About Me – The Next Chapter

Hi, I’m Stacey — and I believe every chapter counts, especially the ones still unwritten.

I created The Next Chapter as a space for reflection, healing, and rediscovery. It’s not about perfection — it’s about truth, transition, and becoming whole again, one day at a time.

Who I am depends on the day.

Some days, I’m up at 6AM, managing internal audits for a global pharmaceutical company and leading back-to-back Teams meetings.

Other days, I’m supporting my son with home renovations on the house I purchased unexpectedly — a house that’s needed more work than I planned, but has become a symbol of starting over.

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading into my second Mohs surgery to remove another area of basal cell carcinoma from my face. And I’ll do it quietly, like so many other things I’ve done alone.

Every day, I’m a 55-year-old woman in the process of ending her third marriage — a relationship I once believed would be my forever. Instead, it ended in betrayal and emotional damage that forced me to flee a hostile environment. I packed up my life, left Florida, and drove halfway across the country with my 14-year-old boxer, Annie, and started over in New Mexico.

I’m still figuring out who I am now — beyond the job titles, the heartbreak, the survival.

This blog is my space to write, to reflect, to walk the desert trails with Annie, to share playlists that speak to the soul, and to offer journal prompts and downloads for anyone navigating their own next chapter.

My hope is simple:

·        To feel whole again.

·        To reconnect with myself.

·        And maybe, to help you feel less alone in whatever you’re walking through.

Whether you’re starting over, letting go, or just trying to breathe again —
I’m so glad you’re here.

Let’s write the next chapter together.

With love,
Stacey (& Annie)