Always be Growing

Being from Iowa, I cannot count the number of times I’ve been asked if I grew up on a farm. Not only did I not grow up on a farm, but I think my parents (who had grown up on farms) went to significant lengths to ensure I knew basically nothing about farm life. It was...

Help is Not a Bad Word

Like most men, I married a woman significantly wiser and smarter than me. While she is better than me at 99% of things, I have found myself further along with Spanish than here. This is due to the fact I work in a Spanish speaking environment while she works in an...

Returning to Normal

Although I now live 3,000 outside the U.S., I have been excited to see more and more of my friends returning to some version of “normal” in their lives. To be honest, we are quite jealous when we see our Iowa friends eating at restaurants, hosting friends and family...

What’s Your Legacy?

I have always loved history, so much so that my favorite birthday present as a kid was receiving the World Book Encyclopedia. Yeah, I’m a dork. I own that. My love for history led me to become friends with my elderly neighbor. His knowledge of local history was simply...

No Ties in Life

I went through this stage of life where my body periodically decided breathing was an optional biological function. My lungs would jet off to Hawaii for the weekend, and I’d get to have a nice little party at the local hospital. During one of these lovely...