Personal Reflections
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Setting Boundaries With Family When Your Not a Child
I knew this was coming. Back in my January 7th post, Trying to Stay Calm While Everything is on the Line, I said I had a feeling this would turn into an issue of setting boundaries with family. I said if we got the place, my partner’s mom would still try to control how we show up, how we live, and how we handle things. Welp. I was right. She showed up yesterday. She texted from the parking lot, which gave me exactly zero time to mentally prepare. Not that anything needed to be done. I’ve been unpacking and cleaning nonstop since we moved in. The house is fine. We…
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Creating While Exhausted
Still Creating While Exhausted: Writing, Waiting, and Holding On Lately, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to still be creating while exhausted. Not just tired, but emotionally wrung out, physically drained, and stretched thin in every direction. Today feels like one of those days where everything is heavy, and yet, somehow, I am still here, still building, still hoping. Back at the beginning of November 2025, I started writing a novel for NaNoWriMo under my pen name, Ravyn Vale. The book is called The Burning Bride, the first planned novel in a four-book series called The Fire Court Saga. I poured myself into it and made…
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My Daughter’s Birthday Far Away
My Daughter’s Birthday Far Away, and the Love That Still Shows Up Today is my daughter Chloe’s 11th birthday, and I honestly do not know how that sentence is real. Eleven. Somehow the tiny baby I once held is now a full-on human with opinions, interests, and a personality that keeps evolving right in front of me, even from far away. Celebrating my daughter’s birthday far away never gets easier, but it has taught me a lot about love, grief, and showing up in different ways. Chloe lives in Georgia with her dad, and I miss her like crazy. That part never stops hurting. But I refuse to let distance…
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Starting Over in 2026
Starting Over in 2026: Tired, Hopeful, and Still Standing If I’m being honest, starting over in 2026 feels less like a fresh start and more like dragging myself across the finish line with one shoe missing. 2025 was brutal. In August, we lost our home. Not “downsized” or “moved on purpose.” Lost. We ended up in my partner’s mom’s boyfriend’s basement, which sounds temporary and harmless until you live it. It was toxic. Constant tension. Drama that clung to the walls. The kind of environment where you never really exhale. About a week later, I landed in the Emergency Room with chest pain. What I thought was anxiety turned into…
