April 11 Tomorrow is Easter. I've still only been reading the Bible for Lent. I'm halfway through Ezekiel. But tomorrow, I'll finally start reading other books, too. It's about time. As good as it is to read the Bible, it's not easy. My favorite book I've read the last couple months is Ecclesiastes. Some of…
April 1 Here are my people: Matt, my boyfriendMichael, his housemateStephen, his housemateMomDadDavid, my brotherAshley, my sister-in-lawDahlia, their kidKate, my sisterJosh, her boyfriend That actually seems like too many. Is that too many? I don't know how to cut out any more. April 2 The governor extended the stay home order through May 4. And…
March 20 At the coffee shop, I tend to yell "take care" as customers exit as a way of saying, Get outta here, pal. But now, I say "take care" to say, I charge you to guard yourself and your loved ones, lest you get a disease deceptively comparable to the flu, which will at…
March 13 Last night I drove down to my childhood home in Puyallup, where David and Ashley and the baby were hanging out with Mom. The mood was weird and dismal. We all talked about how we were nervous. But also, it was okay and it got better it was good to be together. Apparently…
February 29 Matt and I went to dinner at his friends’ house so we could hammer out details for the Philippines trip in May. Everyone is on board and we almost have the locations nailed down. We just need to buy the tickets. One of the friends works for Amazon like Matt, and she said…
I'm in Fremont with my brother and sister-in-law. We put eight potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven. 90 minutes later, I prod one and it is squishy. The potato burns the pad of my finger. Ashley and David prod them, and maybe the potatoes burn the pads of their fingers too, but…
In June of 2019, I had the honor of delivering the commencement speech to graduating seniors at my former elementary and high school in Tacoma. Here is its text: Concordia Christian Academy, Class of 2019, I first want to offer my congratulations to you all. Getting to graduation is hard, and it takes a long…
I have been a barista for over two years. I've written a book and traveled a lot. But what I've neglected to lay out is that for the last two years, I have spent most of my time behind the counter at a coffee shop. I have a world of knowledge about pulling espresso shots.…
On a Friday afternoon last August, I received the last of three major invoices from my editor. Along with the invoice was what I then thought was a PDF of the completed interior of Leave It All. There were a few things that needed fixing so I sent my requests back. Then I paid the…
On the fear, vulnerability, and self-doubt of reading my own published diary.
It's Friday, December 7... and this is the day the first copy of "Leave It All" comes in the mail.
It’s so hard to write. It used to be easy. I used to post blogs all the time. I posted when I was on the World Race, I posted when I was walking the Camino de Santiago, I posted a bunch in between. I could blog and journal and email and everything. This year, I…
