Colleen Cook, Thrive Correspondent

We had breakfast this weekend at the home of some dear friends. As a final summer hurrah as we all prepare for the school year to start, we allowed our children to play together while we enjoyed a delicious meal, sipped our coffee and caught up on the summer vacations and adventures. Our time together […]

We took our children to the Columbus Zoo this past weekend. As we prepare for the start of the school year, we wanted to squeeze just a little more fun out of the summer with them. It’s already been an incredibly fun summer, packed with everything the best summers are full of: friends, food, sunshine, […]

This past week, I was in a four-day-long training session on Zoom. Each day, I spent around six or seven hours on a group Zoom call on which my colleagues and I were learning from experts on a topic, mostly listening while staring at our screen.  By the end of the four days, I was […]

It happens without fail: a new rhythm begins, and our whole family spins out a bit. New rhythms like the start of the school year, the end of a school year or a new schedule of sports practices throw us all for a loop for a few weeks.  The big transitions are the toughest ones. […]

A few years ago, I went through a health program that really transformed my life. It changed the way I thought about nutrition, it gave me a deeper understanding of how my body works and responds to different foods and I felt the best I’ve ever felt. Then, during the difficult year that 2020 was, […]

A few years ago, a friend of mine went on vacation with her extended family. Each summer for most of her life, they’d rented a beach house and spent the week on the beach. It was a much anticipated relaxing annual time away for their family. As a brand new mom, she had been excited […]

I’ll be honest: our house has gotten pretty cluttered over the past year. Prior to COVID, one of the greatest motivators for me to stay on top of housekeeping tasks was that we regularly had people over to our home. But, the traffic into our home has slowed considerably to really just include our closest […]

Several years ago, I worked in a job where the leadership didn’t handle staff issues well. In an effort to protect the feelings of the people on the team, they’d ignore problems that arose, hoping they’d blow over. Meanwhile, frustrations frequently grew among the staff when issues would arise and be ignored.  This was an […]

Last week, our family spent a few days at a church camp that has been a significant part of my life since I was a child. We’ve been there several times as a family, but we typically bring with us family friends from home to share the experience. This time, however, we came alone and […]

Today was supposed to be a perfect day. My husband and I dropped the kids off with their grandparents overnight and we headed up to Lake Erie for a sunny day of lounging on rafts in the lake. This truly might be my favorite way to spend a sunny day, and to get to do […]