My Best Books of 2022

I read 28 books in 2022, and that’s a record for me! I set a goal of 25 for 2022, so to meet—and surpass—felt so rewarding.  I’ve always tried to incorporate reading into my routines (#1 rule for being a decent writer: you need to read to write). However, my reading habits ebb and flow…

Separate Vacations: Tennessee and Oregon

We’ve always considered fall and winter to be our downtime since we have fewer jobs. We always stack writing projects for the winter, but they have sporadic deadlines and can be done from anywhere. So we travel!!!! Usually it’s a hello-goodbye tour to see family, but we also sprinkle in fun trips “outside” (outside=outside Alaska).…

Happy 45th Justin!

Guess who wrote this blog post??? JUSTIN!  For my 45th birthday, I thought I would write about one the biggest influences in my life … MUSIC! I estimate that I’ve seen around 400 live concerts, with a few bands multiple times. Music is a way for me to escape, to celebrate with friends, to bring people…

Currently: January

Currently living/working in: As I said, we purposely planned to have a lighter workload while at our cabin in Alaska, instead focusing on other non-paying projects and goals. And yet, we still ended up with a few paying gigs! I completed my first 2 articles for REI and Justin worked on the Valentine’s Gift Guide…

Eastern Caribbean Cruise

We returned from our Eastern Caribbean Holland America Cruise with our niece, Sarah, and we have 2 revelations. 1st Revelation – We like cruising!! This was actually my 3rd, Justin’s 2nd, and truly, we enjoyed. Frankly, how could you not revel in a floating resort where meals appeared and dirty dishes disappeared like magic? Our…

Outdoor Retailer

Our summer nationwide speaking tour truly culminated when we turned the Sprinter van back over to Superfeet, which conveniently happened while we were at Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City. Outdoor Retailer. Let me take this opportunity to write an ode to OR. When people ask us what this semi-annual trade show is all about,…

Pennsylvania/Maryland/DC

If it seems like we are doing more visiting than presenting these days, you hit the nail on the head. We’ve definitely slowed down on presentations as we are hitting the tail end of the tour. And it sure feels like we are just going from one friend’s house to the next. Believe it or…

Visitors in New Mexico

Besides Justin’s mom, who visited in December, we’ve had 3 other brave souls venture into the boonies this past week to spend time with us. First were our kindred spirits: Paul and Kristen. We call them our kindred spirits for many reasons, but mainly because they are just as keen about sleeping in the dirt…

Class of 1996

Last Saturday was my 20th high school reunion. 20 years! I graduated high school 20 years ago. Inconceivable. But I digress. I didn’t love high school. Our nephew just started high school and I worry for him. If I had to repeat high school–especially in this day and age–I would have pigeon-sized butterflies swimming in…