Emma Life is Really Something Funny Occasionally I glance back through older posts on Stranger. Usually I keep this walk through memory lane to the Palau posts, because I find them fascinating now that I'
Ironman Ten Weeks Is Not Very Long I looked at the calendar the other day and YOU GUYS. The Ironman is ten weeks away. How did this happen? Remember when I did the half Ironman in May and when it was over you guys were like, "you have PLENTY of
Life Feeling Better A while back I had a pretty bad experience. I found out that some people I cared about deeply had been dishonest with me in ways that really mattered. It was incredibly hurtful. I quickly ran through several intense emotions. I felt beat up.
Nostalgia A Little Look Back Exciting announcement: The Porch invited me back to tell a story this Saturday evening in Salt Lake City. We've escaped Provo! We'll be at a venue
Ukraine Thirty Thirty years ago this coming Sunday, Cathie gave birth to a screaming ten-pound baby. The story has been exaggerated so much over the last three decades that nobody really knows what happened anymore. But if you listen to her tell it, blood was
Ironman St. George Half Ironman I was so nervous heading down to St. George to compete in the half Ironman this weekend. So many mixed emotions hit me in the weeks leading up to it.
Ironman Descending and Climbing Every day that passes I get a little more freaked out about my future. This is because the part of my future that is freaking me out is starting to
Life Off to See the Wizard Maybe it's because I'm turning 30 next month (WHAT?!!??!) but I've been a lot more reflective recently about the direction my little ol' life has gone. And lately I keep finding myself caught up in feeling disappointed
Daniel Climb Every Mountain Over the weekend I had some pretty intense conversations with Daniel. This was between all of the bickering over his selfish requests to get his clothes back. We talked about our experience in Palau. And what made it great. And what made it hard.
Ironman State of the Union, Spring About six months ago I moved back from Palau to the United States of God Bless America. And when I did, I had a hard time updating you all on
Church Palau Meets Salt Lake City Last week my worlds collided. And it was really strange. One of the boys from Palau, whom I got to know very well working with the church kids for one
Mexico A History of Daniel It was strange to see Daniel last weekend. For months and months our lives were one. They were totally one. And then, suddenly, they weren't anymore. Daniel and
Church Disney Films are Making Your Kids SUPER Gay People are freaking out about the movie Frozen. They are saying that it is a sneaky way to tell children not to hate themselves for being gay. They are angry about this. As though teaching a gay person that finding peace within over something
Church Feed the Birds There's a popular movie out right now called "Saving Mr. Banks." It's about the making of the Mary Poppins film with Julie Andrews. I don't tend to go see movies very often in the theater because
Church The Gay People Are Getting Married For the last many years there has been a huge fight in America about marriage equality. How do I know about this? Because I've seen people scream about it on Facebook since at least 2008. In recent weeks the issue of marriage
Mexico 2013 I just read the 2012 wrap-up post. I read about how it was my best year. About how our past can be an asset or a liability depending on how we use it. About how if we are living the right way, the
Daniel A Christmas Gift I've never been much of a Christmas person. There are a lot of reasons for this. But one of the big ones is that I really struggle with
Church Still Here At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to share some thoughts with you. And forgive me that these thoughts are coming from the deepest part of my soul and might sound awkward and are sort of uncomfortable for me to
Life Thank You I actually wasn't going to post anything today because I had a late and VERY strange night last night having dinner with Mexican celebrities. I didn't really realize what I had gotten myself into until I was in the middle
Ironman A Horrifying Announcement I have a really big and terrifying announcement. I'M PREGNANT. See? Now it's funny because I make the joke so often. Pretty soon you guys are going to be begging me to tell you that I'm pregnant because
Life Oh, The Places You'll Go. Maybe. You know the famous Dr. Seuss book "Oh, The Places You'll Go?" Every time you have ever completed a phase of life, someone surely read this to you or quoted parts of it or kicked you out of the house
Life The Parking Attendant Last night I freaked out at a parking garage attendant. Actually, that might be an exaggeration, depending on how you interpret "freaked out." I should clarify. Typically my version of freaking out means that I stop saying "please" and start
Church Choices On Sunday I attended a giant Mormon congregation in Salt Lake City. Sitting in the middle of it all was interesting because I immediately found myself thinking about the contrast between this and my Palauan church-going experience that ended just two short but
Life Anger I've been angry with someone for a little while. I don't get angry all that often. It's just not really my thing. Frustrated? Yes. Flabbergasted? Most days more than once. Annoyed? At least every time I see an
Palau Settling Dust I got back to the United States of God Bless America about six weeks ago. The last six weeks have been a whirlwind of change. And it's been difficult to catch my breath and take a bird's-eye view of
