z ZIPLINE In 2005 I was fortunate enough to go on a mission trip to Costa Rica. We spent several days working with kids at a s...

y YES I think it’s only fair that we look at what I say yes to, since x was all about where my no’s go. And I think I have f...

x X-ING STUFF OUT Being almost 40 means having a ton of history to learn from. Here are just a few of the things I’ve crossed out of my...

w WEIGHTS, LIFTING I learned the power gained through weight lifting about four years ago. I had never considered myself to be...

v VODKA Vodka was my drink of choice in my early twenties. Mixed with orange juice, cranberry juice, or just taken straight,...

u UMBRELLA, DUCK My favorite umbrella is still the small teal umbrella with a handle shaped like a duck’s head. The bill of th...

t TATTOOS I have two. There are at least three more I’d like to have. TURTLES Remember when I divulged my strange fascin...

s SISTER I only have one. She was born on Halloween, 1978. As children, we played Barbies in the wee hours of the nigh...

r ROAD TRIPS I’ve always been a fan of road trips. I guess this is strange, given that it was a road trip that resulted in my ...

q QUOTES I LOVE But love is much like a dam: if you allow a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that ...

p PERSEIDS I hope you’ve seen the Perseids. I hope you’ve stayed up late, spread a blanket on the ground, grabbed a bottle o...

Maybe you recall the other day when I freaked smooth out  about my latest writing struggles. In the past, this would be the time when I wou...

n NIGHTMARES My childhood home in Florida was nestled right in the heart of Gulf Breeze, just across a long bridge that led ...

m MANTRA, RUNNING Remember how I mentioned losing working my butt off for a year and dropping 100 pounds in the process? Ye...

l LAME-SAUCE I created this term. I also coined the term “awesome sauce.” If you've heard or used it, you're welcome...

k KELLY, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A WRITER NAMED Table 1974 Kelly is born in Biloxi, Mississippi, in a hospital hallway ...

j JOKES My family has recently discovered that a truly corny, totally lame joke can make me laugh so hard I become completely ...

i ICE My mom tells me that when I was 2 (the more I write, the more I realize 2 was a hard year for me!), we were at a friend’...