When people ask me why I’m staring this blog, I tell them:
I want to help us all switch out the telephoto lens that we are constantly looking through. A wide-angle lens helps us take a deep breath and enjoy a bigger picture of what’s in front of us.
If we can peek out of a different lens periodically, we just might see a view that takes our breath away.
I am an original Jersey girl who ventured out to Seattle for graduate school and somehow never left. I have been married to Dave for almost 30 years, and I am mother to Morgan, Davidson, Tyson, Evan, and Hunter. The last of them is just about to leave teenage years behind. Never one who wanted a big family, I assumed that if I got married at all that maybe I would have a dog. Well, turns out I wouldn’t have had it any other way!
The cover picture for this blog is the reason I have so many stories, and the ages of our kids is the reason I have finally been able to see a bigger picture. Through good times and hard times, things done right (a few) and things done wrong (oh so many), the laughter and the tears…it’s been a great joy to walk this life with them. I love them all with everything I got.
Just a little more…fun facts!
- I am a little competitive. It doesn’t matter if it’s card games, board games, or backyard badminton. Close football games put me over the edge. I’m also a sucker for competitive TV shows, whether American Ninja Warrior, MasterChef, The Voice, AGT, SYTYCD. Don’t judge).
- I spent every summer at the Jersey shore for the first 20+ years of my life. It was wild, but not weird. We tanned like it was our job. The beach is my favorite place in the entire world.
- I am a coffee snob. I like big and bold flavor. Many independent coffees taste muddy to me. Don’t even talk to me about the cans.
- I am seriously in love with summer. I don’t get when people complain that it’s too hot and they can’t wait for fall and they look forward to wearing sweaters. I want to sing about being warm and smelling the sun and wearing flip flops. I have a hard time saying goodbye.
- I am a serious dog person. If I had a lot of money, I would buy land so I could take in rescues and give them a perfect forever home. I have been limited to one dog, however, by everyone who lives in this home with me. Currently, his name is Eli, who I found while volunteering at a local rescue shelter. He is perfect.
- In college, I was persuaded to try out for a “powderpuff” team and by pure accident, I caught a long pass. The guys were cheering and labeling me the best they had. We wound up on TV where I intercepted a pass and scored a touchdown. My football career may only have lasted a couple weeks, but I will remember forever what can happen when people think you’re awesome.
- For over 20 years, I taught wild subjects in a classical school: logic, Latin and rhetoric. I loved teaching and loved my students like crazy. Some of my best memories are from wrestling down logical fallacies with 8th graders. And listening to 12th graders recite great speeches. And having them read their powerful editorials. “Don’t Buy Fake Things” speaks to me still today.
Well, the posts along the way will reveal more. I am so excited about starting this blog that I have thought about for so long. Stories with perspective. The wide-angle view. I would love it if you would follow along.
Wide Angle Lens 