It's funny the way life works sometimes. Two years ago, in August, I was still sorting through the summer's chaos in the wake of my Spain trip. The phone call I received the morning of July 13 while I was in the middle of cooking some Brazilian-style rice and beans completely shook my world. I still remember how I survived on bottles of Coca Cola and the two weeks of sleeplessness and questions and endless phone calls in which I asked "Why?" a million times. The worst part of that experience was having no way to find the answers I so desperately needed. The song, "Chances" by Five for Fighting was rather prominent for me in the year leading up to that fateful day. At that point in my life, I was so open to experiencing the moments of my life as they presented themselves. It just seemed to make so much sense that there were no guarantees, and that I couldn't let that fact ruin the opportunities I did have. Nothing lasts forever, no matter how it feels t...

It's time to write again. This blog is my mental form of running. It lets me sort through the thousands of ideas running through my head at any given moment and gives them the chance to become more than figments of my imagination. I need them to be more than figments of my imagination. So, it's time to write. I spent most of the summer in the Dominican Republic with my husband and his family and arrived home last Sunday at about this time. On the plane, I chatted a bit with my seat mates, and one of the conversations we had was about the value of traveling. One of them mentioned that every teenager in the United States should be required to live overseas for a few months as a high school graduation requirement. I agree completely. There's something about being immersed in a different culture that lets you understand your own on a deeper level. The more time I spend there, the more I appreciate where I come from and the values that have been instilled in me. However,...