Author Archives: annamfarley

It’s fun and easy to talk about the times we succeed.  It is fun to tell (and to hear) the stories of the amazing job success story, or the time someone made an amazing catch in an intramural softball game, or the best interview you ever had.  But sometimes the best stories and our bestContinue reading “The Times I\'ve Failed”

“Give me liberty or give me death.” – attributed to Patrick Henry As we celebrate our freedom on this 4th of July, I hope we pause to remember the cost.  More importantly, I hope we strive to reflect on our responsibility to protect that freedom currently.  That is not to say from foreign armies andContinue reading “Let Freedom Ring!”

Work-life balance is so important, but it works a lot better when that off time can be spent in the pursuit of hobbies.  Yet, people too often seem to overlook investing the time and effort into those hobbies, and then they fall by the wayside. Remember, we work to make a living, and everything outsideContinue reading “Life Balance”

I have always chafed at being called a millennial. While my birth year fits the traditional definitions of a millennial, I dislike being lumped in by politicians, professionals, and academics as fitting into this demographic. But for those of us born between 1977 and 1983, there is good news! Experts are now saying we fill theContinue reading “Xennials”

“But for her sex she could have surpassed all the heroes of history.” – Thomas Cromwell on Katherine of Aragon. I have long been captivated by the history of the Tudor dynasty.  Like so many other periods of dramatic history, this period is full of mystery, intrigue, and drama that surpasses anything we could makeContinue reading “Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen”

I was recently privy to a conversation where two people discussed how they would not go back to their twenties.  The man, age 38, said that even though he may not have the same energy level he did at 20, he wouldn’t trade who he is now for going back to then. I couldn’t agreeContinue reading “Aging Gracefully”

I grew up in a tiny house with 6 people in it.  Despite the small kitchen, I remember my mom turning out baked goods like it was a factory and selling them for extra money back when a few bucks made all the difference.  When the cookie sales took off, requests for personalized catering cameContinue reading “Captains of Industry”

I was homeschooled until grade two, having spent the previous couple of years traveling as part of my parents’ Great Adventure road trip.  Up to that point, I had experienced people of different cultures, played with children who spoke different languages, and learned that people come from all different walks of life and live differently. Continue reading “Boundaries and Expectations”

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” is a line from Oscar Hammerstein’s famous song in The Sound of Music.  This song got stuck in my head a few days ago and I bought the download on my phone and have played it dozens of times ever since. I remember the first time I ever watchedContinue reading “My Favorite Things”

It’s a funny thing to find out where you come from, ancestrally, ethnically, genetically; to discover stories from the past that unlock a mystery within you.  Genealogy became a passion of mine a little over a year ago.  I went from caring very little about my family history to becoming fascinated, building my family treeContinue reading “It\'s in My Blood”