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How One Big Toe Nearly Overshadowed Alaska

As I sit with my feet up because of three toe “avulsion” surgeries, almost three full years after our trip to Alaska, I’m reminded of the Toe Saga of 2023 that nearly ruined our entire trip. The story begins in Texas in mid-April, two weeks before our cruise. Technically, the story begins a month before…
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Top 10 of 2025

You’ll have to forgive me for my delay. The plague has befallen the Shand household, and I write to you with a fever, intrusive coughing spells, and brain fog. I blame any incoherencies found below on my current state. This year was another year of big life changes—milestones, if you will—not just for me personally,…
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A Belated Thanksgiving

There are a two times of year that make me think about writing a blog more than any other, and that is Thanksgiving and New Year’s. I’ve had traditions over the years to write blogs on these holidays, and this year on Thanksgiving, as we were packing up the kids and the snacks and the…
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Top 10 of 2024

The Shand household is sick, so I’m writing this blog in a clouded haze of brain fog and I’m not entirely sure what I will type. I’m just happy to be writing a blog at all since I’ve been preoccupied for the past 12 months with keeping another human alive 24/7. Mom bloggers out there:…
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The First Thanksgiving

That is, for Charles. Today is Charles’ first Thanksgiving, and I have exactly ten minutes to write this blog. I don’t do well on a time crunch, so you should not expect an Abe Lincoln Gettysburg Address. To set the expectations accordingly, you can look forward to a series of photos of Charles being cute,…
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Well, Folks. Here it is: The Top 10 of 2023

Let’s pretend it’s six months ago, and that it makes sense to write a “Best of” post for 2023. To be clear: it was my intention to publish a blog on New Year’s Day, per my blogging tradition, when 2023 was fresh in everyone’s minds. But that didn’t go as planned, and from January 2nd…
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One Year Married: Best Dining Experiences

When Rob and I began dating in 2021, he created a list of all of our restaurant dining experiences. The list has continued onward into our marriage, and when we were rehashing the “Best of” shortly after the new year, we consulted the list and chose our favorite dining experiences, categorically. As a tribute to…
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Top 10 of 2022

It might have taken me ten months to write about my honeymoon, but I am determined to keep my New Year’s tradition of blogging about the previous year’s highlights on January 1st. In other words, this will be an all nighter. But didn’t you only get four hours of sleep last night? you ask. Why…

