We are so glad that you found your way here—the official Website for #EXTRAOrdinary. WE are Lisa Shaffner Sohn and Carleen Matts-Behrends.
We're small town girls from Minot, North Dakota, and Virginia, Minnesota. We're moms, teachers, friends, sisters, and neighbors who now live in the 'burbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul. We work hard, we laugh hard, and yes—we cry hard, too. We're not afraid to stand up and speak our minds, especially when it comes to fighting for and protecting others.
We're about as far from perfect as can be—and that's okay. We know that life is for living and growing, and we are on a mission of LOVE to listen to and amplify the stories of Women in the Middle—just like us. Thank you for joining us!
Welcome, Friends!
Looking For Our Book?
You can purchase a signed copy of our book, #EXTRAOrdinary: Ride the Waves and Share Your Story, from us at our events. You can also email us at extraordinary4you2018@gmail.com if you would like one shipped to you.
You can also contact us on Facebook (@extra4you).
If you are a store looking for wholesale prices, please let us know with an email or message.
Looking For Our Bling?
We are crafty ladies, and we sell our bling at our events and on Facebook!
We love to make bling for people and things. It brings us such joy and can lift us right out of the blues or crabbiness. In fact, sometimes our husbands will say, "Uh, do you want to go bead for a while?" We may or may not have faked being crabby on occasion so we could escape to our studios. #SorryNotSorry
Each piece we create is absolutely one-of-a-kind and made with love from mixed materials such as vintage beads, vintage metal objects, metal/plastic/crystal/glass/stone beads and drops, gears, etc.
If you have an idea for a custom order, shoot us an email at extraordinary4you@gmail.com (or use the contact form on this site), and we'll see what we can put together for you.
What's #EXTRAOrdinary About?
We Women in the Middle know a few things, don't we?
We know that we are no longer a part of the younger generation (which is traditionally the darling of the media, for better or worse). We know that society as a whole tends to value us less because we are no longer in that younger generation (and we know that that's a bunch of bunk #BecauseWe'reAwesome). We know that our bodies are changing and just don't...work the same way they used to (and seriously, what's UP with that, anyway?).
We know that we've got a lot of plates spinning...and sometimes those plates hit the floor as we try to do #AllTheThings to please #AllThePeople and meet #AllTheExpectations. We know that along the way, we've lost bits and pieces of ourselves, and we're not super happy about that...but we're also just SO TIRED (like, what the...?).
HOWEVER. We also know that we.aren't.done (FAR from it). We know that we're beautiful, no matter what anyone else says. We know that we're actually pretty badass (how else would we get through #AllTheThings and still be laughing?). And we know we have something to SAY. All of us.
Because we've lived, because we've made mistakes, and because we've LEARNED, we have WISDOM to pass on and lives to change.
And we know that when we women gather together in all of our human-ness and ordinary-ness and crazy-ness, we are powerful beyond measure because we understand that love is the answer to all of the Big Important Questions.
In short, we are #EXTRAOrdinary. You are #EXTRAOrdinary. And we wrote a book about it. We hope that you will eventually join us by sharing your stories, too.
This site is going to be a place for us to post our #musings about life, the universe, and everything. This space will grow and change as we go on this adventure together. For now, we hope you will check back regularly, get to know us better, and see where the road takes us. Above all, we believe in the power of love and narrative to validate and heal.
We're so glad you're here!
BFF,
Lisa and Carleen
What We're Writing
