Hey all! I intend to make next year the best year of my life so far, and I’m doing a five-part series about planning that out. Yes, I know it’s a little early for this. But think about it: Best Year Of My Life. The most fun and fulfilling year of my life so far (and I’ve had plenty of

I love doing random acts of kindness for strangers, and one of my favorites is to buy strangers gifts off of their Amazon wish lists. Now, some of my favorite random acts of kindness ideas are free—I have a list of them here. Still, this is a good one. Who doesn’t like a surprise gift, especially if it’s something they already

Hey friends! I did a lot of reading in this past month, and I have great recommendations! Beware the Wild, Natalie C. Parker   I read this for book club the day before book club. I’m not the only one who does this, right? Well, no matter when I started this book, I would’ve read it like I did, in

Over the summer, I got out of the habit of writing posts about what I was reading, probably because I wasn’t reading as much as I should’ve been. But the summer is winding down, and even though it’s been many, many years since I was in school as a teacher or a student, I have that “beginning of fall semester” feeling when you’re

When I teach writing workshops and people share their drafts with the rest of the class for critique, I have a strict rule: you’re not allowed to apologize for your writing. This rule drives some people crazy. They want to make an excuse for why they wrote it or sneak a “I know this is really rough” in there. (Of

When I’m not working on this blog or writing fiction, I’m mostly either sleeping or at my full-time office job. I’ve always worked a lot. When I was sixteen, I started working at a library, 30 to 36 hours a week during the school year and full time in the summer. I worked similar hours through college, though a little

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some tips for doing a Happiness Jar, which I usually do at the end of the day. It’s an evening ritual that’s brought me so much joy, so I wanted to share. I also have a morning ritual, and the title of this post is not mere clickbait. It is factually, objectively, cheesy,