Category: Life’s Journey
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Episode 21: Money – how to start starting over after divorce Part 1
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-aufyd-14a2dfe Dr. Carolyn Pistorius has been divorced for several years and is incredibly financially savvy. Join us as she gives us some tips and advice on managing our finances on our own after divorce. Part 1 of 3!
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Episode 20: Taking a personal inventory of your strengths and weaknesses
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-6g4w9-14a16a5 When we started over after divorce – or one of the many times we felt we weren’t making in progress in the starting over process – we took a personal inventory of our strengths and weaknesses. Knowing who you are and how to play to your strengths and make your weaknesses work for you…
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Episode 19: What are you looking for in a new partner after divorce?
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cs549-149777c Now is the time to make your list of the things most important to you in a new partner. Now, when you aren’t in a relationship. Your non-negotiables will be easier to define if you aren’t with someone who may already be a compromise on them, right? What did you learn from your marriage?…
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Episode 18: Overwhelmed with life? Little ways to get unstuck
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-8vict-148eb73 What do we do when we are stuck in a rut? Overwhelmed with life? This week we talked about some of the ways we purposefully change things up to help us engage in life again and live in the glass half full instead of the glass half empty. Join us on the porch!
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Episode 17: Powerless
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-uty2x-148590b So, we had some weather and trees came tumbling down leaving us without power and making us feel POWERLESS to control the aftermath, the loss of power, fences, and the insurance companies. In this, we realized that we feel powerless A LOT and having an attitude of gratefulness really does make a difference especially…
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Episode 16: Life is short! How are you using your time?
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-i4mpy-1472e8c This week the Champagne Girls talk about how they are using their time. Our lives are precious and that clock is ticking! How are we spending our time? Who are we letting in? What are we doing with this gift of time that we have been given?
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Episode 15: SPACE
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-qhf79-146a19f Lauren, Beth, and Bonnie discuss the need for space in order to be successful navigating life for themselves and their kids.
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Episode 14: So many things . . .
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-6zi8z-1460e5e In this episode we tried to stay on topic discussing how we plan to continue to move forward and engage in self care and moving toward our goals once the new school year begins. However, it turns out we also wanted to talk about custody agreements, how healing from trauma can look like depression,…
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Champagne Split 1: How and where do I begin to create a life I love?
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-h2fix-1436f1f Welcome to our first Champagne Split – a shorter conversation we feel has insightful discussion worth its own episode but not quite long enough to be considered a full episode. In this first Champagne Split, Beth discusses the list she made to help her define what was most important to her to use to…
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Episode 13: How do we deal with irrational anxiety?
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ujhu4-1436eb3 In this episode Bonnie, Lauren, and Beth discuss strategies to handle that anxiety that creeps in when life is going well. It is not always comfortable to be without the chaos and anxiety we felt in our toxic marriages.
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Episode 12: Living in the here and now
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-nibvg-142fad8 In this episode the Champagne Sunday Girls discuss living in the present and the important role community has in making it easier.
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Episode 11: Feeling judged in divorce
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-w4zrw-142f6a7 Listen as the girls discuss feeling judged in divorce, the inevitability of losing friends in divorce, and other uncomfortable realities divorce brings. Join us on the porch as they openly discuss some of the unfortunate fall our divorce brings.
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Episode 10: How do we deal with the life our ex has created? – Part 2
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-eknqy-142f5eb This week Lauren, Beth, and Bonnie continue their discussion about dealing with the lives their ex’s have created for themselves as well as other topics related to the way life goes on. Making the effort to stay in a positive place is well worth the effort. Join us on the porch!
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Episode 9: How do we deal with the life our ex has created i.e. the other woman (Part 1)
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-45ef4-142f4c5 In this two part episode Beth, Lauren, and Bonnie discuss how they have approached dealing with their ex’s having significant others, especially with regard to their kids, and a few other related topics. Join us on the porch!
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Episode 8: How did we know we were DONE?
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-k546m-141c95c How did we know we were DONE and ready for divorce? It turns out we each had one specific moment when we knew we were at the end.
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Episode 7: How did it feel to finally get to the other side of divorce?
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-4ik66-141c913 In this episode Lauren, Beth, and Bonnie talk about how wonderful it feels to make our homes our own after divorce as well as a myriad of other things, like lessons learned dating, etc. Join us on the porch as we talk about how we are creating lives we love on the other side…
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Champagne Girls Episode 2 is out! Peace is Everything
Click here for the episode, episode 2 notes, reflection questions, and a sunshine of balance to download and fill out of your very own!
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THE CHAMPAGNE GIRLS GUIDE TO CREATING THE LIFE YOU LOVE PODCAST – EPISODE 1
Lauren, Beth, and I are neighbors in a lovely little historic neighborhood. We are all at different stages of life, divorce aftermath, careers, and motherhood. Each Sunday evening we gather on one of our lovely porches to chat about life, love, and our artistic passions. We are big on talking about those things that we…
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Fear
The power of journaling – diagnosing my fear I was journaling today, you know, writing the mundane boring things. This helps me define what’s most important to include on the day’s list of tasks and what not. While journaling I realized – I am struggling with fear. I’m not afraid of anything huge – there…
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Yearly Focus Words for 2023
I selected the words carefully with the goal of fine tuning my life into a more goal oriented one and less of a floating like a feather in the wind sort of one.
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Come see me! Monte Sano Art Festival is this weekend!
Click here to see more info! Saturday, September 10, 2022, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PMSunday, September 11, 2022, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Monte Sano State Park is beautiful! Come visit me and enjoy the the part, some music, and get some yummy food from the food vendors! See you there!
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Birds on the brain – a peek at at new work
I love my abstracts but I feel them morphing into something bigger – something that exposes more of my soul, so to speak. This sweet little bird just sort of painted itself. Growing in my art is not always easy. It is sort of like a birth – it is painful, full of emotion, and…
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My girl goes to college. . .
I drove my girl to college last weekend. And I’m doing fine. Really I am. Really. I miss my girl. I miss out interactions. We have been close from the moment she was placed in my arms. I am not a fan of letting her go. But I am a really, really big fan of…
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Optimism – believing in the 1% possibility
Here’s the thing. I knew better. I knew how this was going to turn out, yet I did it anyway. I allowed my dog to stalk a rabbit in a neighbor’s driveway on leash. ON A LEASH ATTACHED TO ME WHILE HOLDING MY PHONE. Seriously, I knew there was a 99% chance I was going…
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I treat my daughter differently
My daughter has often complained that I coddled the boys but make her fend for herself. She is not wrong. I don’t know if its because she is a girl or she is my third kid and I learned a lot through the raising of her older brothers. I believe it is probably both. It…
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Walking in Circles
All I ever wanted, growing up, was to be a wife and a mother. It was my dream. It came before everything else. I can remember dreamily staring off into the distance my freshman year of college wondering what it would feel like to finally be matched with my soul’s mate, my best friend for…
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Get a Move On
I have really been making an effort to improve my health and wellness over the last few months and as part of this effort I have been walking. Fellow Champagne Girl, Beth, and I walk about 3 miles (sometimes more) almost daily. We call it “walking our crazy out.” It took around 6 weeks for…
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Go to the theatre!
Earlier this year, I went to the play “Legally Blonde.” By myself. I’m pretty sure everyone else was there with someone. It did make me a little self conscious. That’s why I stood, staring at my phone, writing a blog post. Ha. I enjoy the theatre. I was in 2 productions in college. One was…
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I’m such a Martha. . .
Over the course of the past couple of years I have been searching for a deeper connection to God. It began in 2020 when I went to visit my sister in Mexico and visited the Catholic church in the Zocalo in Mexico City. I was so overcome with emotion inside this beautiful church – it…
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Notes from Champagne Sunday
We are all creative. Lauren works in theater; Beth paints, stitches, and writes; and I paint and write. We get together each Sunday night to have a glass of champagne and bolster each other through the next week. We discuss relationships (romantic and otherwise), kids, and the general business of being single moms. We are…
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One Year
Tuesday, July 12, 2022 It was one year ago today my son and I found my ex-husband, deceased, in his home. I am emotional today. I miss all of those things that can never happen – a peaceful existence between us, a fun and growing relationship between my kids and their father, and a hope…
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Come see me at Panoply and Tennessee Craft!
I will be participating in back to back art festivals – Panoply in Huntsville April 29-May 1 and Tennessee Craft May 6-8. I am so excited to be selected to participate in both of these art shows and am looking forward to meeting fellow artists and being inspired by their creativity! Don’t you need some…
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Yearly Focus Words
Have you heard of the trend of choosing a single word as a focus or theme for your year? I have heard this and I have done this before, but without much success on it being an actual focus consitently. What would I choose this year and how could I use these words to actually…
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Road trip
My girl will be going to school about 8 hours away from me this fall. This weekend, she drove me and her BFF to the area so she could meet her potential roommate for her freshman year of college. She did a great job, navigating the two stressful cities she must drive through on the…
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New Years resolutions
My resolutions kinda run the year. They aren’t just a New Year’s thing. I revise and add new ones as my life progresses. I always want to get healthy so I am not even counting this one. This year I’ve decided to make some measurable goals to strive for in other areas. I am using…
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Fruits of the 21 Day Fast
I sat in silence most of today. That is unusual for me. Before my 21 day fast from, well – everything (basically), I had to have NOISE everywhere. I could not abide silence. At all. But, that has changed now. It is one of the many things that has changed in me thanks to my…
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Pablo Picasso
The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston had both a Pablo Picasso exhibit and an impressionist exhibit. Both were wonderful and inspiring. Picasso always fascinates me. I would love to go back in time and crawl inside his mind to see how he sees the world. He pulls things apart and rearranges them on canvas…
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How long did it take us to realize we were in black and white
There is a long hallway full of bright yellowish orange light in the Fine Arts Museum of Houston. We had made it about halfway down this hallway before we had looked at each other long enough to notice something was off. Our skin was grey. We were in black and white. It was so cool.…
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Head on collision at 10 mph
I was in a head on collision this morning in a parking lot. A man had just tested positive for Covid and he was FREAKED OUT so he started to black out. And, staring right at us, hit our car. Because of this tiny fraction of time his car is mangled. It was his only…
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Defining Convictions/Beliefs
I use the word “conviction” because it sounds so much more non-negotiable than the word “belief”. I didn’t even realize I had convictions until a big one was staring me down. And, it took a really long time for me to clearly define this conviction. It was:
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Waiting = Patience
Do you have to wait to build a life you love? Today I went to the Van Gogh Emerson Experience with my fellow Champagne Sunday girl. During our many conversations over this adventure the subject of WAITING became a prevalant theme – specifically, waiting for a big change you know is on the horizon but…
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Bittersweet
This will be our first Christmas without him. It is bittersweet. It had been years since he had been sober on a Christmas Day. He felt such guilt at not being the man he wanted to be for his kids that he would become overwhelmed and drink those terrible feelings into much worse ones. He…
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What is important
When I realized my life was wonky, long before I divorced, I took inventory of what I used to have and love and compared that list to where I was at the time. I believe, especially as mothers, that it is very easy to let some of the best parts and some of the best…
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The Christmas I gave up on love OR the Hallmark Man Prayer
This is something I think some of us struggle with after the ending of a toxic relationship. It is glorious though, to know I will be happy alone, or not, but that I don’t need anyone else to make happy happen. . . I embraced the vulnerability that allowing the possibility of love to enter my…
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She would have been 107 this month
My grandmother, Mama, lived to be 105. She passed away the January before Covid hit and thankfully didn’t have to deal with any of that. It is funny, we all worried about her health all the time and she never really seemed to. She didn’t really consider death, from what I could tell, even after…
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Time to activate one of those infinite DO-OVERS God has gifted me with . . .
Really, I was just looking for a little guidance to climb out of the hole I’ve thrown myself into and instead I get an added emphasis on the power and importance of wisdom – the “she” in line 8 is “wisdom” not some random woman. So, my tasks are to 1) understand where I am:…
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The MOST lovely couple
I spent the majority of my Fall Break in Cancun relaxing with friends, finding my center, appreciating the life God has gifted me. While there, enjoying pool time, God sent to me the most beautiful and faithful woman. She was on her honeymoon and their love story absolutely renews my faith in God and my…
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I am Naomi 🙄
THEN, now this one struck me, THEN Naomi said she was too old to marry again. (Ruth 1:12) Now woman. Please. I understand that in her context, in her culture, she did not see herself as any kind of bargaining chip to use to enter a marriage that might save her from the plight of…
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Tennagery People
I was privileged enough to be asked by my daughter to take her and friends to Atlanta to see some obscure band play at the Mascarade. I say privileged because I think she and her friends are comfortable enough with me to be ok with me listening in on their conversations and they trust me…
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Travel feeds my soul
I have not always loved to travel. It wasn’t that I disliked it, I just hadn’t been anywhere and didn’t know. But once I’d been on my first international trip I was hooked. I want to go everywhere. Today I am traveling to spend time with friends in a far off place that requires a…
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Work in progress. . .
I love this stage of a painting. It has good bones. It has made it past the ugly phase. It is waiting on those final tiny choices that will make it into something magnificinet. Something I am truly proud of. I feel that way about me, about my life. I have good bones, I have…
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The opposite of fear. . .
Her faith trickles down like a beautiful golden honey into all areas of her life. It is sticky sweet and hard to wash off and makes her radiate in a glistening sunshiney hue.
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Silly Songs . . .
Life has taken unexpected twists and turns since I spent my days innocently singing along with Bob and Larry. I think of the woman I was and wonder, if I could travel back to her and tell her anything, would I? Would I tell her to brace for what was to come? Would she even…
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Champagne Sundays
Weekly check ins. This is what Champagne Sundays are all about. I have become wonderful friends with my next door neighbor and each Sunday we get together on the front porch and have champagne from my vintage champagne glasses and discuss the week we’ve had and the one coming up. We celebrate our wins and…
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Living in the moment
Being present as a person who loves to plan her future is, well, sometimes a bit tedious. My head is always trying to look ahead and skip the uncomfortable parts. BUT, what I am finding is that when I cannot see a future, I am more engaged in my present.
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Live like a college graduate
I am thankful for my Lifetime moments as much as my Hallmark moments. I am thankful to just feel again, all of the feels, to have been broken open and set free to experience life once again. Every day is a day for a new beginning or to pick up an old beginning again. I…
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How do I look at such a toxic and traumatic time through a lens of love, and why would I want to??
I was scrolling through TikTok last night, watching the many videos on trauma, toxic relationships, and narcissism that tend to be on my “for me” page, and I recognized myself in literally almost every post. I understand the trauma, I have lived in the toxicity, I have labeled my ex as a narcissist without any…
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If it was toxic for me, it was toxic for him
But what I could not see due to the bubble I had crawled into to try to protect myself, was that if I was in a toxic relationship, SO WAS HE. He was not choosing to live in a toxic place on purpose. Who would do that? He was miserable too. No one actually wants…
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My closet is my happy place. . .
It was like the closet was a symbol of my life if it were put together, neat and tidy.View post to subscribe to site newsletter.
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Wait. What?? What do you mean I am not in control?
My ultimate goal when I woke up every day was to see my life and my people through a love paradigm. This is still my goal. How could I have regret if I loved my way through the difficult times instead of allowing bitterness to reign?View post to subscribe to site newsletter.
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You are sooooo mental (said in my best Valley Girl voice)
Shouldn’t the person we choose to spend our lives so intimately with be chosen, at the very least, with the same standards we use to choose our friends? View post to subscribe to site newsletter.
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I want to interview you. . .
Have you been through a difficult time that taught you something wonderful about yourself? I want to hear about the wonderful thing! I want to hear about how you changed and grew from your experience. I will be featuring these interviews on a podcast I am creating. This project will focus on stories of everyday…
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Fatal Optimism (I made that up)
I allowed myself the possibility that happiness could be realized in the paths I had once been so dead set against instead of the one I was so dead set ON. I conceded that I was not giving up on the commitment I made in my marriage, I had lived it out. When I chose…
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EVERYTHING is an excuse for cake!
If you have read one or two of my posts then you can probably infer that I am divorced from an alcoholic, have 3 mostly grown kids, and am generally enjoying this time in my life rediscovering who I am and redefining who I want to be. A humongous part of my journey for the…
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Sometimes it is ok to pivot . . .
For years, I have planned to write extensively about life with an alcoholic, specifically, the lessons I learned about life, love, and grace because of it. Recently, I have been narrowing the topics and making a plan, forming questions that I know my answers to will help other women who find themselves in a similar…
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Forgiveness
This is a photo of my daughter, creating a heart out of the sand in the dunes on the coast of Oman – one of the most beautiful, natural places I have ever been. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ,…
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This is me . . .
This is my mission statement: Be positive. Be supportive. Spend time with those I love. This is my only life. I will live it body and soul. This is the question: How in the world do I accomplish the fireworks explosion of “to-dos” and still live my mission statement? This is the blog of the…