This month I turn 31! The past year has seen the navigation of packing up my life, moving across the country, and starting again. It has been fun and challenging in the good kind of ways. Though always a work in progress, I’ve seen positive self-growth, healthy relationship adjustments, and I’ve defined new boundaries with … Continue reading A 31st Birthday Review
Photo by Muhammad Muzamil on Unsplash Welcome, 2022! To get started, let’s take a moment to fill our own love bucket for ourselves. Why? Because we are awesome, even if we don’t always notice. Each day, you are your own unique version of yourself. You, in and of yourself, matter. A very important teacher in … Continue reading New Year, Same Glorious You
Photo by Laura Beth Snipes on Unsplash My friend Jennifer is hosting a New Year’s Eve party and wondered during our most recent phone call how she would entertain her guests leading up to the ball drop. We cycled through a few options before I remembered the best way to spend time with folks: playing … Continue reading A Fun and Easy Party Game
Photo by Matt on Unsplash Season’s Greetings from California! I hope everyone had a lovely time with family and/or friends and that the pumpkin pie turned out okay. I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly over the past week, though my pumpkin pie crust got burned. But that’s okay because the chocolate pie turned out great! All other … Continue reading Season’s Greetings from CA
Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash The other day I found myself in the midst of a controversial discussion – my least favorite place to be. Due to my overall discomfort, I mostly just let the other person talk. When I finally found some courage and words that I felt could help, I began sharing. … Continue reading How to Deal with Foolish People You Can’t Please
A gray, foggy morning on the California coast. Over Labor Day weekend, my family got to tag-along with the in-laws for their annual camping trip. I am not the type to get excited about camping – all the preparation, discomfort, and endless outdoors keep me from being a full-on camping enthusiast. Yet a week prior, … Continue reading A Trick for Living in the Moment
Photo by Victoria Tronina on Unsplash I’m outside, enjoying the warm 92˚ air and a sunny sky, though it is nearing eight o’clock in the evening. Why should I be inside when I could be outside doing fun things?! It’s this thought that makes the summer season special and exhausting; it’s why summertime quickly becomes … Continue reading 4 Ways to Unwind and Relax at Home
Photo by Emery Meyer on Unsplash The week leading up to my son’s birthday is always a great time for me to reflect upon all of the things that I did . . . poorly. Mistakes I made, power struggles I bought into, hills I deemed worthy of climbing up and dying upon – each … Continue reading The Annual Party Guest
Photo by Meriç Dağlı on Unsplash It was December 2016 when I turned to my husband and said: “Maybe we should move back to California.” *** In June 2007, my family moved from California to North Carolina. There I finished high school and college and began my career and a family of my own. In … Continue reading I Moved Across the Country, Again
Spring's first blooms, 2020 Happy Mother’s Day to my amazing mother, Pam! As a young child I remember asking my mom how she knew so much about so much, intuitively knowing that she possessed this great, vast knowledge of how to live life and get things done well. Her response was that I would learn … Continue reading Happy Mother’s Day: A Journal Entry
The Honest Journey 