I'm a small town girl who came to the big city at 18 with big dreams and high hopes.  

I went to college, got a graduate degree in Accounting, got married, had two kids, a career, and a mortgage in between. Then it all bottomed out when I found out my husband was having an affair. 

Five years later I married my current husband and seven years after that we had a child together. I guess you can say, I'm such a smarty pants because I've lived the aftermath of divorce 24/7 for the last eighteen years.

In the two years leading up to my divorce, I got pregnant with my second child. Finals came and a week later my beautiful baby girl was born. I had managed to finish all my course work. Rah! All that remained was a thesis — then of course there was the CPA exam. Oh, and did I mention I was working full time?

With my thesis done, I attended the Becker CPA review in the evenings. By day I was attending an audit academy being trained to become a full fledged income tax auditor. It was a crazy time and it wasn't a stretch to say I had bitten off more than I could chew. D'ya think?

My husband, at the time, was working two jobs to pay off the debt from his construction business. He never slept. Finally, I convinced him to get a state job. A few months later he got a job at the same state agency as me. I worked days while he worked nights. We'd meet in the parking lot, trade keys, and I'd head home with the kids in his truck. It worked, that is, until he met her...

Then my life got interesting.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to see your spouse hold hands and frolic with someone else at your place of employment in front of you, just ask me. I can tell you sometime.

But what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. I didn't die, I chose to get stronger. And let me just tell you, by the time I was done every part of my mental and physical being was solid, ripped, and toned. Even my eyelashes had muscles!

My divorce was fairly quick. He moved in with his parents in February, I found out about her in March. I filed in April and six months later (the waiting period in California) we were divorced. Three weeks after that they were married.

It gets even better. Just listen.

Six months after that they filed for divorce! Then for the next five and a half years they had an on again, off again relationship until it finally ended. But it was during that first and second year when all the really crazy stuff happened to me, probably because I was still so hostile and I made a lot of mistakes—101 of them to be exact!

Fast forward, a few years later I wrote a book, 101 Things I Learned AFTER My Divorce, and it became an Amazon bestseller. That was 2008. I enjoyed the book writing process so much that I started writing novels and eventually I learned how to write movie scripts. 

How I learned to write movie scripts is a whole other story worth sharing. I'll have to tell you about it sometime in a post. But just to flavor the story it involves Nicholas Sparks, his brother's wife, his brother, and John Travolta. Three of these four peeps I personally know. That's all I will say here, because I am trying to make a point and this is it:

I never got my CPA license and I didn't stay an auditor for long. They called me the Refund Queen. I guess found it easier to give people their money back than take it. 

Did it bother me that I didn't get my CPA? In the beginning it stung, but looking back I realized I am very creative and creative accountants get themselves into trouble at some point. Blessing in disguise? Most definitely! Plus there was a bigger calling—I needed to be a mom to my kids and follow my passions.

In 2003, I married my soul mate, Todd Tuel. In 2010, at 44, I had my third child. To give you some perspective, I was pregnant at my oldest son's high school graduation!

Divorce was one of the hardest things I have ever been through emotionally, financially, and spiritually. I had superhero mentors and they made such a big impact on my life. I do this because I want to help others through what is a crucial journey because the growth that can come out of this is epic!

My journey eventually got me to where I wanted to be the most—writing and inspiring others with my words. I have been lucky enough to write and contribute to articles in several national publications including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Readers Digest, Details Magazine, and most recently I was invited to be a featured blogger on The Huffington Post Divorce Blog. I've done live t.v. and radio, crazy stuff like that well outside my comfort zone, but it has brought me to this place today where I am here to serve and help you, if you allow me to.

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As you read my blog, tune in to my podcasts, and you'll discover things about me like...