I'm Back, Stress-Free

Since I last posted here a long, long time ago, my life has changed drastically. Due to my husband being laid off from his job of 20 years, we had six months of complete uncertainty. He launched a six-month, nationwide job search while we emptied and prepared our 4-story, 100 year old home for sale. While he hunted for a new job, I began a one-year professional training course in Health Coaching at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

A giant, damaging hurricane and a freak October snowstorm added to the chaos. I had to say goodbye to the home in which I'd raised my four children, our close-knit neighborhood, dear homeschooling friends of many years, and my loving Italian/Portuguese family (who believe that grown children should live next door to their parents).

We relocated clear across country, 3,000 miles away from NJ to a tiny, temporary 2 bedroom corporate apartment in sunny California with two of my sons, my sister, and our cat Roxy. We luckily sold our house, in a down market, with the help of our wonderful realtor/friend and a relocation company. Soon after a long, arduous househunt, we moved into a more permanent house, adding my sister's two cats to the mix.

My sister found a great apartment for herself and her kitties after the new year. I graduated from IIN and received independent certification from AADP (American Association of Drugless Practitioners) as a Holistic Health Coach.

My daughter recently finished her third year of college, remaining on the east coast, and my 19 year old son returned to the fold, joining us in our LA suburb.

What is the point of all of this? To share that I'm back! And more importantly, unstressed! During all the tumult, the upheaval, the sad goodbyes, and the uncertainty about where we'd be living, I remained fairly calm. I enjoyed the process, accepting that change is the universe's default setting. Everything is constantly in motion, and once I learned to go with the flow, I felt remarkably at peace.

So now that I'm back, expect more posts about letting go of stress, being happy, and finding the fun in things.  I wish you all a stress-free, ever-changing life.