A Secret to Success This New Year: Become Committed and Resilient

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Mom and son celebrating the new year in the Bahamas in 2025! "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." – Confucius Greetings from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ! Things have been busy. I am still a working mom of three , working full time who is trying to make a difference. I do a lot of things and try to be present so that I can learn from them. I share them on this blog so that we can learn together. Below are some thoughts, hacks, and/or lessons that I have learned from navigating my world. 2025 was intense. I faced a convergence of pressures: the stress of navigating life as a single mom while paying considerable  alimony ,  an intensifying family situation since we lost my beloved aunt, my dad, and my cousin’s mom—work related stress—learning a new job after an imposed job change, all while navigating the rapid pace of raising my kids and trying to maintain a standard of living for them with fewer resources. Together, these factor...
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My Entire Family Dynamic Portrayed in one Photo

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Family Photo


During the holidays, a lot was written about how moms threaten their kids in order to capture the perfect photo. There's a lot of truth to that and legitimacy with that tactic. I certainly am not above it! Other times, though, I go with the flow. 

Recently, I found the above photo in my archives and it is an example of when I did just that. This day we were at The Hotel Breakers in Sandusky, Ohio for our annual trip to attend Bloggy Con. a blogging conference. Each year the conference occurs in September. So, it was our last trip to the beach. Even though we were at Lake Erie and not some exotic place, I wanted to capture the moment!

Because this photo captured our entire family dynamic I thought it was too good to keep to myself!

Like a lot of moms, married or not, I spend a lot of time alone with my kids. I don't share that to invite comment or criticism about my husband, to contextualize the title of this post. My husband's absence from this photo is fairly typical. In all fairness though, he snapped this shot. So, he was with us that day. The other dynamics are spot on though too.

My daughter is a dancer, a natural performer. So, we all spend a decent amount of our time watching her and being entertained by her. My older son, as indicated in this photo, is not always amused and seems to wonder why she is always seeking attention. My baby, tends to be totally in love with me and tracks me with his eyes. And, I am constantly striving to create magic and happiness for each of my children and myself in light of their very different personalities. 

We took this photo three years ago and yet, the dynamics remain the same!


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