Hello.
While hungry you were google searching an answer to a question you’ve been having. You start your search and start reading through the article but then find your mind wandering and opening another browser tab. Your stomach is growling and you start to think about dinner. That recipe your coworker was mentioning sounds really good right about now. You open another browser tab because you’ll need to open a delivery order to get all the items you need for the recipe picked up before dinner. And then you notice that SALE scrolling on your sidebar. For the EXACT items you were looking for earlier! After about half an hour you chide yourself for forgetting to remember that you forgot to finish that article you were reading.
Sound familiar? You spend your days super busy and pulled in a million different directions. The to do list is a mile long. Work keeps you busy. Home life is hectic. You’re running on empty. Distractions pull you away from the things you should be doing. And just when you’re at max capacity internally and externally thinking if ONE more thing gets added onto you, the phone rings or an email comes through.
Sigh.
Your life just changed. How are you going to handle this on top of everything else too?
My life has felt a lot like this. My first husband had Type 1 diabetes and Addison’s disease. With the challenges of that we also raised a family together. Almost fifteen years after we married I was finding myself going through our divorce, and then trying to navigate my children and I through my ex husband’s passing. Somehow through it all I was able to complete my master’s degree and in the past few years–a remarriage and blending of a new family together. Overcoming trauma and muscling through each day when you are on overload is not easy. That’s why for me I’ve narrowed it down to three things:
Family. Food. Life.
FOOD
Do a simple search online for Burnt Apple, and there are some beautiful recipes, and there are some….burnt recipes. When I first got married, I couldn’t cook to save my life. I seriously made muffins so hard one time that as a joke my then husband threw one at the wall to see if it would shatter….and instead it chipped the wall and made a dent in it. Fast forward years later and after having three premature children and then myself with health struggles, it was imperative I learned to cook….stat! I learned to cook mostly because I started having to omit foods from my diet and I would get cravings for certain foods and couldn’t find them in the store given the restrictions that I had. It was also important to save money with a young family and life changes. I started to put time and effort into learning to cook and started to put some of the simple traditional recipes I knew how to make (with the changes I made for our diets) online and it grew from there! I even ended up on my local NBC and ABC TV stations! I still have a few recipes that don’t turn out from time to time, but it’s gotten better.
FAMILY
One of the greatest joys, heartaches and worries is and always will be my family.
My first marriage lasted just shy of fifteen years and I learned so much from that marriage. My ex husband had Type 1 Diabetes and Addison’s Disease and ended up passing away a little over a year after our divorce at the young age of 40.
In 2019 I got remarried and am in the throes of blending a family. Always an adventure!
In 2020 I spent some time opening up about our family and what happens when you go through a divorce then a death of an ex spouse.
LIFE
A year before my divorce I received my bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science. I completed a masters degree in counseling during my divorce and walked with my cohorts at our graduation ten days after my ex husband passed away.
I work full time serving and helping young children through college age students. I love my work and spend my free time doing various research projects, public speaking, running, traveling and hiking. On the website I talk about living with someone who has a chronic illness, abuse, helping children and teens with ADHD and anxiety/depression and other topics.
If you are looking for a little scattered corner of the webiverse, we are here for you. From recipes with adaptations that anyone can enjoy to uplifting, insightful articles that inspire or help answer questions you’ve had. We love our little corner of the internet and are excited to have you here too!
–Traci