Welcome to Toppling Goliaths! I’m Christy and this is the unabashed, often embarrassing, story of me owning up to my own bullshit and toppling the goliaths in my life.
I am married to James who has been my partner in crime, my “ride or die” and the love of my life for the past twenty-one years. Together we are the parents to six kiddo’s, Koda, Kierra, Tray, Sami, Landon, and Maddie. We have two dogs, Kieko-a Saint Bernard and Kooper- a Shih-Tzu. We also have three cats, Snowy, Diego, and Pudgie. My kiddos are pictured above, along with some of our tribe. I’m the one in the middle hugging my beautiful niece Kylee and my daughter Maddie.
“Six kids!” is usually what people say to us when they find out how big our family is. For now let’s just say that God had other plans for us than the plan we had. Many of you know our family story, others do not, for those of you who aren’t familar, someday I will share the full story of how our family came to be. After all it is quite the story. James’ favortie socks say “Ringmaster of the Shit Show” and some days that is very true!
Here’s some things you should know about me;
- I am a chubby, middle-aged, wife and mom with a list of chronic disease that would rival most people twice my age.
- I take fourteen prescription pills, three supplement pills (vitamins), and give myself at least four shots of insulin a day.
- I have a double sided am/pm pill organizer.
- My body seriously doesn’t know that I am only 43.
- Here’s my long list of chronic diseases or disorders that I currently am under a doctors care for. This list is my Goliath.
- Stage II Kidney Disease
- Chronic IPT
- Diabetes Type II, insulin dependent
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Depression
- Type II Bi-Polar disorder
- Adult ADD
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Sleep Apnea
- I come from an enmeshed family.
- I am the oldest of five kids. I have two sisters and two brothers.
- I am a first generation high school and college graduate.
- I majored in Religion and minored in Philosophy. I just missed being a double major in Psychology.
- My long term goal for myself is to become a counselor/therapist.
- I am frequently called upon to be the matriarch of my family. It’s a bittersweet role I am very good at.
- I have more cousins than I can count. (My Mom is one of ten kids and my Dad was one of four kids).
- I have been pregnant five times. Of the five pregnancies we have two biological children. Our daughter Meagan was stillborn in 2010. We had two miscarriages in the years following Meagan’s death.
- We adopted my nieces and nephews.
- My Dad was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2016
- All of my grandparents are no longer with us.
- I haven’t been able to work because of my health since 2017.
- I wasn’t always a disabled, stay at home wife and mom. I started my career at Lincoln Savings Bank (LSB) as a Para-Planner in 2003. I was promoted to Vice President Wealth Management Department Manager in October of 2006 and subsequently promoted to First Vice President in 2008. During that time, I led the sales and operational efforts of the financial advisors of the Wealth Management and Trust Services Division at LSB Financial from 2008-2015. In 2016 I resumed my role as a Passionate Financial Advisor, Retirement Income Coordinator, and advocate and Partner for Bereaved Clients.
- Other than my family and friends, I love;
- A challenge
- Competition
- Starbucks
- A good debate
- Conversation
- Crafting
- Sleeping
- Bernie Sanders (lifetime fan)
- Inspirational quotes
- Stranger Things
- Babies
- A good book. I am currently hooked on Audible and read or listen to, at least 4 books a month on average.
- Traveling
- The poetry of Oscar Wilde, Maya Angelou, and Atticus
- The philosophy of Socrates, Plato, Hannah Arendt, Nietzsche, Cornel West, and Martin Luther King Jr
- Authors: Nikole Hannah-Jones, J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith, Angela Marsons, and Gillian Flynn