National Step Family Day 2019

Today is National Step Family Day! If you know DJ and me, you know that neither of us are proponents of divorce, despite the fact that we are both divorced. Being part of a step-family can be challenging, both as the parent and the child. Despite that more than 50% of US families these days …

The Reality of Step-parent Adoption

We have waited for this day for years. Literally, years. Now that the day has come, it feels somewhat anti-climactic. At the end of June, we were able to finalize the legal process of step-parent adoption. We are now officially the Stones, Party of Eight. While I’m obviously happy (and relieved) to be at the end of …

Take Time to Listen

Those of you who know me personally know that I’m an introvert. I enjoy being social with small groups, but I find large crowds very draining. You can imagine how I feel when we have six boisterous children around the house. The volume level increases by several orders of magnitude when everyone is home. I …

Blended Families are Messy

I’m sure that you get this question multiple times a day: “How are you?” It’s often preceded by “Good morning,” or “Hello!” I know I say that to most of my coworkers when I pass them in the hallway. More often than not, you probably receive back a standard response of “Good morning; how are …

You Got This

Three little words, said when passing by me as I struggled to breathe, struggled to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and wanted to quit. “You got this.” I seriously almost burst into tears. My friend had no idea, but I needed to hear those words. I’m sure you’ve had those moments …

Attack of the Space Invaders

We just finished up one week of spring break and are starting down the road of spring break number two, and I am ready for a vacation! I mean, I’m ready for a vacation from this vacation. Do you ever feel like that? I think much of it for me is largely because I’m an …

Holiday Happenings

Phew… It’s time to let out a big sigh of relief. The holidays are over! Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE Christmas, and we celebrate the birth of Jesus. But as a blended family, this time of year is just extra crazy! Now that we are a little bit past the crazy, I have had …

Taking Back My Identity

For several years, my identity was single mom, working mom, strong mom, fit mom. These were things that I felt defined me; they were who I was. I worked full time, exercised regularly with a personal trainer at the gym, worked my Beachbody coaching business, parented two children (with the help of my village) and …

Welcome to Fall, Y’all

Oh, Fall, glorious fall! I love this season with its cooler temperatures, changing leaves, and the promise of holidays off of work. This is the time of year when our schedules get even busier, but we do our best to spend quality time with our family. We have been working hard on our bakery, deciding …

Love, Anyway

On today, our 2nd anniversary, I think it’s appropriate to talk about all the reasons why I love my husband. I love DJ because he loves me anyway. Wait, what?!?! How many times have you said “I love my spouse because…”? Yeah, I’ve said it a lot too. I even participated in the #loveyourspouse challenge …