An excerpt from On the Edge of Shattered: Please preorder today!! "I need it to make it through the day ahead. I take a deep breath and grab the bottle of Tito’s vodka. The bottles clink together, sending a gentle ringing through the cavernous house, down the hallway and into the mudroom. I turn my back to my dog. I don’t need to see Bunker’s judgmental eyes on me now. I am a robot. A machine, unable to fight it. I am a character inside a video game. My heart pounds. The vein

When you are a stay at home mom and you have little kids, it seems as if every night is a weekend evening. When your boss is a two year old toddler or a 6 month old baby that demands your presence at all hours of the day and your work day never really ends - then your weekday never ends and therefore, you deserve a glass of wine most nights of the week - right? That was ALWAYS my mindset when my kids were little. It was a deadly way of thinking. It was a slippery slope, belie

It is surreal to search my name and see my book pop up on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It is a strange feeling to pick up my book and physically hold it in my hands. To flip through the pages and see my words typed out in such an official format. I know the exact moment that I wrote almost every passage. Over the last several months, I quietly sat and thought to myself about so many of these stories, reliving some truly awful, shameful memories of my past over and over again thr

He threw on his empty, oversized backpack, and we stepped outside to take the obligatory “first day of school” photo. It was finally our turn to show off our new-to-school kiddo on social media, and I was excited. My husband and I walked him to school, and we stood outside with the other kindergarten parents. As his teacher came through the door, his eyes lit up. She waved at him, and he got into her line. We watched from the grass nearby as his classmates lined up alongside

This weeks episode of "We Can Do Hard Things" with Glennon Doyle was a good one. She spoke with Dr. Becky, who is someone that I admire and enjoy listening to. She's a parenting psychologist who urges moms and dads to take a more compassionate, gentle approach when it comes to disciplining your children. Sometimes when I listen to these kinds of podcasts I get more stressed out, wanting to immediately implement all of the strategies that are discussed. I read "self-help" book

Once my parents left me at school and the initial shock wore off, I began to adjust. I got my feet on the ground and was forced to settle into college life. I got along well with my roommate, Marisa, and within a matter of days, I realized college wasn’t going to be too bad. I discovered a new type of independence along the beautiful sidewalks of Colby College, and it was here where I forged a different path, exploring a side of myself I hadn’t yet met.... I learned that life

We took our family holiday photos two weeks before Thanksgiving in a park near our house. I had picked out the perfect coordinating outfits for the kids. I chose various shades of complementary reds, browns, and beiges. The photographer said, “Nothing too matchy-matchy” and suggested a soft palette that would pick up on the autumn hues in the trees and woods behind us. I chose a light-colored top, jeans, and booties. Casual and effortless. After all, the children are the foca