I haven’t straightened my hair since January 2016. One Sunday at church a gorgeous African American gal ran her hands over my flat-ironed hair and said, “You don’t have to do this, you know. You could wear it the way God made it.” I squinched my nose at her. Because I was pretty sure my
“Since I would like to officiate in the NFL someday, I am wondering what steps I need to take.” Twenty-eight years ago my husband Tony, currently an ACC football official, read those words in the Dallas Cowboys Weekly and began his officiating football journey. Since Tony says West Virginia currently needs officials in all sports, I
I used to be a grocery store snob, shopping only at Giant Eagle and Kroger. I never set food inside Aldi even though I heard a lot of buzz about their “awesome produce” and “super low prices.” At the time I thought: Surely low prices mean low quality. I was so “bougie” about grocery shopping
Happy Blogiversary to you! Happy Blogiversary to you! Because really, without you, this blog would only be a journal. April 7, 2017 was the birthday of my blog, dianetarantini.com. On that day I rolled out the first post. Determined to be all official and everything, I even conducted a reader survey in which you assured me: I
For more than 16 weeks each year, I am a football widow. Not because my husband is an avid fan, but because he is an excellent collegiate football official. You can learn some interesting stuff hanging around football officials. Believe it or not, I’m not just talking the technical definition of targeting and was-that-offensive-pass-interference-or-wasn’t-it? You
When I first learned about The Mile Ground movie, I quickly donated to the crowd-funding effort for the project. Because it was written by my friend and Morgantown native Jessica Shannon. And because it deals with the opioid crisis–a major threat to my beloved West Virginia. Shannon’s vision is for a film that “…uniquely examines loss, the
There we were, three moms perched on the edge of the pool, watching our children cannonball off the side. “Hey, Di, how would you like to make $200?” my friend asked. “Maybe even today.” As soon as I said, “That would be amazing,” she and her friend, her “up-line,” rushed to tell me how. Later
This post has been taken down because the online journal, “Borrowed Solace,” picked it up. Yay, Sarah!! I’ll post a link when her essay goes live. When I read this moving post earlier in the week, I immediately asked Sarah if I could run it on my blog today. She was gracious enough to
(by Cole Smith) Recently, I learned a big life lesson about the intelligences and what it feels like to smack up against failure. After our car was totaled a few days before Christmas, I walked across the street from the body shop and asked about a car that was for sale. Literally — across the street! It
If only… “If only we had more money.” Just ten years ago, I was saying that line on a weekly basis since there was always more week than money. That all changed when Tony Bear and I gave Financial Peace a chance. Dave Ramsey to the rescue Financial Peace is a program (and a book*) by
