Who are we?

We are people brought together (though miles apart) by the common idea that today matters. And tomorrow will too. We are teachers, designers, photographers, believers and skeptics, brothers and sisters and friends. We struggle and search through the day-to-day just like everyone else. We are all just here, trying to live this day like it’s the best one we’re ever going to see. We hope you’ll journey along with us.

The Writers

I spend about 22 hours a day with a furry, wiggly-butt pee machine Kansas Specialty Dog Services named Trego. The other two hours I’m in class at the University of Kansas. I like penguins, the band Girlyman, long drives through dark nights and the feeling of getting tattooed. My current home is a three bedroom house that almost always feels as empty as my refrigerator (Come visit.).I aspire to be the mother of children I didn’t birth, the incubator of children I won’t mother (surrogacy) and lifetime friend to a beagle, a Jack Russell terrier or both.

Joining you from: Lawrence, Kan.

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I live in Hamburg, Germany, making me the first European writer on TOD! I am a peace and conflict researcher, currently finishing my PhD thesis. Now, don’t get too excited; this sentence has been true for approximately 4 years now — I got distracted.

I love traveling, learning, expressionist paintings, music that lifts me up, music that makes me cry, playing the piano and watching movies. Some of my favorites are Garden State, Lost in Translation, Smoke and Life is Beautiful.

I am married to a man who makes me feel at home wherever I am, which finally brought an end to my restlessness. We are building a house, together with eight other families. I love the idea of living right in the city, but with the benefit of a warm and welcoming neighborhood full of friends — and kids! If you want to know more, read my blog.

Joining you from: Hamburg, Germany

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I am the Sports Editor at the Emporia Gazette, a momma’s boy and a fanatical sports fan — particularly of the Kansas Jayhawks. I attended the University of Kansas because I could not miss out on four years of games at the Mecca, Allen Fieldhouse. I plan to name my first son Phog (at least his middle name) after the famous KU basketball coach Phog Allen. I’ve watched almost every KU basketball game since I was six, and if I couldn’t watch it, I taped it. I attended the Final Four in San Antonio this year where my Jayhawks won it all and claim that was the best weekend of my life.

When I’m not going to games, getting hugged by naked baseball players (this happened once) or sitting in front of my computer writing about it all, I’m usually playing basketball or out with my friends doing my dance moves (I was once called a white Michael Jackson.) Any ladies interested in a momma’s boy who loves sports a little too much? I’m currently accepting applications for a Sugar Momma.

Joining you from: Emporia, Kan.

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Joining you from: Kansas City, Kan.

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Whenever people ask me who would play me in a movie (because this is a topic that both my best friend and boss have brought up), I never have a response, even though I’ve given it a lot of thought. I vehemently deny Rachael Ray (suggested because we’re both “bubbly”). The only actress left in the race is Katherine Heigl (Izzie from Grey’s Anatomy). It’s not a perfect match (and certainly one based on personality rather than looks), but it’s better than not having a response at all. When I’m not debating my celebrity counterpart, I design for a magazine in New York City.

The constants of my days are: Johnson & Johnson body wash (smells like baby); subway commutes; obsessively checking my e-mail; art, design and craft blogs; unproductive banter with my cubemates; keeping an eye out for celebrities and avoiding tourists; reading; and listening to music. I enjoy spending Saturdays walking through different neighborhoods — taking pictures of interesting signs, cool buildings, pretty colors and anything else that catches my eye, which I later manipulate in Photoshop or use for inspiration.

Joining you from: New York City

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I live on the west side of Indianapolis and I work in business development at my dad’s construction management and contracting company. While I’ve always considered myself a bit too winsome for an office job (and for such a dry title), I am finding humor and beauty in this place.

I married my high school sweetheart, Cody, and while we dream of traveling and making documentaries and writing books, God has told us to stay put for the moment. So we try and make the most of it by having lots of pitch-in dinners, bonfires, Ultimate Frisbee games and lively discussions about God’s intentions for all of us while doing our best to live them out.

I am a recovering people-pleaser, a dark chocolate addict and an obsessive-compulsive cleaner. Running is the passion of my life. Reading is also one of my long-lost loves, which I have recently fallen in love with again… as has Cody. Our bookshelves include Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Anne Lamott, Paul Coelho, Daniel Quinn, Jodi Picoult and tons more. Many of them are out on loan most of the time.

Joining you from: Avon, Ind.

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I don’t like talking about myself. Not because it comes off as boastful, but because there are hundreds of people out there who I went to high school with and I don’t want them tracking me down and trying to add me to their MySpace page.

Joining you from: Atlanta

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I live in Denver and work as the live-in coordinator of Regis University’s Romero House program, an intentional community of five college students who live simply, serve the poor and marginalized at local non-profits, and together explore issues of faith and social justice. That means I get paid to do things like protest the School of the Americas, travel to El Salvador, and bring community leaders in social justice issues to the house. It also means I get called “Mom” by twentysomethings a lot. I went to college for journalism, but social justice and campus ministry captured my heart.

Being from the east coast, I spend a lot of my spare time staring slackjawed in awe at the Rocky Mountains. I will happily read anything by Bill Bryson, David Sedaris, Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, or Dave Eggers, or pretty much anyone else, for that matter. If I don’t become a full-time crusader for social justice, I aspire to be a folk singer, to write things that make people laugh, to be a panelist on NPR’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! or a voice in an animated Pixar movie. I also can knit only scarves, juggle, make balloon animals, disuss the merits of liberation theology, and play a passable impression of some Ben Folds songs on the piano. I think God has a pretty killer sense of humor, and that — as Anne Lamott says — laughter is carbonated holiness.

Joining you from: Denver, Colo.

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I am a curious man. I am curious about Jesus, about how He so freely loved and made everyone feel welcome. I am curious about people and aspire to love them the same way that He did. I am curious why being 6’7”

instantly makes me qualified to play in the NBA. I am curious about climbing and running and cooking and eating and bikes and books and friends and naps and trips and dogs and frisbees. I am curious how to mesh all the things I love into one uber life, and how to use that to serve. And I like to write.

Joining you from: Houston, Texas

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I live in Oceanside, Calif., which is about 30 miles north of San Diego. I work through AmeriCorps in a mentoring program that aims to prevent students from joining gangs through tutoring, mentoring, activities, etc. My job ends up being, for example: teaching how to address an envelope and sew; giving students rides home from school; playing catch while spelling words; talking to 13-year-olds about sex, drugs, fighting, and other things that make me have to hide my suburban Kansas white girl shock. I love it. I also work part-time at the North County Times, a local paper. (I majored in journalism and Italian).

Here are some Natalie facts: I love reading; hot weather; and eating, reading articles about and discussing food. I can be sympathetic to both sides of most political issues. One of my favorite movies is Dumb and Dumber. I only paint my nails red (although recently, occasionally, black) because I think it’s glamorous in a 1950s movie star kind of way. I cannot play card, video, computer, board or mind games — or sports. I have beautiful hands. I love classic rock. I go to church every Sunday. I’m not very good at driving. I am the oldest of six children, and my family is awesome. A friend once said we single-handedly restored his faith in families. I’m fiercely proud and protective of my siblings.

Joining you from: Oceanside, Calif.

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Born in Kentucky, I got to Texas as soon as I could. I grew up all over West Texas, and I actually enjoy the flatness and bareness of those desert plains. I graduated from Texas Tech and Rice Universities, and I follow Red Raider football hopefully and relentlessly. It’s a voluntary ride on a roller coaster of emotion each and every fall, but I am the eternal optimist, and next year will always be better. I have recently relocated to Columbia, Missouri, and I am greatly enjoying the plethora of running trails and hills on which to ride my bike. I am a huge nerd and proud of it. I love to watch documentaries and read biographies and memoirs; I tend to buy shoes even when I’m not looking for them; and I fold my shirts very meticulously. Of course, that’s if they get folded.

Joining you from: Columbia, Mo.

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I’m the brains behind this little project. I collected all my friends to make it work (they’re the magic). I’m a Kansas girl who is shocked, and a little bothered, by the fact that Texas is starting to feel an awful lot like home. Two years ago, a recruiter convinced me it would be a good idea to give up my wild journalism dreams and move to Texas to teach English to a bunch of crazy kids. It was a two-year gig, but I’ve yet to find a better offer so I’m sticking around indefinitely. When I’m not teaching a hot mess full of kids how to be better people (and read and write), I’m busy coaching soccer, talking with my hands and generally drinking too much coffee.

I have a small-scale obsession with strangers’ blogs, Gmail Chat and boys names on girls. I also have a deep and abiding affection for margaritas, craft projects and young adult literature. And Jesus. I probably should have mentioned Him first, seeing that He’s Jesus and all.

I firmly believe that no bag can ever be too big, no shoes can ever be too bright and no moment is worth wasting. I will stand by that much longer than I will probably like Texas.

Joining you from: Houston, Texas

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I’m a mom… Some people call me Mom on purpose — an almost 14-year-old and an almost married 25-year-old. Others, like the 90+ students in my journalism classes, call me mom by accident. Hey mom, I mean Cough. I know, that looks a lot like cough (as in sneeze), but it’s really Cough (rhymes with dough). It’s a nickname that my students gave me when I first started teaching. It is a short version of my last name at that time… Coughenour. All these years and it’s just stuck.

And a teacher…

I advise a yearbook and a bi-weekly newspaper and teach photojournalism. Not only are my students loads of fun, they make me look good when they win lots of awards and then become successful at life.

And a wife… I’m married to the most amazing and patient man on the planet. He is a total romantic and gives the best presents. (Yes, he has brothers, but they are all married as well…

sorry, ladies).

I’m also a daughter, aunt, sister, cousin, niece and daughter-in-law… I can’t imagine the words that could fully communicate how important my family is to me. We are very independent, but incredibly close knit.

Speaking of knitting…I like to. And I like to camp and ride my bicycle —

with my daughter when she can stand to be seen in public with her Muuu-therrr. I’m also an amateur photographer. When I grow up, I’d like to be good enough to sell my photography as art. And I’d like to be a grandmother.

Joining you from: Shawnee, Kan.