It was December 20, 1986. A very shy Freshman girl with not very many friends was given the opportunity from her parents to go to a dance in a neighboring community. Little did she know that her life was going to change forever. At that dance, she met a Junior who took the chance to talk to and eventually took her to the dance floor. Those two people who met that fateful night are still going. Through high school, college, marriage, infertility, two miscarriages, and three sons later, here we are.

The Neilan family is loving and living life in the great state of South Dakota. Home of Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Black Hills, and the wide-open plains. I am a wife of nearly 30 years to my incredible husband, Micky. I am also the mother of three remarkable sons, Andrew, Carter, and Christopher. Currently, I teach middle school STEM to over 400 students and care about each and every one of them as if they were my own children.

What I hope this blog becomes is a way for you to take away some of the ideas we have used in our family and our journey so far and use them for your families. Maybe some of the advice I give can give you hope and encouragement to weather the storms in your own seas. I recognize that our life is most definitely not perfect, but together, we can live, love and have compassion for everyone that crosses our paths.