By Emily Schilling One of my favorite Christmas traditions is spreading some holiday cheer to a lucky reader. In the past, I’ve given out ornaments, Christmas CDs, one of my favorite holiday movies and a gift basket of Christmas goodies. This year, I’d like to share something meaningful as well as practical: the gift of… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Thanksgiving and food go hand in hand.  I pull out all my necessary recipes weeks in advance and not only make a shopping list but check it twice. Thanksgiving Day is not the time to suddenly realize you forgot to get an important ingredient!  Good cooks may know how to improvise when… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling What can be seen once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousand years? Are you perplexed by the question?  That’s what I love about brain teasers. You can ponder them for hours weighing all the possible — and impossible — answers. When you finally have that “aha”… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling You’ve probably heard educators talk about different learning styles. We learn best by engaging our dominant sense, be it sight, sound or touch. I, however, believe my most evolved senses are taste and smell. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help me when it comes to learning anything. It’s impossible to eat my way to… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling As much as I say I hate getting up early, my darned internal clock usually awakens me at 5 a.m. even on those days I can sleep in. Of course, I also typically nod off by 9 p.m. (no late night TV for me!) so I get an adequate amount of sleep… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling My daughter says I’m a teenager stuck in a mom’s body. Why? I’m a boy band fan who once sat in the front row at a 1D concert. I read young adult fiction — and watch adaptations of those books when they’re made into movies. I’m obsessed with Hello Kitty. I know… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling What a difference 16 days can make. In just a little over two weeks, 14 Indiana electric cooperative lineworkers and two project leaders brought electricity to an east central Guatemalan village. Ninety homes, a school, two churches and a pump house were electrified, and villagers suddenly looked forward to opportunities they’d only… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Hoarders take note! Decluttering our homes is all the rage thanks to Marie Kondo, a proponent of living more sparsely, simply and, ultimately, stress-free. Kondo says you should get rid of everything that does not “spark joy” in your life.   You might have seen Kondo on television in shows like Good… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling I’m not one to typically order a burger and fries when I go out to lunch — I’m more of an Italian food type of gal. But sometimes, especially after seeing an ad featuring a sizzling patty on a grill on TV, I get that gnawing junk food craving. And it won’t… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling As any new parent will tell you, selecting the perfect name is not easy.  Of course, naming a child and naming a magazine are not quite the same thing. But both scenarios usually involve hours of debate, input (both solicited and sometimes unsolicited) from numerous sources, and a long and often ongoing… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Sometimes, the best way to get something off your chest is to put it on your chest.  Imprinted T-shirts can say things you’d never have the nerve to utter yourself. They can give others a glimpse of who you really are — or who you’d like them to believe you are. You… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Back in 1969, when Johnny Cash sang about A Boy Named Sue, listeners laughed about the improbability of anyone saddling their son with such a scandalous (for a guy) name.  Fast forward a half century and unusual monikers are not so unusual anymore. In fact, nowadays it’s more unlikely that your name… Continue reading.