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Browsing Tag

Joy

General Grace & Grit The Journey

How Happy Are You Willing to Let Yourself Be?

LiaDecember 2, 2021

I was only nineteen when I married the love of my life. I remember thinking I was the happiest I had ever been. I now had a loving husband and father to my son, and our future was wide…

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  • Home
  • Bio
  • What I’m Reading
  • Writer’s Corner
  • About
  • Contact
Blog Categories
  • Abundance
  • General
  • Grace & Grit
  • The Journey
  • Writing Craft
Recent Posts

  • Abundance is Embracing Who You Truly Are — An Exquisite Masterpiece

    • May 31, 2022

  • Abundance is Found in a Mostly Empty Four-Bedroom Farmhouse, the Title ‘Mom’, AND Hope

    • May 1, 2022
  • Windmill with sunset in the background.

    Abundance is Found in the Stories We Tell Ourselves

    • March 18, 2022
  • White Jeep underneath a full rainbow

    Abundance is Found in Surrender

    • February 26, 2022
  • Lia stands in front of a large wooden door with her hand on the handle.

    Abundance is Found Within

    • January 16, 2022
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I consider myself doubly blessed to have had an am I consider myself doubly blessed to have had an amazing Dad who loved with his whole heart and who showed me how a woman should be treated, and to also have a husband who loves our kids with his whole heart and treats me like a queen. Happy Father’s Day to this two great men! #greatmen #happyfathersday
Happy Happiest of Birthdays to my first born! He i Happy Happiest of Birthdays to my first born! He is a blessing with his easygoing spirit, gentle nature, big heart, and sense of humor. I couldn’t be prouder of him and all he has accomplished. I’m praying this trip around the sun is full of blessings upon blessings, and even more blessings. #hemademeamom #firstborn #myson #birthdayboy #anothertriparoundthesun
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 I’m giving ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 I’m giving this one six stars! Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe’ has it all: Secrets; Complex characters; Grief and emotional wounds; Mystical passageways, a cat, and blackbirds; And a small town cafe’ with pie that brings messages from departed loved ones while you sleep. Then if that wasn’t enough, I learned from Heather’s website that her inspiration for this book came from the Beatles’ song “Blackbird.” I’m in a state of book euphoria from this book, and sure to read more of Heather Webber’s books. Which is why I highly recommend this captivating book! #ilovereading #booklover #womensfiction #greatbook #heatherwebber #midnightattheblackbirdcafe
She did it!! 🎓 We are so so proud of this girl! She did it!! 🎓 We are so so proud of this girl! Congratulations, Addie Rose. 💕 Behind you, all your memories. Before you, all your dreams. Around you, all those who love you. Within you, all you need. We can’t wait to see where your dreams take you. Go do great things. 💫. #mygraduate #classof2022 #graduation #shedidit #woohoo
My NSHS grads. ‘07, ‘18, and after tomorrow ‘22. ❤️❤️❤️ #mygraduate #myheartbeats #dontblink
You get to choose your thoughts. You even get to c You get to choose your thoughts. You even get to change them. Some circumstances are out of our control, but our thoughts are NOT. Understanding ourselves—our beliefs, our social conditioning, the stories we tell ourselves, and how our past experiences impact our present-day life—helps us claim states of peace & ease. Pay attention to your thoughts and the stories you are telling yourself. Uproot and discard any misbeliefs, disempowering conditioning, and outdated stories that keep you from living into the beautiful masterpiece you are. #mindset #mindsetmatters #peace #ease #abundance
I don’t want to be the woman worried about what I don’t want to be the woman worried about what someone else thinks. I don’t want to be the woman who strives for the idea that we have to be perfect and anything less makes us flawed. I call bullsh**t on the lies that tell us: I’m supposed to have sixpack abs, and flawless makeup and hair; I’m supposed to drive a certain kind of car and live in a certain kind of house, and have a list of acronyms after my name; I’m flawed if my marriage isn’t perfect, or my kids don’t fit society’s standard mold of achievement. I don’t want to be the ideal version of me that the world classifies as good enough. I want to embrace the evolving version of myself that my heart knows is already enough. Who I Am Is Enough. Who You Are is Enough. I’ve heard that our flaws make us beautiful, but I think the problem is that we view the unique authentic pieces of ourselves as flaws to begin with, and especially if those unique authentic pieces don’t fit with society’s standard of perfection. I’m talking about this mindset on The Grace & Grit Blog. I’m getting down and dirty about how I use my gray “Angelia” binder (in the picture above) to keep me focused on being a confident woman who gives herself grace and celebrates her efforts of learning and growing and evolving as she engages with life in order to discover what she desires and needs on the journey to becoming who she really is. What if you allowed yourself to be the fullest version of you? Would your life look any different? #grace #doyoubooboo #youareamasterpiece #selflovejourney #selfcompassion #selftrust
I met this girl in Kindergarten. She became my bes I met this girl in Kindergarten. She became my best friend, my sister, my family. Her mom became my other “Mom.” Our boys became friends. And our husband’s are fishing buddies. Today I was blessed to see her and celebrate her son’s wedding with her. Thank God for lifelong friends. *My other Mom took this first picture and captioned it, "I'm telling you Christy, I know that girl over there is flirting with Dwayne and Tony!" 😂 This sounds just like something we would say. She also took the second picture and captioned it, " Oh hey Mama. How long have you been standing there?” #bestfriends #lifelongfriends #mysecondfamily #mysecondmom #goodtimes
My editor has mentioned this book several times as My editor has mentioned this book several times as being her favorite book. Being that I’ve liked every story she’s ever recommended, and the fact that she knows the elements of what makes a good story I wanted to read this book for myself. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ LEAVING TIME is a masterfully woven tale about grief, love, and our innate desire to belong. Jenna Metcalf lost her mother in a tragic accident when she was only three. Now at thirteen, Jenna longs to know the truth about that accident and why her mother would have abandoned her. Jenna enlists a private detective and a Psychic to help her piece together the detailed memories she has as a little girl, the personal knowledge she’s gained about her mother from her mother’s journals, and the hard evidence Jenna has so keenly obtained about that mysterious night. In true Picoult fashion, you will go on a journey with these characters as you learn about elephants and Jenna’s mother’s grief research with elephants, and relationships and motives, and hard evidence and unexplainable evidence, and how grief and a mother’s love are intertwined in Jenna’s journey to discover the truth. #iamreading #ilovebooks📚 #jodipicoult #getlostinabook
I got outside of my comfort zone today—Waaaay ou I got outside of my comfort zone today—Waaaay outside of my comfort zone by participating in the MudGirl Race with my daughter and all the other badass women who showed up and challenged themselves. There were 17 obstacles with mud galore. We crawled through mud, and climbed over mud, and when I reached out for Addie’s hand on one of the slides she tricked me and pushed me into the muddy water waiting below. I love my girl! Here’s a shoutout to the lady with the prosthetic pushing forward on that muddy trail; that lady beside me on the muddy crawl who pointed out that “we in the military now;” all the amazing volunteers cheering us on at every station; and the guy in the pink tutu leading the warmups and inspiring us all to go have fun. #pinkarmy #pinkarmy5k #pinkarmystrong
These were the only images I captured for Mother’s Day. I missed the opportunity to snap a photo of my mom with my boys (My daughter worked a double yesterday serving other moms and their families since she was off Saturday for her senior prom), or a photo of Dwayne with our boys, or even myself with the ones I love—because I was so in the moment with them. Which is a good thing, right? Asheville was cool and damp yesterday. The low clouds that hung over the tops of the mountains lifted as the sun rose higher in the sky. Lunch with my family was full of conversation and good food and laughter. And the ride along the parkway and the moment we pulled off to find @thebandwatkins and his guitar and his lyrics about ‘this time being different’, along with the woman doing yoga, the view courtesy of God’s great hand, and my people were and always will be enough. Still the feeling of lost opportunity over the uncaptured photos dawned on me when I logged on to social media and scrolled through all the smiling faces of moms and families. I even saw photos and heartfelt posts about individuals missing their moms and grandmas, and posts about fractured relationships that make Mother’s Day difficult for others. Again, I had moments and experiences with my people but these posts only heightened my regret over not taking a picture of these snapshots in time. Why? Do I really need photos to prove to myself or anyone else that I had special moments with my 83 year-old mother, my husband, and my sons? Or was this desire of capturing these moments on film really about a fear that one day these moments, these people won’t exist and these photos will be the only reminder of this time with my loved ones? Social media, the fear of missing out (FOMO), and Comparisonitis can all steal our joy if we forget that our real happiness is found living in the moment and savoring our experiences and the time we have with the ones we love on the real-life side of the screen. #fomo #comparisonisthethiefofjoy #joyfulmoments #liveinthemoment #soakitallin
Senior prom. ❤️ #mysenior #seniorprom #isntshe Senior prom. ❤️ #mysenior #seniorprom #isntshelovely #dontblink #timepleaseslowdown
Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! Being a mom is a b Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! Being a mom is a blessing. Having my mom and my mother-in-law here to celebrate is also a blessing. And the very fact that other wise and loving women were present in my life, if only for just a while, is a blessing too. Whatever your experience may be, whatever this weekend brings up for you, I hope there’s at the very least glimmers of blessings all around you. ❤️❤️ #mothersday #greatwomen #mommies #grandmommy #celebrate #blessings #blessed
Loss – the perceived deprivation of something de Loss – the perceived deprivation of something deemed meaningful. I enrolled in a grief study at church with one of my friends. In this grief study, we specifically studied Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. If I’m being honest, I enrolled in this class with my friend because I was excited about studying the Bible with her. That’s our thing. And, I thought this study would help me understand the grief of my main character in my book. Losses come in so many shapes and forms. Death is usually the first thing that comes to mind, but there are varying shades of loss in disease and divorce and job loss and infertility and natural disasters — all the seasons of our lives. Even becoming an empty nester. My baby is graduating from High School in a few weeks, and heading off to college this fall. This will be the first time my husband and I have ever been alone as just the two of us, since I brought my oldest son with me into our marriage. We are anticipating all the opportunity this new season of life will bring, and we are navigating the loss of how things have always been. We’ve always prioritized our children and our family, so this newfound time feels guilt free – like a choice that will lead us straight to joy, if we will just allow ourselves the opportunity to explore this new season. What losses are you navigating? Are you entering a new phase of life? I'm talking more about how we can find abundance in losses on the Grace & Grit Blog. #emptynest #dontblink #newperspectives #ichoosejoy #lifeisshortenjoyit
Do more of what brings you joy. Push against the Do more of what brings you joy. Push against the resistance that says there’s not enough time or money. Push against the misbeliefs that tell you that it is selfish for you to have desires, or wants, or needs. Push against the old outdated systems that taught you there’s not an abundance of time, money —resources, choices, perspectives—for all your heart desires, wants, and needs to experience joy. If money or time or judgement wasn’t an issue, what is the first thing you would do? #joy #abundance #mindfulness #selfawareness #takecareofyourself
I spent the weekend with my guy eating and playing I spent the weekend with my guy eating and playing in the dirt and eating some more. We are practicing for our empty nest days. #soontobeemptynesters #myguy #goodeats #playinginthedirt #goodfood
If I could name one thing with the potential to br If I could name one thing with the potential to bring inner abundance to every human being—that thing would be the stories we tell ourselves. We are brilliant beings, soaking up information from our environment from the moment we are born.   Not only do we soak up information, we store it in our big beautiful brains as stories. These stories become our guide to the way the world works and the way we should behave within the world in order to get what we want, and avoid what we don’t.   What’s absolutely fascinating to me is the way these stories often run in stealth mode under the radar of conscious thought, determining our every action, reaction, and pattern of behavior. And, the stealthiest story of all – I’m not enough. One of my stories is that I am supposed to be strong. I’m not supposed to cry. I’d developed this story when my Dad was in his final bout with COPD. I was helping Dad with his last wishes, learning his passwords, trying to hold it all together. We were sitting in front of his computer. He had this little notebook with his scrawly handwriting and all his passwords. He wanted to show me how to log in, how to access the information Momma would need.   I got misty-eyed when one of his passwords was my oldest son’s birthday. The oldest son I gave birth to when I was sixteen. Dad looked at me. Maybe he saw the emotion and took it for something else, but he said, “You’re going to have to do this.”   That became my story. I was going to have to do the hard work of holding it together and making sure Dad’s wishes were honored and his beloved wife of fifty-four years was taken care of. I added my own twist on the words. “You have to be strong. You’re not supposed to cry.” I’m absolutely sure that is NOT what Dad meant. But I wanted to do right by the man who stood by me and my precious baby at sixteen, and never once made me feel any guilt or shame. You can read more about my story on the Grace & Grit Blog. My latest post is the third post in the Abundance Series, and this post is about the stories we tell ourselves. I’d love to hear all about your stories. #ourstories #abundancemindset #lifetothefullest #mindsetmatters #selfdiscovery #self❤️
What ways are you expecting people to show up? Wha What ways are you expecting people to show up? What expectations are you holding around how someone should respond, feel, be? What are you making their response, reaction, feelings, No, and Yes mean? There is a huge spaciousness in allowing others (and ourselves) to have our own preferences, opinions, feelings, experiences, NO, and YES, and successes and failures. This is your journey. Let them have theirs. #createspace #innerabundance #integrity #codependency #boundaries #self❤️
We run for wine! #winerun #girltime #makingmemori We run for wine! #winerun #girltime #makingmemories #shinsplints #icantwalknow
Happy Happy Birthday to this Fierce, Determined, I Happy Happy Birthday to this Fierce, Determined, Intelligent, Beautiful young lady. So much goodness awaits her on this next trip around the sun. She has college in her sights and she knows the change she wants to create in the world. I have no doubt that when this girlie combines her passion for the inner workings of the mind and her compassion for all humans, great things are going to happen. Watch out world! #mygirl #birthdaygirl #watchoutworld #shesmakingplans #dontblink
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