Do you ever have noise in your head? Not words or even murmurs, just static instead.  A grainy, migrainey tight-templed feeling, that leaves me wanting to do, but only reeling.  The sound is loud and my anxiety is taut Like there’s no room for real thought inspiration-seeking creates the noise a punishment for vain, forced …

I like to review books before I’m finished reading them…or so my conversations tell me. I began reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic this weekend and it’s become the epicenter every discussions of mine in the last 24 hours. So to dodge the possibility of me ranting about her book for a prolonged period of time, …

I’m thankful. Yes, so thankful, but ever thankful enough? Probably not. I read (or attempted to read) a book by Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. The book goes kind of like the title, a little to flowery and verbose for my liking. But on Amazon, Voskamp’s book …

Friday 8/7 On Friday I touched down at 6:45 a.m. in Paris, after sleeping off and on for a total of four hours. I fully planned on grabbing a nap in the afternoon, but somehow Sara toured me around Paris and I stayed awake until 10:30 p.m. Sara picked me up in the French equivalent …

I have stories I should be working on, but it’s a Saturday! I started feeling bad for myself on this three-hour layover at Chicago O’hare…then I recalled these golden tickets we received in the mail not long ago. Admiral’s Club passes. I dug into my wallet and found one, and got more excited than anyone …

So this weekend was super long and wonderful, yet no longer than most weekends. The only thing not wonderful was that husband o’ mine was away at a meet in L.A. But when Matt’s away, Annie will play! At home. All alone. And that’s perfectly OK with her. I really cannot remember the last time …

tolerant ˈtäl(ə)rənt/ (adjective) Showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.  Tolerance is a word I hear preached nearly everyday. Civilization would not exist without tolerance. We tolerate people we find annoying, offensive, argumentative, lazy, disturbed, the list goes on.  At what point does tolerance become apathy? In …

I’m 27 now. We have a wedding to attend every month it seems. Then some of my friends are a few years ahead of me and have birthed some babies. I say that very nonchalantly, but there is nothing nonchalant about becoming a mother. I have watched their faces change as their worlds change. Bringing …

When swimmers get serious, the word “quit” is thrown out of their lexicon. So when swimmers finish out their collegiate or professional careers they obviously do not “quit.” They retire. After learning my husband Matt swims, folks outside of the swimming world ask if I also swim…then they laugh at my response. “Yes, I did. …

Honor Your Team With Your Effort. Those were the six simple words former UA head coach Frank Busch hammered into our minds when we were trudging through self pity halfway through the season. Or when we were atop a block making a sight between our hands as we reeled in a swimmer on our relay. …