So this week has been a bit crazier than usual. Ben came down with a nasty cold early this week, so Sunday and Monday were spent care-giving, on top of my normal teaching and life duties. Then on Wednesday, Blair came down with kennel cough, so both family members have spent the week coughing and resting. In thinking about this week's blog post, I wanted to talk a little bit about counteracting the busyness of life. For someone like me who works from home, it is very easy for

I attended my first Iowa Music Teachers Association (Des Moines Chapter) meeting last Friday, and I had a wonderful time connecting with fellow like-minded piano instructors. The presentation after our business meeting was brought to us by a local music professor, and her topic was on motivation. How do we, as teachers, stay motivated in the midst of teaching, and how do we pass our motivation on to our students? This specific topic, motivation, has been on my mind for a whil

If you were to ask me where I was five years ago, it would have been a simple answer: I was in my house, not working, sick and sleeping to recover. You see, in January of 2013, I had accepted a job offer at the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus, and to be honest, I had expected it to be my dream job - such naivety. I was working with state senators in both the commerce and economic development committees, and initially, I was very happy in my role, working on bills and learning t