Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Do you realize how many decisions we are faced with each day? Am I going to hit the snooze button? Should I wear my hair in a ponytail or a messy bun? Should I get a coffee on the way into work? Do I read my devotional? Do I cry now or in my car?…

Privileged

So I've gone through a few rough things in my life. "Few" is the term I'd like to highlight here as well as "have gone," meaning it was a temporary time in life. I lost my mom, I ended an engagement, I had a rough end to a relationship after moving across the country to…

Can’t Please Them All

Alright my little people pleasers. This one is for you. Well and for me too. I am for sure a people pleaser. Discussions usually go like this: "Hey, what do you feel like eating?" "Uh, I don't know what sounds good to you." "Yeah, but I asked you first." "No, but like, what sounds good…

Returning Back to Therapy During the Pandemic

Today the clinic I work at reopened.  Well, I guess before I go any further I should say this: This is not an opinion post about the COVID situation. This is simply a glimpse into what returning to in-person therapy has looked like in the midst of this pandemic and ways that may help you…

How to Not Hate Telehealth

Look, I know this whole situation we are in is weird. It's hard to navigate personally and professionally. I'm not going to lie, the day before we started telehealth, I had a good cry and I was a bit panicked. It felt like the first day of my clinical fellowship year (CFY) all over again.…

“Why”

This writing shindig is not for views, to share information I feel people might find relevant, to pay my bills, to be able to say, "Look what I accomplished." This writing thing is for 12-year-old Dani who saw her name in a byline for the first time. Revisiting that rather innocent joy reignited a fire, even if it's one I'll have to constantly stoke.  

What I’ve Learned as a Nomad SLP

Well, I guess I've been doing this travel shindig for a bit of time. I feel like a bad travel SLP because I stayed so long at my last assignment but I also feel like I've been a travel SLP from the start when I moved to North Carolina after graduation. Since graduating, I've held…

The Recipe

"...I bet that's what it's like when you're old and grey, sitting with your human on the porch on a warm summer evening as you watch the sun go down. I bet you turn to them, seeing the years you've spent together in the smile lines that permanently frame their eyes and rest along the corners of the lips you've yet to grow tired of kissing."

The Switch

Well, I am headed into a week I was excitedly anticipating for some time but now as it's finally here, I'm wanting time to slow down a bit. I'm currently in Indianapolis until Tuesday doing onboarding at the Hopebridge corporate offices. I'll head back to Marion Wednesday through Friday and Friday night, I'll take some…

Permission

The internet is pretty rad, honestly.  I'm sitting here, waiting for my car to be serviced.  It's a gloomy day.  I had a cup of coffee next to me, curled up in the comfy chair in the Toyota lounge. It was the perfect time to write.  So I started to write.  That's a lie.  I…

The Messy Year

It's been just about a year of gettin' messy through this blog.  6k views after the end of the year with over a 1k of those being in December. Is that a huge deal in the blogosphere? Nope.  Is that a big deal in the Danisphere? 100%. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes…

The Year of Brave

Alright, reader.  Bear with me here.  This is going to be word vomit at its finest. As are you, I am beginning not just a new year but a new decade.  Yesterday was filled with a furious flee from work to get off the snow and ice frosted roads.  It was new faces, old stories,…

Saudade: A Brain Dump

I feel I've been slacking on the posts lately but that actually makes me quite happy.  For a time, I was clinging to this blog.  Now, I'm finding it as a supplement versus all that I have.  I've started writing outside of the blog. I've started what might be a book or another unfinished project.  I write…

Jaded Brain

Okay, I'm trying something new.  I have some acoustic music on but it's not super moody like I usually go for.  My belly is filled with water and chocolate and my eyes are heavy after a fun and busy weekend away.  My Sunday blues are at an all-time high and my heart is happy. I…

The Adventure

I'm an Enneagram One.  I don't just give a shit about what other people think.  I give all the shits about what other people think.  The other week, I answered a phone call from my friend and was met with, "I just don't care what people think anymore." "Uh," I responded. "I still do." It's true.  I…

Spiritual Love Language

It's Sunday morning and I have found myself at my favorite coffee shop once again. Recently, when I'm actually home in Elwood, my Sunday mornings have consisted of an early walk with the pup, me putting on a few swipes of mascara and dusting my hair with dry shampoo, and driving to my favorite coffee…

Alert Enjoyment

Close your eyes, people.  Picture this with me.  Okay, no. Don't close your eyes. That's going to make it hard to read.  Hmm. Let's try something else. Take a deep breath and think of a running trail.  Surrounding it are beautiful trees, painted with fall leaves.  The air is crisp but not so much your…

Present

Oh, the post-vacation blues are here.  I'm finding myself more and more stepping into this role of "writer".  For the longest time, I always told people I liked to write but it was not until recently that I started saying, "I am a writer."  I'm unsure of what it is that frightens me about saying…

Who Am I?

Moody, acoustic music? Check.  Coffee? Check.  Mini vacation inspiration? Check, check.  Ah, must be time to write. I love South Bend.  It's about two hours north of where I am currently living, yet it feels a world away.  While I am keeping an eye out for my next international adventure, I am thoroughly enjoying exploring…

Alexa, play *NSYNC Christmas Radio.   Ah, the holiday season.  I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I think there is always going to be a slight tinge of grief during the holidays. As I've mentioned before, I now look at grief as more of an old friend.  This old friend brings fond memories and…

What If?

Now that the potential what ifs are out of the way and what might happen has been discussed, I think it's time to move forward and do all I can to ensure that despite those potentials, life is lived boldly.

The Last Page

As I ventured back to Indiana from California yesterday, I sat next to a middle aged gentleman on my flight from San Diego to Detroit.  He was a chatty son of a gun, asking me questions that, in the moment, I had no desire to talk about.  He told me about his job, his upbringing…

Scarred

Ah, the familiar feeling of the click, clack of the keyboard underneath my eager writer's fingers.  It's been a bit and as I sat down tonight with my hot drink and my acoustic music on in the background, a soft smile of anticipation and excitement made its way to my face. Oh, how life continues to…

Some Days

As I've mentioned before, I'm an enneagram 1.  I like neat and tidy. Well, I like life to be neat and tidy.  My apartment? Nah, don't care.  My office space? Negative. Mess it up.  My life? Just so, please. Lack of perfection and order stresses me out.  It makes me want to fix it.  I…

Adventuring

It wasn't until I took Rocky to the vet yesterday that I realized I've already been here in Indiana for four months.  That means it's been four months at this job, four months in this apartment, four months into deployment, four months into finding out what this season of life is all about.  I like…

Awkward Fall

I have countless drafts that I've started.  Most of them are drafts I've stopped midway and deemed not good enough.  As I feel I've transitioned into a different season in life, I'm trying to find out what my voice is right now.  I no longer feel like a heartbroken chicken running around with her head…

Wandering Mind

So, I've told very few people but I've signed up for a half marathon in two weeks.  Yikes. Yeah, I know. Bold move but we're rolling with it.  It was one of my 2019 goals and well, I was running out of time to put it off.  Mike has graciously put together a plan for…

Weekly Lessons #4

Week 4! Woo! Almost didn't make it, but here I am on this fine Sunday evening, word vomiting.  Gosh, what a week it's been.  It was only a 4 day work week but it felt like such a long one.  So, let's get into these good ol' weekly lessons shall we? - Baby steps are still…

Diverting from the Plan

As I've mentioned before, I am a Type 1 enneagram.  I like rules.  My poor CrossFit coach in NC, Joe, can tell you that I'm the one asking a million questions at the beginning of a workout.  If the workout said building to a heavy for X amount of reps, I was almost always headed…

Weekly Lessons #3

Another weekly post, another self-five.  I think this one will be [relatively] concise. I am 10 weeks into this 16-week assignment here in IN. The lessons out here keep on coming and I know I'm going to be forever grateful for this time here.  I am not coping well with the idea of leaving and leaving…

Weekly Lessons #2

Another week, some more lessons.  I mean, can I just get a virtual high five for the two weeks of consistent(ish) posting?!  Self-fiving for sure. Let's get this show on the road then, shall we?  I'm sippin' on this oat milk CBD latte and I am ready to get some words out.  Yes, I know. …

Why I Stopped Trying to Be a “Good” Christian

How's that title? Catchy enough for ya? Also, giving myself a "self-five" because I am here posting twice in one weekend.  Go, Dani! The blog post is distracting me from the thunderstorm going on outside, which is making me nervous.  I'm from California, friends.  I do earthquakes, not tornadoes.  Any moderately strong wind I see…

Weekly Lessons

Okay, I'm trying something new.  This is me attempting to have a "series" of sorts because, well, this blog is basically a cluster of random thoughts and rants.  I am trying to have some continuity here.  To preface these posts, I think they'll work just like my brain does: I'll have a little something about working…

One Size (Does Not) Fit All

Oh my.  Has it already been over a month since I last posted on here? Sheesh.  What a month it has been.  I am currently starting week six here in Indiana with a growing pup by my side, literally, and a handsome man by my side, figuratively, for the time being.  Six weeks have brought…

ASHA Leader Article!

Hello all! I am super excited.  Quite a few months back, I wrote a guest post for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) blog.  To be honest, I didn't initially get a response back and figured they didn't like my post.  Oh well!  Then, just about a week or so ago, I got an email saying that my…

A Whole New World (As a New Clinician)

Welp, hello from Indiana!  This past weekend I packed up my car, said "goodbye" to Fayetteville, NC, and drove my little puppers and me to Elwood, Indiana. This week I started my newest journey as a travel SLP.  Oh man, what a new experience this has been.  As if that wasn't enough,  I am in…

Confining Narrative

Oh, it's been longer than I'd like since my fingers have been on the keyboard for something other than work documentation or new job tasks.  While I love my job, it's nice to step back, take off my speech pathologist hat, and put on my writer hat.  Hmm.  What would my writer hat look like? …

Have faith?

You just have to have faith.  Do I agree with this statement?  Sure do.  I think faith is sometimes all that gets us through the more difficult times in life.  If you're a Christian, you probably read that and related it to faith in God's plan.  I have a small cynical side that has emerged recently. …

Solitude

Dictionary.com defines solitude as the "state of being or living alone"  Some of the synonyms for solitude are "isolation, loneliness, emptiness, seclusion." I don't know about you, but to me, those words have a negative connotation.  Like, I have never once uttered the words, yeah, I totally thrive in my loneliness.  Yeah, no, not my jam. It's hard…

Word vomit

This is the first blog post I have so far that doesn't have a title before I write the post.  I'm sitting here, with my moody music on, just wanting to feel the keys beneath my fingers and the emotions pour out.  Gosh, it's been an emotional week.  Does the full moon mess with anyone…

Mine is bigger than yours

“Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.” – Alfred Adler Did I get your attention with that title? I was initially going to title this post, "Pissing Contest", but I worried what my grandmother might think when she saw me post…

Worth

It’s incredible to me how quickly I gave my worth away.  My worth has always been placed in the hands of others.  I cared (and still do sometimes) so deeply about what others think of me.  I didn’t like disappointing my parents, so I tried my best to avoid it by “following the rules”.  I…

Lacquer and Gold

If you will, take a moment and picture your heart as a piece of handmade pottery.  It can take whatever shape you choose, with whatever colors or designs you'd like.  Picture this heart of yours as a simple, yet elegant piece.  It's beautiful.  This isn't some Color-Me-Mine type dish your 3 year old made.  Not…

Still

I hate being still.  I suck at meditating. I hate rest days from the gym.  I hate days off.  I'm weird, I know.  Is it a strength? Yes.  Totally.  I own that.  However, it's also a major weakness.  I am constantly striving.  I am constantly looking at what's next. Two years ago, I was engaged and…

Confrontation

I feel like I have to start this post by saying I hate confrontation.  I mean, I know a lot of people do and this isn't some special quality of mine.  I'm the type to be just silently peeved at whatever is bothering me and make little snippy comments here and there.  However, if I…

(Wo)man in the mirror

My coworker and I frequent at the same local Starbucks.  There's a barista there and he often offers up the most interesting compliments.  "I like your height," he told me one day.  I was taken aback.  I don't know that's a compliment I frequently hear.  I laughed about it, thanked him, and sleepily moved to…

Busyness

I have a confession: I'm one of those annoying people that loves being busy and loathes idle time, yet, I often will vent about how stressed I am or how tired I am. Then, the moment I have a shred of downtime, I am going crazy!  It's a sickness, really. In preparation for this post, I pulled up…

Fully known

The past 2 weeks at my church here in Fayetteville, NC, we have been studying Psalm 42.  Here are the first few verses. "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and appear before God?…

Get Messy

Ah, it's a beautiful thing to have purpose and passion as my fingers click-clack away on my keyboard.  I've been here before.  I was a part of a wonderful blog about 6.5 years ago and since then, I've been searching for something worthy of blog posts.  I expected out of myself perfection.  I expected whatever I…