The 1158 Spot: She's baaaaack!!!!!!!

Hello friends!

I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've blogged!
Why has it been so long you ask?

Well, ladies and gents!!! A lot has gone on in this past year.....

What has changed?

We sold our house.

We said goodbye to 1158 San Carlos Way

I wasn't emotional about it. I thought I would be. I guess I was just ready to close the door to that chapter in my life.

I'm getting old and with that comes poor vision!!! So another change in my life is....

I have reading glasses now! :)

I love them!! My world is so much clearer now! Apparently this is what happens in your 40's!

Another change is that I decided to end my time as a vendor at the Rancho Co-Op....

but I am now a vendor at the

G Street Mercantile in Antioch!

I love it there and if you're ever in the Antioch, CA area, stop by for a visit at 205 G Street. The store hours are Tuesday - Sunday 10am-5pm. **Closed Mondays.

I am now the mom of a
High School Graduate!

I'm so proud of her. In addition to being a great student, she's a wonderful girl. She's leaving me in August and embarking on a humanitarian trip to Costa Rica for a semester where she will be teaching children English. I will probably be a hot mess when she leaves me and your prayers are appreciated!

My son had his 8th grade promotion on the same night as my daughters HS graduation so it made for a hectic evening. We literally ran from his graduation to hers!

We just had her graduation party and I'm hoping to create a post detailing all of it because it was pretty epic!!

The biggest change of all in this last year is that we are now a
party of 3.

I hesitated in sharing that with my blogging world because it's such a personal topic and not one I've been ready to talk about and that is truly the reason why I haven't blogged for so long.

But there it is. I won't get into the details of why my husband (of 18 years) and I decided to part ways. I will. however, share what I've learned in these last several months....

Lesson #1
God's grace is sufficient
I'm not meant to make EVERYONE happy and there will be backlash for my decisions. There, unfortunately, will be criticism and hurt feelings but at the end of the day God sustains me. I'm so undeniably grateful for his grace..... because I'm a hot mess and would be so lost without him!

Lesson #2
Don't judge someone else's journey
Gosh what a lesson this has been. I have never felt so judged in all of my life like I do now. And wow it doesn't feel good. What it has taught me is compassion for others. It has created dialogue with my children, reminding them not to judge others. You never truly know what someone else has walked through and who are we to judge them. There's a story in the Bible whose basic point is to say, those of you without sin cast the first stone.

Lesson #3
Don't become bitter or angry
It can be so easy to become bitter or angry because of how unfair life can feel. You can choose to blame others for the outcome in your life or you can put on your big girl pants and handle it. I'm choosing to do that because I have sooooo much to be grateful for.

Lesson #4
Make your own path
Divorce doesn't have to be ugly or hurtful. You don't have to hate each other. You friends and families don't have to take sides.
It wasn't easy in the beginning but Frank and I have turned a corner with this separation. We love our children more than anything in this world and have made a conscious effort to be kind to each other. We are still modeling key behaviors whether we want to or not in front of our children and because of that we are choosing to tread carefully and purposefully with each other. I'm so grateful for this. There are still family members that don't speak to me and give me the cold shoulder but that's okay because I'm confident that time will heal and maturity will kick in! lol

Lesson #5
Be grateful
Despite all of this craziness, I am so grateful! I have the most amazing support system. I have an amazing church. I have the most amazing kids. I've landed in a decent house that I'm making a home. I have my health, even though I've gained 10 pounds!!! Don't people lose weight during something like this???? Leave it to me to actually gain weight! lol

Lesson #6
Be happy
Happiness is a choice and I'm choosing joy! And if it bugs you that I post a selfie when I'm having a good hair day than.... that's on you! haha!

I'm going to live my life and I'm going to be happy! I'm going to fill it with all of the people and the things that I love!!!!

Whew!!! We made it through all of that!!! Now for all of the things that haven't changed!!!

I still love to paint furniture and it has been my much needed therapy. Here are a few of the things I've done recently... and I will be more diligent about posting my furniture transformations more often on the blog!