I am a mother, writer, creative entrepreneur and an explorer of both the world around me and within me. In my former life I did marketing and public relations for a string of great organizations in California including Whole Foods Market, the PlumpJack Group, and the California Community College system. Now, after more than a decade of denying my creative nature, I’ve finally given into my wild ways and I’m taking my family along for the ride.
Our story together began in the Pyrenees between France and Spain when an English teacher met a ski instructor in a smokey Spanish Disco. Several vodka red bulls and less than a year later, we promised each other forever under the neon lights of an Ibiza seaside cafe. It was fast, it was reckless, it was right.
Fast-forward six years and two kids later, to the mountains of Northern California, we did what young families do: got good jobs, bought a house and some furniture, potted bright-colored flowers on the front porch and lived for the weekend.
FOR A WHILE, WE WERE HAPPY.
But at one point, my husband and I were both working two jobs, our 18 month old daughter would wake every morning before 5 am inconsolable, and suddenly my husband and I couldn’t stand each other.
I would rush off to work, frazzled, to find solace and comfort in the pressures and deadlines that seemed so much easier to manage and control than my chaotic home life.
What had changed was that the more we struggled to increase our income, the faster it seemed to dissipate into the ever-growing list of expenses. Like many couples with young children we were exhausted and it was easy to slip into blame and criticism. Our days were a blur of wrangling toddlers into clothes, battling to feed them a decent breakfast, rushing them out the door, and dropping them off at daycare, all before squeezing in a full 8 hours at work. Of course there were moments of joy, but the relentless demands chased the fun right out of our lives.
SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE.
Angry words were yelled, egos swelled, and we considered divorce. We even went as far as to talk about it with our son. But the look of devastation on our four-year old’s face, when his dad told him he was moving out, made us ashamed of ourselves. The blame and anger softened to heartbreak. Something about being cracked wide open, allowed determination to take root. Determination to save our most precious gift–our time together.
What were we working so hard for anyway? Another bike? Another 2 week vacation? More clothes? A bigger house with more stuff in it? Seriously, what was more important than loving each other?
It was that day, with the afternoon sun streaming through the kitchen window, a pile of dirty dishes cluttering the sink, and a sobbing little boy, that we chose to completely redesigned our lives around our family. There was no amount of money in the world that could take away those enormous, painful tears sliding down my baby boy’s cheeks, or the guilt in my heart.
I realized I could choose to focus on my husband’s shortcomings or I could cherish the way only he can make our two babes laugh — the sweetest melody my heart has ever heard — and remember the simple truth that we love each other.
Devastation is a powerful force. You can let it destroy you, or you can let it transform you. Duke Ellington captured it so eloquently when he said,
“I merely took the energy it took to pout,
and wrote some blues.”
Since those early days of parenting we’ve been on quite a few adventures, including a five month stint living in Spain as family, nine months in Southern Mexico, and three months on a Greek Island taking care of a pup named Tufa.
But spoiler alert, travel and adventures isn’t what makes a partnership work.
We’ve crossed a lot of physical, emotional and spiritual terrain since starting to share our journey back in 2015. And I promise you it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. It has been filled with meaning and growth however. And isn’t that what this business of being human is all about?
Through this blog, we hope to meet other bold spirits that can laugh at these ridiculously challenging and soul limbering experiences we call life. And to not take it all so seriously. Any life worth living, requires embracing progress as a bit of a Cha, Cha, Cha, making sure we enjoy the experience along the way.
We’re glad you’re here!
Forever united in the magic and madness of this beautiful journey we call life,
