“Without words, without writing and without books there would be
no history, there could be no concept of humanity.”
-- Hermann Hesse

I am a collector of words. I love the way words and phrases and sentences and statements and paragraphs swirl together to make literary art.

I enjoy stories and hearing others share with me their tales, their dreams, their histories, their journeys. My husband teases me about how I end up talking to people in the bathroom – and at parks, at schools, at parties, at church - people sharing their personal stories with me, and I find that so many folks have a story to tell and they become subjects of articles I write later for the newspaper.

My favorite subject to write about is what I am in the thick of right now – family life. As the mother of five children between the ages of 3 and 16, the subject of my writing often turns to my day to day journey with kids. My Real-Life Mom column appears the second Thursday each month in The Oregonian, and before that my WriterMom column (formerly titled On the Home Front) was published in the West Linn Tidings for seven years. I have found that the journey of parenting is a universal journey, an adventure of joy and frustration, of chaos and clutter and spilled cheerios and lots and lots and lots of hugs.

The other subject I thoroughly enjoy writing about is faith. It is a huge privilege to share the stories of people's experience with their creator and how He is using them to make a difference in this life. The Oregonian has a Faith/Inspiration page in the SW Weekly section where I regularly contribute stories, in addition to other publications and blogs.

As a writer and a mom, this is my journey. This is our journey.

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.
          ~William Wordsworth