family – Page 2 – Tiffany Shearn

Soccer and a Giveaway

It has been a while since I blogged. I feel as though I am finding my feet again to be able to step in the right direction. While my chest still feels tight, straining against the weight I imagine on my shoulders, there are moments and days I can take for myself now.

Soccer Week

Last Sunday, I had a booth at the Wizard’s School put on by Wizards of Washington. The charity organization does a wonderful job supporting local authors, so I was one of around eight authors offering my books. I went straight from the event to the OL Reign game that evening, so I did not have time to change. While only one person commented on my Renaissance attire, I’m sure other soccer fans wondered what drove my strange garb.

I mixed up a couple of boxes, and my partner had to make a trip home and back to bring copies of Hidden Promise. Oops!

Friday was another Reign game and a special event for many soccer fans. Megan Rapinoe announced her retirement earlier this year, and Friday’s game was her final home match of her final NWSL season. I envy her confidence and self-assurance in the face of controversy and opposition. A record-breaking crowd turned out to see her off and thank her for her contributions to US women’s soccer and other social issues.

Finally, Saturday was fan appreciation night for the Sounders. After over a decade, I have still yet to win any of the big screen giveaways, but my sister and I got a lunch box they were offering out front and some championship trinkets. Both weekend games were exciting, despite ending up as draws.

Upcoming Giveaway!

I teased this on Facebook yesterday, and there will be more posts about it in the coming days. In celebration of reaching the fifty-review mark for Hidden Memory on Amazon (thank you all!), I’m giving away another paperback copy of one of my books!

The entry process will be similar to last time, where I will receive entries via replies to the October newsletter. If you signed up for my newsletter at the faire this summer, I will add all those emails this week. If you don’t see a welcome email by Friday, I recommend signing up on the website.

This event will be open to all, but I’m capping shipping at $25. If you are outside the USA and win, I would ask that you cover the difference in shipping or it would go to another person randomly selected.

If you win, you will be able to pick the Hidden Series book you want to receive. So, if you have the first three already, I’ll hold your win until Hidden Strength comes out and send you that one if it is your selection. Your reviews mean the world to me, and I am so excited to send another signed copy of my book to another recipient.

Not Alright

The last month or so has been a significant struggle for me. I have felt overwhelmed, depressed, and at a loss for how to move forward. Many factors have contributed to the situation, and not all are entirely negative. The combination has driven me to the point where my emotional cup is full and every additional trigger sends it overflowing.

I’m working through the challenges. My husband has been an immense pillar of support, taking on more in the home and providing administrative support for the business. He and my sister were also extremely helpful with the Renaissance Faire over the last three weekends. I would not be where I am today without their help and support.

My blog posts and social media have not been as reliably regular as in the past. The timing will continue to be a bit sparse for a while longer. Something has to give while I recover my time, but it will not last forever.

To shift my focus, I want to highlight a few of the good things that have happened recently.

The Renaissance Faire was an immense success. I met many wonderful people and received overwhelmingly positive feedback on my books. On top of the faire, I have also received five more reviews on Amazon, hitting the fifty mark, and more people are reading through the series.
My business is going well in most areas. While I have felt back at square one, it is well beyond that point with potential upside remaining.
I took some time last weekend for myself. I went to a family lunch, watched TV, sat with my cats, and made some jam.

I will continue to push forward, focus on the positive, and take my counselor’s advice to apply the skills for emotional management. One day at a time, I will work to get back on track and find my balance. In the meantime, everyone please give my alpha readers some encouragement as they work through the draft of Hidden Strength.

(If you are curious about the muffin picture, I have also treated myself to chocolate muffins.)

World Cup 2023 Begins!

How many nights in a week can I go with only three hours of sleep? We might find out in the coming month with the world cup being played in New Zealand and Australia. The majority of the games are scheduled to start between midnight and three AM in my local time zone. I should be grateful the times are not during the work day. I don’t think I could spare the time away to watch at all if they were.

The first US game was Friday early evening against Vietnam. While I don’t think this US team has the same flare as the one in 2019, they are still fun to watch. The rest of the world is also catching up in quality, which is making for much closer matches than in the past. It’s exciting to see the progress of women’s soccer, and I hope that starts to better translate to things like jersey availability, broadcast contracts, and especially pay.

For the group stage, I have the US, Canada, and England on my calendar for reminders, and then all the games in the knockout round. A handful of players from the OL Reign were called up for the world cup to play for their countries, so I’m excited to see what they can do there before coming back to Seattle for the remainder of the NWSL season.

Rapinoe is still my favorite. She brings such energy to the game right along with her attitude. She might be younger than me, but I still want to be her when I grow up. The combination of confidence and consideration in the face of the vehemence she far too often receives is reflective of inner strength I can only imagine.

On the field, I would have liked to have seen more shots on target for the US. Given the control, opportunities, and skill, you would expect more fireworks. Vietnam put up a good effort, but it couldn’t stop the shots from eventually chipping away. That PK was weak though, so work on getting more power behind those.

Canada and England’s games were a bit lackluster with great showings by their opponents. No big upsets as there were at the men’s tournament late last year in the group stage, but the heavy hitters have some things to think about and kinks to work out.

The next US game is against the Netherlands on July 26th at 6 PM PST. It is one of the last chances to watch a game at a reasonable time of day in the Americas. The game will also be a test for the US with their opponent ranked fifth by FIFA. Other top-ranked teams have yet to play their first game, so I’m excited to see what the tournament has in store.

Catch the action on various FOX channels in the US and support your favorite players.

Bavarian Independence Day

No, this post is not about Bavaria, but about the little slice of Bavaria nestled in the Cascade Mountains. I spent the 4th of July week in Leavenworth, Washington for a much-needed vacation. This one we took with my sister and her kids, sharing a VRBO and planning some group activities.

The first day was horseback riding. Everyone was interested in that one, and we had reserved the early morning spot so we were out on the mountain before the heat of the day hit. I have been on rides a few times before, and I love meeting the horses and having a relaxing ride along trails through the forest.

Horse selfie! I had to borrow my niece’s jeans because I packed last minute and forgot my own.

While the adults rode in the last three positions, my nephew and niece were toward the front with the guide. Our horses started to fall back from them a bit. We think it was because my niece’s horse had gas the entire time, so Duncan, my husband’s horse, stayed back a good horse length or more. Then we slowed down further because Splash at the back had to stop to pee so many times.

I love it, though. I find a ride through the woods relaxing because you are away from the stress of life. It is the same with the hike we did on the 4th, which was probably my highlight. Usually, my favorite part would have been the ziplining or rafting, because I love those fun, exciting activities. This year, I have enough thrill in my everyday life that I needed the away time.

We made it to the lake! There were actually two lakes on this hike, but the kids were getting tired, so we turned back at the first one.

As for the rafting and ziplining, the rafting was tame compared to my single prior experience. It was late in the season with the water running low and slow, but the ease was perfect for my nephew’s first time rafting. He now wants to go again with us in May. He is not fully processing how much rougher and colder it will be at that time of year, but we will likely not be going for at least another year or two.

Ziplining is always awesome and something we try to do on every vacation. Each location puts its own spin on the experience, and this one had a clever duck hunt. They had over 200 rubber ducks hidden along the course and gave the group a target of how many we needed to find to earn our stickers at the end. There was even a giant duch made out of floaties in a pond, and we had a contest of who could throw a little rubber duck inside of the floating duck as they zipped across. Only one of the guides made it, but I think I was the closest otherwise.

Along with activities, if you head to Leavenworth, you should make sure to check out a few of the Bavarian attractions. Andres Keller was my favorite German food during this trip. The schnitzel with spätzle was wonderful, and they had an accordion player there during dinner. For shops, the cheesemonger is not to be missed. They know their cheeses and have samples to try. Cured, the butcher, and the oil and vinegar shops are also top on our list. If you prefer sweets, there are a few chocolatiers along with handmade ice cream available.

We walked everywhere, and I probably still ate more calories than I should have. Regardless, I had a great time. The hot weather soaked into my bones, and I took some time to relax and have fun. Now, it’s back to work!

Before work, we did have D&D with a potluck dinner yesterday. But, NOW, it’s back to work.

My Own Murder

Life has been overwhelming of late…still. I have been piling too much on my plate, and I realized after the fact that I even missed doing a blog post last weekend! This packed schedule will pass, but not for some time yet.

What am I doing?

I’m working on getting my new business off the ground. The process starts with bleeding money, never having enough time, and always being on the job. From there, it progresses to bleeding less, thinking you have some downtime (but not really), and telling yourself you need to be off the clock sometime. After that, it slowly works to some semblance of balance, or what you come to believe balance looks like.

As of today, I’m still in the second stage. Most of my time is spent on the phone (yuck!), managing people, or dealing with all the admin behind the scenes. I spend a lot of time in my cave of an office when I’m not out in the field helping with the work or driving between job sites.

The office is not really a cave, it has windows, but the ones where I work have the tint film on them, making even sunny days seem cloudy. To keep myself from becoming a zombie, I make it a point to go outside periodically to take in the weather and warm my bones in the sun if it is a nice enough day.

New Friend

There is a crow that hangs around outside. I think it is the same one, and I’m choosing to believe so, regardless of any evidence. Its name is Mark, and I have been trying to make friends with it. There is a slightly mangled slice of bread in the loaf at the office specifically set aside for this purpose.

Thus far, my offers of friendship remain open and unaccepted. My presence is greeted with trepidation, and Mark flies away before I can fully present my bread-ball gifts. I don’t know if Mark returns to partake of the snacks or if the little sparrows hanging around have been hoarding the bounty.

Either way, I will continue my efforts. Mark will appreciate my generosity and tell his crow friends. When you see the car driving around with a murder of crows following in its wake, you will know I have achieved my goal. Okay, maybe I don’t want them associating my car with me, but I will figure that out once I make friends with Mark.

One step at a time. Happy weekend all!