Woah. Talk about a major break from blogging. I have been so swept up in motherhood and in launching my wellness company, Mindful Mamas, that I haven’t even had time to breathe let alone write for Love & LaRock.

It’s been my biggest honor to take you behind the scenes into my life. Shy away from the hard topics? Not me! I’ve taken you into the depths of postpartum depression, the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood, navigating career changes, and more. Today, I want to pull back the curtains a bit and talk about what it’s been like to pour our entire life-savings into my new business venture, Mindful Mamas—a wellness company geared toward teaching moms and moms-to-be how to live their best life through self-care and mindfulness.

So ready to get the deets? I am answering the top question I have received on how running a start-up company has affected and enhanced my marriage. Let’s do this.

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post about marriage. I have been pretty quiet postpartum after having Lennon for a few reasons, but I am ready to open back up and begin sharing candidly on this space.

This time around, I felt like I have been very protective about not sharing too much too soon. I have needed time to process events such as my birth story (which I promise, I will share in the near future), adjusting to a family of four and how my son’s birth has played into my ever evolving identity as both Terra and a Mom.

We are less than five weeks away from welcoming baby and our household has been in full swing. We are purging things we don’t need, washing things we do, and setting things up. Last night, I didn’t sleep well (hello pregnancy insomnia) and in the middle of the night, I opened my eyes, grabbed Perry’s hand and thought about how all in I am with this man.

Next week, Perry and I will begin couple's counseling. From a communication standpoint, our marriage is stronger than ever. We are both really happy, but we feel like we need some extra support in our life as we move towards life with two kids. 

It’s no surprise that parents like us are getting creative when it comes to juggling our kids, work, and “me” time. I am often asked how I am able to fit in my meditation practice while I have both young kids at home in quarantine. Simple answer: I include them. Today I am partnering with Brilli, to show you three easy ways to set up your mindfulness space with kids (even if it’s in the middle of the kitchen).

My dear friends asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate my 35th birthday this year and I immediately reverted into my punk rock/rastafari teenage self (cue Bob Marley music and purple-tipped hair here) and said “oh, let's create vision boards.”

I went straight back to my fifteen-year-old self when every single one of my school binders was covered in magazine collages highlighting my celebrity crushes (hi Brandon Boyd from Incubus), words that inspired me, places I wanted to travel to, and more.

This summer, I made a conscious decision to better nurture myself in the morning. I was so used to waking up and diving headfirst into the hustle and bustle that by the time 9 AM rolled around, I was already feeling depleted. I partnered with MegaFood® to bring you 5 quick and effective ways to make sure you are making time for self-care in the morning.

The mantra, “Sometimes the body takes a back seat while the heart is busy” came during a thirteen hour work day. My partner and I were preparing a pitch deck for a potential investor that wanted to see our plans to bring The Mindful Mamas Club to life in the form of a self-care and mindfulness app for mothers and mothers-to-be. We had been working tirelessly and during a quick stretching break, we were laughing about how tight and stiff our bodies felt. 

LIVE & LAROCK has officially launched and our first guest was Casey Goode, the content creator and founder of Officially Quigley.

Every month, I will be going live on my Instagram stories to interview and feature someone doing really incredible work. I will interview those who are selfless, resilient, giving and uplifting. People like Casey, who are just all around so infectious and amazing to be around.

I read somewhere that when babies are born they have no idea that they are actually separate entities from you. They literally think that they are you...that your hands are their hands, that your heartbeat beats for them.

My sweet grandmother was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer about a month ago. She has played such an integral role in my upbringing and I couldn’t stand not seeing her right away. So at 35 weeks and some change, Perry, Winter and I jumped on a plane to Oklahoma to see her.

We spent much of our days talking at the kitchen table, enjoying the garden outside and listening to my grandmother’s favorite records. Our time together was magic. I am so thankful I was able to get out there when I could.

The other day I stopped off at the local greenhouse to purchase a plant for the baby’s nook in our room. I chose a string of pearls, which is one of the plants we incorporated into our wedding decor and have had ever since. It’s currently sitting on our window sill in our bedroom and I can’t wait until our sweet baby is here to enjoy it as well. The string of pearls has always symbolized the connectedness of our family and friends to each other and I know that this baby will make the best addition to our little family.