Welcome to Life in Stepping Stones!
My name is Justine and I’m a stay-at-home-mom original from California raising our two wonderful kids in New Zealand!
One thing you’ll learn quickly about me through reading my blogs is that I’m an eternal optimist. While I may struggle on days and have plenty of fears and doubts, I always have to find a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s through this mindset that I hope I can help others going through similar struggles to what I’ve experienced. From manipulative and verbally abusive family or bosses, running a challenging business, suffering a missed-miscarriage, or just dealing with the complexity of parenting, I hope to help reassure you that you’re not alone, and hopefully, help you find and make peace with your own experiences.
Before even turning 30, I managed to have a lot of crazy adventures over the years. My life dove into hyper drive after my parents supported my decision to drop out of high school at 16 years old. From there on out, I feel like I’ve been on a perpetual race track, driving myself at super speed from one milestone to the next. The best stop along the way was meeting my husband on a family vacation to New Zealand when I was 18. The path our love has taken me on has been by far my greatest accomplishment, as it led me to our wonderful family and my lifelong dream of being a stay-at-home-mom.
Over the years, I’ve worked in graphic design and film editing, ran a film set, owned a restaurant, and recorded a CD. I’ve always been passionate about the arts and since becoming a SAHM, I have figured out ways to incorporate these passions into the life I lead today. Now, I channel these energies into creating songs about my life and pregnancies, editing videos of our family, and creating crafts (sometimes for months on end) for my son’s birthday parties. I’ve also started teaching myself new things that I never thought I could do like cook and sew! I have so many dietary restrictions from being celiac and dairy-intolerant to being allergic to corn, peppers, and coconut, that I have had no choice over the years but to create my own recipes! Thankfully, I’m married to an award winning chef, so once I have his approval, I know its a winner!
Please have a look around my site and enjoy!
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