Most people are familiar with the idea that there are several stages of grief. That can be grief for a loved one or even grief for a lost relationship. Psychology Today lists 5 stages of grieving a relationship:  denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I've read that these stages may not be in order, and not everyone experiences all 5 stages. Anyone want to guess what stage I am in right now? Yeah, that would be anger. And it's not fun. I should clarify that I'm not flying off the handle and making life miserable for the people around me. But sometimes I really want to throw my phone across the room, or something like that. (Thankfully I haven't given into that since iPhone screens aren't exactly cheap to replace!) Anger is a funny thing. While I'm trying to heal from a particular situation, I'm finding that other things and other people can trigger anger right now. Recently there was a situation involving a different person t...

Valentine's Day. The day that singles everywhere hate. It reminds them that they still don't have the relationship they want while everyone else seems to be happily coupled off. If that sounds WAY too familiar to you, then please read the rest of this. Sometimes it helps us all to have a little different perspective. In thinking about writing this blog I decided to be honest about some things that have been very painful in my life. Sometimes it's so hard to open up about things; hiding can be so much easier. But I don't know if I can heal completely that way, and if I can somehow help other people by sharing parts of my story, I'd like to. I got married a little over 5 1/2 years ago on a hot June day. My dress and my hair were perfect, and I was thrilled to be marrying the man I was head-over-heels in love with. He was clearly crazy about me too. I didn't buy into the idea that life would be perfect, but I thought it would be pretty amazing with a lot of har...