Welcome!

 Hey y'all, welcome to Pieces of Pietz!

I want to give a brief introduction of what you can expect here and also share a little bit about myself. To start, I'm what you'd refer to as an elder millennial. Born in that magical window of the early eighties, just shy of generation X. I also fall into some of the lesser than pleasant statistics; broken home, teen pregnancy, high school drop out, divorcee. When I reached my thirties, I had an epiphany; I was going to stop trying to make up for my past and start living in the present. It was after I made that decision that I met the man of my dreams (or as he would say, he found me), we got hitched, blended our two families into one to become a family of seven and embarked onward to new, happier adventures.

Then life happened, as it always does, throwing a monkey wrench in our plans to live in a blissful state of euphoria. My husband, a wounded combat veteran, started to rapidly see a decline in his overall health. Mentally, he was battling PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), depression and anxiety. Physically, he was loosing feeling throughout his lower body, suffering from debilitating migraines almost daily, symptoms that we would later learn were affects of his multiple traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) from multiple blasts during his deployments, and a slew of other health concerns that quickly reset our focus.  I was thrusted into the role of being his full-time caregiver, advocating for him, navigating the Veteran's Administration and his medical care, nothing I was prepared for nor could anyone truly foresee. It took many years to finally get my husband the care he deserved, and the battle to maintain it: never ending. 

We made a rather big choice, as a family, to move from our home state of Missouri to Tennessee. Mainly, we wanted to be closer to my husband's family, but, we also wanted the chance to raise our kids a differently than we had been raised in a busy city. A change of pace really. Life in general in rural Tennessee is just slower. Less people, less traffic (in some areas), less noise - all mixed with beautiful scenery and a chance to raise our family here was an opportunity we couldn't pass. Now, we have three acres, a small homestead, with a beautiful home (needs a little updating), and kids that are thriving, at least most of the time!

After all this time, I found myself quickly approaching the big four-zero birthday. It has been looming in the back of my mind along with questions like, "How did this happen so fast?" and "I thought I'd have this accomplished or at least that..." 

Which brings me to the purpose of "Pieces of Pietz". I've had other blogs before at different phases of my life. I love to write. I'm not necessarily any good at it, but I do enjoy putting pen to paper or pecking away at a keyboard into the wee hours of the morning. My problem (at least one of them), I could never settle on one niche or direction. I tend to ramble on and on in twenty different directions at any given moment. Then, during the Pandemic of  2020, for the first time in my life, I actually had TIME to think about what I wanted to do. The idea was born to not try to limit myself, instead, I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts about anything and everything! 

So, I thought about the things I am good at; being a wife, a mother, a friend (short list, right?). Next, I made a list of the things I enjoyed doing; writing, photography, crafting, gardening, decorating, shopping, cooking, caring for animals-nature-people, giving, laughing, dancing, dreaming, and of course - sleeping! Now, I'm not a master at any of these things. Instead, "Pieces of Pietz" will hopefully be that blog that you think of when you need to laugh or feel inspired. My hope is that it will console those needing consoling, empower those that feel powerless, and acknowledge that none of us really know what the heck we are doing anyways. 

A few topics I will be sharing; motherhood, adulthood (is anyone ready?), veteran caregiver ups and downs, learning to homestead (still a novice!), my personal wellness journey, homemaking in a modern world (cleaning, cooking, decorating, etc.), craft projects, family adventures and anything that makes up my world! I'll also share videos from my YouTube channel Pieces of Pietz too, because sometimes, you just need to see it in action!

In sharing all these little pieces of myself with y'all, I hope this little blog finds it's place and offers something to readers that will have you returning over and over again!