After Ben and I got married in the fall (I’ll share more about that soon), it feels like I’ve been hit by one wave after another. Just when I manage to get my head above water… BOOM, another one comes crashing down.
Now, I’m naturally a glass-half-full kind of girl, so even as I say that late 2024 into 2025 has been tough, I immediately want to balance it with the good. And there has been good: Ben and I bought our dream home, Holden started driving, I finally got a handle on my migraines, and I get to share each day with my soulmate.
But then there are the hits. And these aren’t just little bumps in the road… they’re the kind of life-altering blows that ripple through everything.
In late fall, Beau was diagnosed with a lifelong condition that significantly affects her daily life. It causes chronic headaches and requires ongoing care and monitoring. There have already been two hospital stays and countless appointments with her medical team. Overnight, I became not just her mom, but her caregiver too.
Then this spring, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. While he’s physically doing fairly well, halfway through treatment, one of the medications triggered a severe mental health crisis that threw our entire family into chaos in August. Things have stabilized, but we’re still healing from that trauma, and it’s changed our family forever.
On top of everything else, my own health decided to make itself known. In the fall of 2024 I started having cluster migraines, dizzy spells, and heart palpitations that eventually landed me in the emergency room. After a long battery of tests, I was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope… essentially, my nervous system sometimes overreacts to stress, pain, or certain triggers, causing sudden drops in heart rate and blood pressure that can lead to fainting. As if that weren’t enough, I had two more bouts of diverticulitis over the winter, one of which knocked me flat and ended with me fainting as well. Since then, I’ve made my health a priority. I’ve been more proactive, more disciplined, and I’m looking forward to sharing the changes I’ve made and what’s helping me feel stronger again.
All of this has been layered on top of work changes. Before Beau’s first hospital stay, I stepped into a full-time role as a manager at a large influencer marketing agency. At the time, I was ready to wind down The Water Cooler, running a full-blown company with a team hadn’t been all it was cracked up to be, and I thought the corporate world would give me a chance to just do the work I loved without worrying about “keeping the lights on.” At first, it was great, I thrived coaching influencers and mentoring my team. But the heavy sales focus made me realize it wasn’t the right fit. I couldn’t lean fully into my strategic and creative side. In the end, it was time to step away, take everything I’ve learned, and bring it home to Nesting Story.
And that’s where I am now. I have so much I want to share. I’ve found a new why for Nesting Story. Because I know I’m not the only woman navigating this messy, complicated stage of life… aging, parenting teens, caregiving for our own parents, running a household, co-parenting, trying to take care of ourselves, and keeping our relationships strong.
I want Nesting Story to continue being a place where those conversations happen. Where we talk honestly about the hard stuff, the good stuff, and everything in between. And alongside that, I will be supporting brands and creators, helping them navigate their online storytelling journey with clarity, confidence, and strategy.
This is a new chapter. It’s not boring. It’s not easy. But it’s real, and it’s ours.
*I always strive to protect my family’s privacy. Any names or details shared here have their blessing.
If you’d like to keep up with me in real time, you can find me over on Instagram, where I share the day-to-day behind the scenes, and I’ll also be creating again on YouTube… something I’ve truly missed. But the most exciting new addition is Patreon, where I’ll be sharing more candidly than I ever have before. That’s where I’ll be opening up about co-parenting, aging, being a caregiver, and so much more… the conversations that don’t always fit neatly on the blog or social, but are such a big part of this chapter of life.