Meet my other best friend, Rachel!

I’m so honored and humbled to be able to join in, and contribute to Glamorously Mommy!!!

So, “Helllloooo everyone!!!!” I’m pumped to introduce myself to you all, and get this party started!!!

My name is Rachel, and I’ve known Tawny since we were both 10-year-old little munchkins….that totals up to a growing 22 years!! Now don’t go thinkin’ you’re reading and seeing double…there is to be no confusion here…Tawny has two best friends with the same name, and two best friends she’s had for decades! So, in order to keep things clarified between the two, there’s a couple of distinguishing factors, that I thought would be fun to share. First, and most obvious being, my name is spelled with no “a”, and hers is.  The other is the most commonly used by Tawny and her family, which is, Little Rachael” and “Big Rachel”. Little Rachael is 5 feet tall and I’m 5’9″. Haha!

I, “Big Rachel”, have been married for almost 10 years, and I have an 8 year old son, and a 6 year old daughter. Being with them and spending time with them is my favorite pastime! I love going on dates with my husband weekly, and I daily strive to find ways to connect with my “ever-so- growing” children (sniff sniff). I’m a “stay at home”, working mom of two jobs. My main job is an owner and designer for an online children’s boutique- Sugar Baby Bowtique. This job keeps me on my toes and doin’ busy work full time at home on all social networks. In between working in the boutique, I manage to run a salon out of my home as well. I’ve been a cosmetologist for 10 years! “Doing hair” is a hobby that’s been a part of my identity as far back as I can remember! Growing up, I loved gettin’ all fancied up with “up-do’s” everyday of the week! Yes, even for school! Somehow I managed to do a full-on updo before I went to bed every night, and wake up in the morning without a hair out of place. HAHAHA! Not quite sure how I pulled that off, but it sure got me a heck of a lot of practice, and a laugh outta makin’ my friends think I went to a salon every morning before school!! 🙂

Another HUGE part of my life is singing. I LOVE to sing! I grew up in a musical family, and my parents raised me in the church which got me singing on stage, when I was 3 years old. I can’t thank my parents enough for raising me this way because now, as an adult, I still attend church weekly (at the same church as Tawny) and have been blessed to be a part of the worship leading team there. And this folks, is where my soul finds rest, without fail.  You will hear me talk A LOT about this in future posts. The Lord is my Savior and sooooo much more, and my relationship with Him and the time I spend worshipping, is where I find ALL of my peace in this world. I’m so thankful for the chance to be able to use the gifts He gave me to give back to Him and to others.

Talking to Tawny every day (generally on the phone), is a big part of my life too, and frankly, a part I can’t imagine not having! Somehow the two of us, although we work full-time and have a husband and two kids, we manage to make-time for a good quality conversation. We get down-right-real and listen to each other.  And if we are lucky, we are able to sneak away, and go to lunch together 🙂

Other hobbies I have include scrapbooking and photography. It has always been something I’ve purposely figured out how to have time to do. I want to remember all the amazing moments and the “not so good” moments in my life. And I want my kids to have a way to look back, and remember them too. Yep, I’m one of “those moms”….the mom who’s had a camera in front of her face the whole duration of her kids’ life!! HAHA!!!! And now for the newest hobby in my life…joining this blog! Tawny has asked me to contribute so that I can share my life stories and journeys with you….its gonna be straight-up REAL TALK!!! :)…pure honesty, authenticity, and real life…so get ready!! I’ll be discussing health, marriage, parenting, and so many more real life topics.  The past couple years have been the most life changing and growing years of my life and I can’t make a secret out of them!!

God has made a walking miracle outta me, as I can stand here as a survivor of severe depression and an anxiety/panic disorder. I will be sharing that testimony, in addition to real life struggles, circumstances, and my journey to heal. I may be a blessed young woman, but I’m still livin’ in the same world as you all, so I’ve got struggles and daily battles that I clearly still have to fight. I’m sure many of you can relate.  I know that I’m not the only one wobblin’ and hobblin’ through it all. If I’ve learned anything through my healing process, it’s that you gotta TALK, and you gotta talk REAL about what’s going on in your life. And you do that, so that others can reach out. We weren’t meant to fight alone in this crazy world. But on the flip- side, (which is my purpose for contributing to this blog), you have to talk about it, in hopes that you can encourage and inspire others!

If I can fight through all that life throws at me, YOU can too!

#RachelRealTalk

Follow me on Instagram @RACHELREALTALK

I’d love to hear your comments and stories 🙂

Feel free to email me at cosmogirl927@gmail.com