My Moment of Truth
You’ve probably read our “About Us” page, and know what we want you to experience at Di Valore.
Now I want to introduce you to my very personal “why” for Di Valore.
First Things First
All the credit goes to my husband, kids, mom, in-laws, and closest friends, for their patience, love and support. But mostly my husband. Y’all, Callen is the absolute best - especially when I’m not at my best. He’s there to pick me up off the ground, always emotionally and sometimes even physically.
After I finished PA school, I was spending all my energy building a career. I would go in early and leave the office/hospital late. I wanted to soak it ALL in.
Then I switched jobs and had the uphill battle of learning a new sub specialty. But at the time Callen was my only ‘roommate’, so I could handle it.
These precious kids are currently 3, 2, and 9 months - so pray for me, enough said.
Fast forward 4 years…. Now I have 3 new housemates.
Note: Thankfully we don’t share a room or I would get even less sleep than I do now. If you know me personally you know that it’s hard to beat my record of insomnia as is.
My kids are my greatest accomplishment. Hopefully they turn out to be an amazing contribution to society for being kind, compassionate, an example of Jesus and willing to lend a hand when some else needs it. There’s still A LOT of time for things to go south!
My Turning Point
As much as my kids are my life, raising a family is a LOT of work. I want to be the mom at ALL THE THINGS. I’m talking PTA, christmas parties, slumber parties, the mom they go to when they don’t have anyone else to talk to….
But I realized I couldn’t be that mom AND that physician assistant who is the first in the door and the last one out.
I had to choose, and thankfully I did before they are grown and don’t think I’m cool.
This decision sucked.
And that’s actually putting it nicely.
I don’t regret many decisions, because I think we make them for a reason. However, when I chose not to take a maternity leave (or even 1 day off per week) with our adopted daughter because we couldn’t “afford” time off without pay, I realized I was headed down a dangerous slope with my mental wellbeing.
I loved the people, the work and the environment I had built for myself. But my job as a mom and as a wife had to come first.
So as my mental health circled the drain when we adopted our precious daughter, I started realizing I had to make a change. I had pressure at work, I had pressure at home and everyone “needed” me, I’m talking EVERYONE. It’s stressful.
So stressful in fact, that I paid $200 for a spa treatment, primarily to sit in a room with no phone, children, or people, just to get away from it all.
And then I did it the next day…
…and the next day…
…at a time when $200 daily spa treatments were NOT in my budget.
Sorry Callen, and surprise!
Those three days restored my balance, lowered my stress, and gave me crystal clear direction:
I need to provide this experience for other people.
Enter Di Valore
Professionally I never dreamed I would change paths, but here we are!
We opened Di Valore as a way to provide rest and rejuvenation for those who need it, and to support more freedom in my job as a mother.
“Di Valore” means worth in Italian. My family is Italian and ‘self-worth’ is something I’m working on reframing for myself. I have value, beyond providing support for kids, work, marriage, charity, creative endeavours, family.
I am valuable as a person in my own right, and I deserve care.
The same applies to you.
Maybe you just need to disconnect. If you’re like me, I hate and love technology. I’m constantly on my phone for one reason or another and I drive myself insane. Sometimes people just need a break.
All of this to say ‘we are here’.
You’re not alone.
You are not ‘less than’ for feeling stress, guilt, or for needing a break.
Let’s us be your escape, your “me time” and the people you call when you don’t know where to go.
We have a room with no distractions, a solid playlist, and the only person listening to you is me. {and maybe Alexa…I’m not liable for who taps into her radio frequencies so just think and whisper so she can’t record your thoughts.}
Come on in to see us!
We have an open door policy minus the fact Nick makes me lock the door every time I walk through it. But we will let you in anytime!
Take care of yourself, friends.
