Author * Speaker
If you’ve been here before you probably know that this summer marked the end of one aspect of our adoption: The hope that The Cherubs would consider us their Mom & Dad. Not their only parents, of course, but equally real to the others. We’ve given it four years of solid effort, but alas, no […]
Read MoreIt’s been awhile, huh? It’s been one of those odd seasons when it would be totally possible to sell you the lie that things are entirely wonderful. By social media standards, we have it all going on: Gorgeous Bathroom remodel! #1 Cherub working at his first job and crushing it! #2 Cherub away at expensive […]
Read MoreToday is our 15th Anniversary! I don’t have any profound words to share about life or marriage right now, but I was looking through pictures last night and they made me laugh, so I thought I’d share them. This is a total highlight reel – no hard things mentioned here. But sometimes it’s good to […]
Read MoreWe got through the weekend! Father’s Day tends to go better than Mother’s Day here, which I think is pretty typical in adoption. You just don’t have the whole Forced replacement of someone I loved who disappointed me factor with adoptive Dads. Instead, Dads are like unicorns – something kids heard might be real but […]
Read MoreSome of you reached out to check on us after my spate of candid posts about things we’re struggling with. I get it. It’s not typical to see this sort of honesty on the internet these days, especially in circumstances like ours where it would be possible to create an alternative reality online, painting our […]
Read MoreOne of my goals is to not hate my life. Inspiring, right? (Watch for my motivational stickers & t-shirts, coming soon!) When I’m in a good place, I shift the language and ask God to help me enjoy my life. This requires a significant amount of Divine help…and some cooperation by me. Remember a […]
Read More#1 Cherub had his PROM. He looked ridiculously handsome, and the weeks leading up to this had some of the highlight moments of my parenting experience. Kudos to #1 – he handled most prom prep on his own. But I got to be there to explain cuff links, consider the merits of bow tie vs. […]
Read MoreYou now how sometimes things are just so awful that you’re overcome with inappropriate giggles and can’t stop? That was this past weekend. And by weekend I mean from last Thursday, through to last night at about 7:27pm. So six days of weekend, with me suspended in that high-pitched, wide-eyed, omigoshthiscannotbehappening state of internal disbelief. […]
Read MoreThank you, thank you, thank you for the stories you shared with me this week. Your comments were SO encouraging. I especially love that we weren’t having a big pity party. Just the opposite, in fact – this became a spontaneous celebration of determination: Things sometimes suck, but we’re all working hard and tying the […]
Read MoreI just realized that Sunday is Mother’s Day. Holy crap, you guys. This holiday? My ongoing nightmare. And it’s not even The Cherubs’ fault. (It will be once the day passes and they’ve done nothing but throw together a magic marker card at 5pm because they saw a commercial on TV and thought, “Oh sh*t! […]
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Trish Ryan 