When Celebration and Grief Collide
My daughter’s birthday is in November. As any mom, I get excited as her birthday gets near. But for me, her birthday is a time when celebration and grief collide.…
Everything is Backwards: Being Left Handed in a Right-Handed World
When you're left handed, everything is backwards. It's understandable that the world is made for right-handed people. Only about 10% of the population is left handed. But when you're a…
Learning to go with the Flow: Lessons Learned from my Family Vacation
I am not a go with the flow type of person. I don’t like change. Typically when things happen to force me to change in some way, I don’t adapt…
7 Things People with an Invisible Illness Want You to Know
Having an invisible, chronic illness is difficult. Honestly, that’s putting it mildly. The truth is, it SUCKS. Being sick is hard enough, but when you have an invisible illness, it’s…
The Importance of Clean Candles: How Your Health May be Affected
Most people are aware of the dangerous chemicals and toxins found in most household cleaning products, many makeup and skincare lines, personal health products, etc. There's plenty of information out…
I Hate Parenting My Kids: The Honest Truth
I recently read a blog where a mom shared her feelings about the difficulties of being a mom. She was raw and brutally honest. I related to her feelings on a…
Seeing Christmas Magic Through My Daughter’s Eyes
Christmas magic has always been prevalent in my family. My mother was a bit of a Christmas fanatic. She believed and I mean truly believed, in Santa. She swore the…
The Lies and Truth of Marriage: Growing Together and Apart
The lies of marriage make it difficult to have a "happy" or "thriving marriage, the truth is we grow together and apart. Here I am learning how to let go…
Gluten Free Solutions to Holiday Meals: You Can Still Enjoy Thanksgiving
Enjoying holiday meals after a celiac or gluten intolerance diagnosis can be difficult. I know personally those first few years I just didn’t eat that much because I didn’t know…
My Favorite Gluten Free Apple Recipes for the Fall
Since having to go gluten free several years ago, I’ve spent some time (and trial and error) trying to make my favorite recipes gluten free. This is especially true of…
Overcome Family Guilt and Shame: 7 Ways to Stop Saying Sorry
Guilt says you made a mistake. Shames says you are the mistake. Guilt motivates. Shame annihilates. -Susie Garlick Do members of your family bring instant guilt and shame? Specific members…
Healing Childhood Wounds with a Letter to My Dad
Healing is in layers, healing is time. Healing is excruciating. Once you think it's done, it's not. Mary Demuth Father, dad, daddy, those names can bring a boil to my…
Teenage school friends having fun piggybacking outdoors
5 Ideas to Keep Your Teen Active This Summer
Can you believe we are thinking about summer activities already? This summer more than ever it is important to plan some outdoor activities for your middle schooler. I am sharing…
World Autism Awareness Day: The Spectrum of Life
"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain." Viviane Greene Today on April 2nd, 2021 World Autism Awareness Day,…
Telling Your Story Can Be a Survival Guide for Special Needs Parents
“One day you’ll tell your story of how you’ve overcome what you’re going through now and it will become part of someone else’s survival guide.” -Unknown This quote resonated with…
Navigating Friendships Through All Stages of Life: 4 Things I’ve Learned
Friendships are hard. Period. Navigating friendships through all stage of life is hard, especially as life changes. When friendships are good you feel great, but when they come to an…
5 Tips to Succeed While Serving on a Nonprofit Board
It can be hard getting started and making a significant contribution as part of a non-profit board. Once you are selected, finding where to apply your unique gifts and hitting…
Coming Clean: The Most Refreshing Benefits of Being Totally Honest
The truth is not always simple, as the saying goes. Ain’t that the truth! Over the last several years, as I grow older and a little wiser, I’ve had to…
Family Fitness Outside: My Five Favorite and Easy Denver Area Hikes
Admittedly, I don’t do this enough with my own kids, but I am still a huge proponent of getting out into nature and experiencing our beautiful state of Colorado! And…
The Women are Rising; Time to Build Ourselves Up
For the last ten years I have owned a small strategic sales consultancy. Most of my decision maker clients have been women. Working in and amongst sales and marketing teams,…
Hey, I know you! New Phase…Same Family
Hello! It started innocently enough. We were two 19-year-old college freshman, and we only had eyes for each other. And, we had it badly. We could talk for hours about…
Royalty free photo by Josh Willink
Military Brat Parenting: Five Things I Tell My Kids in Hopes They’ll Be Better Humans
My dad was an Air Force colonel, a fighter pilot and a Vietnam veteran. In addition to being a proud (and dutiful) daughter, my upbringing in a military household shaped…
An Invitation Into Your Name
As I began to process through the writing of this article, I hit a wall. While this is not unusual, this wall felt different. Talking through my SFD (shitty first…
The One Thing That Shifted My Marriage Struggles
Have you ever had those moments where you wonder, “Why did we get married?” I would like to say this question only arose after children were born and we were dredging through the exhaustion of raising small babies. But no. This question arose in the first weeks and months of marriage and I wish someone had told me this one thing that might have shifted our marriage.
Finding Your Purpose
The Journey to Find Happiness Within
Happiness Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why everyone is chasing happiness? How can one word have so much meaning that it has literally become interwoven into our ever…
Healing energies, the link between a hot stone massage and Hawaii
I recently discovered why I receive such amazing & similar healing energies from both a hot stone massage and from being on the island of Hawaii. How, you might ask,…
The Benefits of Giving Back: Why Volunteering is Good For You
When was the last time you went out into the world and actually gave your time – more than an hour – to an organization or a group of people…
Identity: The Journey of Discovering Who I am
I started gymnastics at the age of three and it became my life. My identity over the next seventeen years. Bringing me recognition, awards and a scholarship to continue my…