Category: intentional-living
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Embracing Life’s Seasons for Intentional Living
There are seasons when life expands, and there are seasons when it asks us to become better stewards of what we’ve already been given. If you’ve noticed that things have been a little quieter around The Oubaitori Edit, it isn’t because I’ve disappeared. It’s because life has required my attention in ways that no content…
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Preparing for Tornadoes: Ohio’s Rising Weather Threat
It’s a strange feeling when an ordinary day is interrupted by a sound you hope you never hear. I was in my basement when tornado sirens started wailing across Youngstown and Boardman, Ohio. A few moments later, my phone blasted out an emergency alert telling everyone to seek shelter immediately. Like many others in the…
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Monday Motivation: Finding Strength Beyond Your Own
It’s almost surreal to think that just a week ago, armed with a VIP parking pass, we confidently pulled into Busch Gardens Williamsburg—only to immediately end up in the wrong lanes. So much for confidence. Thankfully, we were able to course-correct and ended up with a prime parking spot close to the electric scooter rental.…
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From Diagnosis to Action: Managing Fatty Liver Health
In June of 2023, I received a test result that stopped me in my tracks. The ultrasound report referenced a Metavir score of F4, which is associated with cirrhosis. If you have ever seen a word like that on your own medical report, you understand how quickly your mind moves. It does not ease into…
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Peace for the Overwhelmed: A Monday Reset After Resurrection
Yesterday was Easter, and today is Monday. The dishes are still in the sink, the emails are waiting, and the to-do list did not disappear simply because we paused to celebrate something sacred. And if you are in Ohio, it may even be snowing, which somehow feels fitting for a year that has already carried…
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Bloom: Focus on What Matters Most
Let’s slow this down for a minute and talk like we would if we were sitting across from each other. Because right now, a lot of you are trying to build something meaningful while living very full, very real lives, and the advice out there often sounds good in theory but falls apart in practice.…
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Friday Flashback: When Hope Ends and Somehow Begins Again
Featuring Natasha Bedingfield — Soulmate There are songs that don’t just remind you of a time period. They remind you of who you were emotionally when you lived inside that season of life. Soulmate was that song for me. Around 2010, I listened to it constantly while an on-again, off-again relationship finally, definitively ended. And…
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National Get Up Day: The Quiet Strength of Getting Back Up
National Get Up Day lands at an interesting time of year. January ends, winter still feels long, and many people are already tired of pushing toward goals they set just a few weeks ago. The ice-skating connection makes sense because skating teaches something most of us resist learning in life: that falling is not failure.…
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Why ‘Vienna’ Encourages a Slower Pace in Life
There are songs that feel like they were written for adulthood, even if you first heard them much younger. “Vienna” is one of those. It waits for you. You don’t fully understand it at first, and then one day it quietly taps you on the shoulder and says, “You’re tired because you’ve been rushing.” Billy…
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The Journey of Faith: Embracing Uncertainty
There is something deeply restorative about being alone in your car. No one is asking you to turn the radio down. No competing playlists. Just a stretch of road, a few thoughts, and a song that somehow knows exactly where you are in life. On my way to the doctor’s office this week, I found…
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End of Year Thank You
As we close out this year, I want to take a moment simply to say thank you. Thank you for reading, commenting, sharing, and showing up here. Whether you’ve been with me from the beginning or just found your way here recently, your support means more than you know. Every like, message, and kind word…
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Healing Through the New Year: A Personal Journey
It’s the last Monday of 2025, and what a roller coaster this year has been. I had posts planned. I had ideas lined up. And then life did what life sometimes does: it intervened in ways I wasn’t expecting. On Christmas Day, instead of soaking in rest and celebration, I checked into the hospital. I…
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