Carrie Talbott Carrie Talbott

Jesus Follower | Word Stringer | Avocado Eater

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  • Courage,  Honesty,  Stress,  Thanksgiving

    Baby Steps, Bob: How to Replace the Overwhelming Thing with the Next Thing

    September 23, 2022 / 16 Comments

    If you’ve seen one of my favorite movies, What About Bob, you know taking baby steps (literally) is what got Bob Wiley out of his own head.  Repeating the words “baby steps” also got him on a bus, through a sliding door, and on a boat… all things that previously terrified him. Similarly, if you’ve read Bob Goff’s books or listened to his podcast, you know he loves the word ambition. Always challenging people, he does a great job of encouraging his audience to figure out what they want and go for it.  Sounds effortless coming from a man who already possesses ambition… and a bank account to back up…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

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    In the Eye of the Swarm: Learning Patience While Waiting for Everything to Change

    October 15, 2016
    Perfect Piano Practice Perfection

    When Daily Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

    March 19, 2021

    Corner Office Syndrome as a Boss: When it’s Always Lonely at the Top of the Business or Ministry

    January 10, 2021
  • Courage,  Humility,  Writing

    When You Stand to Teach & Sit Back Down Taught: Unexpected Lessons in the Trees

    April 1, 2022 / 10 Comments

    Have you ever returned from a conference re-energized, motivated, and encouraged? Wide-eyed, focused, and ready to make some big changes? And then reality sets in and you hit a wall? The Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference always does that for me. Could be any type of conference though. Marriage Retreat: Day 1: I’m going to be way nicer to him now. I don’t care anymore if he leaves clothes all over the floor and forgets to put his dishes in the dishwasher. I’m just grateful to be married. Day 2: Again? I can’t even get to the dishwasher to clean up after him without walking on clothes. I am not…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Carols In The Closet

    February 20, 2016

    Two Cops & a Black Eye: Our Up Close & Personal Encounter with Physical Abuse

    February 4, 2022

    In the Eye of the Swarm: Learning Patience While Waiting for Everything to Change

    October 15, 2016
  • Courage,  Faith,  Humility

    Two Cops & a Black Eye: Our Up Close & Personal Encounter with Physical Abuse

    February 4, 2022 / 18 Comments

    Living in Mexico brought a ton of unusual, funny, memorable experiences. Even the hard times sound like a picnic compared to the night the cops dropped off an unexpected guest. Our large property consisted of five double-wide mobile homes, a fire pit, trash and tool hut, huge water tank, fig and pomegranate trees, laundry lines, small patch of grass, and enough parking for about 25 cars. Some locals knew exactly why we were there, and others had no clue. Like all the other nights, I stood in our double-wide, all jammied up and cozy, brushing my teeth in peace. Between spits I saw lights flashing through our small bathroom window,…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Carols In The Closet

    February 20, 2016
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    When Daily Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

    March 19, 2021

    Baby Steps, Bob: How to Replace the Overwhelming Thing with the Next Thing

    September 23, 2022
  • Perfect Piano Practice Perfection
    Courage,  Music,  Parenting

    When Daily Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

    March 19, 2021 / 28 Comments

    Lesson #1 Around ten years old I got ushered to a piano bench by a concert pianist. She seemed kind, I was cluelessly optimistic, and my parents paid good money for the woman to deal with me for two years. If you don’t know my family, my father also earned the title of a concert pianist. So it would seem logical for the two of us to meet weekly in the formal living room for 30 minutes so he could enlighten me with everything he knew on our own piano. But my parents were well aware that teaching his [athletic, stubborn, distractable] daughter himself wouldn’t be the best idea. Instead,…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

    You May Also Like

    In the Eye of the Swarm: Learning Patience While Waiting for Everything to Change

    October 15, 2016

    Carols In The Closet

    February 20, 2016

    Two Cops & a Black Eye: Our Up Close & Personal Encounter with Physical Abuse

    February 4, 2022
  • Courage,  Faith,  Humility

    When it’s Finally Time to Launch Your Business Idea. Small Starts are Better Than No Starts, Right?

    February 27, 2021 / 22 Comments

    Well? Are they? If you answered with a resounding, “Heck yeah! Go for it!” then you might not deal with issues of insecurity, perfectionism or strong aversions to failure. I always looked in awe at our neighbors in Baja who thought up an idea for a business, gathered a few supplies, and opened the following month. Or week! It made no sense to my cautious brain how you could be prepared that fast with a game plan toward success and a plan B to pivot if needed. But that’s coming from someone who cringes at the thought of failure, or being completely wrong, or launching something that isn’t ready. And…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

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    Perfect Piano Practice Perfection

    When Daily Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

    March 19, 2021

    When You Stand to Teach & Sit Back Down Taught: Unexpected Lessons in the Trees

    April 1, 2022

    Baby Steps, Bob: How to Replace the Overwhelming Thing with the Next Thing

    September 23, 2022
  • Courage,  Humility,  Missionary Secrets

    Corner Office Syndrome as a Boss: When it’s Always Lonely at the Top of the Business or Ministry

    January 10, 2021 / 8 Comments

    A few years ago I reported the results of a missionary survey I did and was surprised by their answers. (Especially when they matched mine.) With global loneliness at an all-time high, I thought I’d take a closer look into the phenomenon where some people might not look. The old cliché, “It’s lonely at the top” rings loud and true… 92% of missionaries I interviewed said yes to this question: Do you ever suffer from Corner Office Syndrome? (Knowing a ton of people but not having any real friends.) “Totally. I have lots of friends on Facebook, but nobody checks on me; I always have to reach out. It’s hard…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

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    When You Stand to Teach & Sit Back Down Taught: Unexpected Lessons in the Trees

    April 1, 2022
    Perfect Piano Practice Perfection

    When Daily Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

    March 19, 2021

    Baby Steps, Bob: How to Replace the Overwhelming Thing with the Next Thing

    September 23, 2022
  • Courage,  Faith,  Parenting

    I Got Laid Off, He Got The Rona: 5 Things We Did to Recover

    September 26, 2020 / 32 Comments

    After a rough July and August, I put all my hope in the September basket that life would mellow out. But in the first week of the new month, I got laid off from my job and our oldest son got you-know-what. When he first came home from an afternoon of swimming, eating too much, and throwing a football in 112˚ weather, we assumed his sick feeling was heat stroke. Or food poisoning. Or both. I mean, I might’ve uttered a nervous whisper that sounded something like, “That you, Rona?” But I mostly blamed it on the pulled pork and Hawaiian potato chips.  The next day his energy plummeted and…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Dear Stay-At-Home Mom: I Figured Out Your Problem

    October 1, 2016
    Perfect Piano Practice Perfection

    When Daily Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

    March 19, 2021

    Carols In The Closet

    February 20, 2016
  • Courage,  Honesty,  Humility,  Pride

    Optimists and Their Kryptonite: Why Blowing Sunshine Doesn’t Always Work

    August 1, 2020 / 23 Comments

    Just because I normally see my kombucha bottle as half full doesn’t mean I don’t get sad when it’s empty.  A large portion of optimists I know tend to be funny, super friendly, or both. One friend said she’s the funniest on social media when she’s depressed or going through muck.  Another posts closeup pics of calm objects and events even though her life is falling apart behind the scenes. I belong to the optimistic lifers club. And I married a pessimist. Of course I didn’t know he was a pessimist when I walked down the aisle, but I figured it out pretty quick.  He says assuming the worst makes…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

    You May Also Like

    When You Stand to Teach & Sit Back Down Taught: Unexpected Lessons in the Trees

    April 1, 2022

    Baby Steps, Bob: How to Replace the Overwhelming Thing with the Next Thing

    September 23, 2022

    When it’s Finally Time to Launch Your Business Idea. Small Starts are Better Than No Starts, Right?

    February 27, 2021
  • Courage,  Faith,  Gratitude,  Stress

    Mexican Manna: Do You Know What You Need?

    April 11, 2020 / 6 Comments

    In case you’re considering launching a cross-cultural ministry, organic enterprise or local venture, here are two things I wish someone would have told me before our family took off for the great unknown.  Buckle up—they’re both extremely complex and ridiculously basic: On some level, I already knew about these two things because, well… life. But wow. I had no idea how scary true they would prove to be.  From the beginning, through the middle, and after the end, my husband and I felt the effects of every emotion that came from human disappointment. Friend/family, old/young, poor/rich… didn’t matter.  But right on the heels of every one of our bugged eyes…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

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    Corner Office Syndrome as a Boss: When it’s Always Lonely at the Top of the Business or Ministry

    January 10, 2021

    In the Eye of the Swarm: Learning Patience While Waiting for Everything to Change

    October 15, 2016

    Dear Stay-At-Home Mom: I Figured Out Your Problem

    October 1, 2016
  • Courage,  Faith,  Honesty,  Humility,  Judging

    Boring Testimonies: No Drama Necessary

    March 7, 2020 / 14 Comments

    My second boyfriend acted like a goody-two-shoes, but mostly wasn’t. My third boyfriend had a long scar on his face. I never asked why. My fifth boyfriend lived in a group home and wasn’t that into… talking.  My sixth got kicked out of school, but I don’t remember why. My husband tells stories of his past that make you wonder how and why he’s still alive.  He sold pot in middle school, went to church hungover, and almost blew up his high school gym, but eventually, he grew up and started a nonprofit ministry. He also got stuck on the back of a motorcycle while the driver flew through the…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

    You May Also Like

    Dear Stay-At-Home Mom: I Figured Out Your Problem

    October 1, 2016

    Baby Steps, Bob: How to Replace the Overwhelming Thing with the Next Thing

    September 23, 2022

    When You Stand to Teach & Sit Back Down Taught: Unexpected Lessons in the Trees

    April 1, 2022
12

Welcome!

You’re here! And I’m Carrie. From full-time camp kid to unconventional missionary for 12 años in a 3rd-world country, I’m now a profesh organizer and writer who loves plants and guac. Life is short, so I’m smiling while I have all my teeth, but I still have issues. Always remember… when life hands you lemons, give them back. You deserve avocados.

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