Hullo, friends!

So, by the time this newsletter goes out, my daughter will have completed her second heart cath. The first one was five years ago.

They don’t get easier.

Know what does get easier?

Planning. Preparing. Developing coping mechanisms. And finding tiny ways to make hard things a little softer.

I mean…other than my killer sense of humor, which was probably a factory setting. 😂

Here’s the thing: diamonds aren’t born from a gentle life.

Nope.

Carbon is subjected to extreme temperature and immense pressure, not just for a minute, but over a ridiculously long period of time.

And humans?

We’re carbon-based, too.

Which means maybe the pressure has a purpose.

You’re not breaking. You’re building.

So when life is lifeing super hard, when you’re trying to be better instead of bitter, and when despair is parked on your porch claiming eminent domain…channel your inner diamond.

Sparkle anyway.

Not because everything is fine, but because you are still here.

Harden your resolve. Protect your peace. Let yourself be transformed without letting life steal your softness.

And remember: just because you could cut a bish, it doesn’t mean you should.

Time to show life who’s boss.

It’s you. Always you.

—Nicole

People ask me how I do it.

How I stay functional in situations where they say they wouldn’t even know where to start.

The honest answer?

Practice.

My life has never been particularly dull. Once, before Kenna was born, my then-boyfriend and I bought a sailboat, which sounds romantic and adventurous. We took sailing lessons. And I have to tell you…I loved it. Every bit of it.

See, for a minute, when I was on the water, I forgot that my brand…is irony. Always an outcome different than what is expected. No matter how much I prepared.

Now that you know, maybe it won’t surprise you at all when I tell you our first big sail without an instructor ended with us demasted in Charleston over Fourth of July weekend.

I wish I were making that up.

I’m not.

So when I talk about planning, preparing, and protecting my peace, I’m not trying to be cute. I’m telling you how I learned to anchor myself when life gets chaotic.

And thanks to life, I feel a little like Liam Neeson’s character in Taken. He has a very particular set of skills. So do I.

Through practice and experience, I know how to look at a potential problem, see the variables, and break them down one by one.

And my biggest potential problem for the week? Kenna’s heart cath.

So in planning for this, I’ve had lots of thoughts. And it has come to my attention that the way I think through this…I’m not like other people.

What some people see:

Show up. Have the procedure. Go home.

What I see:

Life is unpredictable. Every day is another chance to win or learn. And the best stories and the biggest lessons rarely come from smooth sailing.

Ah, sailing.

What I rarely talk about is that sailing came naturally to me.

I could feel the breeze shift. I could feel the way it caught in the sail. I knew when to make tiny adjustments, when to hold steady, and when to respond instead of forcing the boat to do what I wanted.

At the helm, everything felt calmer. Clearer. Almost effortless.

And I think that’s how I’ve learned to navigate life, too.

Not by pretending I can control the wind.

By learning how to feel what’s changing, adjust the sail, and keep moving.

Every month, I’m going to share a few things I accomplished, finished, replaced, upgraded, or checked off from my Wishlist.

Partly for accountability.

Partly because I’m training my brain to notice progress.

And partly because I hope it inspires you to start noticing your own.

The Wishlist isn’t just about big, dreamy someday things. It’s also about the tiny upgrades, practical fixes, comfort items, and little quality-of-life shifts that make real life feel softer.

Here’s what I checked off in May:

1. Replaced Kenna’s weighted blanket.
She picked a pink unicorn one, and honestly? So worth it. Comfort counts. Especially during a week like this.

2. Replaced our broken duffle bag with a weekender bag.
The old duffle had a broken zipper. I do have luggage, but that felt like too much for this trip. Also, towing a suitcase while pushing a wheelchair sounded like a circus act I had no interest in performing.

The new weekender bag solved the problem beautifully. Bonus: Kenna immediately claimed the tiny toiletry bag for her toys and necessities, as one does.

3. Cleaned out and organized my closet.
The next step is adding closet organizers, but I’m not there yet. I have other purchases that are more pressing right now, and that’s part of the practice too: wanting things, prioritizing wisely, and letting progress happen in layers.

Tiny steps still count.

Especially the ones that make life easier.