Tsh Oxenreider - Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World

Words of Praise for Notes from a Blue Bike

Oh, I just love this book. Tsh has a gift for making whats hard feel doable and whats overwhelming feel manageable, like a smart friend you meet for coffee and wisdom. I felt understood, and at the same time, inspired to live with more intention and creativity. This ones a gem.

Shauna Niequist, author of Bread & Wine

Sometimes, we all need to step back and think about how we live our lives. Notes from a Blue Bike was an amazing chance to do just this. In a world of on-the-go chaos, Oxenreiders new book is a simple and eloquent reminder of slowing down and living with intention. I didnt want to put this one down.

Claire Diaz-Ortiz, author, speaker, innovator at Twitter, and blogger at ClaireDiazOrtiz.com

In a world of rushing, stress, and constant busyness, Tshs words are a breath of fresh air challenging us to take time to stop and savor life. Through her stories, life journeys, and honesty about her struggles, youll be inspired to step back and really examine how youre living life and whether it aligns with your core values. Thank you, Tsh, for motivating us through Notes from a Blue Bike to stop letting life happen to us and instead encouraging us to go happen to life!

Crystal Paine, founder of MoneySavingMom.com and author of Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

This book will liberate you. These pages will sweep you up in a life that focuses on the little things we often miss. It will convict you, comfort you, and ultimately set you free to lead a simpler, braver, more beautiful life. It certainly did for me.

Jeff Goins, author of The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing

Tsh Oxenreider has written a truly beautiful story that will inspire you to fully embrace the life youve been given and find the joy in your own journey. Its the best combination of entertaining and inspiring all rolled into one fabulous book!

Melanie Shankle, author of Sparkly Green Earrings and The Antelope in the Living Room

Fun and accessible, Tsh Oxenreiders colorful vignettes are a personal look at one womans journey toward mastering the art of intentional living in the midst of a chaotic world. Notes from a Blue Bike explores and helps readers shift from simply dreaming of a life of simplicity to actually attaining it. A refreshing challenge to the defeated notion that a chaotic life routine is to be expected and endured.

Ken Wytsma, president of Kilns College and author of Pursuing Justice: The Call to Live and Die for Bigger Things

Notes from a Blue Bike is a powerful, yet quiet, call to ask yourself, What if I didnt have to live this way? What if the fast-paced, hyper-productive life we think of as normal is actually making us miserable? What if instead of constantly striving for more, we could learn to be intentional with our lives and find happiness? What if slowing down was the most productive and smartest use of our time? As a recovering workaholic myself, my friend Tsh has helped me learn to slow down and enjoy life, and she will do the same for you!

Alli Worthington, strategist, speaker, author, AlliWorthington.com

Whenever I need to reevaluate what my family values most, I turn to the work of Tsh Oxenreider. After reading Notes from a Blue Bike, I feel like Ive gone on a trip with Tsh as my guidenot to a foreign land, but a trip into the land of possibility for all the important areas of my life. I deeply appreciate her kind and honest perspective on living with intention, especially her thoughts on money, schooling, and love.

Emily P. Freeman, author of A Million Little Ways

Tsh Oxenreiders book speaks deeply to what so many of us feela desire to live more simply, alongside confusion about how. As Charlie Chaplin said, simplicity is not a simple thing. Her book feels like a blueprint of sorts: a place to wrestle with our own convictions regarding our families, work, and life while reading about hers. Tshs memoir invites us to shed the clothes of consumerism and distracted living that are so ubiquitous in our culture, and instead to find a new wardrobe. One that manages to combine conviction, intentionality, and simplicity.

Nathan George, founder of Trade as One

In a style thats both personal and practical, Tsh Oxenreider shares how we can truly live intentionally. She reveals its not where we live that matters most. Instead its about how we live wherever we are. This book will help you and your family thrive in new ways right where you are today.

Holley Gerth, best-selling author of Youre Already Amazing

Never has evaluating how we work, eat, parent, educate, or consume been as fascinating as when viewed through the lens of Tshs extraordinary adventures in travel. She invites us into the story with her and offers new ways to imagine the routines were so used to, with generous helpings of practical suggestions for how to slow down in a fast-paced culture and practice intentional living no matter what your zip code or time zone. This book is one part travelogue, one part practical tips for slower living, and one great part storytelling. An irresistible combination.

Lisa-Jo Baker, author of Surprised by Motherhood: Everything I Never Expected About Being a Mom (April 2014)

Tsh Oxenreider manages to combine the heart and humor of a memoir with advice and care in such a way that simplifying your life will never have seemed easier or more desirable. I find myself returning to chapters over and over again as I reconsider what I value and how I spend my time in pursuit of a more intentionally lived life.

Annie Downs, author of Speak Love and Perfectly Unique

How many of our daily decisions do we make on automatic pilotand then struggle to live with the expensive, annoying, or ridiculous results? Plenty! Luckily, heres a book to help us notice what were doing so we can, as they say about kids torn between kale and Quaaludes, make better choices.

Lenore Skenazy, founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids

For those of us who find simple living both appealing and intimidating, Tsh is like a wise older sister, coming alongside to help us navigate the transition to intentional living in this chaotic here-we-are-now-entertain-us world. It goes so far beyond the typical tips and lists of most simple living books because she tells her own story, her own struggles and victories, and invites us along for her own journey while opening wide the doors for us to set out on our own paths. Approachable, practical, relatable, and wise, her book inspired real introspection and change in me.

Sarah Bessey, author of Jesus Feminist (Howard Books)

I read Blue Bike while traveling in Tshs own steps from Turkey across Europe, Austin to Oregon. Like a much-needed cup of coffee with an old friend, Blue Bike is at once familiar and challenging. I was either crying or celebrating every step along the way as Tsh gently stripped the complexities of my life and called me to the surprising depths of having less in order to truly have more of what matters most.

Jeremy Courtney, author of Preemptive Love: Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time; founder of Preemptive Love Coalition

As soon as I finished Notes from a Blue Bike, I jumped on my own (burgundy) bicycle and pedaled through the neighborhood wondering if the farmer down the road still sells eggs. Like Tsh Oxenreider, our family has made slow-down decisions over the years to live a simpler, more frugal life. As our kids grow, however, life evolves, and before long, weve drifted. Tshs determination to incorporate into her American life the simple pleasures experienced overseas inspires me to realign our family to our own values in big and small ways every single day.