What does "dream in plain sight" mean?

To me, dreaming in plain sight means to dream — but realistically. Not the kind of dreaming that floats away into fantasy, but the kind you can actually reach out and touch. Over 58 years of living, I've collected quite a few of those dreams. Some stuck. Some didn't. And looking back, every single one of them led me exactly here.

THE EARLY DREAMS

As a child, I dreamed of being a truck driver. That might not sound extraordinary now, but for a little girl at the time, it was decidedly out of the ordinary. Looking back, I think what I really wanted was to travel — and driving a truck seemed like the most exciting way to do it. That dream didn't last long before it was replaced by a new one: becoming a famous singer. There was just one small problem. I can't sing very well. So that dream faded too.

I don't remember much of what came in between, but by college I had landed in accounting. Math had other plans for me, so I switched to business management. My mom thought I should major in English — which, naturally, meant I absolutely would not. I just wanted to finish, earn my degree, and figure the rest out. So business management it was.

A NEW DREAM TAKES SHAPE

Near the end of college, I started dating the man who would become my husband, and suddenly a new dream came into focus: building a life together. We married soon after graduation and started our family not long after that.

"Sometimes I can't believe I taught them for all those years — but I did, one year at a time."

From there came one of my biggest and most meaningful dreams: homeschooling my kids. I started researching when my oldest was just two or three years old. I took it one year at a time, never knowing quite how far we'd go — and we went far. All four of my children were homeschooled for the majority of their school years. My daughter eventually chose public high school. Two of my boys did PSEO, Minnesota's program that lets high schoolers take college classes during their last two years. My youngest stayed fully homeschooled right through graduation.

Today, my oldest has his bachelor's degree, my daughter completed some college, and my two youngest went to trade school. All four are gainfully employed — and honestly, that's what makes me proudest of all.

THE DREAMS WE'VE LIVED

Travel has always been woven through my dreams, and in recent years my husband and I have finally been doing it. In 2020, we drove the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to San Francisco — a perfect way to mark 30 years of marriage. In 2021, we visited our oldest son on the East Coast, squeezing in New York City, Boston, and Cape Cod. A rejuvenating week in Myrtle Beach followed in 2023, and in 2025 we took our first cruise to the southern Caribbean. Each of those trips deserves its own story, and I plan to write them.

In between the big trips, we found our rhythm camping on the North Shore of Lake Superior with our two youngest sons — one of our favorite corners of Minnesota.

THE WORK DREAM

Working from home so I could stay present with my kids was another dream I was lucky enough to realize. From 2002 to 2019, I worked as a medical transcriptionist, then a medical editor, then a medical scribe — all from home. Since then I've taught English as a second language and now teach reading, still from home. Along the way I've taken on side gigs — Amazon Flex, DoorDash, Uber, Spark — and I've come to believe deeply in the side hustle as a way to quietly fuel the bigger dreams.

THE NEXT DREAM

In about six years, my husband plans to retire. When he does, we have a dream waiting: hitting the road in a van or RV and traveling the United States together.

This blog is where I'll document all of it — the dream we're building toward, the ones we've already lived, and everything in between. I hope you'll come along for the ride.