Shake your label maker

Surviving another round (rounds?) of book tour...and coming home to a shockingly tidy office!!

Scenes from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; Beaverdale Books and Storyhouse Bookpub in Des Moines, IA; KPBS in San Diego; Powell's Books in Portland, OR; The Book Bin in Corvallis, OR; and LAist/KPCC in Los Angeles. Thanks to my husband for most of the photos, as well as Georgetown and Storyhouse.

I have been - as a male voter at a Republican campaign event in 2016 (I think in Iowa but the details are now fuzzy) once described my travels for work - “gallivanting around the country” the past few weeks, talking about my New York Times bestseller, The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church and doing some reporting as well.

I’m mostly getting back to normal now - although there will be more book events in the months to come (and I’m always happy to entertain invitations).

After a book launch in March through several cities along the East Coast and Midwest, and a few other scattered events, I spent last week on a West Coast swing visiting family and friends and speaking to groups in California and Oregon.

It’s fun, it’s exhausting, and it’s incredibly humbling to speak to a room full of people who are excited to hear about something you’ve devoted so much time and energy to creating.

But now I’m home with two other things I’ve devoted considerable time and energy to making and growing - my sons - being a mom and catching up on the day job! (NPR likes it when I file things sometimes.)

My husband joined me for the last trip, and I came home to discover that during one of my previous, recent gallivants, he had thoroughly cleaned and organized the chaotic space that we call “our office,” - he even made labels for everything!

Yes, there’s a lot of “Misc. Sarah stuff”…

There's admittedly a lot of my miscellaneous stuff.

We both work from home frequently, and we share the office. Share in the sense that he has a desk, and I have a desk, and two bookshelves, and the entire closet. And while I was away he made order out of chaos, one of the many things he often does for me.

At this stage of life, this is - honestly - incredibly romantic.

There is nothing like a month of near-constant travel, involving countless hours of deeply vulnerable conversations about my life, faith, and the state of the world, to make me feel world-weary and grateful for the people who make my life so meaningful.

Throughout this tour, I have been grateful to see lots of familiar faces all along the way: family members hosting us in California and Oregon, dear friends bringing a whole book club to Richmond, NPR West colleagues in Los Angeles, old and new friends from all stages of life (Senate Page school days! My study-abroad in England! My journalism fellowship class in 2002!). And so many more.

You all really make a girl feel really loved. Thank you.