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Have been told as long as I can remember that I am strong. I would tend to agree.....My life has been full of opportunities to use that strength, and those life circumstances to grow and evolve, to push myself beyond my boundaries and find new places to explore. There is a strength that simmers inside of me when life’s greatest challenges occur that I cannot explain. My latest challenge has been the catalyst to finally start my blog and find a passion to become a life coach to other women!  Helping them find a life they are wildly passionate about, like I have! Life is a gift and a treasure, and it is what we make it! We are not the things that come to challenge us, we are the choices we make in the face of those challenges! I LOVE MY LIFE and am never looking back and you should too:) If this sounds like it is for you! CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFORMATION! This is MY life and through all of it, I AM GRATEFUL! GRATITUDE CHANGES EVERYTHING! We can ALL do hard things that end up changing our lives! :)

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Embarrassing but true......

If you have read for awhile, you will know that 2025 was a year where I had to face and really what feels, waged my final battle with self worth.....having learned SO completely...that I needed to remove myself from a situation, one where my heart was all up in it, to save my self worth, and my self, and truly learn to stand in my power for the first time in that way....and it was painful....and challenging....but on the other side magic:)....and here is a huge aha that came

No worries girl.....

The timing of life is divine.....no doubt for me......and I believe so deeply now, that it has become the rhythm of my life.....I have no worries in a real sense anymore....free to let go and trust and watch the divine work its magic.....knowing with such certainty that the way is unfolding every single day....not being able to be missed, even if I tried:) My faith leading the way....with trust in tow.....and this weekend was another example.....I had hoped to do breakfast wi

It is RAINING down!!

I am humbled often by the blessings that find my life so often.....raining down, and it is what helps my faith keep growing stronger and stronger and trusting the journey so fully.....defaulting to the belief that everything is working out for me, and well.....it is:) And in addition to the hot water heater acting up this week, and it being really nothing.....and other crazy challenges, I had to get my car inspected yesterday....and I was bracing myself....but keeping the fai

I spotted the whale! .......

There is a whale that lives inside of me......I believe he lives in all of us....and I have written about him before....using the whale as an analogy......he carries my grief and pain.......and we coexist.......I often finding him swimming peacefully inside of me.....both of us knowing that grief cannot be extinguished, not fully anyway....it needs to be something we make peace with.....over and over again, and I see him sometimes.....metaphorically speaking of course;-).....

Where does it come from??

One of my passions in coaching is to try and TEACH somebody what I have learned the hard way lol:) Using my understanding of teaching, to believe that nearly anything can be taught.....but it isn't so easy, or straightforward when it comes to a life lesson generated wisdom and lessons.....but still I believe it can be done....it is what is wrapped up in our belief systems that unlocks the rest.....and if we can shift the landscape of our mind....like really shift it.....neuro

The ALIVE stuff!

I have written and remarked often in this chapter about the sense of aliveness that has consumed my life in this chapter......so fully......and yesterday was exercising that so freely....we had a virtual instruction day....and I am not going to lie, it brought back lots of memories from teaching during the pandemic.....which have I mentioned was such a crazy and strange time lol:) Like what???? It was like living some surreal reality.....time and space feeling bent some, as

Standing up for ME......

I spent MANY years keeping my mouth shut to keep the peace.....not standing up for myself.....letting people walk on me some.....part of it was fine....we don't have to attend every fight we are invited to.....we just don't.....laying our ego down is enlightenment, in every way:) If your ego can be manipulated easily, well so can you......so some stuff doesn't matter......but I have learned to discern where I need to make a stand.....using my voice to respond to treatment tha

Living a lie.......

Loving yourself means being brutally honest with yourself, and that is what this blog is about today, so fully......and the truth will set you free, no doubt, even if it leaves a scar in its wake, but that is the beauty of life, a tapestry of all the stories we have ever lived together, woven together with life lessons, and wisdom. And living a lie is an exhausting way to live.....maybe even more so, the one where you lie to yourself about it all.....and I know with such a qu

Santa's Evolution........

So Santa has been spinning in my story most of my life.....I loved the magic of what Santa brought as a kid.....aka Mom:) She was good at Christmas Magic, and my dad was down too to enjoy all of it too and play along, they both were so tuned into all of that..... and my grandparents would come on Christmas morning to watch us open our presents.....and that felt like magic.....it just so happened that it worked like that because my most of my parent's siblings lived other plac

The grief in this......

I went to a Christmas party at my brother's house yesterday.....and it was a nice afternoon....it was nice to see everybody, and their families and the wonderful busyness that has taken over their lives......I miss my babies being babies in a way that is hard to articulate sometimes.....despite my enjoying each of our chapters so completely......And I was kind of the only one besides my other brother and his wife, in that category....with older kiddos.......and there were the

Grateful for my ex too.....

I have been way up in my feels recently in terms of gratitude.......sliding down the sunbeams of my life, and just wondering how did I GET TO live THIS life!!!!!! The contrast showing up starkly for me often, and remembering......and I think I have always been a great mother......embracing motherhood, with both arms, and going all in......my loyal Taurus shrouding my children in that loyalty and love.......but at the end of my marriage, I felt miserable.....really miserable i

You can't have it....

I think this year has shown me, perhaps more than the rest, what is important.....it has been a year y'all lol:) I am guessing you might be feeling the same;-) And it occurred to me the other day all the places I have outgrown, so completely, and it has been on the wings of realizing that the things that live inside of me right now are not up for grabs......not even a little.....my authenticity.....my willingness to be me, and have people feel that.....that can irritate othe

No cages!

I am a free spirit......in this chapter, so completely.....and I have never really understood what that meant......when I heard somebody use that term before, it conjured up imagery of a barefoot hippie dancing round at Woodstock......their eyes closed, and being in the moment ;-) But I now know that to be a FREE spirit.....your spirit really needs to be FREE.....in a literal sense.........and mine finally is......so fully.....and what it actually means is an unencumbered spi

The grief of childhood, hang on my Girl.......

I post about my kids often because they are my life....a giant part of my life is them, and they are one of the best parts of my life, no question.....this journey has been about a lot of things, but so much of that has had to do with them.....they are my heartbeat, and live deep within my soul.....and I have said it often, I know people are crazy about their kids, but there is a special quality that lives within the three of us, a magic that activates when it is just us.....

The brush with my life lingers....

I tend to use humor to endure......if some serious stuff is going on, you will hear me crack a joke at some point....and the same was true as we left the ER Friday after my allergic reaction.....and my mom and daughter and I chuckled in the relief of the moment behind us;-)......but the imprint of that experience has remained over the last couple of days......particularly as I went to work yesterday.....realizing that I might not have seen my classroom again.....and feeling t

Shedding my skin again......

I have wondered if when a snake slithers along, and drops its skin on the ground, is it painful? Does it hurt them? I have seen this year described as "the year of the snake"...a year 9 about shedding our skin, and out with the old....in every way that can mean, to make room for a 1 year this next year.....a new start, quite literally....and while I see lots of things sometimes....that has resonated so deeply, and watching others around me I would have to say that that is tru

A comfortable stranger!

I went on a date yesterday! And I was proud of myself for saying yes, and getting myself out there, all things considered......and everything seemed to line up to lead me to that.....He lives a little under two hours away.....He drove here, and we met at Key Foods.....I took him to Hornbecks and Child's Park.....and we chatted and laughed pretty effortlessly.....having a level of comfort with one another that was surprising....not too many awkward moments cropping up, conside

Fight or Flight, for REAL!

Yesterday was a harrowing day for sure.....I have known that the fight or flight response lives within us.....and the freeze response, there were times at the end of my marriage where I felt frozen, quite literally, in the circumstance......but I have experienced it many times.....and sometimes it has been by way of something real......an emergency c-section......surgery......standing by my son's side in the NICU......my sister passing.....just so much of so much......but yes

I have a date!

Life is such a funny ride.....one that is a winding road......and as I have learned to let go and relax in this chapter, that surrender allows me to travel where I need to be.......or where I am led......and I am so fascinated by this latest twist.....I had written about my plan to speed date this Saturday.....finally pushing myself to get out there......I was pretty excited about it....just because of the interactive nature of it.....and because I am deeply tired of meeting

I trust YOU!......

What makes a person trustworthy??.....I am not sure anymore.....I used to think it was actions aligned with words....and I was proven that even deception can live there too....or the amount of time you spend with a person, to see their actions stack up......and I find it strange with all I have been through in terms of lying and betrayal, that I am not fearful of trusting folks.....knowing now that my intuition has joined the party, and will alert me when things go sideways..

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How It Got Started

Have wanted to blog for as long as I can remember. Writing is my therapy. For years I have used my social media platform as an informal blog, and it was time to do the real thing......the catalyst being my husband walking out on us six days ago, seemed like as good a time as any to begin a brand new and brave journey! Recently I discovered that I want to become a life coach and help other women who have walked in my path! The sky is the limit and I am ready !!!😊

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How It Got Started

For years, I have served as a helpful role to those seeking inspiration, help, or advice. In 2000, I finally decided to own that role and be intentional about it. I started writing about my passions, my thoughts, and curious wonderings about our society. I founded Gratitude Journeys Life Coaching with a mission to give others a taste of what goes on in my mind, and it has been a wild success ever since.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson 

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

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Gratitude Journeys Life Coaching

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