I’m Surrounded By Giants And Other Random Things

Hey friends! In my quest to write more, I’ve decided to tackle all the things in this post. Also, my name is Gabby and randomness is my jam. I have a lot of thoughts #squirrel and it’s fun to just share some random things every now and again.

This post is semi-inspired by an Instagram post that Jen Hatmaker recently wrote about her squad. I like the word squad. It’s a fun one. I often refer to the people in my house as, well, my people. Super original, right?

First things first, these are my people. Or if you so prefer, my squad. They are much taller than me hence me being surrounded by giants.

Listen, this is a selfie and I did my best OK? Everyone was happy and this makes me extra happy in my mama heart. Also, one of my 2022 goals is to take professional family photos. They’ll fight me on it but I will win. 😉 #watchme

M E E T   M Y  P E O P L E

S T E V E  – Hubby of 20.5 years, fire captain, hard worker, great at DIY, not always the best listener (husbands, amiright?), supportive, lets me pick where we eat and what we watch on TV, usually goes with the flow, also likes to micromanage in the things he feels extra versed in, highly competitive, enjoys camping, his exercise of choice is mountain biking, loves live music, bourbon connoisseur, handsome, gives good hugs, puts up with me. Enough said.

B E N – Almost 19 years-old, first born, big brother, full of emotions (like his mama), big heart, social, people gravitate towards him, funny (he does accents well and they change from sentence to sentence), sarcastic, loyal, impatient, has hustle and an  entrepreneurial spirit, blue collar guy, hates the idea of working for others, gets antsy when being idle or alone, bounces between gagster rap and country music.

M A S O N – 16.5 years-old, forever my baby, looks like his mama, has amazing hair and the best dimple (which he didn’t get from me), gentle-hearted introvert, great at self-entertaining, good at reading moods and checking in, gives hugs often, works hard, rocks at the tech stuff, is sometimes moody, thinks about his future, also loves to mountain bike, sentimental, great gift giver, thoughtful, funny and sarcastic, listens to a variety of music.

Now, on to part two of the most random post ever and also, you’re welcome.

So while I start my journey down a different road, I’m working on utilizing the skills that make me feel alive + of course, as always, I am finding joy in the ordinary along the way. A few have asked what I am up to. I’m coming off as secretive and I promise, that’s not my intention. I am actually really bad at keeping stuff in my head.

What’s happening over here is that I have a lot of things swirling in my brain and while I am working towards really honing in on what I want to do, it feels a wee bit jumbled BUT let me give you a snippet of what I am looking into.

First off, I am feeling really excited and also so grateful for the opportunity to be able to work towards my future goals. I have a hubby who can and does support our family but he also wants to retire in a few years so I need to work towards something that will help support us in the future.

I feel like my little window of setting this up is now. But the ability to do this makes me all kinds of grateful and I understand how fortunate I am to be in this place, with time and financial stability on my side. I am also still working my weekend retail job and doing their social media so I am still semi-employed.

The plan to utilize my love of quotes.

Over the years I have found joy in so many things but a couple that have been consistent are my love of lifting up others and quotes. I can look back at journals from my teen years and see where I have written down quotes, in books I highlight quotes, in my phone you’ll find screenshots of quotes and in my Instagram feed I’m sharing quotes. I am hoping to parlay this into a business.

Perhaps an online shop, maybe someday a brick + mortar. The skies the limit and this little community of mine has inspired me. I am lucky to call a few local business owners my friends and in that, I have found little lights leading me to my where I should be.

For the record, my husband doesn’t like the idea of a brick + mortar shop cause he would like to travel someday and doesn’t want to give up our time but I am just letting some of these ideas marinate and we shall see how they actually come to be.

The wheels are turning, friends. I really want to share the things that I love and inspire me. Maybe this is in the form of novelties and apparel. Please don’t ask me how many inspirational t shirts I own, I’ve lost count.

Coach or Parent Support System?

Something else that has really been calling to me for some time now is helping others. In what capacity? Well, I’ve tossed around the idea of going to school to become a therapist but honestly, the idea of starting school and being that involved in schooling for  the next 4-5 years doesn’t speak to me. I’ve also thought of looking into the world of coaching.

When I find myself surfing the internet, I am always pulled towards a persons ‘about’ page. I literally could spend all day reading about pages. Not kidding. I so love hearing and reading peoples stories. I love knowing who people are and hearing their why. I love the complicated and messy. I love the survivors. A lot of of this probably has to do with my own story that is filled with so many beautiful things but also lots of hard.

When we went through our extra hard parenting season a few years ago, parents started coming to me with their stories. In this, I realized that what we sometimes need most is someone to hear our story. We need someone to love us despite the messy. This sounds easy but it’s not. I felt like I had a great support system but I also felt like so many people didn’t or couldn’t get what I was going through.

There is a safety net in feeling like your story is understood. Especially when it comes to parenting. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs we can ever have, at times it can feel very isolating. Especially when things get messy. As parents, we often feeling judged for the choices that our kids have made. We are also feeling protective as we know the choices they make aren’t necessarily reflective of who they are at their core.

I sat with parents and shared their frustration and fears. I supported them as they weathered hard seasons. I cheered for them when things were good. I’m drawn to supporting others but there is something about seeing teens and their parents struggle that really tugs at my heart.

So when I talk about coaching, I am not exactly sure how to align all of these things but what I do know is that I want to wrap up these struggling teens and their parents in love. I think that there can be a lack of support from parents who don’t get it and so often, lifting up these kids while they struggle might just possibly be the life raft that they need. I’ve watched how some parents judged and pushed my child (and others) away. I’ve also watched parents lean in and love those kids extra hard. Where do you think the difference was made? I’ve seen first hand what that love can do for a struggling kid and their parents.

So this is a little peak into what I am working on. How it’ll all shake out isn’t certain but I will be working hard on what my future looks like. What I have promised myself is that I will work to do things that bring me joy and also allow me to share that joy with others. So basically, as seen above, wake up, kick ass, be kind and repeat.

Life is short and opportunities are everywhere. We all have passions and sometimes it takes awhile for those things to really come into focus but I am giving it my all.

My next steps are becoming a human sponge and absorbing a whole lot of information by reading + taking courses on all the things that are currently calling to me. The fire has been lit and I am so excited of what’s to come.

One of my current favorite songs is called Buy Dirt and the lyrics that I really love from that song is, do what you love and call it work. I know so many of us just go about our days doing what we do to pay the bills but I sure hope that more of us can spend our days doing what we love. We all have gifts to be shared. What are yours?

Thanks for sticking around and reading my ramblings. Stay tuned. I’m a work in progress over here ….