Welcome to my world!

Here I am!

Hello to you all! Many faceless people who may, one day read this post! This is an idea that I have had for a long time now. At the risk of becoming a cliche, I am starting this personal blog as a place for me to keep and catalog my many many thoughts and feelings about the world. As seen from my own unique point of view.

Left to Right: Lucy, Matt, Adaline, Michaela and Stefanie

I am Stefanie. I am 33 years old and I live in Nashville, TN with my husband, Matt, and our 3 kids. Michaela, Lucy and Adaline. They are 7, almost 5 and 20 months. We also have a dog named Penny Lane who is 2 1/2. We have lived in Nashville for almost 8 years after growing up in Colorado. I love to read, sing, be a mom, hang out with my girlfriends, watch my husband perform, watch movies and spread love and acceptance.

Adaline and Penny Lane

I chose the name of this blog as "Colorado Girl in a Tennessee World" for many reasons. I literally was born and raised in Colorado and now live in Tennessee. So there's that. Also, I am someone who feels constantly stuck and pulled between multiple sides and points of view. I am a pretty liberal minded person nowadays. I have not always been that way. I was raised in the LDS church, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or Mormon church), which is a very conservative way of growing up. However, my parents are very accepting people. They have a live and let live mentality that I have adopted as well. As long as other people are not hurting anything, let them live their lives in the way that they want to and may they have happiness. I did not realize while growing up that this is not typical. A lot of people who grow up in strong Christian families may have felt like they were told who and what to be. Or how to be "acceptable" to your family or religion. I have only ever felt supported by my parents. They have not always agreed with my decisions and they will tell me that. But they also let me learn from my own circumstances and don't try and make me feel guilty for it. They have raised 6 very different children and they are very different from each other. But it works. I am grateful for them.

But through my own life experiences and travels and such I have moved way more to the other side of the political spectrum. Even among our group of friends, my husband, Matt and I are way more liberal minded then most of the other people surrounding us. We do live in the South after all. :) In this politically charged world today, I feel constantly pulled between different spectrums. I am pro marriage equality and equal pay and rights for all women, minorities and any group that is discriminated against. But my views on things like abortion are more on the conservative side. I don't think it should be totally against the law but it is definitely a very delicate situation. When a woman's life is in jeopardy I don't think it should be illegal for her to be saved if an abortion is necessary. Or in the case of rape or incest... all I am saying it there is no hard and fast or black and white answer.

I think that is the world we live in . It's gray. And I am happy that there are so many conversations happening that were not happening even 10 years ago. We talk about suicide, sexuality, depression, loss, grief, shame, worry, anxiety, disease and so many other things that have been taboo in the past. I think that is so important because I firmly believe that what we all want in this life is to know that we are not alone. We feel so alone in any suffering. I happen to believe that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are with us in all of our suffering but I also am well aware that, even if you believe in them and have a testimony of Jesus and his gospel and ministry, it is not a magic pill for solving suffering. We gain so so much from the community that comes with conversation. The knowledge that we are not alone in our suffering.

As you can see, I have many thoughts. I need a place to share them where I will not be judged or drawn into a debate. I am well aware that not everyone thinks like I do and even disagrees completely with me. That's ok. We all base our beliefs off of our experiences. So here is a place for me to document mine. I hope you will hang around and get to know me a little more as things progress. And if you disagree or anything I say strikes a nerve, GOOD! As I tell my kids, we are all different and that is what makes this world such an amazing place. It would be so boring if we all did and thought the same things! I am looking forward to this place to share. Thanks for reading!

Stef