And so it begins…

I have been wanting to write a blog for some time now. I actually started around 5 years ago. I have never been a tech savvy person so my disdain for computers and not being able to figure out how to set up a website was enough for me to quit trying. Perhaps the timing was not right yet. I was not ready to start the next phase of my life even though I could see what I wanted it to look like long before it could come to fruition. I feel like I am ready now. I am ready to embark on this new phase of my life which feels like it will be very different (in a good way) from all the rest.

You don’t know me yet, but you will. If you were to meet me in person and ask me about my life and who I am, I would tell you the typical things about myself that just scrapes the surface yet reveals a lot about a person in any short introduction. I am a mother of three children and two bonus children. I have lived in three different types of parenting worlds, so to speak. One with two healthy children, a boy and a girl. Another being a bonus mom to two stepchildren. The other parenting world consists of being a mom to a very special boy with severe disabilities. He is technically a man since he is twenty-two years old, but it is hard to think of him like that since he is mentally and physically less than one year old. He has been one of my greatest teachers in this life. I have been married to a wonderful man for eleven years this October. I grew up in a small town and lived in Southern Illinois my entire life. I started a new decade in my life entering my forties. My thirties have been a decade of discovery for me, and I have learned so much about who I am and what I want in life. I feel like my forties will be fabulous and I will be able to apply what I learned, and life will be so much more enjoyable.

I always liked getting older. I was never one to dread an upcoming birthday. Ryland, my son with special needs, taught me long ago that this life is worth living and every year you are able to reach another birthday is an accomplishment. Perhaps, I also like getting older because I am getting closer to the age I have always felt inside, which is about eighty years old. I do not know why but for as long as I can remember, I felt like I was an eighty year old woman inside…even as a teenager. Haha! I do not mind it one bit. From what I hear from Maya Angelou in one interview, eighties are pretty fabulous and to do it if you can (not her exact words but you get the point). I hope I can get there one day and see just how fabulous it is to be in my eighties.

I have always been good at telling the truth and being honest. Someone once told me that my greatest asset is my candor and honesty. My intention for writing these blogs is to share parts of my life with you with the hope that it will either bring you peace, clarity, inspiration, guidance, entertainment, and/or the feeling that you are not alone. I have been blessed to live a full life with an array of experiences that may be similar to your own. I am willing to share what I learned and my experiences on various topics that will range from marriage, kids, love, hardships, to the fun stuff like travel (which is one of my passions), the spiritual aspects of life, and everything in between. I love this life and the way the universe works. I love it all…the bitter and the sweet!