In our home, there’s one more weekend before the start of the school year (Minnesota schools typically start after Labor Day; I know many of your schools are already back in session.)

That means a few more late nights watching our favorite streaming shows with our teenagers.

One more weekend trip ...

Happy Monday! I hope you had a terrific weekend!

It’s hard to believe that summer is basically over. Many of you with school-age kids have already taken your “first day of the new school year” pictures and put your kids on the bus for their first day of school.

Here in Minnesota, we start school a...

After almost two weeks out of the office on a service and learning trip to El Salvador and Guatemala, I’m back!

I’ve got quite a bit of digging out to do (sorry if I owe you an email - I promise to get back to you as soon as I can!), but the treasure trove of memories I made over the last two weeks...

Hello from Antigua, Guatemala!

I’m out of the country on a service and learning trip to El Salvador and a little tourist stop in Antigua, Guatemala. 

It’s been an incredible trip with my husband and our two daughters. We’ve spent the last week building schools and improving septic systems, handing...

Wow - how is it the last day of July? I can’t believe we are in the waning days of summer. It feels like it just started.

I had so many plans for things I was going to accomplish this summer.

I was going to:

• Have a clean, organized basement.
• Lose a few extra pounds that had crept on over our r
...

What is self-care, and why is it so important for your health? “Self-care is not synonymous with self-indulgence or being selfish. Self-care means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care for others, and you can do all the things...

Our EsquireWell community continues to grow, and I'm so happy you are here!

I love birthdays. There’s something so fresh and new about a new year - whether it’s January 1 or (in my case) July 16. I like to treat each of these milestones as a time to make a fresh start, reflect, reset, and set ne...

On the evening of July 4, we loaded the family onto the pontoon like we’ve done for the last 20 years, and we chugged across the lake at dusk to catch the fireworks that started at 10:15 p.m.

We went to our usual spot which we knew always has a terrific view of the fireworks that were going to b...

 I’ve been thinking a lot about instant versus delayed gratification. I taught a program recently for a client about mastering digital distractions, and it came down to being able to handle some emotional discomfort in service of your larger goals - literally, delayed gratification in a nutshell.

I...

It’s been a long string of hot days here in Minnesota. We aren’t known for our heat here in the Great North, so 2-3 weeks of 85+ degree days is pretty amazing (and it makes “July babies” like me very happy)!

This summer, I’ve been doing quite a bit of teaching and coaching on emotional intelligence...

I took a quick trip down to my hometown of Franklin Grove, Illinois (population: 950). The kids were occupied at various camps and activities, and my husband (Ryan) and I were able to get away just the two of us which was particularly nice because Saturday was our 23rd wedding anniversary. 

I don’t...

I hope your first couple of weeks of summer are off to a great start and that you are settling into your summer routine.

Do you have a summer routine? Does it look a little different than your “usual” routine - either by necessity (kids off for the summer) or design (just wanting a little extra bre...