I woke up Saturday morning in an adorable Airbnb in Santa Fe. My first thought: Where am I? This was my first night in a bed after four nights in a tent surrounded by saguaros, blue skies, and sunshine at a campground just outside Tucson, AZ. My second thought: I am so stressed.

We were headed home to Boulder after a week-long vacation, during which time I'd done some very serious relaxing. Other highlights of our trip included fulfilling a long-time goal of riding my bike up Mt. Lemmon, star gazing, and marveling at just how phallic a 20-foot saguaro cactus can be. I checked my email a total of zero times. 

I wasn't ready to think about laundry, groceries, unpacking, work, and my mile-long to-do list. That evening, falling asleep in my in-laws' guest room I thought: Wow, 14-hours-ago-me was so cute, thinking she had anything to be stressed out about.

No joke, we were about four hours from home and I'd been musing on how nice it would be to come home from a trip without the pall of a destructive wildfire that had came within spitting distance of my neighborhood (see: our last vacation) when a friend called. She said there was a fire that appeared to be growing rapidly just a few miles from our house (and right across the street from the grocery store mass shooting that happened almost exactly one year ago). Instead of spending the remainder of the car ride in the passenger seat reading my novel and responding to my kids' fighting and yelling with empty threats, I was glued to #NCARfire on Twitter, pausing only to text neighbors. 

Within a couple of hours, we received an evacuation notice. A good friend was willing to run into our house and grab our laptops, a file folder of important documents, and our kids' special blankets. We headed to Dan's parents' house not knowing when it would be safe to return home or if our home would still be there when we got back. 

Our kids were freaking out about what would happen if our house burned down. I was too, but for their sake, I had to pretend I wasn't, so I said the only thing I could say that felt both true and comforting: We are all here together in this car. Everything else is replaceable. 

We returned to our house on Sunday morning with dead bugs smeared on the windshield, stiff legs after two days of driving, and so much gratitude. Because every single day we get to wake up and chase our dreams, make our art, and connect with the people we love is a precious gift.

If you're reading this, whether you've been here since the beginning or you just subscribed, I thank you for inviting me into your inbox. 

And if you're starting to think that your relationship with food and exercise is keeping you from sharing your gifts, deeply connecting with your people, and fully showing up to your life, hit me up. I'm a weight-neutral health coach with a background in occupational therapy. Helping people learn to engage in joyful movement and intuitive eating is my jam. Click here to learn more. Have questions? Just hit "reply" and ask away. 

xo,

P.S. If you haven't seen my newsletter in a while, it might be going to your Promos in Gmail. If that's the case, go back to your inbox and drag this email over to your Primary tab and it should start showing up there in the future. 

4 Things Worth Checking Out 

• If you have two minutes: This recent IG post resonated with a bunch of people which makes me think I'm definitely not the only one who freaks out when their kid is freaking out about something, which is also the exact type of thing they tend to freak out about too. That's confusing, I know. You're better off just clicking the link. 
   
• If you have five minutes: I loved this article by Kate Carter for The Guardian, "‘Women have less ego. Men think: How hard can this be?’: the female ultra-athletes leading the field."(PS if you like this article definitely subscribe to Real Fit so you won't miss next week's episode, an interview with Lael Wilcox, who is basically the queen of endurance cycling and I am still pinching myself over the fact that I got to speak with her for an hour.)
   
• If you have eight minutes: Ann Helen Peterson's article, "A Case of Zoom Face Dysmorphia" is great if you can relate to having a lot of feelings (most of them bad) about seeing your face all the damn time on Zoom calls. Wow, do I feel seen. (No pun intended.)
   
• If you have an hour: Listen to my fabulous interview with elite triathlete and triathlon coach Jennifer Harrison on Real Fit. She shared so much good stuff, including insights about longevity in sport, adjusting your goals as you age, and why endurance athletes seriously need to weight train.