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my budding author

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About me

Alongside my husband and 5 kids, I'm a fan of hometown roots and passport stamps. Our days revolve around the idea that building tables is better than building fences, cookies should be shared, and adding more color is always good.

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underthesycamore

In September 2013, I posted this image of our chic

Guess who just enrolled in Spanish 1 at the commun

Guess who just enrolled in Spanish 1 at the community college?! This will be round two of Spanish 1 in college for me. The last time was in 1998. My mind was much sharper back then. I’ve been using all the apps and podcasts and going to a class at my church, but I need a more academic approach that forces me to speak. It feels so intimidating but also exciting. I’ve also always been a straight “A” student, so the thought of getting a “B” might begin to give me nightmares. 🤣

Passenger princess gym version. “How about you p

Passenger princess gym version. “How about you push me?”….and my friend agreed to it. This girl can get anyone (but me) to do anything.

As I checked a little girl into the kid’s area o

As I checked a little girl into the kid’s area of the church, she helped me with my Spanish pronunciation. After a bilingual service, everyone gathered around long tables for lunch. Breese served up pico de gallo she helped chop the night before. Evann, with the help of a friend and Google, shared her favorite places in Ecuador with a young man who knew it as home. A few tables over, a group of unhoused men and women found shelter from the torrential rain, tacos for lunch, and warm smiles greeting them. We meet in an area of town many avoid, and the ancient boiler room might randomly fill with smoke, but the halls echo with “It is good to see you” and “Buenos dias.” Going into all this week holds as a country; I sighed with gratitude to be able to start my week in this community.

This day last year. I was editing a chapter I wro

This day last year.

I was editing a chapter I wrote about our time in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the lobby of our community college, waiting to meet with the financial aid office. I didn’t have a book deal or a literary agent, but I was determined to put words to all we experienced during our year of travel. For six months, I used every spare moment, regardless of the setting, to write a book I knew potentially only my family would read.

Yesterday, it went live for preorders, and you guys showed up for me. 🥹

Preorders are a big deal for authors as they help distributors gauge the interest and demand for a title. It also helps the book get into indie bookstores and LIBRARIES.

It hasn’t really sunk in - I’m in a bit of shock. You all are the best - thank you!

Chefchaouen, Morocco / Four weeks into our trip…

Chefchaouen, Morocco / Four weeks into our trip…
“Evann had grown weary of my “I don’t know—I’ve never been here before” response to her questions. Chris wrestled with working remotely across several time zones. We had yet to find a basketball court for Everett. Seeing all the posts of his friends enjoying their final summer break together was hard and led Corbett to log off social media. Our family’s emotions had begun to reflect the blue of the town. Chris took the guys on a hike nearby while the girls wanted a day of nothingness. I sat on my bed alone, wondering if we had made a colossal mistake. I felt energized and alive, but my concern for my kids trumped my feelings. Can we do this for a year? If we stay the course, will it be worth the cost? Should we go home?” (Chapter 2 Morocco)

Together, we chose to stay the course. “I’ve never been here before” remained my go-to response to the unknown as we traveled and as we returned home with perspectives changed by travel. It continues to be my thought today as I share my book’s cover and announce that it is available for pre-order on Amazon!

The inside pages are currently being designed and then edits will follow. The release date is August 2025. What’s next? I’m not entirely sure. I’m figuring it out as I go; I’ve never been here before.

I turned 45 earlier this week and celebrated by ca

I turned 45 earlier this week and celebrated by camping. Halfway to 90, baby! I’m in the midst of a million transitions that remind me of the season from late high school through college (about the ages my kids are now). Back then, I thought every decision was monumental. Everything was a big deal and could drastically change the course of my life. I fretted over getting everything right - not wanting to make a mistake. Younger me needed an iced latte and someone to say, “Take a deep breath. You will get it wrong sometimes, and it will still be okay.”

Whew. I’m so thankful for decades of getting older. Now, I define very few things as a big deal. I’ve chilled out, am rarely stressed, and have a lot more fun in life. I’m no longer afraid to make a wrong decision because I’ve made enough to know pivots are their own kind of adventure. I’ve gotten serious about not being so serious about everything, and I look forward to the ‘figuring it out’ that comes with good decisions, mistakes, and surprises. I’m a fan of soaking it all in, including getting older 🎉.

I needed a headshot and also grabbed my crew for a

As she finished a few sets of hang cleans, an olde

As she finished a few sets of hang cleans, an older man beelined across the gym to give her a fist pump and tell her she was doing a great job. Last week, a woman stopped to tell her that her pull-ups were incredible.

She is by far the youngest and physically smallest at the gym (at least when we are there). A few months ago, I wondered how she’d be received as she took her place among the free weights, barbells, and pull-up rigs. It turns out she does get attention, and it always comes in the form of a smile and a word of encouragement.

People going out of their way to speak kindness and cheer on strangers at the gym…people can be so cool.

One of my favorite parts of motherhood is those mo

One of my favorite parts of motherhood is those moments when life seems to pause as I look over at one of my kids, and all I can think is, “I can’t believe I get to spend my life watching yours. I can’t believe I get a front-row seat to who you are.” It’s the best.

Over the last two years, my girls and I have becom

Over the last two years, my girls and I have become major K-drama fans. Most only last one season (16 episodes), and we started a tradition of watching the finales with a dish we learned about on the show. While in Vietnam, we celebrated the end of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” with gimbap - in a local restaurant where we had to write our order (struggle!). Yesterday, we marked the end of “Love Next Door” with tteokbokki. I couldn’t find any fresh at the last minute, so we opted for frozen from the Asian market.

Here are a few of our other favorite K-dramas:
Hometown Cha Cha Cha
Queen of Tears
Crash Landing Into You (slow start, hang with it)

Warning: you might learn new things and randomly start yelling “YA” once you get hooked.

Where are my k-drama fans? Which ones should we watch next?

I felt pretty good about how big my banana trees h

I felt pretty good about how big my banana trees had grown and that I might be harvesting fruit soon—and then I saw my dad’s.

It is very rare to see tall banana trees in Oklahoma (and by tall, I mean like mine, 8ft or so). Most people here cut the trees to the ground each winter, which keeps them shorter and prevents them from producing fruit. However, it helps them survive the drop in temperature without digging them up.

Then there is my dad. He grows trees two stories high and harvests bananas. Every winter, he digs them up and stores them in their sunroom. They are gigantic. As an expert at banana tree growing in Oklahoma, I doubt anyone is more qualified than my dad.

#oklahomagardening #oklahomagardening #tulsapeople

I’m sharing a little status update on where I am

2024. 2019. I think I’ll make this a 5 year tr

2024. 2019.

I think I’ll make this a 5 year tradition. Or each time we add a new family member. Maybe I will live to see the whole porch crowded. ♥️

Thank you @lilerose

Thoughts from last night’s walk. Twenty years a

The youngest (of 13) Campbell grandkid can mow the

The youngest (of 13) Campbell grandkid can mow the farm now - a family rite of passage over here. ♥️

Dad lore, according to Urban Dictionary, is the st

Dad lore, according to Urban Dictionary, is the stories your dad tells about life before he met your mom. Typically, the stories are from the teens or early 20s. Our family uses the term often, as in “add this to your dad lore.”

When I think about what I want my kids to leave my home with, dad lore is pretty high on the list. Stories of risk, adventure, mistakes, total randomness, and nearly unbelievable experiences—the kind of things that can only be written by actually getting out there and going for stuff because ‘why not?!’

“Yeah, kids, back in 2024, when those flumes opened, we built a raft out of barrels and PVC. Ours was the first homemade raft to go over. It fell apart halfway down, but we ended up on the front page of the news.”

Dad lore. I’ll keep encouraging it.

(I want the same for my daughters, but we won’t call it ‘mom lore’ because that term has a depressing meaning).

Tulsa’s Great Raft Race began in 1973. It ran un

Tulsa’s Great Raft Race began in 1973. It ran until 1991, then again 2015-2019. This year, the race launched back up with the addition of the newly constructed white water flumes. Handmade rafts that followed very specific building criteria could attempt the flumes.

Always up for adventure, Chris and our guys jumped on the chance. 100 rafts entered the main race. Only three (my guys included) signed up for the flumes. Their raft was not the quickest and they ended up being towed across the river to the flumes. Things held together after the first drop, but not so much after the second. I love that they went for this and can’t wait to watch them next year!

#tulsaraftrace Thank you @kayleenoland_ for the race videos!

On this day twenty-three years ago, we stood in a

On this day twenty-three years ago, we stood in a field under crepe paper flowers and on a platform my grandpa built. We served cake made by my grandma and ice cream from the creamery Chris worked at over the summer. Today, we celebrated with paletas after church (chili and mango for me - always).

After all these years, he is still my favorite, we still enjoy cold desserts together, and I’m still trying to get him to take at least one photo with his mouth closed 😉❤️

Chris and the guys are getting ready for the #tuls

Chris and the guys are getting ready for the #tulsaraftrace - my job was painting and making cowboy hats on the helmets. Pretty sure I nailed it and my guys will be thrilled to wear these. 🤣

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Latest posts

A few days in Chichicastenango, Guatemala
June 26, 2024
Tips for staying in a hostel as a family
December 26, 2022
Israeli/Palestinian Dual Narrative Tour {Abraham Tours}
October 28, 2022

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