Samantha
Samantha is a native of small-town Southern Indiana who loves exploring the Circle City with her husband and their daughters, Kate (October 2011) and Isla (December 2015). After finishing a degree in Professional Writing at Purdue, Sam made her way to the greater Indianapolis area where she learned to embrace the lack of hills and abundance of interstate. After an 8-year career in business development and marketing, she’s taken a step back from the corporate world to focus on her own business – GrayGirl Designs – where she designs invitations, stationary, and business materials and offers marketing services, graphic design, and résumé writing. When she’s not trying to balance family and her business, she enjoys (in no particular order): Jazzercize, yoga, crafting, horseback riding, way too much coffee, and hiking. Sam is also a melanoma survivor and a passionate advocate of skin cancer and sun safety education and awareness.
I Went Out Last Night
I just turned 31. I was pregnant for my 30th, and really quite miserable, so I did nothing to celebrate the new decade of my life last year. My husband wanted to make up...
8 Basic Tips for Moving and Selling Your Home
When it’s all said and done, my husband and I have packed up our belongings and moved a combined total of 28 times since we left home to attend college. Most of those times...
10 Ways to Spot a Mom {Without Her Kids}
I’m about to turn 31. I know that's not old per se, but I'm certainly not 21 anymore. I’m married, have two kids, haven’t had a chance to shave both legs in the same...
Mom-Life Crisis: Who Am I Without a Job?
Screw the ‘midlife’ crisis – I’m pretty damn sure that I entered the just-turned-30-who-even-am-I-anymore-crisis somewhere around the first of the year. Admittedly, I’ve suffered from some pretty severe anxiety and depression for a fair...
Pulling Away to Keep My Firstborn Close
Mine
If you ask her who I am, she points to herself and states, “Mine.” Continuing on with her important business without so much as a glance to see who spoke. No hesitation, as if...
#MyMaternityLeave: Not a Privilege
That 'meternity' essay that Meghann Foye wrote for the New York Post sure is gaining a lot of attention -- and not the good kind.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, Ms. Foye is the author of a...
Easter Baskets: 13 Affordable, Non-Candy Treats
If anyone else's family is like mine, the kids are going to get plenty of candy in their Easter baskets without me contributing to the sugar-rush. Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm definitely including a...
Going Home: Moving Back In With My Parents
In January, just a few weeks after the birth of our second daughter, my husband was unexpectedly offered a new job in my small Indiana hometown. After some discussion between the two of us...
The New Jazzercise: Not Your Mama’s Workout
(Disclosure: Indianapolis Moms Blog received product or payment in exchange for this review; however, all opinions shared are those of the contributor who wrote them.)
I’ve been an avid equestrian for the majority of my...
Postpartum Bleeding: When To Call
We're all given the discharge instructions from the hospital after we've had a baby regarding pain relief, prenatal vitamins, infant care, how to care for any incisions we've had, bleeding, breastfeeding, diet and nutrition, activity,...
Welcoming Our Second Daughter (Birth Story Series)
Miss Isla James made her (very late) grand entrance into the world at 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday, December 22, 2015. She was 8 pounds, 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. She has coal black...
Postpartum Baskets: Making New-Mom-Life Easier
While newly pregnant with our second daughter, I was gifted a large open-topped picnic basket in a beautiful teal paisley print. Besides our backyard summertime cookouts, my family and I aren't in the habit...
4 White Lies I Tell My Kid to Keep the Peace
There’s been this thing floating around Facebook recently – something like, ‘Lies Our Parents Used to Tell Us’. And man, seeing this totally hit home. I know my parents told my siblings and I...
Winter in the Midwest: Staving Off The Stir-Crazy
Winter is arriving in Indiana, and my four-year-old daughter and I are already starting to feel a little stir-crazy at the thought of not spending our evenings and weekends outside. So stir-crazy, that she’s...