Updated 27 February 2023
Caregiving
My husband Mark had a stroke in November 2021. We’ve got a new normal flow. His cognitive capabilities have really rebounded. Physically, we still have some challenges.
Living
Now, I am living in northern Texas on the edge of a massive lake next to a forest. Yes, I know I said in 2009 when I left the Austin area that I would not come back to Texas. Life changes. People change. Texas is absolutely positively in all ways the best place for us as a family right now.
Speaking
I’ll be speaking at WordCamp Phoenix on March 24-25, 2023 about the brokenness of passwords and how passkeys will save us.
I presented at Page Builder Summit in June 2022 about dynamic templating in WordPress using Kadence. If you’re new to Kadence, my 2023 Page Builder Summit presentation gives you a great overview of what Kadence is all about and how building sites with WordPress is changing.
I spoke at WordFest Live in March 2022 about overcoming adversity. It’s a raw look at life right after my husband’s stroke.
Podcasting
I am a frequent speaker on podcasts in the WordPress space. You can find me contributing on WooVisions, a part of Do the Woo, where we talk about the future of eCommerce and how that impacts WooCommerce users and developers. I also participate on WPBuilds This Week in WordPress, and I’m podcasting with my teammates at Kadence on The Kadence Beat.
In late September 2022, I started the WP Motivate podcast with Michelle Frechette. When Michelle, the busiest woman in WordPress, asks if you want to do something, you say yes before she tells you what it is.
I have a new idea in the works that I hope to launch in early 2023.
Working
It’s really important to work with people who share your core values and with a product that excites you. I am currently leading marketing for the Kadence team at StellarWP. Kadence is one of the most innovative products to hit WordPress in a long time, and I am excited to be a part of it. I also get to participate with the iThemes team to talk about security, so I have the gift of contributing my experiences in security to my WordPress people.
My work has changed in the last year with organizational shifts. I am finding myself in the amazing position of mentoring folks and setting direction. I enjoy that ability to encourage and inspire more than anything else.
Creating
I am writing more than I ever did before, some of it for personal pleasure, some of it for public consumption, and some of it for a longer term project.
I am building a houseplant collection, and I am enchanted by fiddle leaf figs and calathea plants. Two of my calathea plants have died, so now I’m going to try orchids for fun. Thus far, orchid number one is doing well a month into spending time with us.
I’m also starting in on a gardener’s paradise in the backyard, though I’ve been warned I am risking feral hog invasions if it gets too good. It’s like free range bacon, isn’t it?
Parenting
I’m a barn mom to a teenager who is too smart for her own good. I love being around horses, who knew.
I seem to have somehow raised a son that doesn’t need me anymore. Does that mean I did it right?
Listening
I recently started listening to country music, well, the new kind of country music. Upbeat, positive, Texas proud. You can tell it’s not summer when I write nice things about Texas.
When life gets to be a bit much, I dive into Sufjan Stevens to dive even deeper and feel it all.
You can creep on my Spotify profile if you feel like you must but you will find things unexpected there. I know I do.
Being
Still walking every day. Still meditating every day. Being here now. Every day.
I realized recently that I’ve been walking every single morning for over 13 years. It is my meditation and my solace.
Giving Back
I’ve helped organize a number of WordCamps: WordCamp Phoenix twice, WordCamp US once. I also helped organize WordFest March 2022. Right now, I need to take a breather to provide care to the husband as he gets better.
I will be finding a way to help other people ensnared by a medical dystopia hellbent on killing more people than they help. Watch me.