Category: The Life She Built
Home, money, work, security, and the practical structures that make an independent life sustainable.
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Hiring Someone to Mow My Lawn
I hired someone to mow my lawn. Can I genuinely afford it? Maybe not, if we’re only looking at the amount of money coming in and going out. But I also have to consider what it frees me up to do. That time can be used to work, make money in other ways, or take…
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Retirement Matters. But So Does Tuesday.
I don’t want to spend my fifties waiting for my sixties. At the same time, I don’t want my sixty-something-year-old self looking backward and wondering why I didn’t take better care of her when I had the chance.
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Buying Back a Little Time
Being a single woman with no kids does not somehow let me off the hook when it comes to responsibilities. In some ways, I think people assume the opposite—that without children or a spouse, I must have all kinds of extra time and flexibility. That has definitely not been my experience. I came into my…
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The Ups and Downs of Dating When You Already Have a Life
Dating is weird when you’re young, but I think it gets even weirder when you already have a life. I have dogs, a horse, a house, a career, music, friends, bills, projects, and more than enough things requiring my attention on any given day. I’m not waiting for someone to show up so my life…
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What Came With me
When I moved to a different state, I left behind more than an address. I left a life in which I knew exactly who I was. I was a music teacher and band director. My days were filled with sound and motion, with rehearsals, lesson plans, concerts, students, parents, and the thousand small decisions required…
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I Don’t Like Mowing the Lawn—and I’m Okay With That
I don’t enjoy mowing the lawn. What I do enjoy is knowing I can handle the full life I built—even the chores I would happily avoid.
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2026 – “In This Economy?”
Or, the year I may never financially recover from. Okay, I know I will recover from this year. But it has been a lot. I have three dogs, and two of them have apparently decided that 2026 is the year to personally test the limits of my bank account. My oldest dog, who is around…
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I Love My Independence. I’m Tired of Carrying It Alone.
The freedom of an independent life is real. So is the exhaustion of being its only backup plan. We can be proud of what we built and still want more hands in the world with us.
