About Me
Hi, I am Nicole,
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I am a proud mom to my two girls, Atlantis (20) and River(6). I share my life with my wonderful partner, Gary.
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I currently am living in Germany with Gary and River. Atlantis still lives in Colorado where she is the manager of a party store.
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Being the parent of a little child as well as an adult provides me with a unique perspective on ages and stages parenting topics.
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I have a BA in Psychology, with a minor in Religious Studies from University of Colorado in 2008, which provides an additional background for the mental health issues that I write about on the blog.
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I am an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Monastery, which believes that all faiths are a way to connect us to Source and to each other.
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I focus on mind, body and spirit wellness as a way of living a happier and more intentional life.
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I have mental health issues as well: Anxiety, Depression and PTSD. I have found healing for these through therapy and medication. As someone who has experience with these issues first-hand it enables me to relate to mental health issues that others may be experiencing and provides an opportunity for advocacy.
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About the Blog:
This is both a Motherhood Blog, and Healthy Lifestyle Blog. I believe that our own health and happiness is intertwined with our parenting. Taking care of ourselves so that we can be at our best helps us to be happier moms, and better parents overall. It is hard to provide for our kids in the best way possible when we are feeling depleted.
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My parenting style is Attachment Parenting, and I focus on whole-child wellness, and communication with children in a responsive and non-violent way. I advocate for patience and empathy with our kiddos.
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I also write about personal finance, because this is one of the main stressors that moms deal with on a day to day basis.
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I chose the tagline "Mom Life Gets Messy" because I think all too often as moms there is this societal expectation that we can do everything flawlessly, and that is seldom (if ever) the case. Real life is messy, it is flawed, my house is usually covered with glitter or popcorn crumbs no matter how much I vacuum, and I have to balance the expectations of being a full-time mom, and having a full time job. That is the case for so many of us!
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In life, when we expect perfection, we are almost always disappointed. When we can embrace the mess, enjoy the journey, accept ourselves today while striving for a better tomorrow, we create a much happier and more whole life. Perfection doesn't need to be our end goal.
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"Perfect is the enemy of good."
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When we strive for perfection, we often miss just how good our lives our right now. We are too busy fixating on InstaMom's perfect hair and perfect children to embrace the wonder that is the life we have with our families right now. We can have good and fulfilling lives when we drop the expectation of perfect! Accepting and embracing the good that comes with the mess allows us to flourish and live our best lives. And yes, sometimes we are going to be living our best lives wearing a too-small tiara while dancing to Elsa singing "Let it Go" in the kitchen for the 30th time in one day.
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Embrace the moment, dance the wild dance in your heart, and always be there to straighten another mom's too-small tiara.
About Our Family:
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You may wonder how I managed to have two kids so far apart, well like so many American families today, ours is a blended family. After my divorce from Atlantis's dad 10 years ago, I met Gary. We bought a house together and blended our lives. Then, we had River, our wonderful little wild child.
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Then, we moved to Germany to be closer to Gary's mom who lives here, and to be able to help her.
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Since I am now the mom to an adult and a preschooler, I have experienced quite a few different aspects of motherhood over the years.
First, I was a young mom in my 20's, working and putting my way through college. Then, I became an older mom in my 30's, trying to keep up with a little one again. There are advantages to being a young mom, and to being an older mom. I have experienced both, so I have somewhat of a unique perspective.
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Also, I know that when you add another baby to your family, it makes a big change to the dynamic of the family overall. Our little one really does bring our whole family together, and makes our life complete. She brings us together, makes us laugh, and constantly is surprising us!
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You can never have too many mom friends, and I hope I can be a mom friend for you too! We live in a day and age when our village has become more virtual, and connecting with other moms online is a big way to expand our village, because it really does take a village to raise a child!
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To get to know me better, click on the video below.
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To read more about what life is like as expats in Germany, click here.