Hello! As you probably guessed by the title of this blog my name is Steph. You may also know by the title of this blog that I am sober. Which means there was a time in my life when alcohol was a problem for me.
Did you find my blog because alcohol is a problem for you too?
Maybe we should be friends
I would label myself as an ex-binge drinker. I always had a hard time with moderation. My main reason’s for drinking were:
- Dealing with the ups and downs of motherhood
- Keeping my emotions at bay. I refused to feel the hard stuff
- To relax at the end of the day
- It calmed my anxiety
- I thought it made me more social, as well as funny
- It was the glue that held my relationships together
My blog is all about normalizing sobriety. I want to create a culture where sobriety isn’t questioned. We shouldn’t feel ashamed of being sober, but f’ing proud. For me a sober lifestyle means living my truest life, according to what I believe. Society instilled in me the belief that drinking alcohol is normal. I am unraveling that belief and stepping into my power.
Want to join me?
Shoot me a message and join my email list. I would love to hear about your sobriety!
I grew up in a household where alcohol was present
My parents didn’t have drinking problems or messy lives. It was just part of life. Alcohol was at all the fun events in life growing up. Every birthday party, holiday, wedding, and vacation. Therefor I always associated drinking with having fun.
My first experience with alcohol was at age 14
Scary to think about since my daughter is 14. By the time I was in my twenties I was partying every weekend and sometimes a couple nights during the week. But I always made it to work and I never got in any trouble. I felt like I was in control my drinking. By the time I was in my thirties I was married, we had a young daughter, and we were living 5 hours away from all our friends and family. Drinking helped me cope with the loneliness and sadness of being away from home. The life we were building here in Omaha, NE was amazing. I was making friends, my husband was doing really well with his job, and my daughter was thriving. Drinking was the social lubricant I needed to meet new people and create new friendships. But I really leaned hard on it for the bad days, when the unwanted feelings and anxiety crept in.
By the time I hit 40 my drinking was problematic
Throw in the pandemic and it was the perfect recipe for accelerating my drinking habits. In a way I am grateful for the pandemic. It catapulted me into sobriety by escalating my drinking to where my body could no longer keep up. I knew it was a problem when alcohol was giving me major anxiety, but it was what I used to relieve it. It took a couple dry January attempts, moderation mishaps, and an honest conversation with myself before I finally quit drinking. I had my last unbearable hangover in November of 2021. You can read more about that in my blog “My Last Hangover.” I realized then that drinking was causing way more problems then it was worth. I had my last glass of wine on Christmas Day 2021 and I haven’t regretted one day since.
Christmas 2021
