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Our First Official Family Vacation
In the 10 years since Jonathan and I became parents, we’ve never taken a real family vacation. By vacation, I mean to drive away from our home to another location, see an attraction or two, and sleep there at least one night before driving home. And hopefully, something that in no way resembles National Lampoon’s Vacation. At the end of last year, we talked about an eventual road trip to either Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, or (ambitiously) both. Knowing how far those destinations are from our home, and knowing our children, I suggested that we start smaller, considering that the kids have trouble getting along for the two-minute car ride…
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Two Years of Updates: Reading, Writing, and other creative outlets
I feel like this is a confession. My name is Brandi. I’m a writer, and it’s been two months since I last published a blog post. It’s my longest gap since launching this site two years ago. Has it really been that long? Lately, I’ve been reflecting on where I was in life two years ago. I was just starting to write again because of a burning desire inside I could no longer ignore. I was haunted by past heartache from which I’d never properly healed. I was depressed, anxious, restless and an insomniac. I was also exhausted from the “perfect” facade I’d been presenting that was finally crushing me.
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Living with Ulcerative Colitis
Today, May 19, is World IBD Day. For the first 20 years of my life, I lived blissfully unaware of the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC). Sure, I’d heard of stomach upset, suffered through childhood digestive woes and stomach viruses, but I didn’t know there was anything more than the ever-fleeting “nervous stomach” term I’d been assigned as a kid. Those first days of school tummy jitters, the clamminess before big tests or speaking in front of the class, the waves of nausea after making an ass of myself in front of my crush, etc. I took an acid-reducing medicine while in 11th grade and the occasional half-tablet…
