#adventure

August 2, 2022

Grief and Trauma Labels

What Are Grief and Trauma? A quick Google search and I found definitions for grief and trauma. Grief is a “deep sorrow caused when something or someone you love has been taken away.” Trauma is an “emotional response to a distressing experience.” So on first glance one would think the two are somewhat related. I Continue reading

Thoughts and Notes, Uncategorized

#adventure, #bluewidow, #complicatedgrief, #diagnosis, #emdr, #emdrtherapy, #findingpeace, #grief, #griefandtrauma, #healing, #hope, #loss, #peace, #ptsd, #therapy, #trauma, #travel, #widow, #widowchronicles
July 27, 2022

A Horseback Ride in Colorado

Horseback Ride? Heck YES! While on my second visit to this wildly adventurous state, I took a horseback ride through the mountains. It’s been a minute since I took this trip to Colorado but I’ve been wanting to tell you about it. I’ll begin by saying I had no idea what I was in for Continue reading

Destinations, Uncategorized

#adventure, #bluewidow, #colorado, #findingpeace, #horse, #horsebackriding, #mountains, #outdoors, #peace, #scenic, #stables, #trails, #travel, #wanderlust, #waterfall, #widow, #widowchronicles, roadtrip
July 22, 2022

Speaking Up and Confronting Fears

Speaking Up with Boundaries I’ve never been the one for speaking up for myself. I admit, I’m a people pleaser. In my childhood I dared not speak my mind. This action always met with fierce condemnation. Therefore I learned quickly not to speak up for myself. This carried into my adolescent and adult life. There Continue reading

Thoughts and Notes, Uncategorized

#abandonment, #adventure, #anxiety, #anxietydisorder, #behaviors, #bluewidow, #boundaries, #confrontation, #confrontingfear, #fear, #findingpeace, #grief, #love, #peace, #relationships, #roadtrip, #selfdiscovery, #speakingup, #speakup, #widow, #widowchronicles
July 19, 2022

Feeding My California Love

How My California Love Started My love for California started six years ago. I flew in to Ontario airport for the Nocturnal Wonderland Festival in the hills outside San Bernardino. The drive to the hotel was almost an hour. I remember thinking the landscape looked similar to Las Vegas but then it didn’t. That weekend Continue reading

Destinations, On The Road

#adventure, #attractions, #bluewidow, #california, #californialove, #findingpeace, #grief, #losangeles, #peace, #roadtrip, #sanfrancisco, #tourist, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles
July 16, 2022

Tattoo Convention in Pamona, CA

Arriving for the Tattoo Convention I had the good fortune of traveling to California recently. The Body Art Expo in Pamona, California was in June and I attended with my good friend and tattoo artist Rich Shires of Tattoo 42 in Beaverton, Oregon. Flying into LAX on Saturday evening was an experience in itself. I’ve Continue reading

Destinations, On The Road

#adventure, #bluewidow, #california, #convention, #la, #lax, #losangeles, #roadtrip, #tattoo, #tattooconvention, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles
July 11, 2022

Alive and Well in KCMO

Lucy’s Traveling and Health Check Hi everyone! It’s been a few weeks since the last update, and Lucy has been on the go. She is alive and well and made the trip to Indiana and back for the memorial. After Indiana, we traveled to Kansas City, Missouri where she has been for a couple of Continue reading

Lucy’s Adventures

#adventure, #bluewidow, #cat, #feline, #healthupdate, #kansascity, #kcmo, #kitty, #lucyupdate, #ontheroad, #travel, #travelcat, #wanderlust, #widowchronicles, roadtrip
July 8, 2022

One More Year and Another Birthday

Navigating Another Birthday At the beginning of this journey after losing my spouse, I was unable to cope with my feelings. At all. Unable to feel the correct feelings or over feeling seemed to last longer than I expected. In 2020 my husband left just before my birthday. I had a few friends and family Continue reading

Thoughts and Notes, Uncategorized

#adventure, #anotherbirthday, #birthday, #birthdaycake, #bluewidow, #cake, #emotions, #feelings, #findingpeace, #fireworks, #fourthofjuly, #grief, #peace, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles
July 3, 2022

My Engagement Ring, A Love Story

Engagement Ring Shopping, NOT I love Tiffany & Co. I try to visit every store I can when I find one. The service is exceptional and I just love the iconic jewelry. I enjoy everything about just being inside the store. The quote from Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany’s is true “…nothing very bad Continue reading

Thoughts and Notes, Uncategorized

#adventure, #bluewidow, #diamond, #engagement, #engagementring, #findingpeace, #grief, #loss, #love, #peace, #portland, #portlandor, #ring, #roadtrip, #tiffany&co, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles
June 3, 2022

About My Leg- The Other Tattoo Story

St. James Here is the other tattoo story I told you I would get to. It’s about my leg. Well my leg is where it landed, the tattoo was happening regardless. This tattoo idea actually started way back in the early 2000’s. If you are a Louisville native then you probably have heard of the Continue reading

Destinations, Uncategorized

#adventure, #blacktattoo, #bluewidow, #findingpeace, #florida, #grief, #kanjitattoo, #legtattoo, #newtattoo, #peace, #roadtrip, #sacredarttattoo, #tattoo, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles
May 31, 2022

Healing A Tattoo? How Does Tattoo Wrap Help?

Have You Had Problems Healing A Tattoo? Do you want to protect your new tattoo as it heals? Often daily activities can get in the way of your aftercare which can inhibit proper healing of a tattoo. This can result in longer healing times, damage to artwork and skin, and overall complications. Are you looking Continue reading

Thoughts and Notes, Uncategorized

#adventure, #aftercare, #artist, #artwork, #bandage, #bodymod, #healing, #healingtattoo, #hydrocolloid, #newart, #newtattoo, #tattoo, #tattoowrap, #travel
May 28, 2022

New Tattoos And More Adventure

A different direction I got new tattoos. It’s a subject I haven’t talked about much. The whole process of thinking and doing was all very emotional because as we all know, my old artist (my husband Eric) is no longer with us. This left me with a lot of unfinished work. After owning a tattoo Continue reading

Destinations, Uncategorized

#adventure, #aftercare, #armtattoo, #beavertonoregon, #bluewidow, #direction, #findingpeace, #grief, #healing, #newtattoo, #peace, #tattoo, #tattoo42, #tattoocoverup, #tattooshop, #tattoowrap, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles, roadtrip
May 27, 2022

Pendleton Oregon

Portland to Pendleton Oregon I passed through Pendleton Oregon as I drove Interstate 84 out of The Dulles and the Columbia River Gorge traveling from Portland to Boise. I have driven this stretch of highway twice now and both times was in awe by this mountain that rises up in a distance. The climb is Continue reading

Destinations, Uncategorized

#adventure, #bluemountains, #bluewidow, #deadmanpass, #findingpeace, #grief, #highway, #lookout, #mountains, #oregon, #peace, #pendletonlookout, #pendletonoregon, #reststop, #travel, #wanderlust, #widow, #widowchronicles, roadtrip

About Me and My Grief Journey

My grief journey began in the Summer of 2020. I became a widow overnight. Without warning, my entire life was turned upside down, broken into pieces I didn’t know how to put back together. Writing became my anchor—my way to breathe, process, and heal, even in small, fractured moments.

After losing Eric, I was diagnosed with PTSD, complicated grief, and an anxiety disorder. For a long time, I was paralyzed by my own emotions. I traveled across the U.S. for over two years, mostly alone, learning how to carry myself through the aftermath of sudden loss.

Along the way, I found love again. Greg became an important part of my life, bringing companionship, laughter, and even new challenges. Losing him to suicide has been another unimaginable heartbreak that shapes much of what I write here. Through it all, my emotional support animals —Odin (dog) and Freija (cat)— keep me grounded and remind me there is still love, life, and care to give.

I moved and now reside in Chicago, Illinois. This city, this home, is my space to rebuild, to grieve, and to explore who I am beyond loss.

What you will find here

This blog started as a place to house my writing. Over time, it’s become much more. Here, I reflect on grief, healing, and the messy, beautiful, often difficult journey of life after sudden loss. I write about my day-to-day experiences, the struggles and triumphs with my diagnoses, and anything else that captures my heart and attention.

My journey on podcasts

Many of my articles are available in podcast form on Spotify and Amazon Music. I welcome your comments—I love feedback. Let’s share this journey together, and maybe find adventure along the way.

Blue Widow Chronicles

#adventure

Grief and Trauma Labels

A Horseback Ride in Colorado

Speaking Up and Confronting Fears

Feeding My California Love

Tattoo Convention in Pamona, CA

Alive and Well in KCMO

One More Year and Another Birthday

My Engagement Ring, A Love Story

About My Leg- The Other Tattoo Story

Healing A Tattoo? How Does Tattoo Wrap Help?

New Tattoos And More Adventure

Pendleton Oregon

About Me and My Grief Journey

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