Sunday, August 30, 2026

Maxxing Out Decency

I keep seeing all these “‑maxxing” trends online — looks‑maxxing, dopamine‑maxxing, productivity‑maxxing, gym‑maxxing, even fiber‑maxxing. Everybody’s trying to optimize something.

So I want to introduce a new trend: decency‑maxxing.

Decency‑maxxing is about learning to see each other as actual human beings again. It’s choosing dignity over cruelty, even when it’s easier to be dismissive. It’s respecting other religions and cultures without acting like someone else’s identity is a threat.

It’s remembering that politeness and courtesy aren’t weaknesses. They’re signs of strength — the kind that doesn’t need to tear someone down to feel tall.

It’s being willing to apologize when we’re wrong, even when our pride doesn’t want to. It’s showing empathy for people who are struggling — the poor, the sick, the folks living on the margins because society keeps telling them they’re “not enough.”

Decency‑maxxing means treating people as equals instead of deciding who’s “worthy” or “unworthy” based on how they look, how they vote, where they come from, or what they believe.

If we’re going to max out anything, maybe it should be our capacity to care for one another. That’s the kind of trend I’d love to see catch on.



Friday, August 7, 2026

A year???

One Year Later: A Little Life Update

A year ago this week, we were doing something absolutely wild: accepting an offer on our home in West Sacramento and preparing to move to Washington with no house lined up. Zero. None. Not even a “maybe.”

We booked an Airbnb for a month, packed everything we owned into pods, stuffed the Altima and Frontier with whatever personal items we could cram in, and hit the road around 8:30 a.m. on September 11th, 2025.

I still remember doing that final walkthrough of our West Sac home — the one we thought would be our forever home — and just losing it. Full tears. Life had other plans, apparently.

Fast forward to today: we’ve been in our mid‑century home on the Washington coast for ten months now, and yesterday (yes, yesterday) we finally finished our kitchen remodel. 






Add that to the electrical work, refinished floors, foundation repairs… honestly, at this point, the house should probably send us a thank‑you card. It’s been a journey, and it’s definitely not done, but we love it.

On the personal side, I’ve found a new church home and I’m studying to be a lay minister in the United Methodist Church — something I never would’ve predicted a few years ago, but it feels right.

Lucy, our 15‑year‑old pit bull, is happy, healthy, and living her best senior‑dog life. We’re so blessed to still have her with us.

And then this morning hit me with that weird time‑warp feeling: how has it already been a year? It doesn’t feel like a year. I still miss our old life sometimes — the familiar routines, the people, the comfort of knowing exactly where everything was. But I’m also loving this new chapter. It’s messy, unpredictable, and full of projects… but it’s ours.

Just wanted to share that today. Time flies. Life changes. And somehow, we keep finding our way.