Enjoy the Journey…But How?

We had just finished a long, grueling move from Los Angeles to Boise. It was a very challenging process to pack up our whole house in a few days, find a place to rent from afar, find appropriate programs for Jagger while living in a different state, and then make the long road trip with a huge U-Haul. What got me through the sleepless nights, the stressful planning and the ugly drive though was this thought that when we got...

The Street Of Opportunity

When I was growing up in southern California, my family with seven kids financially struggled for quite a few years. The five of us older siblings took on jobs as soon as we could, and helped our parents out by paying for our own cell phones/bills, car insurance, gas, missions, college, etc. We all worked hard, but there were still days we came home exhausted and overwhelmed wondering if we would ever make enough to not just make ends meet,...

Whether It’s Roses Or A Skunk, Marriage is Marriage

“Whether it’s roses, fresh cookies, or a skunk, when you get a whiff of something, molecules travel through your nose and to your odor receptors. This pathway then triggers the olfactory bulb in the brain’s limbic system and fragrant magic happens. Memories rush back, appetites roar, or something screams, ‘Get the Lysol!’… After a few minutes, your brain tends to blot out any constant and unchanging stimulus such as a certain smell. To keep your nervous system from exhausting itself...

Punching Trials in the Head

         As a mother of an autistic boy, I feel so blessed to have the inside look at such a brilliant mind. If you have not had the privilege of being close to or around someone with autism, you are truly missing out. If an individual is willing to step out of his/her comfort zone and just quietly observe/love/get to know an autistic young lady or gentleman, he/she would find that they truly have so much to teach us. With...

“I Can’t Take it Anymore”

On a typical day for Jagger, he goes to a therapeutic school where he has about 6-8 hours of different types of therapies, such as speech and language, feeding therapy, social skills, music and movement, occupational therapy or ABA therapy. His typical day is pretty rigorous and structured, which means MY typical day is pretty rigorous and structured. Growing up I lost my wallet about every other week, and couldn’t seem to remember which freeway to get on in order...