My childhood music influence was primarily from my mother’s eclectic 8-track collection; some Eagles, Elvis, Donny & Marie and of course, Kenny Rogers. Then, as a late 80s teenager that had a side job at the local Top 40 radio station, I was like totally focused on U2, Tiffany, INXS, Madonna, Bon Jovi with a little Phil Collins thrown in. Of course, this was mostly listened to on cassette tape in my Walkman while wearing my oversized Flashdance inspired one shoulder sweatshirt. I never ... View the Post
Letter to My High School Self
As the mom of teenagers, I often reflect on what I was doing at their age in an effort to try and figure out what in the world is going on around this joint; the things I went through, learned from, and the things I wish I would have done differently or appreciated more. Nine years ago, I wrote this here on The Park Wife as I was approaching 40 and just thought about it as I was praying fervently for my children recently. Now that my kids are teenagers, these are the things I wish they knew and ... View the Post
Building Community Through Coffee on Petit Jean Mountain
There are only a few months left in this year, in this decade! Sweet Mercy, what a wonderful decade it has been. As far as business, the past 10 years have brought me so many opportunities which all came from the desire of my heart to build community; to gather women bloggers/influencers, to help them grow as writers, wives, moms, entrepreneurs or wherever they were on their journey, and to connect them all so that we were all leaving each other’s world a better place. I am thankful for the One ... View the Post
Glamour + Camping = Glamping
I live on a state park. I am in my 40s and tent camping does not appeal to me for so many reasons on so many levels. But, Glamping, a little Glamour while camping, yes ma'am. Count me in! For years, I talked about Glamping to my husband, blogger friends, people in the park, people in line at Walmart, anyone who would listen. My husband loved the idea and has talked it up for years in his state park circles. And, I was fortunate enough to have friends that came up to our park and did ... View the Post
I Embraced My Amazing in the Steakhouse Bathroom
I look back at this post I wrote over four years ago, and it is so much more relevant today. And, a great reminder. --------- Call Bruno, I finally had my moment, yes, I am amazing. I watched Oprah for years. I even read Ekart Tolle's book "A New Earth" where I learned ways to break through the vanity and pride of the ego. I have heard many well-known social media superstars talk about drawing healthy boundaries. And, I know all the scriptures. From the beginning, I knew I needed to be ... View the Post
Behold, I Will Do Something New. What? Wait!
Update to this post. Our sweet nephew, after almost three years, is now living with his dad and doing fine. What I know for sure, every child deep in their hearts wants their parents love, acceptance and attention. And, the teenage years are hard, sistahs!! ------- Fourteen years ago, Finn was born and he changed our world. For the better, the oh so much better. Three years and one miscarriage later, Hays came along. We poured our life into our children. Homeschooling them, creating an ... View the Post