Honestly, though, I’m at the book-writing stage where my words no longer have meaning and I hate everything I’ve ever written (anywhere, not just in this book). Why do I use ‘ultimately’ so much? Chuckled? What a weird word; it’s the worst. If I say ‘replied’ instead of ‘said’ one more time I’m going to put me in time-out and throw my book off a cliff.

Like the transition phase in labor, this is how I know I’m almost done and the book is actually getting quite good.

In the meantime, happy 250th Independence Day weekend! My plan is to soon hit ‘send’ on an email to my editor, take a long sweaty walk, then tomorrow sip a bubbly something while my uncle ignites his fireworks collection valued in the five figures. ‘Murica! I love it.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. As I recently said, this time of year we typically watch an episode or two of John Adams in memory of our country’s founding. This year, we’re aiming to watch the whole series, plus Band of Brothers1 (which we usually watch around Memorial Day). Both are excellent mini-series (arguably the best ever made2), and both are excellent tools for fostering patriotism in adolescents (teen boys in particular). Don’t forget, patriotism is a legit virtue.

2. Speaking of watching stuff for Independence Day, I’ve bookmarked this in hopes of watching it sometime this weekend. I’ve heard good things about it, and I do appreciate a lot of what Hillsdale creates (I’ve taken several of their free online classes).

3. I appreciated this short essay from and echo much of her sentiments: “There’s something profoundly good about being in America, and being American. It’s a truth we ought not forget even among the busyness and conflict of today’s public discourse and political life.”

4. I’m making this for my July 4 dessert—I eat about 85% carnivore, but I relax when we’re eating with friends or for special occasions. I’m using the Sarah brand heavy cream I get from Costco, plus my Creami. Let’s see how it goes!

5. And finally, the oldest restaurant in every state—it turns out we live thirty minutes from the one in Texas! Time for a little date night field trip.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My new Summer 2026 playlist

Quotable 💬

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are three things you love about your country?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Oh look, it’s me.

This past week, he installed the last of our window replacements. Yes, it was cool that all of our 24 windows (a heckuva lot for a 1,400-square-foot cottage!) were original, single-pane, and that old-school wavy glass style, but they were horribly inefficient and mostly in horrible shape, all the way from the frame to the glass itself. We like to use old materials whenever possible, but with windows we had to upgrade to modern for a bajillion reasons—and in sticking with our overall ethos of respecting the bones and aesthetic of its 1930s structure, it still looks like the era from which it was raised. (And let me tell you, our heating and air bill approves.)

I’m so proud of Kyle’s ability to do every bit of our home renovation, and watching him install windows was no exception. Now we can proceed with finishing the siding replacement (we had to wait on the kitchen window; it’s complicated), then new trim and paint—and then on to what’s next on the list! It never ends. 🫠

It’s always slower to do it yourself, but the earned satisfaction is almost always worth it.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. I have so many thoughts—and about a quarter of an essay draft written—on the topic brings up so eloquently here: why so many people are so immature these days. Hoo boy, do I have thoughts! Before I hit publish in the meantime (translation: I need to be mature and focus on my own book edits deadline), go forth and read his many gems, such as: “We don’t need maturity because it’s annoying that lots of dudes are sitting around playing video games; we need it because we need mature imago Deis who have the confidence to do what God designed them to do.”

2. I’m currently outside in the back yard of our coffee shop, and while it’s breezy at the moment, I know I’ll get gross and sweaty before too long. Last summer Kyle and I made a pact: We will not complain about the weather. And lo, it helped so much! We all already know Texas summers are brutal, and nobody likes the humidity, the mosquitos, the [fill-in-the-blank of your least-favorite hot-related thing], but complaining only makes it worse. We tell our kids this all the time; why would it be any different for us? I’m finding that embracing the hot season and all that comes with it—and not letting it deter me from being outside—has done wonders on my mental health. I look for ways to swim as much as I can, I keep my go-to bug spray (the only kind that works on me, whom bugs love) on me at all times, and I simply acknowledge the reality that I may take multiple showers in a single day. This mindset has helped me love where I live even more.

3. Write for your roots, says —oof, yes. It’s all too easy to despair about the rapidly increasing illiteracy of our modern culture (says the woman currently editing her next book manuscript clocking in at 103,000 words). But I say despair is a sin (really) because it’s believing the lie that God is not in control and His promises are not worthy of hope. …That aside, it’s also still so very worth it to write, and write long-form at that (and to read it, naturally!). As Joel says: “We believe that our purpose as creatives is to give people oxygen masks, but we’re not wearing one. We believe that we’re trying to connect everyone else to the source, even as we are unknowingly cutting ourselves off. Friends, before you can save others, you have to save yourself. Before you can call others to attention, you must cultivate that attention in your own heart, soul, and mind.”

4. Observation, which is the same observation I make several times a year (thus further proving my point): whatever the discourse du jour that people are talking about a lot at the moment—it’s truly the same topics people were talking a lot about a decade ago. Letting children be more free-range, not letting tech rule your life, not making trad life a LARP.... It’s all the same stuff we were talking about online when blogging was in its heydey and discussing stuff on the internet was still new. Hopefully that’s encouraging to you—that even in seemingly current topics like this, there’s nothing new under the sun.

5. And finally, has a new middle-grade book! A win for us all.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

Quotable 💬

“I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.”

-L. M. Montgomery

Upcoming Pilgrimages 📍

There may be one or two more spots on the Scotland trip left (we leave in less than a month now, so don’t delay!)—reach out to Select (info on that link) to find out details. But in the meantime... I truly cannot wait to share next summer’s pilgrimage with y’all. For those of you who’ve gone on a trip with me before: be watching your inboxes because you’ll find out first (hopefully in the next week or two), and you’ll get first dibs on spots! I have a feeling this one will fill up fairly fast, so sign up asap.

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What hard thing can you do this week that the You one year from now will be really glad you did?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Ouch.

Therefore—like many 5QTs published during the summer months, the next few issues will be short and sweet. It’s for the greater good of a stronger book to bring you for your shelves, so it’s worth it! But in advance: thanks for understanding.

Onward!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Earlier this week I shared to subscribers an essay I first wrote 17 (!) years ago—I still think of this idea from time to time: “Our days’ quotidian everydayness numb our senses. Routine begets monotony, and before you know it, it’s been a year since you were given that perfume. And then two. It’s easy to simply forget about that good lotion, the bone china, the silk skirt. There’s spit-up to contend with. Traffic to fight.”

2. I’m currently finalizing details on the summer 2027 pilgrimage, and I’m super eager to share this one with you (though previous pilgrims always get the news + registration dibs first)! In the meantime, if you haven’t chimed in on where you’d one day like to go, head to the poll here and let me know.

3. My X feed is currently filled with lots of chatter of who’s America’s Homer? The obvious answer is ‘Homer is the America’s Homer’ because we were nothing if not built on a collective group of ancestors who embraced the idea of a hero’s journey and a mythic love of the Greek ideal. But since the question is presumably more about storytelling, then my answer is Mark Twain, with Tom Sawyer a sort of Iliad and Huck Finn a sort of Odyssey. …I’m still mulling over this idea, though.

4. One of my IRL friends wrote this lovely reflection on living physically near your friends (I’m the one who “lives in the historic square” nearby), and obviously I agree with her: “People move for job and educational opportunities. Why aren’t we willing to move for the opportunities that physical proximity to family and friends can bring? Most often, community is something we forge, not fall into.”

5. And finally, this whole essay from on the current Catholic dating scene had me both laughing out loud and grateful that I got the last chopper out of Nam (I didn’t, really—I’ve been married 23.5 years and we weren’t even Catholic at the time, but still, I’m grateful we were in the sunset era of normal-ish dating practices). There’s at least one solid phrase in every paragraph: “Sometimes you are simply trying to find out if this person is pleasant, kind, funny, grounded, and capable of holding a conversation without using the phrase ‘the crisis of modernity’ more than three times.”

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

Here One Moment, by Liane Moriarty (the audiobook is quite lovely—also, hooray for easy summer reading!)

Quotable 💬

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”

-Ray Bradbury

What’s your M.O. on birthday parties? 🎉

Clearly last week I was feeling the semi-regular pressure I feel as a mother with a kid having a birthday… This has always been a point of consternation for me, because I want to be the fun mom who goes all-out with parties, even simple ones, but a long time ago I relented to the reality that I’m just not a fun party mom. That’s okay; I’m good at other things! …I love celebrating birthdays and other milestones, but I hate the pressure to make them epic and memorable.

Once our kids turned 13, we told them they could have a few friends over, but that they’d have to do all the planning and hosting themselves. Some years they’d have parties because they wanted to bother with the details; some years they just didn’t and we kept it a family affair with dinner and cake. It’s been a solid compromise.

In other words: I’m with the majority here most of the time.

• We celebrate, but keep them simple and just family gatherings: 58.8%

• We do occasional parties with friends, but not every year: 27.7%

• Meh—I prefer birthdays fly under the radar: 8.5%

• We go all-out with themed parties & a friend-filled guest list: 5%

Note: I hate to say it, but handling the poll section of this newsletter is weirdly one of my more time-consuming tasks, so until my book edits are fully submitted, I’m briefly hitting the pause button on them. I know, I know! …I’ll do my best to hurry. 😭

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are three easy ways you could get out in nature this weekend?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - A super-cool photo.

Today (well, the day before you’re actually reading this) my youngest has turned sixteen years old, and we have a family gathering in a few hours: we’re walking to the neighborhood pizza place for dinner, then returning home for games and ice cream. Soon he’ll host a friend gathering to celebrate the milestone (his plan: cheap canvases and paints to follow along a Bob Ross episode; I’ll add the drop cloth on the couch), but in the meantime, tonight it’s just the grandparents, the parents and siblings, and the newly-christened brother-in-law. [Insert deep thought about how the kids are all growing up too fast, even though that seems to be all I write about here these days.]

Today (the actual today you’re reading this) Kyle’s briefly heading out of town for a quick trip, and both boys have summer jobs to attend to—so after my morning writing, I’m tackling the first items on my summer house project list. If the weather cooperates I’ll be painting some wooden cabinet doors destined for our bathroom’s open shelves (it’s only taken us 9.5 years to get to this point), then potentially decluttering my wardrobe if the spirit moves. I’m craving a return to a summer capsule wardrobe, seeing as 90% of the time I wear the same thing anyway. We shall see.

Huzzah for summer’s (lack of) routines and rhythms! School—what’s that?

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Yesterday I shared my latest State of the Newsletter “address”—it’s been literal years since I’ve written one of these, yet I felt the need for my own sake (and then it’s nice to share the resulting thoughts with you all). I’m thankful for each and every comment you’ve left about your Commonplace origin, and I also appreciate those of you taking the time to take the included poll (wrong answers and all).

2. When the calendar flipped to June, the High Holy Season of Cold Brew began. Here’s what I do: I take a half-gallon mason jar and insert one of these, add one cup of coarse-ground fresh coffee, then fill it with 7-8 cups of filtered water. Let it sit at least for at least eight hours in the fridge, then enjoy as a concentrate all week long (I make a half-size decaf version in a separate jar for the afternoons). I usually drink it black with ice, but occasionally I’ll add a splash of straight heavy cream (look for a one-ingredient offering at Costco!) and 2-3 tiny drops of a homemade sugar-free syrup.

3. I thoroughly enjoyed ’s recent thoughts about a theology of awkwardness, and what it means to be real people living real lives, unencumbered by the technology that strips away the gifts of human awkwardness from us: “Awkwardness matters more than most of us realize. It is what so many of us spend our whole lives running from. We are terrified of saying and doing the wrong thing, coming off the fool, finding ourselves humiliated through our own inadequacy, and not measuring up. Awkwardness is also what makes so many forms of technology—artificial and otherwise—so appealing. It promises us protection from awkwardness—from uncomfortable conversations, badly written emails, poor decisions about paint colors, encounters that don’t go as planned, disappointment in friendship, rejection in love, and so many of the messy moments in romance, work, and life that expose us for the imperfect beings we are.”

4. Even though we rarely go camping during the summer months here in Central Texas, I know it’s the dawn of the major camping season for a lot of you. So, our foray at a local park last weekend reminded me of this quick tip, in case it’s the food that feels daunting to you: make a simple soup ahead of time, then freeze it in a 64-ounce container. Let that serve as part of the ice in the cooler for the rest of your perishables. Bring your Instant Pot, because there’s zero shame in that game, and a few hours before dinner, plug it in and pop that now semi-frozen soup into the pot (which fits perfectly). Let it warm up until dinner, et voilá: a no-fuss already-made meal to eat in paper bowls with disposable spoons. (Yes, this is “car camping” and not hard-core backpacking, but I presume this is the most reasonable style of camping for most of you reading this.)

5. And finally, a few days ago one of my sons (the birthday boy) and I went down a memory lane rabbit hole of rewatching some OK GO music videos… I first encountered them about twelve years ago and was entranced by their creativity. Glad to see they’re still on their a-game!

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺

Patience, on PBS (well, two episodes in… So far I like it though)

Quotable 💬

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

What’s your favorite summertime activity? 🏖️

An impossible question, I know, and one whose answer changes for me by the day. Overall, I’d say simply being outdoors, but with a huge caveat that my favorite outdoor activity is swimming because, hello, Texas… Honestly, I love it all. I know August is scorched earth around here, but overall I’m Team Summer, big time. (My Oregonian husband feels very much otherwise.)

• Being outside (including camping): 43.7%

• Travel: 18.2%

• Reading indoors: 17.8%

• Swimming: 11.8%

• Grilling & eating outdoors: 8.5%

Find the next poll here.

Scotland: It’s Almost Closed! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

There’s only a few more spots left and we need to close registration soon… If you’re on the fence, sign up NOW (as in, this week). We’d love to still have you join us!

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s one thing you could bravely say no to right now? What’s one thing to bravely say yes to?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Barcelona, you win.

As you’re reading this I’m out camping with my husband, and only my husband (well, and our dog). The boys are at church camp, the daughter is off and married—so, I guess we’re able to just ...do things now? What a time to be alive.

It may very well be pouring down rain, so TBD on whether we call it and head home to our shower and bed. However, we do love our new-to-us camper, so I dunno, it also sounds like an adventure to power through the rain and stay cozy in the camper while looking at nature through rain-streaked windows. The dog is the big contender though. No one likes a wet, muddy dog, even when you’re camping.

The goal is to eat steak cooked over a campfire (though: rain, etc., so maybe?), read just for fun in a foldable rocking chair (perhaps under our awning), play a few card games, and if weather permits, go paddle boarding in the lake. After our chock-full spring semester, no agenda but nature for 48 hours sounds positively lovely, no matter what comes forth from the clouds.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Speaking of meat cooked on fire, I’m looking forward to an upcoming long season of dinner prepared mostly in the backyard. I create seasonal menu plans, mostly copy + paste with a few variations here and there, because my clan is simple and doesn’t mind repetition. My summer priority is not turning on the oven while getting us all plenty of protein, so that typically means the grill (alongside the trusty Instant Pot and air fryer). Have a go-to meat-based meal that’s super-simple and meets this criteria? I’d love to hear it.

2. ICYMI, a few days ago I shared with you all what it’s like to marry off your daughter—I’m still reflecting on all the thoughts and feelings, but for now, I’m glad my initial words have resonated with you: “We stand before God and community to promise each other our fealty until death do us part, and what a step of faith that is. We have no idea what’s coming, all the stretch marks and bills and budget-friendly date nights in the living room after the kids are asleep and late-night bedroom chats about how the teens are doing, and how not knowing what’s all in store is probably for the best.”

3. On that note—a few days ago, Kyle and I went on a double date with our daughter and her new husband, and I’m happy to report that it was a lot of fun and not as weird as I thought it’d be. It felt very ordinary and as-it-should-be, a nice hybrid of easy family hangout and dinner out with another couple like we’ve been doing for decades. …Like in all stages of life, where we don’t have the grace to be in it until we actually are, I’m starting to look forward to this next stage of life.

4. Also, at the beginning of the week, Commonplace subscribers and I shared our June book plans (plus what we read last month). It’s our traditional way to start each month, so if this is you, pop over there and share what’s in your stack!

5. And finally, if you’re an old-school podcast enjoyer—meaning, you still like laid-back, short-ish, simple conversation-focused episodes, I’d love to hear from you here regarding your thoughts on the trend of making podcasts video-formatted. I have my opinion, but it’s genuinely helpful to hear from you too as I make plans for Drink’s next season. I appreciate it in advance!

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📖

The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley (but I’m only about two pages in, so I admittedly just started)

Quotable 💬

“The Earth has music for those who listen.”

-Reginald Vincent Holmes

How do you organize your books? 📚

Hoo boy, can this be a contentious topic, and I’m regularly made fun of here in my own household... I am a firm believer that books should be alphabetized by author, as the good Lord intended (though I can make some space for topical organization, if it’s then still done alphabetically by author). I tried topical once, but then I lost my Lewis collection all nice and tidy together—who wants Narnia all the way over there, while Screwtape Letters is in another section, while Till We Have Faces is in yet another section? None of that nonsense. Respect the creator of the work, I say.

The vast majority of you are nuts. How can you live in the sheer chaos?

• Topic: 39.5%

• My own particular method: 28.7%

• Vibes: 16.4%

• Alphabetically: 7.6%

• Color: 6.8%

• Acquisition date: 1%

Find the next poll here.

Scotland: Join Us This Summer! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Time’s running out to register, but there’s still a bit more space… Come join! Make this summer one for the books.

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s one thing you could do this weekend to make your next week’s self happier?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Amen.

Greetings from my first normal week in …three months? Six months? A year? I don’t know anymore. What’s normal? At minimum, greetings from my week in which I do not have a Huge Major Family Milestone Moment on the calendar. —I hardly know what to do with myself.

Our oldest is officially married, our second is officially graduated, and our youngest officially turns sixteen (and hopefully gets his driver’s license soon after🤞) in about two weeks. How am I at this stage of life? Among the many other wild things I’ve had to process lately, this is a big one Kyle and I keep repeating to ourselves like a couple set out to pasture at a retirement home: time sure flies, doesn’t it? Weren’t we just married? Wasn’t this scholarship-amassing new college student of ours just worrying us with his lack of speaking? Weren’t we just dealing with our youngest as a three-year-old constantly getting in to everything, climbing out-of-reach shelves to reach Halloween candy and super glue? Alas, all the clichés about time, etc., have been loudly ringing true these days. I’ve got an essay in the works reflecting on some of these thoughts, and I hope to hit publish on it soon.

In the meantime: the summer season is here! 👏 Even if these months don’t reflect my favorite temp on the thermometer, summer is my favorite season because of its pace of life. Perhaps it’s the homeschool mom in me, perhaps it’s the teacher in me, perhaps it’s simply the Texan in me who prefers cut-offs and bare feet, but summer mode is the Best Mode. Bring on the easier books, cold drinks, and porch swings. I am so very ready.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Earlier this week I asked Commonplace subscribers to share their monthly gratitude lists, so if you’re a sub, don’t forget to add yours! (it was on Memorial Day, so you may have been wisely offline and thus missed it). Some favorites I’m seeing so far: ‘The beauty of a thunderstorm and the rainbow that followed,’ ‘an ancient light pink patchwork quilt on our bed,’ ‘the camaraderie around the Route 66 celebrations going on during the 100th anniversary of the Mother Road—it’s been fun meeting people from all across the nation who are traveling through,’ and ‘having a few friends that I keep in touch with via hand-written letters.’

2. A new papal encyclical dropped this week! 🙌 For those unaware (because I didn’t know until I swam the Tiber), popes often write documents that serve as letters to a global audience, often about social or theological issues. Here it is directly from the Vatican, and so far this is my favorite commentary slash explainer (though I look forward to eventually watching this discussion when it’s available to the public). …Lots to unpack in this document.

3. Speaking of the spirit of being full persons in the age of technology, I appreciated these words and photos of Carmelite monks in Wyoming building a Gothic cathedral by hand, while also using technology and modern tools, like robots: “…Everything from Champagne to lowercase letters to water-powered forges have been invented by enterprising monks. It is this tradition of innovation that the Wyoming Carmelites are leaning into to answer their prayers for a mountain monastery.”

4. hits it out of the park with his recent reflections on having kids when there’s never a good time to have kids. As I told him—there is, indeed, never a good time to have kids, which is why it’s always a good time to have kids. His words beautifully capture the essence of parenting: “Sometimes, I’m even thankful that the world she’s coming into isn’t perfect. Neither of us ascribe to the belief that a life without resistance, hardship, let down is what makes for a flourishing life. We need every note on the scale of human emotion in order to stumble into a textured, beautiful life.”

5. And finally, from the archives… A few years ago one of my students requested a summer reading list from me for her transitory months between her junior and senior years. Here’s what I came up with—I’d love to have written another one for this year, but I just haven’t had time. Nonetheless, I think this list is still a strong one! (I’ll share my own summer reading plans for this year in our monthly subscriber book chat soon).

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My Summer playlist from last year (until I have time to make this year’s)

Quotable 💬

“Someday, you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

-C.S. Lewis

What’s better in the shower? 🧼

A completely random question, I know, and I bet you can guess where I was when it came to me… I used to be a ride-or-die liquid soap gal, but for about a decade I’ve used good, minimal-ingredient bar soap inside a bag sorta like this, and it’s a game-changer. Not only does it last longer than liquid soap (and therefore cheaper), but the scratchiness on the skin is weirdly therapeutic. 10/10, would recommend.

• Bar soap: 52.6%

• Liquid soap: 47.4%

Find the next poll here.

Scotland: Join Us This Summer! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I can’t emphasize enough how formative a pilgrimage like this is in your life…. If you’re on the fence, take these words as a sign from the Lord and SIGN UP. You won’t regret it.

(Psst… Those of you already going: check your inboxes—I wrote you this week!)

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s one of your favorite ordinary summer memories from your childhood?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Window pane glue! …I have so many questions, but especially for Norway, Lithuania, and Germany.

One cannot possibly describe in only one paragraph how it feels when your oldest and only daughter gets married, surrounded by family and friends on a perfect breezy spring day—so I’m not even going to try. I’ve got an essay in the works that’ll better unpack all that I experienced last week, how God gave me grace upon grace to partake of this thin-veiled moment, and what unadulterated joy her father and I both felt during the day of and in the days afterwards… We’re still floating on cloud nine! They’ll come back from their honeymoon tomorrow and I’ll ask her permission to share a few photos here soon, but truly, there’s really only one word to summarize everything about the whole experience: JOY. It’s clichéd, but it’s true. Pure JOY! Such an answer to a decades-long prayer.

…And now tomorrow we graduate our second-born from high school. He’s the kid cut from a slightly different bolt of fabric from his siblings, but is also, quite frankly, the best of all of us: he’s got a heart of gold, he’s brilliant beyond my understanding, and he’s the funniest person I know. I’m so stinking proud of him, and I trust God will sustain me this weekend, once again, as I let the waterworks flow and witness another milestone in one of our kid’s life. What grace.

All this means by this fall we’ll have ONE KID left in the house, and I can hardly believe we’re here at this stage of life already. I’m grateful for the next two years of finishing up high school with him under our roof. …I want it to go by as slowly as possible.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Several years ago I spoke as the commencement speaker at our school’s graduation—here’s a slightly-edited transcript of what I said: “Listen to tradition. Tradition is the stuff we humans have carried with us for a long time, and while some of it we’ve needed to shed over the ages, much of it is too quickly thrown out as outdated, unnecessary, or holding us back to the past. GK Chesterton called tradition the ‘Democracy of the dead, which means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes: our ancestors.’ It is very trendy these days to ignore anything that’s old. Don’t be trendy. Listen to good wisdom that’s been around a long time, whether that’s from Dostoevsky or from your grandpa.”

2. I needed this short-and-sweet reminder from my old friend , on how sometimes God speaks to us in our distractions, and isn’t impossibly stuck by our own human diversions: “it struck me: perhaps God is present even in the distracted, curious days like this one.”

3. How not to be an anxious parent—these are simple but true words of wisdom on what our actual roles are as parents, and what it means to love our children enough to let them live with the free will God has given them (this is a newsletter written specifically on parenting boys by , but the wisdom applies to girls, too): “You bring into parenting the same limitations and defects you had before your children arrived. Expecting to make many mistakes is not pessimism but realism; it is the only reasonable stance and, paradoxically, it is a source of peace.”

4. Very rarely do I share a piece from the same writer two weeks in a row, but knocks it out of the park again with yet another timely poem (particularly for me, since he and I are going through very similar life events and are roughly the same age): “Now, on a dark evening, I sit in the lamplight, our house quiet, and I wonder what my son, the one who just moved out, is doing in his new place, if he is reading any of those books we lugged up the steps, and if he remembered to lock the door.”

5. And finally, for some much needed levity (at least for me this week), always delivers with his insightful, timeless wisdom: “Graduates, I want you to take a moment to look at the person sitting on your right and left. In five years, one of those two people will be dead. And you will be married to the other one, so choose carefully.”

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My old Shmoopy playlist, thanks to our daughter’s wedding1

Quotable 💬

“God spoke today in flowers, and I, who was waiting on words, almost missed the conversation.”

-Ingrid Goff-Maidoff2

What are your summer travel plans (so far)? 🚗

We’re doing a tiny bit of in-state travel in a few weeks (Kyle and I are going on a much-needed weekend getaway!), and then there’s a chance we may make it up to Oregon again to visit family later this summer. But our biggest family travel is to Scotland, which of course you can join us (and should!). I’m so excited—it’ll be a fantastic pilgrimage with delightful people, as always.

• Domestic travel: 46.3%

• Staycation: 24.2%

• In-state travel: 16.4%

• International travel: 13.1%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Us This Summer! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I can’t emphasize enough how formative a pilgrimage like this is in your life…. If you’re on the fence, take these words as a sign from the Lord and SIGN UP. You won’t regret it.

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What would your high-school self be glad to know about your current-day self?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Moving cars with the swipe of a hand.

It’s Wedding Week around here! As you’re reading this I’ve already written these words several days prior, and I’m happy to report that I’m feeling surprisingly calm and less busy than I’ve been in several weeks… It feels like we’re now just plugging-and-playing all the planning we’ve been doing for months, and simply letting All The Things happen, come what may.

I’m naturally channeling all my focus and emotional energy right now on, you know, my oldest and only daughter getting married 🤯, so this will be short and sweet. Onward!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Several years ago in celebration of our anniversary I wrote a list of nine lessons learned in marriage—though I wish I had more time to write a fresh list, I honestly wouldn’t disagree with anything I said several years ago. …So if you missed it the first time, hopefully it’s an encouragement to you, and if you read it back then, well, perhaps it’s worth a re-read: “Don’t keep account of wrongs. Notice the good things—how that one color t-shirt looks good on him, how he always drags the trash cans to the curb on Monday nights, that he’s inordinately kind on the phone to that one high-maintenance client of his—and then tell him so. Say a thousand more encouraging things than the tens of issues you may have with him.”

2. A few years ago I also had a podcast conversation with one of my favorite local friends (whom we first met on one of our pilgrimages!), and he and his wife are some of Tate’s favorite people, too. Rick Reynolds is a marriage therapist specializing in infidelity, which I know is a weird thing to bring up, but this conversation was actually super encouraging and uplifting for marriage in general. He’s got great advice.

3. wrote lovely words about why weddings are a communal celebration, not a private affair—this idea has been on my mind for months now as we’ve planned this thing that has sometimes often felt a bit… overwhelming. She hits on so many points I wish I had more time to write myself, so instead, I’ll let her say the words for me: “A wedding is a couples first ‘official’ act of hospitality. There is something wonderful about the way a wedding may display the distinctive character of each couple’s relationship, the qualities and strengths their union will bring to the world.”

4. A few years ago, Edward and Beth Sri recorded a great conversation with Fr. Mike Schmitz on marriage. It was at a college conference, but the focus is still on the nitty-gritty mess of marriage, which I really appreciated—I think it’s an encouragement for all of us. The above is part one; here’s part two.

5. And finally, what’s the most important part of the wedding ceremony? This is a solid answer.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺

Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix (as someone who loved the novel when it first came out a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by this adaptation!)

Quotable 💬

“In the twilight of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

-St. John of the Cross

Whatever your state in life, which quote best describes marriage to you? 🪢

I’m honestly not sure if I could pick a definitive answer here, since I like all these quotes. …So for right now, as I’m writing this, I’ll go with Schubert’s ‘true friend’ idea. Yes and amen—this has definitely been the case with Kyle and me.

• “A perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other.” -Anonymous: 38.2%

• “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery: 17.6%

• “Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” -Franz Schubert: 15.2%

• “The art of love is largely the art of persistence.” -Albert Ellis: 10.8%

• “Mature love has a bliss not even imagined by newlyweds.” -Boyd K. Packer: 10%

• “If I get married, I want to be very married.” -Audrey Hepburn: 5.2%

• “The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.” -Peter de Vries: 2.8%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Our 2026 Scottish Pilgrimage! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Travel is one of the most formational activities we can do on earth; one of the few that, for the most part, is worth the money spent—that’s been the case with pilgrimages for me, and it’s one of the reasons I love leading them.

Consider joining my family and me (along with some new kindred spirits) in Scotland this summer! We’ll walk through the rugged highlands, wander through the halls of medieval castles, and more. You won’t regret it.

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What small thing are you grateful for this exact second you’re reading this? (pause right now and name it to yourself)

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Seeing as most of Tate’s wedding attendees will be non-Catholic, here’s a friendly list of what not to do at a Catholic wedding. Our programs have a lot of written explainers so that our friends and family know that all the “things” aren’t just random (they all have a purpose!), but these are still good thoughts. …With a caveat.1

Last night we had what I hope was not our last family dinner ever (far from it, Lord willing!), but at least a focused family dinner that I insisted we intentionally put on the calendar before extended family and friends all start coming in for the wedding next week. I wanted time with just the five of us for one last time, around the table eating dinner, with a post-dinner walk and an evening of board games.

It did not disappoint. Our dinner conversation was delightfully ordinary—we simply went around and named our favorite parts of our days, as well as something we each learned (as we’ve done for years now)—then we took the dog on a walk and witnessed a beautiful pink-orange sunset. We came back, cleaned up from dinner, and then played a few rounds of Apples to Apples and a few rounds of Clue (which we have officially outgrown). That was it. But it was just what I wanted.

She’ll still come over for dinner, of course, but it’ll most likely be with her husband in tow (as it should be!). I wanted to make sure I mentally captured one final evening with just my three kids, goofing around with each other, poking and prodding at each other with their humor (when did they each get so funny?), and watching my husband slowly fall asleep in the chair next to them. It was a lovely evening.

…And now: eight days and counting until the wedding! 🤯

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. If you’re a Commonplace subscriber, head over to May’s chat for all things books: what you read last month, what you’re reading now, what’s on your TBR stack. After a long season of reading and rereading ancient works for both my class and for my book-writing research, I am SO ready for summer reading… I have so many ideas and won’t get to a fraction of them, but the anticipation is lovely.

2. Earlier this week I took a mental walk down memory lane, from my daughter’s day of birth until basically yesterday. I may write a separate essay about that experience sometime, but in the meantime, I’ll summarize by saying I’m so glad I followed the Lord’s nudge to do so, because while yes, I was a mess of hot tears doing so, it was both cathartic and encouraging to just let myself feel all the feelings about my first-born getting married. …Wasn’t she just that two-year-old toddler playing with blocks and talking my ear off incessantly? Wasn’t she just the nine-year-old we took on our round-the-world school-year trip who celebrated her tenth birthday in a hot air balloon over the Masaai Mara in Kenya? Didn’t she just start middle school and become friends with the two girls who will be her maids of honor next weekend? Didn’t she just get her driver’s license and drive to the store for me for the first time? ...Don’t blink, parents. All the clichés about time are true.

3. I quite enjoyed following along ’s experience of becoming a beekeeper (something on my own must-do-just-for-fun list). Delightful! Bees are remarkable.

4. Thanks to a reader here (make yourself known in the comments here so I can thank you personally again!) for linking to a dress pattern when I was bemoaning the lack of good mother of the bride dresses… Because I ended up using that pattern to make my own dress! It was never on my bucket list to make my own MoB dress, but I’m so glad I did. Is it perfect? …Don’t look too closely at it. But I really like it, and it’ll be fun to wear. Plus: IT HAS POCKETS.

5. And finally, if you want to nod furiously in agreement and let your eyes water inconveniently, read ’s poem about AI. Yes, AI. “And be sure to use AI when your next child gets married, so that you can write them the perfect toast or poem or speech or song because no one wants to hear your words, the actual poorly written words of a parent (you) who changed hundreds of diapers for said child…”

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My daughter’s Reminds Me of Mom playlist she made me a few years ago for Mother’s Day

Quotable 💬

“The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.”

-Alden Nowlan

What does the month of May mean to you? 🌸

It wasn’t until I had school-age children that I understood what was the big deal about “Maycember;” up to then it came across to me like parents putting too much on themselves and making the end of the school year busier than it needs to be. …Then I understood—even as a homeschooling parent—that there are just so. many. events. that are kid-related and put upon us in May which are simply outside our control. (Clearly my asking this question had to do with my state of mind last week.)

I’m happy to report that even with my daughter getting married next weekend and my son graduating the week after, I’m already feeling saner, now that my only day of teaching left is basically the “presentations + wrap-up game” kind of class. Put a fork in me, I am DONE. I’m ready to celebrate my children! …And then move on to a much, much chiller summertime schedule.

• It’s Maycember — tied with December as the most insane month of the year: 30.5%

• My favorite month — spring weather, delightful calm: 22.7%

• Freedom! School ends and it’s the start of summertime: 21.9%

• Meh — it’s just another month: 19.9%

• Blergh — the weather’s blah where I am (and/or allergies are insane): 5%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Our 2026 Scottish Pilgrimage! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Travel is one of the most formational activities we can do on earth; one of the few that, for the most part, is worth the money spent—that’s been the case with pilgrimages for me, and it’s one of the reasons I love leading them.

Consider joining my family and me (along with some new kindred spirits) in Scotland this summer! We’ll walk through the rugged highlands, wander through the halls of medieval castles, and more. You won’t regret it.

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

If you have children: what’s your earliest memory of parenting? Or, what’s your earliest memory from your own childhood? -How do these compare to yesterday?

And a happy Mother’s Day to all moms reading this! Your work is so valuable, so needed, and so often unseen… Cheers to you and your late nights, early mornings, and all the errands in-between.

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - I love watching this… (I saw it in person in Ireland, and have a feeling we’ll get to see it in person again this summer in Scotland!).

I turned in my book edits on Monday! …And then immediately took a rare, mid-afternoon hour-long nap in celebration. 🎉 Every time I hit some major milestone—turning in a book manuscript, coming home from leading a pilgrimage, graduating a kid, even simply ending a school year of teaching—my body celebrates by getting sick. Either getting sick, or just getting really, really tired. It’s like I’d been running on fumes, but by God’s sheer grace I was able to power through… I woke up from that nap with had no idea what time it was or what planet I was on.

This now means I’m only moderately busy on an insane level vs. outlandishly so. I won’t belabor the issue, since no one loves reading someone else’s laundry list of to-dos, but let’s just say after I get this email scheduled for your inbox, I’m working on finishing wedding programs and reception signage, followed by scheduling our parish’s monthly email.

But at the time you’re actually reading this, Tate and I will be on a quick, mother-daughter pre-wedding overnighter: nothing major, just a local guesthouse for some time away where we will decidedly not talk about the wedding. …Marriage, though, is definitely on the table. I’m hoping we’ll have good conversations, enjoy a massage and pedicure, get some local take-out for dinner back at the house, and maybe enjoy the backyard pool (though thunderstorms are forecasted). Oh, and maybe watch a movie or two. I’ve been looking forward to this getaway for weeks!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. If you’re a Commonplace subscriber, head to April’s gratitude check-in from this week and add your lists! It’s always a highlight of mine to read them: some favorites include breakfast for supper, a local Italian market in a reader’s area that has the most delicious bread & food, steak from steers raised by another reader, reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn for the first time, the smell of freshly cut grass, and The Boxcar Children on the Libby library app for yet another reader’s 7-year-old.

2. Every morning there’s a group of neighbors, mostly older, that meet here at the local coffee shop (I’m here right now, writing this), and I love that this simple gathering has become such a mainstay in their lives. They don’t stay too long, but they do show up religiously. They welcome newcomers to their table, they squeal with delight at all the regular babies and toddlers that come through the door, and seeing as the baristas know my order by heart, I’m sure they know this group of locals’ orders, too. Seeing them here is a bright spot in my morning.

3. “Go touch grass” has nearly become a cliché these days, but I say there are worse ideas to turn into a platitude—I mean, it’s true; we do need to touch grass. I enjoyed Arthur Brooks’ recent episode of why we have to get outside more than we do in our modern world, along with practical ways to do so (hint: evening walks!).

4. In the same vein, I appreciate ’s reminder about why we need more, not less, friction in our lives: “…It is here, my friends, that we really feel the friction: what we need is not what we want; and what we want is not what we need.”

5. And finally, this week I taught on the 4th-century Council of Nicaea in my humanities class, so I revisited this excellent Catholic-Orthodox dialogue on the Creed between Bishop Robert Barron and Metropolitan Nathanael Symeonides from last year (which was the 1,700-year anniversary of the historic moment!).

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

The Chill Mix made for me by Spotify

Quotable 💬

“I suppose the best kind of spring morning is the best weather God has to offer.”

-Dodie Smith

Where/what was your first job? 🛒

This week’s question was my son’s suggestion (again!), and I thought it an apropos one, since he’s about to have his last day at his first job in order to embark on his first day at his second. My first “real” job (I babysat here and there, but nothing major) was at Target. Yep, retail. It actually wasn’t too bad for a big-box chain store, but I think I only worked there for about six months before I became an assistant at my church for several years, followed by waiting tables at local restaurants for years and years (that’s where the good money was).

• Babysitting: 68.8%

• Food service: 12.6%

• Retail shop: 7.1%

• Camp counselor: 3.8%

• Grocery store: 2.7%

• Newspaper delivery: 2.5%

• Lifeguard: 1.5%

• Movie theater: 1%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Our 2026 Scottish Pilgrimage! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Travel is one of the most formational activities we can do on earth; one of the few that, for the most part, is worth the money spent—especially when it’s invested in something that pays dividends in our souls for years afterward. That’s been the case with pilgrimages for me, and it’s one of the reasons I love, love, love leading them.

Consider joining my family and me (along with some new kindred spirits) in Scotland this summer, where we’ll walk through the rugged highlands and listen to God’s voice on the Isle of Skye, in the halls of medieval castles, walking through historic St. Andrews, and more. And if you sense through prayer that this pilgrimage is meant for you, I’ll join you in prayer that God will provide all you need to go. It’s worth it!

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

Don’t forget—it’s still Eastertide! What’s one small thing you could do this weekend to keep celebrating?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Comments about Catholics turned into Gregorian chant (I have my son, yet again, to thank for this one).

I finished my book edits this week—late yesterday afternoon, in fact—and now I’m rereading the whole thing once more to see what I missed (so that I can turn it in early next week). It’s nearly one-hundred thousand words (WHAT. HOW. 🤯) so I’ve got my work cut out for me, but I want this thing to be dang good, so it’s worth me to skim it again.

This, plus me needing to finalize the wedding programs (fun fact: Catholic wedding liturgies have quite a few moving parts, especially in the Ordinariate rite) means today I’m publishing a few reruns. Seeing as I’ve been doing 5QTs for almost eight years, I’ve got plenty in the back catalog—which exist specifically for insanely busy seasons such as these.

Enjoy! I’ll be back here soon.

5 Quick Previous Quick Things ☕️

1. #368, first published May 16, 2025: haircuts, seasonal uniforms, & marriage

2. #354, first published February 7, 2025: learning to read, live local, & tell good stories

3. #340, first published October 18, 2024: watercoloring, a house full of books, & camping hacks

4. #331, first published May 17, 2024: free-range parenting, theology of the body, & our universal ache for home

5. #322, first published March 8, 2024: good art, dumb phones, & neighborhood walks

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

The Marlow Murder Club, by Robert Thorogood1

Quotable 💬

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

-Antoine de Saint Exúpery

What’s the best bear? 🐻

You have my 18-year-old son to thank for this question… And it was quite popular, so it seems (one of the more well-answered poll questions). I’m torn between panda, grizzly, or gummi. (Look up ‘drop’ if you’re a fellow non-Aussie like me.)

• Panda: 37.8%

• Gummi: 17%

• Polar: 15%

• Black: 13.7%

• Grizzy: 6.3%

• Battlestar Galactica: 4.5%

• Brown: 4.3%

• Drop: 1.4%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

There’s still room… We’d love to have you! These small-group pilgrimages are life-changing, and I’m so grateful for the friendships I’ve made through them.

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s one thing you can take off your current to-do list?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Words mean things.

This book edits continue, but I’ve made a lot of progress this week—thank you to those of you who’ve prayed for my work; I really appreciate it. I had a quick doctor’s check-up this week, and we could do nothing but laugh at my elevated cortisol levels. Of course they are: I’ve got major edits I’m trying to finish in two weeks, a daughter to marry off in four weeks from yesterday, and a homeschooled son to graduate from high school in five weeks. Oh, and a class to finish teaching the Tuesday before the wedding. (I’m officially in my George Banks season; I’ve sent this gif more times lately than I care to admit.)

I’m hoping a year from now I’ll look back on this season in wonder how God sustained me through it all… It’s all I can do, really! That, and fight for sleep.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. I admittedly haven’t been reading much on the internet lately because my life is too full for such fun. I’ve read some things here and there (see below), but otherwise, unless I’m teaching or running an errand, these days it’s mostly me working on the book (often at our neighborhood coffee shop) peppered every hour or so with walking breaks. Last weekend I did, however, manage to read (via audiobook) Murder Takes a Vacation, by Laura Lippman and it was delightful. For whatever reason, cozy murder mysteries are the perfect antidote for me as I work on a theology-dense book, so unlike what I normally write. Scroll down a bit for my next mystery of choice.

2. I’m such a fan of C.S. Lewis, which means I’m such a fan of this rant from : “I actually believe it’s my calling to impress on you the depth of your error before we, as a generation of Christian culture, lose touch with this great man forever. I hope you’re ready. We’re going to do it up right, with a podcast where I yell at people while they complete remedial Lewis reading, and essays where I wax pedantic about deep lore. I’m going to dig up the oddest bits of ephemera from his deepest archives and remind us all just how blessed we were that such a man lived and loved God with all his strange, wonderful, broken heart and mind.”

3. I also absolutely love St. John Henry Newman, so this surprising essay about him and …Easter chocolate? from (actually, her husband) was a nice break to read in between book edits: “…this witness of mutual charity was one more step in the journey of the remarkable Cadbury family, whose frequent contemplation was the query, “And who is my neighbor?”

4. John is my favorite Apostle (the real guy, from the Bible, but sorta-kinda also the character in The Chosen), so this was fun. …Vegemite, however, is terrible.

5. And finally, this is a joke, but also not. It’s also actually a weirdly helpful explanation (bookmarking it for my high school personal finance class next year).

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

The Mudflats Murder Club, by Brian Thiem

Quotable 💬

“Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term. Yet all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.”

-St. John Paul II

If you could suddenly, immediately acquire an expert-level skill or talent, what would you choose? 💪

I loved this reader-submitted question! And I genuinely don’t know what I’d choose because it depends on the day and in which area I’m currently feeling deficient… For right now, I’ll say my answer is a trade skill, because I’d love to help Kyle more with our forever fixer-upper renovation. But I do also wish I were a better singer.

• The arts (singing or playing an instrument, painting, writing, etc): 60.2%

• A trade skill (carpentry, electric work, plumbing): 20.2%

• A people skill (conflict resolution, meeting new people, leading a team): 13.2%

• Athletic prowess in your favorite sport: 6.4%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are three very small things you’re grateful for?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Sea urchins with miniature hats.

Happy Eastertide! As we continue to celebrate the longest feast season in the Church calendar (remember, Easter lasts fifty full days, all the way to Pentecost), may we keep a lively spirit in the midst of all our to-do lists and plate-spinning. I often find it ironic that this long feast sits smack-dab in the middle of what is arguably the busiest season for many of us (I’m looking at you, the end of a school year), yet here we are.

Our family had a wonderful Triduum this year, participating in our parish’s Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and finally Easter Vigil masses and services, and phew, was I wiped out… 😴 My middle son and I also walked ten miles on Good Friday in a pilgrimage starting thirty miles away from our front door. We left our house at 5:30 a.m., and let me just say I felt that. I may or may not have napped for almost three solid hours Monday afternoon.

I’m now spending most of my waking hours steeped in book edits, and probably will be for the next few weeks until I get the next draft of this book to my editor. Which is to say: I’ll most likely be unapologetically absent, quiet, and/or brief on the internet for this current season, but it’s all in the name of making this book what it most needs to be.

Pass the dark chocolate and whiskey. And prayers. Thank you in advance!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Did you fast from screens, social media, or the internet in general for Lent and kinda want to still keep up a fast of some sort? and wrote a comprehensive guide for how to carry on the digital fast: “Like monks and hermits, we need a new structure for how to live, one that replaces what has been removed with a pattern of life that accords with our human creed.”

2. I can’t remember if I’ve ever shared this in 5QT, but my go-to recipe database for literal years now has been Plan to Eat. I use it almost daily as my online recipe storage box, and I can’t imagine functioning in my kitchen without it. It’s super-duper handy if you’re looking for something like it.

3. Whenever I have some reading downtime (and I make sure I do each day, even if it’s ten minutes), these days I pick up two novels-in-progress by two writing friends of mine: and Faith Moore, both of whom have asked me to read their books in advance. Are both these novels delightful? Yes. Am I woefully behind in getting back to them? Also yes. Alas.

4. If our grandmas had oura rings, would their lives have been less of a thrill? I nodded my way through ’s short but punchy words: “Have we dwindled life down to scores? Have we literally sucked the fun out of living?”

5. And finally, no one utters fopdoodle with their dignity intact—a fun list of goofy English words from .

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

Alexandre Desplat Radio—good background music for deep-focused book edits

Quotable 💬

“That is one good thing about this world...there are always sure to be more springs.”

-L.M. Montgomery

What’s the best Easter candy? 🍬

Yep, good-old plain chocolate is by far the best choice for Easter (though I don’t mind a jelly bean here and there). Peeps are an absolute abomination.

• Chocolate Bunnies/Eggs: 36.7%

• Cadbury Creme Eggs: 24.4%

• Robin’s Eggs: 18.9%

• Jelly Beans: 17.3%

• Peeps: 2.7 %

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Join Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What one small thing could you do this weekend that would make your next week better?

Have a good weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Space evangelism (and welcome to the old neighborhood).

“Mrs. O, can we have more classes like this?” is always music to my ears when I hear comments like this as students file out to their next class.

I heard this from a few students this week, and because I was desperate to come up with an in-class project to review all the material we’d covered thus far since September, I whipped up an idea that morning. I divided the students into groups of five, then gave them modern-day scenarios: a local service business that encourages its employees to tell its clients something (an appliance, a car) is about to break down even though it’ll probably last several more years; a soldier ordered to participate in a drone strike with probable civilians (including children) nearby; students at public school demanding that a controversial guest speaker be uninvited because their topic could potentially cause harm, and the like. I then gave each group ten questions specific to their scenario in order to review what Western civilization has received from the three ancient cities that’ve poured its foundation: Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. After answering the questions, they then had to come to a decision about what should be done in their modern scenario, decipher which ancient city most affected their ethical decision, then defend their answer to the class. It was a lively conversation, one that was much too short for our 1.5-hour class.

(If you’re curious, the city that was most cited? Athens, the birthplace of philosophy and democracy.)

…For the rest of the school year, we’re unpacking the events that led to the legalization (and therefore spread) of Christianity, the inevitable fall of the Roman Empire—and why, and all the pieces that fall into place to set the table for the time periods we’ll cover next year: the “Dark” Ages, Middle Ages, and Renaissance. I’m stoked.

Seven more weeks of the school year, but who’s counting! …Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is next week to kick off our study of Stoicism.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. One of the more fun names on Substack, , has written a lengthy-but-worth-it (meaning: very readable) treatise on how to be happy. Through all the meta-analyses of various studies that actually say something, he’s synthesized it into ten big things, looking at it through a Christian lens: “If we define happiness as maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain through pursuing dopamine loops and passive living, then yes—that’s definitely not much of a priority for us in God’s mind. But a happiness that comes from living a rich, moral life that’s centered around Him and His kingdom is something followers of Jesus have been pointing toward from the very beginning. Joy, happiness, flourishing, etcetera aren’t the goal of our spirituality, but they’re an undeniable side effect.”

2. Speaking of… I know, I know I keep talking about and/or linking to Arthur Brooks, but since he’s making the rounds with his new book releasing in a few weeks, he’s all over the internet right now, and it’s genuinely good stuff…. Here he is this week—I really enjoyed his thoughts on marriage in particular (fascinating how much more eye contact women need than men).

3. Co-sign on this short thought here from : “You CANNOT increase your joy by avoiding discomfort. Joy and pain run on the same neural circuits, so you actually decrease your capacity for joy by avoiding discomfort.” I’m sure this is neurologically true, but this is also definitely spiritually and emotionally true, too. We were made for hard things.

4. All three of my kids have read the book Project Hail Mary and are frequently nudging me to read it1, and the two that have seen the movie really enjoyed it. I was happy to see my favorite father-son duo, and , discussing the movie in their new shared podcast—I haven’t yet finished their whole conversation, but I’m liking what I hear so far, and I agree with them on why sci-fi matters.

5. And finally, the jury’s still out on what I’m going to make (if anything) for an Easter dessert, but in years past I’ve made this relatively healthy carrot cake (I do cupcakes), and it’s delicious (I go with regular cream-cheese frosting). As a carnivore, last year I simply whipped cream with a touch of allulose and vanilla, then froze it and enjoyed it with blueberries—and since I hardly eat sweet things any more, it felt like a serious treat and was just the hit I needed.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir—the recommended audio version2 (slowly—see above)

Quotable 💬

“I find no difficulty in believing that the veil between the worlds, nowhere else (for me) so opaque to the intellect, is nowhere else so thin and permeable to divine operation. Here a hand from the hidden country touches not only my soul but my body. Here the prig, the don, the modern, in me have no privilege over the savage or the child. Here is big medicine and strong magic...the command, after all, was Take, eat: not Take, understand. ”

-C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

What’s your least-worst chore? 🧹

I agree with the majority here; I actually don’t mind folding laundry (unless it’s Mt. Everest because no one else in the family is willing to do their part). Folding laundry is therapeutic and rhythmic; it’s touching clean things, and it requires me to stay in one place for a few moments. It’s also an excuse to listen to something while I do the otherwise monotonous work. A hundred years ago, laundry would have been an all-day event. Now, if done right, it can be a quiet hum in the background, followed by an excuse to meditate for ten minutes. (I also don’t mind vacuuming for the same reason.)

• Folding laundry: 46.8%

• Handwashing dishes: 25%

• Sweeping and/or vacuuming: 20%

• Dusting surfaces: 7.4%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are three things you’ve learned about yourself this Lenten season?

Other than our subscribers’ monthly gratitude chat this upcoming Monday, I’m taking next week off the internet to better keep my focus on Holy Week, so no 5QT next Friday. I’ll see you in two weeks!

See you then,

- Tsh

p.s. - Increasingly me, after three cups of coffee.

As you’re reading this I’m camping with my clan. The weather’s supposed to be beautiful, we’ve got a few more days still until Spring Break winds down, and we’ve got one of the better camp spots at our favorite go-to local state park. We booked this weekend ages ago as a way to celebrate a final family hurrah before the oldest kiddo gets married (in less than two months now 🤯)—unbeknownst to us at that time, her fiancé would now be living in the area, too, so he’s joining us as well!

It should be a delightful spring weekend.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. One of the challenges of camping this time of year: Lent. Since we fast from meat on Fridays, and since we’re big meat-eaters in our family, let’s just say the weekly Lenten fast feels very …Lent-y for our clan. But we’re gonna try fish tacos over a campfire—we’ll see how it goes!

2. If you’ve read 5QT for any length of time, you know of my great love for Arthur Brooks. I’ve already pre-ordered his book that releases at the end of this month, but I was happy to recently see him chat with George Kamel, a more recent follow of mine (as I continue to do research for my upperclassman personal finance class next fall). It was a great conversation (here it is in video form, if you prefer).

3. This past weekend we got another five ladies for our backyard flock! The chicks are currently living in a big cardboard box topped off with a window screen in our dining room and are incessantly chirping at all hours of the day. I used to be intimidated at the prospect of chickens, especially in the early stages, but once you get the hang of it it’s really pretty simple. They’ll live indoors in their box for a few more weeks, and then we’ll slowly introduce them to the big girls currently in the coop out back. There’s a whole art and science to that part, but we’ll get to it later. …Let’s just say it involves watermelon.

4. Speaking of chickens… I really enjoyed this piece from about why all the girl bosses suddenly want chickens. It was reminiscent of my about-face I had in light of burnout in my work about eight-ish years ago, so I wouldn’t exactly say “suddenly” here—I’ve seen a slow, subtle change with a lot of women in this line of work since I started writing online more than eighteen years ago now. But I totally get what she means, and it made me all the more glad I waved goodbye long ago to places like Instagram and media like girl-boss podcasts (and goodness, I haven’t made a funnel in years): “We’re not checking out. We’re hedging in the most human way possible.”

5. And finally, because you know I can’t go too long without sharing one of these from Max Miller… Here’s that deep-dive on what pioneers ate on the Oregon Trail that you never asked for.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺

Annika1

Quotable 💬

“Real freedom does not mean being ruled by one’s impulses from one moment to the next. Just the opposite. Being free means not being a slave to one’s moods; it means being guided in a course of action by the fundamental choices one has made, choices one does not repudiate in the face of new circumstances.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe2

It’s been a couple months now… How are those New Year’s resolutions/goals/plans coming along? 🥂

This question was a suggestion from Kyle, and I thought it was fun because I genuinely, legitimately forgot that New Year’s was even not too long ago. …Joke’s on it, though, because I had no goals or resolutions to remember in the first place, like the majority of you. I typically do make some sort of quarterly goal, but what with absolutely everything on my plate this spring—daughter’s wedding, book deadline, class, senior graduating, etc. etc. etc.—I gave myself an overload of grace this year. And I’m glad I did.

• I’m guilt-free because I never made ‘em in the first place: 65.3%

• Uh… They’re ekeing along, I suppose. Hit or miss: 20.6%

• Solid! I review them weekly and track my progress: 7.5%

• Oh yeah—I completely forgot about those: 6.6%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

You’ve got a weekend free, but with only enough time to go somewhere nearby with one tank of gas, there and back. Where do you go?

Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - NYC dogs in bags.

I’m smack-dab in the middle of book edits this afternoon as I write this, and I’m actually making good traction (for once). Therefore, this particular 5QT will be a bit on the brief side. Onward!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. A few days ago I republished to my upgraded subscribers an older piece from The Art of Simple (thanks for answering my question last week!). I just unlocked it for everyone, so here it is, if you’d like to either remember it from years ago or read it fresh for the first time: “Remember what the wise sage Winnie-the-Pooh once said: ‘You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.’ Don’t ignore the friendship possibilities God has already put in your life in the name of waiting for that one perfect kindred spirit that may not exist. Embrace partial solutions, in this and in all of life this side of the veil.”

2. Why do ‘mother of the bride’-specific dresses all look like they think I have big hair and time-traveled from the 90s? I think I finally found the dress I’ll wear to my daughter’s upcoming wedding, but I had to dig deep (and ultimately search for ‘bridesmaid’ or simply ‘cocktail’ dresses). If you needed that wildly specific tip for your life at the moment—well, there you go.

3. Speaking of the 90s (and 80s, for that matter), I was fascinated by this piece about the resurgence of an appreciation for physical media from , especially among Gen-Zers who never grew up with it: “Nostalgia is absolutely a major cause of this moment. Yet, to leave it at that would be missing something. That something would be a cottage industry that is rapidly expanding and improving at the same time the Internet gets worse and subscription costs go up.”

4. I’m working on plans for teaching a personal finance elective at our co-op next year, and as I gather resources and ideas for this class, I was reminded just how much I like our family budget-tracking software. I know, such a boring topic! But I thought I’d at least share, in case you’re in the market for something (I know I often focus on our family finances in the spring—hello, taxes). Turns out my software of choice, Monarch, has a thing where current users can provide a link for others to get 50% off their first year—so, here you go. They’re not paying me or an affiliate of any sort! I just thought I’d pass this along.

5. And finally, ten unsexy habits that save me serious money. Similar to the above, this isn’t usually the subject matter I typically consume, but as I research for my forthcoming class, I found this pretty commonsensical yet helpful if it’s needed. (At least I do most of these things, too.)

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My new Best of playlist

Quotable 💬

“We aren’t always free to change things, but we are always free to live through them in faith, hope, and love so that in every situation we grow humanly and spiritually.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe1

Choose one and only one… 🥩

This quirky question was thanks to my fifteen-year-old son, and as a current carnivore it spoke deeply to my innermost soul. Akin to most carnivores (who can’t shut up about the bioavailability of all needed nutrients through it), I’m Team Beef™ all the way. With a side of bacon.

• Beef: 43.8%

• Chicken: 43.4%

• Pork: 9%

• Turkey: 3.8%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

We’re just over the halfway point of Lent now—how’s it going for you? What are you learning about yourself?

Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - Gondor calls for aid.

This time of year is always interesting as a teacher, because everyone has a case of the blerghs… even the teachers. My students are usually top-notch and have great attitudes, but I can tell that even they are hankering for Spring Break. I’m happy to report that ours begins in just a few weeks, and I am here for it! As a family we’re not doing much other than a few days of camping, but it’ll be nice to have a breather and get out in some nature.

My go-to solution for the school-year blerghs: remember your why for learning the way you do, be it homeschool or wherever. Get some fresh air every day (even when it’s still cold or unseasonably warm). Go on daily walks and move your body, just for fun. Perhaps (briefly) set down the challenging classic and read something short and light-hearted. Schedule a game night one evening—yes, even in the midst of busyness. And keep that menu plan nice and easy.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Speaking of my students, this week we had a really good in-class conversation on AI and its role in the learning and writing process—and why it’s so important (especially in their generation) to fight with every fiber of our beings the over-reliance on it to do our human work for us (because tool = something that helps us do our work; machine = something that does our work for us). I liked ’s recent thoughts on AI slop, in particular its connection with our diets: “Our bodies crave instant gratification, and the sugar highs and lows we experience from the junk food exacerbate this. Much easier to pick up the phone than go outside to see wildlife (which requires us to expend energy). Much easier to scroll through AI slop than enjoy a good book. When we want to be entertained, we throw patience and effort to the wind and instantly pick up our mobile slop dispensers and scroll the hours away — alongside a packet of crisps or two.”

2. I love the wisdom that’s been going around for a long time (from the likes of Arthur Brooks and Andrew Huberman) about going on a walk first thing in the morning before having any coffee. The problem with that for me is that I wake up naturally at dark-thirty, and as a woman I’m not going on a walk in the dark by myself, even in our ridiculously super-safe neighborhood. But I’ve decided to embrace partial solutions, as always, and the past few weeks have been doing body stretches and light pilates in the living room near all the windows as the sun comes up (I may switch to the back deck next week). It’s been delightful, and it really is fascinating how much better I feel if I do that before having coffee. Once the sun and/or Kyle is up, I’m happily leashing up the dog and strolling through the neighborhood—but before then, I’m doing the closest thing that works for me, and it’s been really good for my mindset (and my body the rest of the day, surprisingly enough).

3. I appreciated this reflection on the role of laughter in our pursuit of virtue—even when we’re the punchline. I admit I struggle with that sometimes, yet ’s words are what I needed to read: “No one enjoys being laughed at. But bearing ridicule may be the kind of foolishness that is consistent with the cross. If we can allow it, mockery can become a kind of small apocalypse, revealing what society thinks of us, what is truly inside our hearts, and the marrow of our actions both public and private.”

4. From late 2007 to the end of 2020, I ran a website called The Art of Simple, and over time, I published many of my own thoughts as well as a smattering of writing friends’ too. I’m toying with the idea of importing some of my favorites written by me (and perhaps by others’ with their permission) here into Substack. It’s getting expensive where I’m hosting it, and Substack is so user-friendly and easy to find. …Any thoughts on this idea?

5. And finally, I loved this short shot-in-the-arm of encouragement from Fr. Mike Schmitz. I completely agree, too—lately I’ve been spending my early morning hours with Jesus just… listening. Not starting with bringing him my laundry list of concerns (because he already knows all of it anyway), but simply enjoying his presence. It’s been a game-changer. 10/10, would recommend.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺

Masterpiece’s new The Count of Monte Cristo series—it’s excellent (so far)!

Quotable 💬

“Faith frees us from doubt, error, lies, blindness, and nonsense. Hope frees us from fear, discouragement, worry, and guilt. Love frees us from egoism, avarice, turning in on ourselves, and a narrow, meaningless life without value or fruitfulness. It frees us from frustrations and bitterness. The measure of our freedom is the measure of our faith, of our hope, of our love.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe1

What’s the best thing about the current weather in your neck of the woods? 🌳

I really liked this question from Kyle, because it’s not about a set type of weather, it’s about all the craziness that this time of year brings just about everywhere in the world. If your area is like mine (central Texas), weather changes by the hour. So for my answer today, I’m going with “I love wearing shorts and t-shirts in February!” because it is genuinely warm already around here, and I’m choosing to embrace it.

• No matter the temp, I’m choosing to go with the flow by the hour: 66.7%

• Hey, I like a good reason to stay indoors: 17.4%

• I love wearing shorts and t-shirts in February: 15.9%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are you learning about yourself this Lent so far?

Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - A sparkler, an egg, and a moment of truth.

What’s the official “anniversary” gift for 400? Platinum? Uranium? Plutonium? Either way, happy 400th issue of 5QT! I started this weekly letter before I migrated to Substack in 2019, and it quickly became one of my favorite regular work tasks. I’m happy to say it’s still way up on my list… It’s sometimes challenging during busy seasons—such as, oh, now for example, what with a book-edits deadline, current open enrollment for my classes next year, and a daughter getting married in a little over two months. But I’m grateful for the work no matter how full life is, so thank you, thank you, thank you for reading this over the years! I’m honored.

When I’m not doing all the above, these days I’m daydreaming about this spring’s backyard garden—I’m keeping it simple this year (see: above), but I’ll at least do my usual cucumbers and tomatoes for my summer stash of pickles and salsa. I want to get better at flower-growing, though… Any resources out there? YouTube channels? Podcasts? Do share!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. If you’re a leveled-up subscriber of The Commonplace, don’t forget to share your monthly gratitude lists—it’s one of my favorite things to read each month. You guys are naming everything from the Winter Olympics, to spring weather, orange cake, planting seeds in milk jugs, Lent, backyard chickens, goofy dogs, and more… I love it.

2. Leisure is the basis of culture, according to the 20th century philosopher Josef Pieper1. But leisure isn’t lounging around or mindless playing; believe it or not, it takes intentionality—and for those of us with a lot of plates spinning, it’s sometimes annoyingly harder than it should be. Arthur Brooks, one of my favorite modern thinkers, has a solid episode about what leisure actually looks like, boots on the ground. Good stuff.

3. Fridays in Lent are challenging for me as someone who eats mostly carnivore, but it helps to still focus on getting as much protein and good fats as possible. Along with some scrambled eggs, here’s my go-to carnivore breakfast smoothie: this bone broth2, about a 1/4 cup heavy cream, about the same in coffee (decaf if I’m already floating), about 10 drops of iodine, and a handful of ice. Blend and done.

4. I never grew up really thinking about generations in a clear-cut, divided-line manner the way they’re talked about now (which is perhaps, ironically, a symptom of my actual generation). I honestly believe I’m from the best generation—the ‘xennials’—which I’ve also heard called the Oregon Trail generation or the Star Wars generation. Basically, it’s those of us born between 1976-1985 (when those OG Star Wars movies released and when we got to play OT in elementary school once a week as a reward for good behavior); we’re not quite Gen-X, not quite Millenial. This short video is surprisingly accurate, I think.

5. And finally, speaking of the 80s… I’ve shared these before, but it’s been a few years, and by-golly if they’re not so much fun (and a rare gem that briefly went viral during that Covid lockdown era). The 1986 one is still my favorite. All hail the fourth grade.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

This Movie Soundtracks for Reading & Studying playlist

Quotable 💬

“Faith is the essence of our capacity to receive the free gift of God.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe3

Reminder: I’ve got a Lent Playlist! 🎧

If you’re reading through my Lent book Bitter & Sweet right now (or even if you’re not), here’s your friendly reminder that I’ve also got an accompanying daily playlist to keep you company throughout this long season. It’s a gem, if I say so myself! …But definitely not because of me—it’s because there’s such good music out there in this department these days.

Over or under: which is correct? 🧻

I asked this visual question a few years ago and I remember the correct answer (over) winning, but I don’t remember it being this much of a landslide... Glad to see I’ve still got a solid group of smart readers here.

• Over: 90%

• Under: 10%

Find the next poll here.

Historic Highlands: Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What are three very small things you’re grateful for?4

Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - A lemon on a pear…5

Happy (?) start to the season of Lent! …I never know how to say that. Is it happy? I think so, in a way, because I actually really appreciate this season, but it does feel a little strange because the point isn’t exactly happiness, but more virtue (in a union with Christ kind of way). Then again, Aristotle would say real happiness is a virtue á la eudaemonia, which at a deeper level is about a state of true, deep flourishing. And since virtue is becoming who we’re made to be, and eudaemonia is about well-being at our core selves, then I suppose Lent really is about our happiness. So—a happy start to season of Lent, indeed.

I’ll show my nerdy self out.

We had a fabulous Shrove Tuesday serving and eating pancakes at our parish, followed by a full Solemn Mass for Ash Wednesday, so I’m feeling as ready as I’ll ever be. Bring on the 40+ days.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. ICYMI, a few days ago I shared my simple guide to Lent—and it’s not too late to “start,” even if you haven’t done much (or anything) yet… “This year, you may be invited to more actively participate, or, you may be invited to quietly let the season have its way with you in a posture of receiving. Ultimately, Lent is just that: an invitation, and should be treated as such. Lent is very old—one of the oldest-known traditions in the Church (we have documents referencing Lent from the second century)—which means it’s a time-weathered tradition and practice in the Christian life. It means, practically, that Lent is an invitation for everyone.”

2. This is my fourth Lent in a row where I’ve created a set weekly menu plan for all six-plus weeks of the season. This means I’m plugging-and-playing the same week’s menu for all of Lent …and my household doesn’t mind one bit (in fact, one kid has said he prefers it this way). I keep it super-simple: things like soup in the Instant Pot on Mondays, Taco Tuesday, etc. Nothing fancy. This helps me stay focused on my own Lenten fast, it simplifies our routine, and it reminds us of our modern sensibility for novelty—and how unnecessary that really is. For a season, we can stick to the same simple food at home, and it makes mama a lot saner (and therefore happier).

3. How far back in time can you understand English? This was quite a ride from —I got to about 1300 before it all fell apart in my brain: “Þanne after muchel tyme spak þe Maiſter, and his wordes weren colde as wintres is. His vois was as þe crying of rauenes, scharpe and schille, and al þat herde hym weren adrade and durst nat speken.”

4. I’ve only seen one of these films, but it’s one of my all-time favorites, so I’m intrigued by these other four recommendations for good films for Lent by : “Great art can itself be a kind of contemplation that draws us more deeply into the liturgical reality of Christ’s experience in the desert and His passion.”

5. And finally, because I can’t seem to no longer go a month without sharing something from Tasting History (one of my favorite YouTube channels), here’s that fascinating history of boxed mac-and-cheese you never asked for.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

Fire & Light, by Fr. Jacques Philippe (my chosen Lenten read this year)

Quotable 💬

“We must remember death. I understand.
And yet I remember too the wild grace
That I saw poured out where the waters played. 
So Lent begins: ‘Through him all things were made.’”

- Andrew Peterson (via a new sonnet of his… lovely)

Lent is Here ➕

At the risk of incessantly repeating myself, here’s your remind that Lent has now begun this week, but you’re not behind. If you’re looking for a daily guide for the season, you might like my book, Bitter & Sweet. Together, we spend the six-plus weeks of Lent walking through the seven cardinal vices, as well as their corresponding virtues, and how we might use Lent as a gift to shed the former and take on more of the latter.

Similar to my Advent guide, Bitter & Sweet uses daily Scripture, a short reflection from me, a question to ponder, and a song (with accompanying playlist), as well as weekly art. Lent is a long season, so it’s helpful to have a companion to keep the fire going... If you’d like my words to be that companion for you this year, consider this book—I put my heart and soul into it.

Learn more about Bitter & Sweet 🍋

In these weekly polls for 5 Quick Things, how often is your answer the most popular one chosen? 🙋‍♀️

I know this was a self-referential question, but I’ve been genuinely curious for a long while now… As for me, my answers tend to be the second-most popular choice — I’d say my personal answer is the reader’s top choice only every couple months. I don’t really know what to do with this information, but I wanted to know. And now I do.

• Half the time: 67.2%

• Seldom: 28.5%

• Every couple months: 3.1%

• Every time: 0.9%

• Never: 0.3%

Find the next poll here.

Come to Scotland: July 18-28, 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Until the end of TODAY, February 20, the company I partner with has a generous deal to register for this summer’s pilgrimage to Scotland! You can get $100 off for a single registration when you use the code LOVETHIS, or $250 for two with the code LOVETHIS2. I’d love you to join us! Learn more about our 2026 pilgrimage to the Historic Highlands.

Learn More 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What is your honest hope for Lent this year?

Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - Get that dog a medal.

It’s been a bit of a mind game watching the Winter Olympics this week, of which we are huge fans in our household, because temps around here have been gloriously sunny with highs in the 70s (I’m currently wearing shorts, a tank top, and sandals). No matter the weather, watching the Olympics tends to be a bonding experience for our clan, admiring various forms of whooshing down either snow or ice—which, you have to admit, is the bulk of what these winter sports are. I’m mostly a fan of all the skiing, but I also enjoy the wildness of those seemingly made-up-on-a-dare (almost certainly involving alcohol)1 sports of luge, skeleton, and bobsled. (I’m a rarity in that I don’t particularly enjoy figure skating.2)

I’m writing this a few days earlier than usual because by the time you’re reading this we’ve out out-of-town guests for the weekend, so this will be a bit on the short side. Onward!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. In case you missed it, earlier this week I wrote a short essay on why I love travel and how it dovetails well with my homebody nature—and in particular, why I love pilgrimages: “Travel allows us to encounter the world’s wide variety of people and places. Pilgrimages, a particular form of travel, allows us to encounter those people and places while hearing from God about why He wants us to encounter them. What’s the sacred stuff beneath what I’m seeing, tasting, and touching? What’s the sacred stuff in me? What does He want to tell me through this particular journey of mine? How am I called to return home a little different?”

2. I’ve been sluggishly sick this past week, which means I’ve been doing more watching than reading than usual... Because of this, here’s a Q&A with a farmer that normally wouldn’t be my typical topic of interest, but turned out to be riveting. I already appreciated the farming trade, but now I have an even deeper newfound respect for our hardworking farmers.

3. I’m a simple girl these days: I see Arthur Brooks’ name on it, I click play. I appreciated this short-and-sweet interview format, and I love the topic.

4. Continuing with the I’m-sick-so-I’ve-been-watching-stuff… The most isolated town in the world, and why people live there. I’ve been itching to travel lately (see: my essay, linked above), so stuff like this has been my balm until I get back out there.

5. And finally, what book would you live in? What a fun question from .

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

Apologia Pro Vita Sua, by Cardinal St. John Henry Newman

Quotable 💬

“Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Lent is Coming! ➕

Hard to believe, but Ash Wednesday is this next week already, and that day signifies the first day of the Lenten season. I’ll share more of my thoughts in the coming week, but in the meantime: if you’d like a daily reading, might I suggest my book, Bitter & Sweet? In it, I spend the six-plus weeks of Lent walking through the seven cardinal vices—and their corresponding virtues—and how we might use Lent as a gift to shed the former and take on more of the latter.

Similar to my Advent guide, Bitter & Sweet uses daily Scripture, a short reflection from me, a question to ponder, and a song (with accompanying playlist), as well as weekly art. Lent is a long season, so I’ve found it helpful to have a companion to keep me going... If you’d like my words to be that companion for you this year, I’d be honored to walk alongside you this year through this book.

Learn more about Bitter & Sweet 🍋

What’s the ideal Valentine’s Day gift? 💝

We’ve got quite the spread of reader answers over here, and while I do agree that the top choices are all lovely—a walk-and-chat combo is basically my favorite free thing to do—I also agree that it’s a pretty dumb holiday. I mean, the actual St. Valentine the man was probably pretty great, but I’m not a fan of Big Holiday™ telling me when to feel romantic. My contrarian nature pushes me to do nothing on February 14, and instead do the date thing on either the 13th or 15th (or thereabouts).

Therefore, my answer is dinner out: because these days, with all we have going on, Kyle and I feel like ships passing in the night, and nice dinner out sounds like a veritable vacation. I’ll take it. (...But not on the 14th.)

• Walk & chat: 18.80%

• Nothing 16.9%

• Dinner in: 16.1%

• Dinner out: 15.3%

• Flowers: 14.3%

• Chocolate: 10.3%

• Massage: 8.2%

Find the next poll here.

Come to Scotland: July 18-28, 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I love, love, love leading pilgrimages (see the above)—I’d love it if you prayed about joining us in Scotland this summer, where we’ll walk through the rugged highlands and listen to God’s voice on the Isle of Skye, in the halls of medieval castles, walking through historic St. Andrews, and more. And if you sense through prayer that this pilgrimage is meant for you, I’ll join you in prayer that God will provide all you need to go.

From now until February 20, you can get $100 off for a single registration when you use the code LOVETHIS, or $250 for two with the code LOVETHIS2 to register for this summer’s pilgrimage, Historic Highlands.

Learn More 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

Create your Rule of Life ✍️

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

Who are three people in your life that you love? (Do they know?)

Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - A corpse could do the same thing.