THE BLOG

One of the greatest gifts of sobriety, for me, has been the ability to feel joy.

This may sound silly, as alcohol is sold as a rip roaring good time.

I had some good times in my drinking days.

The good times, however, were often clouded by my own shame and fear. 

Now that I am sober,  I...

Along with another chaperone, I took my 15 year old daughter and 5 of her girlfriends, to a lake house in Michigan, for a long weekend.

The weekend away was like a mini vacay.

A sober, alcohol free, rated PG, delightful vacation.

 Is it possible to have fun without drinking?

When I was...

If you are newly sober, or giving alcohol a break, the upcoming holiday weekend can bring on anxiety. How will you party sober? How will you turn down a drink? 

I understand these fears. In fact, I was sober for months and feeling good until I found myself completely unprepared for a...

You can live a big, juicy life without alcohol. 

I am 900 days sober and living a brave, and adventurous life. 

Day 1 and Day 900 look completely different. 

On Day 900, I still drink.

I still like to over indulge. 

I love going out and having a good time. 

I don’t...

My friend, Becky died a year ago today from alcohol. 

It is so sad and it is not fair.

Becky and I were just casual friends, but we had a lot in common. 

We both come from the same small town in Wisconsin. 

We were both on the Poms squad in high school.

We married good, steady guys...

How did I get to mid-June of 2020 already?!

I feel like I had myself pretty motivated and put together walking in to the New Year.... Boy was I wrong! I KNEW I needed to face my relationship with alcohol and I knew I needed to address some healing, but if I'm honest now I can see that my vision...

Want to level up your life? I can help.

What if I told you that you could have all this just by giving up one thing. 

Would you be willing to do it? 

Giving up this one thing will save you money. 

You will look better. 

The results are proven, 

Your skin will become clear...

In our society we've got addiction all wrong.

I saw this picture of Carson Pickett, an Orlando Pride Soccer player, who was born without a left forearm.
When 2 year old Joseph Tidd, also born without a left forearm, came to her game, they did a high five with their elbows.
Carson became the role...

Dear Black Friends,

I am so sorry. 

I didn’t know you were screaming for help. 

You’ve been living with knees on your necks.

It was urgent that I do something to stop it. 

I thought I was helping. 

I thought I was doing my part to help. 

I thought my votes and...

At 44 years old, I might be at the halfway point of my life. 

My Grandma just passed away at 88 last week. 

No one is getting any younger.

My kids are teenagers and I am middle aged. 

I am not sure how this all happened so quickly. 

Just yesterday I was in high school, and...

Black Lives Matter. 

I want to openly admit how racist I am, and what I am doing about it.

This might surprise you to hear that I am racist, because I am, without a doubt, also anti-racism. 

I am a kind, accepting, open, loving white woman. 

I believe and vote for equal...

My Grandma died just before her 89th birthday in her home yesterday.

I am 44 years old and until yesterday, both my Grandma’s were still living, so I am one incredibly lucky Granddaughter.

I have two good Grandma’s.

In my experience most people get one good Grandma, that they like,...

If you think you can’t have fun without drinking. 

You are right. 

I couldn’t either. 

That is because as much as I hated to admit it, I had become dependent on alcohol.

I needed alcohol for a good time. 

So much that I didn’t feel good without it. 

As a...

I am loving my new routine of snuggling up on the couch on Sunday night’s with my family.

We are enthralled with Michael Jordan’s Documentary, The Last Dance.

It’s an incredible show that has me on the edge of my seat every week. 

The show has me laughing, crying, and...

Almost everyone I know has the same fear when they quit drinking.

Fear of not being fun anymore. 

I had the same fear. 

My identity was wrapped up in being a party girl. A class clown. A drinker. 

I had never met anyone sober and I certainly would never want to hang out with anyone...

Don’t you love a good female movie where the women revolt against their ordinary housewife lives and bond together to go do something adventurous? 

Me too!

Don’t you love a badass story about Mom’s who stop serving everyone else in their life and take back their right to...

I am getting sick of being isolated and stuck at home. As time goes on, the cabin fever sets in. Not just cabin fever, but also exhaustion, from the weight of concern regarding coronavirus and the negative outcomes. Worry, anxiety, and depression are setting in for many. 

What can you do to...

It’s ok. 

It’s ok to have one foot in both world’s.

You want to quit drinking, but you don’t want to quit drinking.

You might be laughing at the quarantini memes. You feel a bit comforted by a joke about drinking. It gives you a who cares feeling, and you want that...

Before you start with the wine jokes for Mother’s Day. 

Please don’t. 

Wine has been sold to women as the cure for parenting stress, and it’s a lie. 

I know because I tried it. 

I wanted relief during the nightly dinner time, bath time, bedtime routine.

I...

Sobriety is a lifestyle and it’s the one I’ve always wanted. 

Rosé all day is a lifestyle too and it made me miserable. 

As a drinker, I loved any occasion to make my drinking feel normal.

I loved when other people drank with me.

I loved when other people started...

I am surprising myself with how well I am able to handle the current global crisis of COVID-19.

I feel perfectly prepared for this however, because I have increased my resiliency by getting sober two years ago.

I was a high functioning drinker who never hit a rock bottom, and still when I decided...

When you first get getting sober, you are in the fight of your life everyday to remain alcohol free. 

You make a thousand decisions a day, just to stay on this side of sober. 

You fight your own mind.

You are forced to learn new coping skills.

You move way out of your...

This is the perfect time to sober up. 

Quarantine feels similar to the first months when I quit drinking. 

My emotions were up, down and all over the place. 

Anxiety and fear filled me. 

Some days, I was too exhausted to even get out of bed. 

My external life became very...

How do you want to come out of this quarantine? 

I think it is helpful to keep your end goal in mind. 

You are presented with an opportunity to learn about yourself. 

You can day drink, sleep in, get lazy at your job, neglect your parenting duties. 

You can use this time as an...