My husband, Randy, and I married in 1995 and each of us brought two children to our marriage: Randy – Adrianne (10 yr old daughter), Payton (5 yr old son); Gayla – Jamie (5 yr old daughter), Jodi (2 1/2 yr old daughter).  We had a child together after six years of marriage, Nathan.

Our early years of marriage were difficult and blending our children didn’t come easily. I had been raised in a traditional home with parents who have now been married 60 years, and I struggled as I sought to heal from my divorce and learn to stepparent effectively. 

But in my stepparenting challenges, I found answers through professional counselors, stepfamily authorities, and guidance from the Lord. Randy and I learned how to parent together and form a united team with our stepparenting efforts. We gained the respect of our stepchildren and learned to love and accept each of them unconditionally.

I have a Master’s degree in Psychology/Counseling which helps me better understand human behavior and how we can influence behavior around us through our own actions. I understand the difficulties of stepfamily life, including: loyalty conflicts, birth order changes, rebellious stepchildren, holiday strife, competing schedules, financial struggles, and difficult ex-spouses, just to name a few.

I’ve been helping stepfamilies for more than a decade and look forward to assisting you in finding success on your stepparenting journey. Please sign up for my mailing list so I can inform you of upcoming resources and stepfamily announcements. Call for a free consultation if you want to explore stepfamily coaching and subscribe to my blog to receive regular posts through e-mail or RSS.