The Scampering Horse

My most read posts are about depression. Isn't that interesting? Why is that? I think it's because we need to talk about mental health. We need to know we aren't alone in our brain illnesses. Either we know someone suffering, or we are dealing with it ourselves. It's nice to know that someone gets it, and is dealing with it, and isn't afraid to talk about it. It connects us and helps. So, I am happy to contribute to that conversation because depression is a big part of my life. It's always there in the back of my life, waiting to take over. I've had some crappy depression recently. Financial stresses, political climate and hard conversations,  increased pressure on me to do more work and around the house, and lack of mental health support in my new land, have all contributed to my dip. It's crazy how fast I can go from fine to super duper not fine. I can go from healthy coping techniques to my brain deciding that hopelessness and disappearing from li

We shouldn’t be going to friend’s funerals. Because our friends shouldn’t be dying.  They shouldn’t be sick. They shouldn’t have accidents. We’re too young to be widows and widowers. My husband had a friend from high school die this last week. Her name is Jennifer. I had only met her a couple of times when Ian and I were engaged in Provo. She was studying language pathology, and writing a book with her professor? I am not exactly sure, but she was really bright and very driven.   I had a little premonition that she wished she could have dated Ian. They were super good friends from high school. and she was a really great person and dating is hard. Plus, I could have been imagining it. Probably was. Anyway, she found her heart's home a few years later and promptly had five children. Five brown haired beautiful children, who she took hiking and corralled into church and told them  shhhhh  while she gave them cheerios. Then, she got brain cancer.   I can’t u

I saw a hat at the store with a patch that said "Dog Mom." I really wanted that hat. I thought about wearing it in the pick-up line while I get my kids from school. It would be so cute in the selfies I take with my dog every day.  One day, I will have a hat that says Dog mom, because it is a really fun thing to be. Now I'm about to get controversial. It's a sign of the times. Buckle up for an opinion. People sometimes say that having a puppy is the same as having a child. Those people are wrong unless a) they are really weird dog parents or b) they are terrible human parents. This one is on Etsy. I love dog people. They are good, decent people. I am one of you. I love my dog. I take my dog with me places. I get told that my dog does not belong in places because of her innate doggness. It's a prejudice within society. I get allergies. Don't touch the dog if you are allergic. But she's not hurting you if she's standing quietly by my side on a le