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Candid Chris
Michelle: When I was teaching third grade, one of the assignments I gave my students was to create and write about their own superhero. One of my students, wrote about Buttered Toast Man. A three-pager about a guy whose job it was to save the world from dry toast. What my students didn’t know is that I live with my very own superhero, my husband, Candid Chris. His superpower: tell people hard-hitting truths that they might not want to hear and probably want to acknowledge even less. If I were writing his superhero story, I would include the time that Candid Chris said to our neighbor, “Sure your new car is great, but it…
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Heart Cards
Chris: With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, we were inspired to share how our daughter’s holiday assignment led to a new take on a traditional symbol. When our daughter was in the second grade, the teacher challenged the class to make their own Valentine’s cards. As she got in the car from school, she told me about her assignment. Her concern: “I don’t love everyone in my class. I don’t want to put a heart on every card.” My suggestion: “When we get home, look up what a human heart really looks like.” When Michelle arrived home that evening, Taryn had 14 Valentine’s cards with a typical heart shape on them AND 9 cards…
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Our Anti-Resolutions List
Every New Year, articles pop up about making resolutions. This year, we have taken some common resolutions and would like to propose our own list. We are calling it Our Anti-Resolutions List Number Five: One of the most popular resolutions is to travel to NEW places. While we are a big supporter of seeking new adventures, in our anti-resolutions list, we offer, rediscovering the OLD places you have traveled to. Who cares that you always go to the same destination? You don’t live there and something is guaranteed to have changed since you were last there. Ask a local, go for a drive or simply take a walk. Sometimes, when we change how we experience a familiar…
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Got G.A.M.E?
Chris: I am a golfer. I will golf anytime, any course and with almost anyone. But I am a golfer with G.A.M.E. Allow us to explain. G is for Green Jacket. In golf, the Green Jacket is awarded to the winner of the Masters. In our marriage, I think of the Green Jacket as our wedding day. While I didn’t actually wear a green jacket, I was a true winner the day Michelle said, “I do.” There are only 53 men lucky enough to wear the coveted jacket. Considering that 90-100 people compete each year over the last 83 years, there’s no wonder these jackets are so special. Similarly, when I consider that in the 3.9 billion…
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Letters to Joy
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In July of 2015, Michelle’s best friend, Joy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She shared the news via text and after sharing the details she said, “I love you and can’t talk about it right now. Call me later…” Michelle: My response, “This is when living 1,000 miles away becomes really inconvenient. If I were there, I would be taking you to appointments, sitting with you just because and everything in between. I’m here. I will figure out what to do.” As I hit SEND, I had an idea. Joy, I have this crazy plan. Each week, I am going to send you a package like this filled with seven days…
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Just
Michelle: When our daughter was in the second grade she was asked to write about what her parents did for a living. She wrote three (front and back) pages about Chris’s job as a research scientist. She went on and on about the inner-workings of his day to day life in the lab, entering data and what his research could lead to. As I read, I was proud of the work and influence that Chris had on her and I couldn’t wait to read about my own. However, I began feeling concerned as the pages were becoming fewer and fewer. Then, there it was. The last line of her paper, “And…
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Boosting the Bright Side
CHRIS: Michelle has the great responsibility of helping me to see the bright side of things. While I sometimes get frustrated with her eternally rose-colored glasses, I also know that my negative outlook can use some pinkish tint every now and then. Here’s some things we have done to boost my ability to see the bright side.
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5 Lessons for a Howl of a Good Time
CHRIS: As a child, I’m sure one of my parent’s intentions for having a dog was to teach me about responsibility. But, if I am being honest, my parents ended up doing most of the work. That all changed when Michelle and I began raising our own fur babies. They have been responsible for teaching us some valuable life lessons. Here are five lessons we have learned from each of the many dogs we have shared throughout our married life.
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April 19th
MICHELLE: For many people, distinct moments in their life stand out as frozen memories. For example, my dad can remember the smells, the sounds and the clothes he was wearing on the day that John F. Kennedy was shot. For me, that moment came on April 19, 1995. I was a student teacher in Norman, Oklahoma. As I used the restroom early that morning, I heard a loud boom and then tiles began coming loose one by one off the wall onto my lap. Rushing out of the restroom and back to the classroom, my mentor teacher and I prepared for what we assumed was an earthquake.
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What Can’t You Afford to Edit out of Your Story?
Michelle: When I was a teenager, I remember coming home after breaking up with a guy and my dad asking me how it went. I gave the inevitable teenage response, “I don’t want to talk about it.” My dad responded, “You don’t have to. But you do need to remember that there are some things in life that you can’t afford to edit out of your story. Is this one of them?”
