Recent Posts
The Iterative, Incremental Method for Improvement
When you look at your life, you might see big problems. Big problems need drastic solutions, right? Not necessarily. Through observation, action, evaluation, and iteration, we can improve almost anything in our lives!
How Women Scholars Manage Stress, Goals, and Self-Care—and How You Can, Too!
Is stress from work and life inevitable? How do you reframe goals and success? What do you do when decisions are mutually exclusive and mutually desirable?
How I Planted My Suburban Yard Garden, How It Grew, and What I Learned (Gardening, Year 4!)
A long, cold spring; a late first frost; new spaces, new flowers, new tools—here's how this year's garden grew!
How To Consciously Be a Role Model in Creativity, Curiosity, and Crafting for Children
I want my children to be creative and curious, to do projects and work with their hands. How do I deliberately and consciously inspire and encourage them? Here are some ways.
Backyard Gardening, Year 4: Spring Planning, Planting, and Improvements
Each year I try to level up a few gardening skills—and this year we have to landscape along a new front fence and incorporate the chickens into our routine!
Ideation, Evaluation, and Iteration: How We Plan Our Lives
How do you design a product, project, business, or your own life? Here are the keys you can use to make options and not get stuck on an 'anchor problem'.
Seasonality and Natural Rhythms: Why Growing and Preserving Your Own Food Matters
Having a garden isn't just a hedge against the End Times. Whether canning jam, fermenting cabbage, or dehydrating tomatoes, here's why the natural rhythm of growing and preserving food is good for us.
Gardening, Year 3: What I Grew and What I Learned in My 200-square-foot Backyard Garden
Every year in the garden is different. I never know which plants will grow well, based on the weather and where they're planted. Here's what happened this year: what grew, what didn't, and what I learned.
Making the Most of Our House with No Unused Space
The average American family uses only 40% of their floorplan—but we're not average! Here's how we make the most of our space, and how you can, too.
Why Watching My Parents Cook Means I Can't Share Soup Recipe—And How I'm Encouraging My Kids to Cook Too
Growing up, I spent many hours swiveling a barstool at the kitchen counter, watching my parents cook. Here's what I learned—and how I'm setting up my kitchen to encourage my kids to learn the same.
Incremental Organization: How We Made Our Garage Better For Playing, Storing, and Working
Every week, we ask: What’s one incremental thing we can do to make our living space work better for us? This week, we tackled the garage.
Why I Left Full-Time Academia and What I Do Instead
A PhD doesn't mean you're stuck with a traditional academic career. Flexibility, family, freedom: Here's how and why I decided to take a different path.
It's Just Fencing: On Approaching Life with Playfulness and Sincerity, Not Seriousness
My fencing coach used to tell me to train hard... but in the end, it's just fencing. It's the paradox of play: real and not real, serious and not serious. Here's how to apply that paradox to the rest of life.
Important But Not Urgent: How I Manage Daily Incremental Routines
Before I had kids, I had a regular morning routine. Now? Mornings don't proceed the same way twice. Here's how I make a routine work anyway and ensure I don't leave important tasks behind.
Freedom Through Constraints: Why Submitting to Rules and Tradition Helps Me Improve
I used to think I had to understand the reasons for rules before accepting and following them. Here's why I was wrong—and how tradition, history, and rules can help you, too.
Backyard Gardening, Year 3: Spring Planning, Planting, and Pests
Starting tomatoes, planting herbs, and preparing for a season of fresh vegetables! But how do we deal with the neighbor's new bunnies?
Gardening, Year 2: What I Improved and How I Planned, Planted, and Harvested My 200-square-foot Garden
Could I replicate year 1's magnificant tomato harvest? Here's what I planned, how it went, and what I learned.
Gardening, Year 1: How I Planned, Planted, and Harvested a 200-square-foot Garden and What I Learned
I used the square foot gardening method to grow flowers, herbs, and tomatoes. I was most excited about tomatoes. If I grew some, the garden would be a success!
Book Review: Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher: A Manual for Christian Dissidents
This book argues that communist totalitarianism is coming to America, soon, and we have to prepare now if we're going to survive. But Dreher isn't nearly worried enough.
Book Review: The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation
This book presents a strategy for Christians living in a post-Christian nation: namely, that we've lost the culture war and need to focus on preserving the light.
Only a Parent Can Understand Love
I thought I knew what love was. Then I had a son and it changed everything. I felt love for the first time, and it was that day that I really grew up and became a man.
How We Live Debt-Free in a World of Chronic Debt
Debt is ingrained in the modern economy, but it’s not the best way to manage money or build wealth. We live debt-free, paid cash for a house, and can maintain our freedom on $20k/yr. How? Read on.
How We Are Intentionally Building Strong Community Ties
Before moving to Idaho, I'd never been part of a strong community. Now, my friends are people I can truly rely on—which is how it's supposed to be! Why is strong community so rare? And how can you build your own?
Adjusting to Life in North Idaho
How I began switching from being a full-time academic in Boston to some mishmash of stay-at-home-mom, scholar, gardener, and writer. Change is a process; here's part of the story.