1. What’s a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate. 

I think I really like when people don’t get panicky right away when things are going sideways. It’s something I try to work on and when I see others gauging situations without getting worked up, I appreciate that.

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let’s see it. Why is this one your favorite?

I used to have A LOT of mugs then I realized I don’t need that many. Below is a photo of the ones in my collection that I rotate.

Left to right: I won the Guy Harvey mug in a white elephant at Ash’s work. It was my favorite and it broke one day so that one is actually a replacement from ebay. #2 was my grandfather’s. I just like the third one. The next one is because I love classic rock. Ash got me the cool mountain one with a wooden handle for Christmas one year. The Trump one is funny if you read it in his voice; it was a Mother’s Day gift. I find myself reaching for the Mountain one more often than others.

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day…will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to  ‘accumulate’? 

I probably didn’t or won’t but I do often tend to gather stuff into bags and make a stop at Goodwill. We have a drop off center in my neighborhood only half a mile away and it’s pretty convenient.

4. You’re planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 ‘off the grid’ towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why? 

Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California

I like big and small towns; we do like to do a lot of exploring. I haven’t been to any of those! I will probably see quite a few unique places when we go to Iowa.

5. Have you ever…ridden a motorcycle? been to a Disney park? met a celebrity? won a contest? Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list. 

Ridden a motorcycle – no. I would like to! I have been to Disney World a million times!! I have met celebrities but no one anyone would be like ‘oh wow!’ Mostly pro wrestlers and members of bands. We met all the members of a band named Avatar and when we met the singer, he acted normal with my son until I took the photo. It’s funny because this guy is known for being kind of a jokester so this is one of my all-time faves.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

For the longest time, I mostly ignored this bicycle trip. Ash is a good planner, so I did the training of course; made that part of my life. But talking about travel logistics made me upset. Then I managed to embrace it. It was going to happen no matter what. Got my parents to stay with the kids, figured out how to work my online jobs. Then the day quickly approached. Today, one day out from leaving, I am a mix of confidently prepared, excited, and terrified. In fact I woke up 20 minutes before the alarm and just got up, so I wouldn’t lay in bed over thinking.

Supposed to be rainy all day but I have some last minute errands to run. And again, excited about the trip but also worried and scared and I’ll miss my kids and my house and my comfy bed. It’s hard for a mom/wife to really stop thinking about all the things and just do something else. I mean, how does anyone mentally put aside all the normal stuff?

Like most things, we have done a lot of prep work so things can go as smoothly as possible. There’s always x factors but I want it to go well. I know it’s going to be an adventure for sure. I just have to embrace it day by day.