My name is Sam Smith (no, not the famous singer). I just turned 29 – let’s hear it for all my Aries people! I was raised in Northern California in a city called Turlock. I lived there until I was 18, then after mulling over my three in state options (I was definitely a mama’s…

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Listen to the Audio Version Instead: The year was 2017. I entered the same brick gymnastics studio in Aurora, Illinois I’d been going to since the ripe age of two… if you do anything for ten years, you’re bound to be good at it, if not great. Isn’t that what Malcolm Gladwell says? 10,000 hours……

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As I deliberated on who’s story I wanted to share for Easter, I was forced to take a step back and remember what the day signifies.  Easter, also referred to as Resurrection Sunday, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, according to the New Testament.  While I am not religious, I can certainly appreciate the many aspects…

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Typically, I would spend Easter at my Grandparents’ house in Colorado and typically, if my plans were thwarted in any way, I would be on the fast track to a spiral, but since the almighty COVID came to town… or more accurately, came to the world, we’ve all been forced to slow down. I’ve found…

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I am a planner. I am 100% a Type-A personality. I have a schedule and a checklist for just about everything. I also have 2 beautiful boys…. with the amount of energy that could power the entire state of Alaska.  So all the parks and the child-related activities being shut down due to this quarantine…

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As the sun started to peak its way out from behind the mountain and through the square window, I heard Sierra’s body shift against the fibers of the brown couch. This was the eighth morning we were waking up like this and although I missed my soft touch memory foam mattress and thick comforter, I…

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This is a new one, you guys… this is both from the writer’s perspective and in interview form. I met Senika (coolest name ever, right?) back in 2012 when I started dating Matthew; her and her husband, Chris, welcomed me so graciously into their lives and beautiful home. I love not only joining the Tyk…

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Listen to the Audio Version Instead: “S – Speed!” Remi shouted. It must’ve been the hundredth speed limit sign they’d passed. The Hendrickson’s were racing to wrap up the alphabet game as they held a steady 68 on their way to the well furnished AirBnB in Venice Beach. Their dad never went more than three…

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La vita e bella —Life is beautiful I like to relocate. I like to experiment with my career. Change excites me. Novelty ignites a passion that makes me feel alive. Sometimes I am hard on myself for the stifling that I feel when I am doing something that I might perceive as routine. I’m a…

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As a collective, we root for love, don’t we? In the end, that’s the bond that unites us more than anything. Or, at least that’s what I’d like to think. Love is what some of the most popular shows center around – Love Island, The Bachelor franchise, and the current hit – Love is Blind…

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