The Writer and the Wrench

It’s a beautiful Thursday morning. The sun is semi-shining, the AC is blasting, and I’m up peacefully sipping my coffee. There’s only one thing lacking: Vacation Financial Hangover. About 7 years ago, Brent and I went through a Crown class that began our road to true financial literacy and freedom. But, it wasn’t until our 13 week experience with Dave Ramsey’s FPU a year later, that we dramatically changed our day-to-day relationship with money. There are so many things I could expand upon, and eventually will, but my focus this morning as I reflect is on our recent vacation. The idea is simple: pay before you play. Brent and I…

Her mother,Punctilious and overbearing,Picked her apartLike a carburetor.She cut off her fuel supplyLoosened her screwsRemoved her float and jets,All the things that helped keepHer head above water,And gave them a scrupulous cleaning. But she left the pieces out to dryAnd demanded her daughterPut herself back togetherSo that the family car could runWithout complaintAnd free from criticismFrom the outside world.If not, her clock would getCleaned again. Sometimes, water is thicker than blood.

If you haven’t watched the Netflix documentary, Minimalism, you should. It’s only a little over an hour, but the wealth of information and inspiration packed into it is worth more than that small cost of time. We are a culture who loves stuff. I’ve always struggled with clutter in my space. When I was younger, it was because every item I owned was a treasure to me. My mom would savagely go through my room when I went off to summer camp and I’d come home to Mapleton Drive. At first I was upset she took some (half) of my belongings without asking, but her argument was that I wouldn’t even notice…

Every time I listen to “Center Aisle” by Caedmon’s Call, I weep. It’s been fifteen years since I received one of the worst phone calls of my life. I was only nineteen at the time, living in an apartment in Lynchburg with my youngest brother. When the phone rang that day, I picked it up, my dad on the other end. And you just know when things are not okay. There wasn’t time for pleasantries. I still remember the words very clearly: “Beverly, someone in your class has died.” I knew he meant my high school class. The class of 2000. My class. The class of only 14 other students. My family. My mind raced…

This morning I woke up with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. It’s a stark contrast to the mornings I wake up feeling like a 500 pound weight is resting on my chest. Those are the days I feel I can only be thankful for the 150 milligrams of happy to help me cope. It’s hard to keep your heart in a constant mode of gratitude, but it’s one of those attitudes that produces contentment and joy, something the world could use more of. Instead, we are under a constant state of blitzkrieg with messages of items we simply must have. We need to upgrade the old. We need the biggest…

If you are reading this entry, it means that you are one of my faithful subscribers. If you make it to the end, it will be because you’re sitting in a waiting room with nothing else to do, you actually care about me, or you find it a challenge because I’m betting you won’t read the whole thing. Why? Because it’s going to be long. It’s also going to sound like my thoughts vomited onto the keyboard, and I most certainly am not going to end up where you think I’m going. Instead of A to B to C, I go A to -37 to purple fire hydrant. So, where to…

It’s New Year’s resolution time, and that typically means it’s time to recycle my list from last year: Exercise at least five times a week. Eat clean. Read more books. If you’re a task-oriented dreamer like me, you enjoy creating your goals. Nothing brings more satisfaction than making that list and picking the items off one-by-one in front of the firing squad. And if you’re melancholy like me, you will also find yourself feeding your shredder that same list around day 23 as you ride the elevator up to the penthouse of defeat, personal pan pizza in one hand and twitter feed in the other. One thing is for sure.…

Tomorrow is August, and that means school is just around the corner. Have you ever wondered what keeps a teacher from crossing the crazy line of sharpening pencils to sharpening children’s fingers? It’s as simple as a little gardening, and below are the tools to help you have healthy, productive relationships. 1. Start the beginning of the year with a token that lets your child’s teachers know that you are cheering them on. This can be something as simple as a notecard of encouragement or as lavish as a gift. A little encouragement goes a long way, especially when a teacher is overworked, underpaid, and always a pencil snap away from…

If you are an introvert, you know all too well the labels given to you by the “others.” You’ve been called “stuck-up,” “snobbish,” “standoffish,” “intimidating,” and maybe even “narcissistic.” And if you’re an introvert, you’ve also obsessed and agonized over what these words mean, who said them, the tone that conveyed the message, the context in which they were said, what that person was wearing when they said them, if the person is a back, belly, or side sleeper, could you take them in Street Fighter, … But you also know that none of these labels are true. The truth is that you just don’t need people like other people need…

It was my seventh wedding anniversary yesterday and I struggled to find a gift for my husband. By struggle, I mean, the seven minutes I spent looking felt like seventy. Usually we keep it pretty low-key. When we first got married, we went out to dinner to celebrate, but we’ve never really exchanged gifts. Come to think of it, I’m not sure why we don’t exchange gifts. My love language is gifts so I’m pretty sure that wasn’t mydecision. Well, this year I had a little jingle in my pocket and I wanted to get something for him as a small token of how much I appreciate the self-sacrificing man he…