My birthday was a couple weeks ago. 34. I've spent 34 whole years on this planet, and I still don't know what the f I'm doing. In the weeks leading up my birthday and in the weeks since, it's felt like every day presents a stressful obstacle to remind me that sometimes I have to try harder at ... read more
Close Enough: The Enneagram, Therapy, and Meeting Myself for the First Time
In January I spent a week house sitting for my parents while they were out of town. I slept in their bedroom, so I used their bathroom, too. It's pretty big — big enough for me to spread all of my getting-ready stuff everywhere and make a mess that made it seem like it was my permanent residence. My ... read more
To My Unborn Nephews: Advice for Life on the Outside
Hey, guys. It's me, your Aunt Tara. You're still all-up-in-a-belly, cooking away, getting big and strong and ready for life on the outside. I've been watching you grow for months now, and every time you get bigger, I wonder who's in there. Who will you be? What will you love? How will you shine? I ... read more
Me, My Depression, and I
I remember the day I started taking antidepressants. I waited a couple days after picking up the prescription, partially in denial and partially terrified. I was a teacher at the time and arrived at school early, scrambling to get some-sort-of-ready for the day. Sitting at my desk, surrounded by ... read more
The Search: My Fledgling Quest for Answers about Faith, God, and Theology
I have a love-hate relationship with pants. It's usually like 90% hate, 10% love, depending on the pants in question. If you're a generally regular-sized person with a few plus-sized parts, shopping for pants turns into a special kind of torture. My closet is full of high-rise, low-rise, mid-rise, ... read more
Alone Together
"You guys, if I'm still single next year, it's just going to be me, Mom, and Dad on Christmas," I half-whined to my siblings on Christmas morning, 2015. My brother, sister, and their spouses spent the holiday with us, so, I knew that, based on the Rule Book of Married People, they'd be at their ... read more
Space
This year has been super weird. It seems that not a week went by without a bizarre / extraordinary / unfortunate political, social, pop-cultural event dominating my Twitter feed. I listen to and read lots of news from lots of sources, and the amount of confusing, heartbreaking, and/or WTF? moments ... read more
Reminders
This past Christmas my siblings and I gifted my parents with a family photo shoot. The only professional photos we had ever taken were at my brother's and sister's weddings and for the church directory when I still had giant poofy bangs and matched my sister in a checkered suspender dress thing in ... read more
Feeling 32
Today is my 32nd birthday. I know that 32 isn't old by any means, but I think today I'm feeling 32. I'm feeling the weight of another year gone by, incredulously scrawling an extra tally mark next to my name. I'm also feeling the occasional soreness from simple physical activity and instantly tired ... read more
