Live Joy

  Every year when summer ends, I think I’m going to immediately fall into the perfect back-to-school routine. Wake up at the same time. Get my workout in. Walk the dog. Get the boys off to school. Work all day. Soccer in the evening. Get everyone home, reset the house, go to bed at a reasonable time and do it all again the next day. Sounds great, right? Except that is definitely not how this school year has started. We are already a few weeks into school, and I still haven't mastered my morning routine. And surprisingly, I'm okay with that. Our Schedule Completely Changed Back-to-school always changes our routine, but this year it feels like almost everything changed at once. The boys have a new school start time, which means they need to be on the bus at 6:55 a.m. Soccer practice times seem to change daily. Then we have weeknight soccer games where we sometimes don't get home until 10:30 at night . I've also changed my own routine. Instead of working out ...

  Just about everyone I know rolls their eyes when I say, "You need to track your macros." I get it, it sounds like a lot of work. But I want you to change the way you think about it. Don't think of tracking macros as dieting. Think of it as collecting data. That's really what you're doing.   Most people think they know what they're eating. The truth is, until you actually track and weigh your food, you probably don't. That handful of chips while making lunch? Count it. The bite of your kid's food? Count it. The splash of creamer in your coffee? Count it. The dressing on your salad, the oil you cooked with, and the BBQ sauce on your chicken? Count it. Those little bites and sips may not seem like much, but over the course of a day and then a week they add up quickly.   If you're serious about learning what you're eating, invest in a digital food scale. And use it. No guessing. No "that looks like about four ounces." Measure ev...

  I love having a good show on while I'm working out or when I finally get a little "me time" to relax. I don't have cable, so everything I watch is on streaming services. Over the last few months I've found several series that were absolutely worth the watch! I won't give away too much, just enough to help you decide what to add to your list.  If You Love a Good Chick Flick... Off Campus (Amazon Prime) A fun college romance full of chemistry, friendships, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. It's light, entertaining, and easy to binge. Every Year After (Amazon Prime) A heartfelt friends-to-lovers story that follows two people over the years as life, timing, and fate keep bringing them back together. The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime) A coming-of-age romance centered around first love, family, friendships, and unforgettable summers at the beach. If you haven't watched it yet, it's definitely worth catching up on. Ransom Canyon ...

  One of my core beliefs is that life is made up of the lessons we learn along the way. As much as I wish it weren't true, some of the biggest lessons come through loss. Over the years, I've lost several people, all much sooner than anyone expected. Just a few weeks ago, a colleague and friend passed away unexpectedly at only 33 years old from a heart condition. Like so many sudden losses, there wasn't an explanation that made it feel fair. People often say, "Everything happens for a reason." I've never found comfort in that phrase because, in my experience, not everything has a reason that we can understand. Some things are simply heartbreaking. But I do believe we can choose to find meaning in what happens. We can allow loss to teach us something about how we want to live. One lesson always rises to the surface for me: life is incredibly unpredictable. We spend so much of our lives waiting. Waiting for the promotion. Waiting for the relationship. ...

If you're in your 40s or beyond, you've probably realized something frustrating: what worked in your 20s doesn't work anymore. Your hormones are changing, sleep isn't as restorative, your body feels different, and your brain feels different. Hello, brain fog (or what I lovingly call menopause brain). Yet somehow, we expect our bodies to respond the same way they did twenty years ago. We slash calories, spend an hour on the treadmill, take another fitness class, and wonder why the scale refuses to budge. The truth is, midlife requires a different strategy. And honestly? That realization can be hard. Not only do you have to change how you eat and how you exercise, but you also have to accept that healthy, sustainable progress simply takes longer than it did before. We live in a world of instant gratification where everyone promises quick results, but building a healthy body for the long term doesn't happen overnight. I want you to ask yourself one simple question:...

  The picture on the left is from 1987 in kindergarten, the top right is 2000 our senior year of high school, and the bottom left is last weekend 2026 If you've followed me for a while, you probably know I'm an introvert. Add being a Capricorn to the mix, and my friendship circle is intentionally small. I know this might sound a little harsh, but I'm not someone who is always looking to make new friends. I've also realized that "friend groups" just aren't for me. Even in our 40s, there can still be drama, and I've reached a place in life where I simply don't have room for it. Instead, the friendships that fill my heart are the quiet ones. The one-on-one conversations over coffee. Long walks. Lunches that somehow last for hours. Phone calls that start with, "Do you have a minute?" and end an hour later. I grew up in Massachusetts but went to college in Kentucky so I have lived in Kentucky/Indiana for the past 26 years. Most of my clo...