been a while

Where do I even begin?  I should start by saying "Hello!", just in case there is anyone who is actually out there reading this.  It's been quite a while since i wrote on this blog of mine.  In all honestly, that was also a very different world when it comes to blogging as it seems …

but loving him was red.

Let's play a little game.  I'll say a word and you say the first word that comes to your mind. Ready... RED. Now some of you may say words such as "apple", "wine", or "shoes". Others may say "roses", "hearts" or "lipsticks". Me, and Taylor Swift, we would say "Love".  Love is Red.  Red is Love.  Love …

o-h-i-o, i-m-i-s-s-y-o-u.

If home is truly where the heart is, then Ohio will always be home. Lately, as the thirties continue to make me more maternal and sentimental than I ever imagined being, I've been realizing more and more that my heart has been stranded there since I relocated to Chicago nearly five years ago. And after a …

the in-between: that phase between engaged and babies

More now than any other time in my life (thus far), I am completely aware of the transitional periods that life throws upon us.  For example, those few months between college graduation and "the real world" presented many challenging moments for me as I tried to figure out those inevitable questions "Who am I?" and …

yes, yes, yes!

When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. (Nora Ephron) Sixteen months ago to the day, I found myself on an A*MAY*ZING first date with a guy I met the week before at a country bar on …

the past thirteen months.

A few weeks ago, my dad asked me, "Do you still have your blog?" I answered with a strong "yes", but then found myself explaining (aka making excuses) that while I have a blog, it's not necessarily something that I would classify it as an active blog. And for those of you who have read …

i’m not in kansas, that’s the one thing I know for sure.

For the past two weeks, I've been telling myself to Just blog it out.  That used to always make you feel better.  But the truth is, I've stared at this screen many nights trying to do just that and absolutely nothing comes out.  There's no image of motivation, or song lyric for inspiration.  No title …