hootenannie

“If you don’t have doubts you’re either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants-in-the-pants of faith. They keep it alive and moving.” –Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking “The folk singer’s job is to comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable.” –Woody Guthrie “No matter what your job, you’ll always find yourself in one of four…

Okay. I’m back. I’ve begrudgingly re-entered Real Life after being whisked away for a week in Never-Neverland – that is, a week in California with Gregory Alan Isakov and a related cast of characters. You know the situation – LÄRABAR held a singer-songwriter contest and three artists won a chance to open for Greg –…

You guys, I am having the best week. More on that later. In the meantime, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite subject: my hair. It’s currently in the awkward in-between phase – not short, not long, just kind of a shoulder-length shag. It has a ton of volume and a lot of days, looks like a…

In the midst of this crazy season, I am trying hard to make healthy choices. I’m regularly meeting with my counselor, and she’s shepherding me through some precarious territory. I’m facing a lot of the ugly stuff head on, and praying – really praying – for the first time in years. I’m staying as active…

I walked into Wal-Mart at 11:50pm with a mission to buy 4 things. The Health & Beauty section was first: Ibuprofen and a bar of soap. Then, I found an employee. “Excuse me, where are your ant traps?” He walked me to the Garden section and motioned to a shelf full of pest sprays. “Well,…

I turned 31 on Sunday, and my sister Becca and brother-in-law Mike treated me to the best possible thing we could imagine: a live performance of Miranda Sings. I’ve talked about Miranda Sings before, and her live show did not disappoint. She started the show as Colleen Ballinger but changed into Miranda right on stage…

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from the airport when I looked at the thermometer on my dashboard. “109 degrees!” I cried. I know that Denver gets hot, but it had been ages since I’d seen a temperature that high. A minute later, I looked again. “110 degrees!” I was freaking out. It…

Less than two weeks after taking her to Kansas City, my mom called to let me know that Toad had taken an abrupt turn for the worst. She was in a lot of pain, and the X-rays showed that she had no discs left in her neck. Severe arthritis was taking over. Her back legs…

Within context, it was obvious that a co-worker-who-shall-not-be-named was attempting to conjure the “If a tree falls in the forest and no one sees it, did it really happen?” idea. It didn’t go as planned. Her: “You know what they say: if the wind blows, does anyone even see it?” Me: JOY.

I used to be a lot more flamboyant. Case in point: That was just before my 25th birthday. I was young and free (and possibly tipsy) and saw absolutely no issue with striking a pose for a booty shot, because I’m sorry, those jeans got the job DONE. I’m about to be 31, and while…