Welcome to the Gong Show

<!-- wp:cover  I was aimlessly scrolling Instagram stories the other night and came across the most perfectly executed story highlight of an influencer’s Sunday moment with scripture. There was spiritual music softly playing in the background, strategically highlighted sections of a Bible and a grammatically perfect  “random thought” that really struck her that morning....

“She Woke Up Early, But Didn’t Know Why.” Submitted by @carolannboutique

She woke up early, but didn’t know why. She laid  motionless in the dark. What woke me up? She wondered. The house was quiet. She closed her eyes—not to fall back asleep, but to do the mental checklist.  Hudson’s room was right below her. His Google was off. The story he asked it to play...

“Just Sitting and Waiting, Again.” Submitted by @rachellep_

Just sitting and waiting, again. I survey the waiting room. This is my first time at the clinic since our move. To think, just a couple of days ago I was overjoyed at the thought of coming to this appointment. That had all changed when the spotting started. We moved our family of four—soon to...

“You Have Pancakes Every Day.” Submitted by @annypmk

“You have pancakes every day.” He chides. I stop. The forkful of pancake is dripping with maple syrup hovering in front of my recently injected lips. I watch a trickle of syrup slowly slide from the pancake to the fork and end in a pool on the white linen table cloth. “Does that bother you?”...

“Oh crap! I completely forgot…” Submitted by @traceewllik

Oh crap! I completely forgot my green bag. Our brand new bungalow was modest, but it had a lovely kitchen. The perimeter was lined with ceiling-high espresso colored cabinets and the stainless steel Kenmore Elite appliances added a fun industrial splash to the modern decor. We had a large island in the middle and last...

“It is Pitch Black. I Feel the Leaves Crunching Under My Bare Feet.” Submitted by @mmbuchholz

It is pitch black. I feel the leaves crunching under my bare feet. I wish I had worn shoes. The darkness is quickly turning to gray as the promise of dawn approaches. It isn’t as early as you’d think—likely pushing seven or seven-thirty instead of the four or five in the morning you’d think because...

“What is Something That You Fear the Most?” Submitted by @theropeswithlinds

“What is something that you fear the most?”  I cringe the second the words come out. It is quintessential me to ask something like that to someone I hardly know—kinda weird, kinda deep. But that’s me. Kinda weird. Kinda deep. I keep the friendly, flirty smile plastered on my face and hope he doesn’t see...

Smile–Brilliantly.

I’ve got a thing about teeth. How about you? Are they deal breakers for you? They sort of are for me. I know, that should make no sense considering I married a hockey player but he has all of his. He did take a puck to the mouth about three months before our wedding, chipping...

Diary of a C-Section Mama: Red Chucks

The epidural was done and the glorious drug was making a slow crawl through my body, numbing me from the waist down. Kurtis was nowhere to be found and I was lying on my back enjoying the warmth of all the blankets they’d brought for me in the ice cold operating room. The excitement of...

Nailed It

I have a confession—I don’t like getting my nails done. I don't like it so much that I've perfected doing my own nails at home. I'm going to teach you how to as well--in case you're like me. I know this is probably a rather unpopular opinion, but I’m not someone who looks forward to...

Diary of a C-Section Mama: Stand Up, Sit Down, Fight, Fight, Fight!

Shocked, I looked at the nurse with my best Scarlett O'Hara brow. “You’re kidding, right,” I asked her. “No. You’ll be fine,” she assured me. Easy for you to say, I thought to myself, you weren’t just hacked in half.  I had delivered Tia via c-section only a few hours earlier and I was struggling...