Bees are vital to our environment… and our gardens. In Iowa, you can help protect pollinators and fight colony collapse disorder by planting native flowers like purple coneflowers, milkweed, and bee balm. These blooms not only support local ecosystems, they add beauty to your outdoor space (and make gorgeous backdrops for family portraits).

What do personality tests have to do with writing fiction? A lot, actually. In this post, I explore how being a Type 9 INFJ impacts my creative process, my characters, and even the scenes I avoid writing. (Spoiler: it’s conflict.)

The world has felt impossibly heavy lately. My stomach’s been in knots. But even with that weight, there are lunches to make, sprinklers to run through, and stories to tell. The guilt of holding joy while others suffer is real. It’s also part of why I started writing again. Not to ignore the hard things, but to make space for what’s still good. In this post, I’m reflecting on what it means to parent, feel deeply, and keep creating in a world that’s on fire.

Hi, I’m Amanda! Aspiring author, photographer, and mom of three. This space is where I plan to share the real-life moments that shape the fiction I write, along with the occasional photo I can’t keep to myself.