(Or why my family had four reunions… but for all the wrong reasons) This year has been rough. Like, the kind of rough where you look up in November and realize you’ve been to more funerals than birthday parties. Since March, we’ve lost four family members and a friend — all to illness or old…
FAMILY
Life Lately
Life lately has been a mix of chaos, loss, and small blessings. Taking it week by week and finding comfort in little moments with the kids. New post on the blog — a short update from the heart.
Bookish Crafts for Teen Readers (And Their Moms)
If you’ve read my earlier post about raising a reader and choosing clean, age-appropriate books, you’ll know that my teen has recently fallen in love with reading—and I’m all for it. We don’t have the biggest space at home, so instead of collecting expensive decor or gadgets, she’s been building a small personal library filled…
How to Apply for a Marriage License in Los Angeles
Planning to get married in LA? Whether you’re eloping at the courthouse or hosting a full wedding with all the details, the first legal step is applying for a marriage license. Here’s a full guide based on our own experience — from online application to a quick, beautiful ceremony. Step 1: Complete the Online Application…
Free Printable Feature: Reading Tracker Bundle for Kids and Teens
I’ve shared about how my daughter became a reader, and one thing that really helped us along the way was having some kind of structure—and a visual reminder—of her progress. She’s super visual and loves checking things off, so I made a simple reading tracker bundle we could print and stick on her wall or…
Clean Books for Tweens: A Journey from Comics to Chapter Books
If you’re looking for clean books for tweens that are actually engaging, especially for visual learners, I get it. My daughter used to feel overwhelmed by long chapter books. She’d look at a thick novel and instantly say, “Too many words!” So we stuck with comic books and graphic novels for a while—and honestly, that…
