​

I grew up with a lot of dysfunction ...like some of you. I always told myself that it could've been worse. Then I would say, but it could've been a lot better. To try and handle everything that was happening, I turned to drugs when I was in junior high. Things got worse until my Junior year of high school when I felt like I was spiraling out of control. I knew if I didn't get out of Riverside at that point, I would end up in a really bad way.

​

So I moved from SoCal to one of the most beautiful places in the world, Lake Tahoe. Moving to Tahoe was the best decision I could've made. It gave me the opportunity to start again and turn my life around. 

​

I was filled with anger and bitterness for years. My anger fueled me to graduate high school and travel around the world. I still partied but thought I had everything under control because I was only smoking pot and drinking. I was functioning and happy enough so I figured I dealt with my past and I had moved on enough.

​

Dysfunction happens. I'm not the only one who grew up with abuse. I felt alone for a long time but realized decades ago that I'm not alone. After sharing my story time and time again, I realized just how many others have experienced major events like me. 

​

Major events happen. It's up to you to choose if you will get better or worse from them. There are tools and techniques that will help you release the old and step into the real you. But I'll get into more of that later.

​

Let's fast forward a bit because that's when I really had to face myself. I met my husband in 2004 and after about 4 years we had our first kid.

​

I became a stay-at-home mom and quickly realized I didn't have the skills to be the kind of parent I wanted to be. I took parenting classes and read lots and lots of books. Parenting was a real struggle in the beginning. And I work on improving my skills every day. But we're very close and in a great place. We are far from the home I grew up in.

 

I love my family and am so grateful my husband was willing to provide for us while I focused on the kids. But after about 6 years, I felt like something was missing. I felt lost and guilty for wanting more. I felt like I lost my identity. I didn't know who I was outside of being a mom and wife. So I decided to go back to school.

 

I was a student at the University of Nevada, Reno studying psychology when I got a call that changed everything. My cousin called to tell me that my brother committed suicide. Then a month later my mom was diagnosed with cancer. My plans quickly changed from continuing my education at UNR to researching alternative cancer treatments.

 

You see, we grew up eating the kind of peanut butter you had to stir. My mom would make carrot juice in the mornings and was always talking about natural foods and all the benefits we would get by eating them. So I thought for sure she was going to go the alternative route when she was diagnosed.

 

I dropped everything and became obsessed with finding a cure to save my mom. But looking back, I realize she had a different plan. I can only imagine how hard it was for her to deal with her own past and to lose a child to suicide. She passed away a year and a half later.

​

I didn't know how to handle what was happening when I was a kid. But in 2016 when my brother passed and my mom got sick, it took me back to feeling the same kind of emotions as I did when I was a teen. This time I really took control of my life and of my future by letting go of drugs and alcohol and learning exactly what to do to be as healthy as possible, body, mind, and soul. 

​

After years of trials, errors, and mentorships, I figured out a technique to help myself feel happy and fulfilled no matter what is happening around me. Let's face it, life is never going to be perfect but it can be pretty damn amazing. It's so good to be alive. Learn to love your life no matter what has happened or is happening. Learn to really live too. 

​