Hi! I’m Jeni. Again. Kind of.

I never really did an introduction blog, but I have shared a lot about myself since joining ERA Wellness almost 2 years ago. A lot has stayed the same for me, while also having a lot of changes! I thought now would be a good time to reintroduce myself.

I’m a widow and a wife.

It’s a weird kind of riddle. Widow and wife. But that’s me!

I was married to my first husband, Jason, in 2014. Tragically, he died in 2017. I was widowed at 29 years old. Our son was 20 months old at the time and I was 6 weeks pregnant with our daughter. Hardest time in my life, hands down.

I am remarried to my current husband. We got married in 2020. We threw the party of the year because two weeks after our wedding, the world shut down. It’s neither of our first marriages. Second marriages are no joke. They are a different kind of work, a different kind of love, and beautiful in their own way.

I’m a mom and a stepmom.

Four kids occupy my heart. My step-kids are 10 years old and 9 years old. We have them part-time. My kids are 6 years old and 4 years old. We have them full-time. No “ours” kid (meaning my current husband and I don’t have kids biologically together, and don’t intend to do so) but we do have an “ours” dog! Parenting has got to be the second hardest thing I have ever done in my life (only after burying Jason). It’s also incredibly rewarding. Being a stepmom is an experience I wasn’t prepared for, but I think I’m doing a pretty good job.

I’m a therapist.

No brainer, given the vehicle in which I am making this post.

I love being a therapist. I love my job. It rarely feels like “work” because I genuinely love what I do for my career. I went into the mental health field to help people. Cheesy, I know. But it's 100% true. My empathic heart wants to help people. And I love the way in which I can help my clients in this office.

Music and travel are two of my love languages. Nowadays, I listen to music. But back in my youth I played music, I was a band geek (and proud of it!). It’s hard to put into words how important music is to me. I listen to it to feel good, to calm down, to have pleasant background noise, to get pumped up for something, to have a good cry, to laugh, to remember, to feel connected, pretty much anything. My spiritual self connects to my late husband and my late dad through music; I feel close to them when listening to songs that are part of our stories. My current husband is also obsessed with music; it’s a major reason we connected instantly in our dating days. He also sings, and I love supporting him in that arena.

Travel is a gift. I was gifted the travel bug when I was 14 years old. I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in the British Isles just before starting high school. Ever since that trip, I have wanted to see the world. I have since done two more study abroad trips- one in undergrad to Greece and London, and one in graduate school to India. I will forever be impacted by my trip to India. I travel for leisure whenever I can nowadays. To me, travel is about learning, experiencing, making memories, and slowing down. I can’t wait to experience more travel with my kids. We are starting small with camping and local(ish) weekend trips. Those count, too!

Reading brings me joy.

Last summer I started to read for pleasure. Probably for the first time in my life (thank you, high school, college, and grad school). I was invited to join a book club and the rest is history. In fact, now I am in two book clubs. Reading allows my brain to escape for a little while. To not think of the to-do lists, to have some time to myself, to wind down. My favorite books are biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. I love hearing people’s stories and learning from them. I’m not into mysteries or true crime stuff.

Few more fun facts: I have an insatiable sweet tooth, I hate cleaning the kitchen, I own a car that once went over 100 mph (legally), our family also has a cat, I am learning to golf, I cannot make brownies, and I love art. That’s me in a nutshell. There are many more layers to what makes me who I am today and who I have yet to become.

This information and more about me as a therapist can be found on my page. If I am the right person for you and your mental health journey, reach out! I have a few more openings for new clients and I would be so excited to meet you!