I love my name. Honestly, I don’t think my parents could have picked a better name. I look at people who hate their names for whatever reason, and I just can’t relate.
According to several baby name generators, Valerie means “strong” (though I grew up with my parents telling me that it meant “leader”). It was [...]

I am so excited and grateful to be back at the school I’ve worked at for the past year and a half. The job market is tough out there, and when it became pretty clear that I wasn’t going to find a job in my field within the next few months, I messaged my former [...]

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of seeing Julie and Julia with Mom and Vera. I had heard great things about the movie, and honestly? It had Meryl Streep playing Julia Child; I knew it would be a movie to remember. What I didn’t realize is that it would be a movie I’d relate to [...]

Next week we start moving Mom and Dad to Michigan. This is a piece I wrote about our family and moving for a writing class during Spring semester. Gonna miss you, Mom and Dad!
Our last name is Winters. In fun sometimes people ask if we change our name with the seasons. Mom has a “Winter [...]

There is something about being up in the early morning. The still, the quiet, inspires me like no other time of the day. Today is no different.
I woke up with a coughing fit at around 3am. After getting some cough medicine and water, I decided to try to watch Gilmore Girls until I was tired [...]

This past week was Spirit Week at the school where I run an after school program. Friday was “Character Day.” I was going to throw on a ball gown and tiara and be a princess. But the ball gown didn’t fit, so I ran around for 30 minutes trying to figure out Plan B. Finally, [...]

Have you ever seen that Ikea commercial (click “Ikea Commercial” to see video) where the kids are fighting, and the mom comes in and says, “Someone here needs a time out!”? And the kids watch the mom go shut herself in her beautiful sanctuary of a room, filled with things purchased at Ikea. I’ve been [...]

“Good evening, The Melting Pot. How may I help you?” said the voice on the other end of the phone.
“Yes, I’d like to make a reservation for two for tomorrow evening,” my boyfriend Aaron responded.
“Of course. What time?”
“6:00 p.m., please.”
“The closest we have available is 4:45 p.m. Would that work for your party?”
“Hey, Val? 4:45? [...]

This morning, as I sat at my computer drinking my coffee, I looked around me and realized how many of my favorite things were surrounding me. I decided I must take a picture and share!
On Sunday I noticed that the local grocery store had tulips on sale–two bunches for $10! I really wanted them, but [...]

I’ve never been a healthy person–even as a child, maybe especially as a child. In seventh grade I missed 21 days of school. We did finally discover the culprit–bad allergies, which have continued to plague me as an adult and now have the extra added benefit of asthma. Happy, though? I’ve been happy. I remember [...]