Tag Archives: divorce

No Problem Too Big Or Small To Matter

Over the weekend I saw a post my daughter had written on social media about an experience our family had over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a little thing that happened, but as I read her post I realized that the impact of that little thing is so much larger and ought to get shared, […]

I’m Filing For A Divorce From 2020!!!

We were driving to an appointment today when my husband hit a rock in the road and two of the wheels on my car broke…not the tires popping – that would have been far too easy to repair – the actual wheels themselves broke which take special parts having to be ordered in to fix […]

Defining Success

How do I define a successful day?  For me, a successful day is one I can come home from knowing that I did my very best, I gave it my all, I made good choices that upheld my integrity and that I treated others with kindness and respect.  That is a successful day.  Every other […]

Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not […]

Happily Ever After Doesn’t Happen By Chance

“Happily ever after doesn’t happen by chance, but rather by choice.”  Dr. John Gottman Over the weekend my husband and I went to a marriage workshop that covered material from The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work, written by Dr. John Gottman. Drs John and Julie Gottman are renowned experts on marriage and have done […]

Pornography Teaches That “No” Doesn’t Really Mean “No”

Today I had the privilege of meeting Terry Crews and hearing him share his story. I’m going to be totally upfront and tell you that when I was invited to come and hear him speak at UVU today I didn’t recognize the name, nor did I know anything about him…when you are working as much […]

In Pursuit Of Perfection

Around the time I sold my company I started a foundation called the IPOP Foundation, which stands for In Pursuit Of Perfection. I was recently asked why I chose that name. Here’s my answer: Perfection.  It is an intimidating word for sure.  One which can be the cause of discouragement and anxiety for many who […]

There Is No Shame In Admitting You Need Help

There is no shame in admitting you need help. In fact, your life will get so much better when you do. Between 9am and 10am this morning I got a phone call from my daughter who was calling from her college campus where she had arrived to her class building to find emergency responders and […]

Love Is A Daily Decision

The more life experience you gain the more you come to understand that love isn’t quite like what’s portrayed in your typical Nicholas Sparks movie. This last week my husband and I spent the week hosting a group of 28 people on our houseboat down at Lake Powell. During the trip one night we sat […]

What It’s Like To Be A Single Mom

I spent many years as a single parent to two children. When I got married again ten and a half years ago one of the first things my new husband said to me was, “How did you do it?! How did you handle everything alone?!”  The truth is I wasn’t quite sure how to answer […]

Everybody Has A Home Team

“Everybody has a home team: It’s the people you call when you get a flat tire or when something terrible happens. It’s the people who, near or far, know everything that’s wrong with you and love you anyways. These are the ones who tell you their secrets, who get themselves a glass of water without […]

Don’t let your emotions overpower your intelligence

“Never let what you feel make you forget what’s real. Facts over feelings. Don’t let your emotions overpower your intelligence.”  -unknown Learning the lesson shared in that quote is something that took me making a few really bad personal life choices in my early adult life and going through the horrible pain that resulted from […]

No one has the perfect life and thank heaven for those who are willing to admit that

It all looks so perfect….people’s social media posts with photos of their fabulous trips and their perfectly gorgeous family picture photos where every child is sitting up straight and smiling into the camera. There are photos of people’s beautiful new sports car they just bought, and photos of their perfectly decorated dinner table for the […]

If today is the worst day of your life then you know tomorrow will be better

Last night someone I deeply care about was having a really hard day as they were dealing with some really hard decisions that they needed to make.  It tore my heart out to see someone I love hurting. I wished so badly that I had a way to wave a magic wand and make all […]

Be strong enough to let go

“Be strong enough to let go, and wise enough to wait for what you deserve.” – unknown Letting go of something you have cared about, but recognize is hurting you, is never easy.  Whether it’s a toxic relationship (or just a relationship that is keeping you from moving forward), or a bad habit (especially an […]

LIKE A BOSS

“After a while I looked in the mirror and realized…wow after all those hurts, scars, and bruises, after all of those trials, I really made it through. I did it. I survived that which was supposed to kill me. So I straightened my crown…and walked away like a boss.” I don’t even have words that […]

Love Them All The Way To The End

I love the holiday season – I love the decorations and the holiday goodies and that extra feeling of love in the air. And I especially love Hallmark Christmas Movies!!! For those who don’t know what I am talking about, the Hallmark channel on TV puts out a bunch of original Christmas movies every year […]

Successful Mothers (and Happy Mother’s Day!)

“Successful Mothers are not the ones that have never struggled, they are the ones that never give up, despite the struggles.” This weekend we will be celebrating Mother’s Day. It’s a time we all take a moment to think about all the things our Mothers do for us in life. It’s also a time when […]

The Perfect Way To Start Off This Week of Christmas!

Two of my favorite Christmas movies of all time are “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart, and “Mr. Krueger’s Christmas” which also stars Jimmy Stewart. Mr. Krueger’s Christmas first aired on December 21, 1980 – 35 years ago to the day tomorrow! I was only 9 years old when I saw it for the […]

The Value of YOU!

“Your value does not decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.” –unknown I LOVE LOVE LOVE that quote and I think everyone in the world needs to hear that quote and know that it is true. Far too often we allow other people’s opinions to impact our own feelings of self-worth. I especially […]

It’s Funny How Sometimes The People You’d Take A Bullet For Are The Ones Behind The Trigger (Forbes Article)

Actually it’s not really that funny at all…it’s really sad when it happens to be true. It’s unbelievably hard when someone you love and respect and consider a friend does something to hurt you deeply. It’s downright brutal. I’m sure many of us have been through times where this has happened. We are betrayed by […]

Forgiving Doesn’t Require Forgetting

We have all heard the term “Forgive and Forget”, and some people have heard that phrase so much that they begin to think that the two must work together.  They mistakenly think that “Forgiving” someone requires you to “Forget” what the other person did to you  – That is simply incorrect – Forgiving someone does […]

Value Yourself and Others Will Follow Suit

Imagine you are at a car lot looking at a car for sale. You ask the salesperson to tell you about the car.  They respond, “Its okay I guess. It could be shinier, and it could go faster, and the color isn’t great, and it doesn’t have the best radio, and it’s not the cleanest, […]

To Love or Not to Love, That is the Question

Loving someone can be scary.  Scary because if you don’t love at all then in theory you will never get hurt.  How can you be hurt if you didn’t care to begin with?  And so some people take on the mindset that they are better off alone then to put their heart out there and […]

Breaking Bad Habits

Today I am going to share a very impactful analogy that a counselor once shared with me. It was an analogy that literally changed my life and I hope that it can help some of you that might be facing challenges in breaking bad habits that are holding you back from finding real happiness, so […]

Wear Sunscreen and Other Valuable Life Advice

Back in 1999 a poem came out that I thought was cute, but not especially meaningful. Later they even made the poem into a song.  As I read that same poem today I no longer find it just cute, I find it extremely meaningful and I can’t help but get choked up by it.  Oh […]

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

Single parents carry an incredible burden. Only those who have been a single parent can truly understand just how heavy that burden is. For a period of ten years I was a single mother myself, trying to raise my two children who were around 2 and 5 years old when I got divorced. When I […]

Seeking Success In A Finite Number of Hours A Day (Forbes Article)

We all have a finite number of hours in a day – 24 to be exact.  What we choose to do with those hours is of the utmost importance. We can waste our time, or we can use our time to improve ourselves and our lives. I have always felt passionate about the importance of […]

“The Happiness of Your Life Depends on the Quality of Your Thoughts”

I have always been a firm believer in the power our thoughts possess.  I believe that our thoughts very much control our feelings.  I also believe that we have total control of our own thoughts.  Therefore, we ultimately have the ability to control our own feelings by controlling our own thoughts. If you depend on […]

“If you find yourself racing through life, slow down long enough to take along some good friends.”

Sometimes we get so busy living our lives that we forget to slow down enough to make time for our friends. I have been guilty of that myself over the years, especially with working such crazy hours for so many years of my life.  Taking time off this summer to spend with my family has […]