Halloween 2022

 As we are entering our empty nesting phase of life, Halloween is a different occasion without kids to carve pumpkins with, buy expensive costumes for, go trick-or-treating with, or even argue with! We did purchase a pumpkin and Dainis graciously posed for me. We set up in our driveway with our popcorn machine on Halloween night and passed out fresh popcorn and candy. It was the first time we have done this since Covid, and it was good to see the neighbors. The dogs, although not terribly excited, did participate in the costumes.

Book Signing Events

I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have had since my book published in March to share our story. I have found great success in using book signing events as a marketing tool to meet new people and connect with others. At every event, I have a raffle drawing for a free gift card for those who sign up for my website and monthly newsletter. This way, I am making connections and gathering emails, even if they don't purchase my book. I had the opportunity to do some events in May for Stroke Awareness Month but then also did additional book signings at the end of October for World Stroke Day (October 29th). I also pass out postcards that tell my story and information on signs of a stroke. I want people to be aware because I was not when I had mine at age 29.  I am always looking for new opportunities to share my story and look forward to future events.

Women's Retreat

I was so blessed with the opportunity to be able to attend our women's retreat again this year and see our guest speaker in person once again, Carol Kent. Carol is an amazing woman, author, speaker, and founder of the "Speak Up" writers and speakers conference. I have been able to attend Speak Up twice now virtually and Carol graciously endorsed my first book. I met her in person for the first time at my speaker conference in TX in July and was so excited to see her again. I had the opportunity to ride to camp with two dear friends, Nancy from church and Onjalai from CTCA. We had a great weekend together, and I even tried archery with Nancy's help! 

Pinetop

We have really enjoyed our trips to Pinetop and love having our own little place we can go with the dogs. Every time we go, the landscape is a little different and the renovations at our favorite lake (Woodland Lake) are complete. They redid all the asphalt on the paths so they are wider now and the lake is now full. They continue to add new playground equipment, and it is a great environment for everyone. Dainis loves to go to the different antique stores and check out the best deals, and we have our favorite restaurants. We usually do take out and enjoy eating at home with the dogs. We are set up outside on our little porch with a table and chairs and small propane firepit so when it is nice, we can eat outside. We even purchased a used gas grill so we can cook out!

Abilities Expo

 We have never attended the Abilities Expo, held in Scottsdale, but decided to go this year to find out more about service dogs. We learned some new things and got some good contacts. I also had the opportunity to meet a fellow stroke survivor named Christopher Ewing. Chris is from CA and is actually a tv producer. He owns his own green room and equipment and when he had his stroke, he decided to use his resources to start helping other stroke survivors. He teamed up with Abilities Expo to be the voice of stroke and started a Stroke TV channel along with a podcast. I would love to be on his podcast at some point and was glad I had the opportunity to meet him in person.

Juan's Job

 Juan continues to work at La Loma Assistive Living, which is a part of Sun Health. We are very proud of him for his dedication and the responsibility he has shown there. He has a tenure of over two years and they continue to promote him in both position and salary. He started out as a part-time dishwasher. He was then trained as an expeditor. He is now a cook. Because he is trained in all three areas, he is quite valuable to them in the kitchen and can jump into any of those roles at any time. As he looks towards high school and technical school graduation with his Coding degree, we are encouraging him to consider the full-time employment options at Sun Health in their IT department. Although he is also looking at college options, using his technical degree, working first, and maturing some first may be a better choice right now.

Juan's First Day of His Senior Year

Juan is not super excited to take pictures unless you get him on a good day so the idea of getting a first day of school picture didn't work so well. Although communication and our relationship isn't as smooth as we would like it to be, we continue to do all the same things we have always done. I have always celebrated special events in the kids' lives like the first day of school, the last day of school, holidays, birthdays, and special achievements. Not only was I brought up with a mom that also went out of her way to always make things special, but I feel like my kids never had this type of love and so if I can make up for lost time, I try to do all I can to show them we care. I hope one day they will look back and realize how hard we really did try. Sadly, their challenges started way before coming to our family and we were just not enough to solve them because they weren't willing to accept the help and guidance we could give them.

An Amazing Speaking Conference

Since I started on this writing journey in winter 2021, I have had the opportunity to attend quite a few wonderful virtual conferences and always learn a lot. When I first heard about Christian Communicators Speakers Conference from a friend in my writer's tribe, I was immediately drawn to it because it is based in TX. I reached out to one of the co-directors and she endorsed my book and supported me before I even signed up for the conference. So, I was very excited to attend for multiple reasons. I was going back to TX, would have the chance to reunite with good friends again, would have the chance to meet authors and speakers I had only met virtually up until now, and I would finally be attending my first in-person conference. It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. I made some amazing new friends that I continue to keep in touch with today. I walked away with new headshots that I love and a 3 minute video reel. I am excited for the opportunity to go back again this year and look forward to continue learning and gaining additional speaking skills.

Juan's 18th Birthday!

 Juan celebrated his 18th birthday while we were in TX. At the time we planned the trip, which was a year in advance, he was set to stay with a friend. As the trip neared, those plans fell threw and our communication with Juan sadly continued to diminish. We tried to take him out and celebrate him before leaving, but he was not interested so we left his presents and requested cheesecake for him and he celebrated alone. We have learned so much on this adoption journey and about abandonment, trauma, and mental challenges. There was so much we were unprepared for, and we truly just wanted to love, support, and give kids a forever home that might not have that chance. The fallacy in that was that we were not adequately prepared to deal with all the challenges that came our way and could not get the kids to accept the help they needed to heal. We hope as Juan and his siblings continue to mature and grow into adults, they will make their own way successfully and find the help they need.

Sharing My Story in Texas

Before my speaker conference began, I had the opportunity to share my story on a radio program called Fishbowl Radio. The name of the program is Joy and Company. They interview different authors. Because I was in town, we were able to do the interview in the studio rather than on zoom. It was a great experience!

I also had the opportunity to share my book and story on a faith based internet streaming tv show called the Fanny Minnitt Show. It was another great opportunity to share my story with another audience and I hope that it helped my book sales and also encouraged many listeners.