Recently I was in North Carolina for a conference and was able to spend some time with my family. As is a standard summer tradition we all woke up early one morning and drove out to Wilmington to spend the day at the beach. No matter how old we get one of my favorite past times with this group of cousins is to swim out into the ocean and ride the waves. We play games, talk about our lives, and try not to get knocked over by the swells. On this particular Sunday we wound up pl

It wasn’t my first massage. Growing up my mom would often take us to the Arizona School of Massage Therapy for five dollar massages from students who didn’t really know what they were doing yet. It also wasn’t the first time that I had experienced something new, if you will, while getting a massage. During a couples massage once, the therapist found it funny to tickle my boyfriend. Another time no matter how many ways I explained that I was in actual physical pain, the therap

Did you know that St. Catherine is from Siena, Italy? Did you also know that they house her mummified face and finger in their main Duomo? Siena is full of relics, monuments, and statues. Many of which reflect their fear of the Florentines. The Sienese cherish their culture and heritage. A lot of their city is designed to mimic the trappings of Roman culture. Throughout the city you can find statues and frescoes depicting the wolf that nursed the babes of Remus and Romulus. R

I love control. Like, looooove control. I want to have a clear cut, time stamped, annotated plan for every minute of every day. To do lists are my heroin. The unknown is my greatest foe in every capacity. I find calm in setting small achievable goals for myself rather than attempting to think about the future and all of the work that will need to be done. Recently I've been in a season of change, which is not something that I deal with well. I've been grappling with that all