About Me

Welcome to Mom’s Small Victories! I’m Tanya, the planner addicted bookworm foodie and soccer mom who is determined to thrive with chronic illness while trying to keep up with my 3 sons and an amazing Superhubby. Well that was a mouthful, I’ve never been good at describing myself in just one word. I hope you’ll grab a cup of coffee, tea or whatever soothes your mind and spirit and stay awhile so we can get to know each other better.

My Story

After months of flaring and debilitating pain starting when my oldest son was 6 weeks old, I was finally diagnosed with an autoimmune chronic illness called Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). At 27 years old, I was just glad to have a diagnosis. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I just wanted something to relieve the pain so I could handle picking up my adorable baby and be the mom I dreamed of being. I had no idea what I was in for with RA.

The Silver Lining and Small Victories

Aside from the obvious physical impact, the mental toll of RA was even harder to deal with. I was overwhelmed and depressed. I stubbornly fought but failed at being the perfect mom and having it all.

I eventually learned to accept a “new normal”. The silver lining of RA, if there is one, is that it forced me to appreciate the small victories in my life, the littler things I’d accomplished, the finer moments being present with my family.

I’ve learned to understand my body and not fight it anymore. I’ve become more compassionate of others and am determined to teach my kids to do the same because we are all fighting an invisible battle of some sort.

So I started this blog as a way to focus on the things that make me happy (lots of blogging tips, planning and productivity, book discussions and recipes and cooking tips), to encourage positivity, to empower people to take care of themselves and to inspire others to pursue their passions in life, and to read, eat, live and blog well with me. I get so excited to hear from my readers so please leave me a comment or an email, and let me know how I can help you achieve your goals, celebrate your life and thrive with chronic illness.

My Favorite Posts and Pages

I’ve got over 600 posts on my little blog so I thought I’d highlight for you my favorite posts and pages, the ones that give you a better idea of who I am, what I love and how I hope I can help other busy moms and chronic illness patients like me.

My Journey with Autoimmune Rheumatoid Arthritis from Surviving to Thriving with RA.

5 Essential Tips to Understanding Chronic Illness. Understanding YOUR body makes all the difference between surviving and THRIVING with chronic illness. Here are 5 steps I took to improve my health and you can too!

The Ultimate Gift Guide for Rheumatoid Arthritis & Chronic Illness Patients. 25+ Ideas to help patients deal with the pain, stiffness & fatigue of daily life.

Motherhood and Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis by Mom's Small Victories. Juggling life, motherhood, a blog and life with RA. Tips on coping with chronic illness and the unexpected lessons Rheumatoid Arthritis has taught my family.

FREE 2017 Blog Planner available for download to Google Drive, Microsoft Excel or PDF includes 36 customizable worksheets to get your blog organized so you can crush your goals in 2017. Includes sheets to keep track of your editorial calendar, to do's, social media promotion, checklists, passwords, income/expense tracker and more!

How I Bullet Journal In My Plum Paper Planner to finally achieve planner peace and corrale all the ideas I have to organize my home, family, blog and health.

Day Designer Midyear Planner Review. Peek inside my Day Designer and see the pros and cons for this planning system. The Day Designer includes fabulous vision and goalsetting pages to help you design the life you want and the daily calendar pages to help you track the tasks and time you need to turn those goals into reality.

Blogging Tips and Tricks to Take Your Blog to the Next Level

Pinning Perfect - the Blogging Resource that Helped Me Achieve Massive Growth in Pinterest Traffic.

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge includes the full list of books featured in the hit show The Gilmore Girls. Grab these ideas and add this wide variety of books to your reading list and read like a Gilmore!

The 18 Best Book Club Suggestions to Get Your Book Club Talking. Recommendations, reviews and free printable discussion questions for your book club to use.

A mother's grief, an unsolved mystery and the creepy swamps of Louisiana make The Gates of Evangeline a creepily spectacular debut novel.

If your book club likes discussing thought-provoking issues like mental health, the immigrant experience, poverty and interracial marriage, then try THE STORY HOUR by Thrity Umrigar. Free printable discussion questions for your next book club discussion.

Grab your FREE Summer Bucket List Printable full of fun, free and frugal ideas to keep your kids entertained all summer long. Always have an answer to the question "what can we do now?"

Unique Gift Ideas for Star Wars Fans who have Everything. Bluetooth speakers, realistic lightsabers, Legos, tools in the kitchen and planners and journals for the ultimate Star Wars fan.

Awards and Features

Cook Great tips appeared in Guide to RA Summer 2016 edition (pg 24)

Guest Post for NC Blogger Network: Top 5 Tips for Creating a Sense of Community on Your Blog
Guest Posts for Book Bloggers International: Staying Organized and Favorite Books Set in India

I appreciate you stopping by to learn more about me and how I use my blog as a way to encourage busy moms and chronic illness patients to celebrate their lives and thrive with (or without) chronic illness. Now, I want to know more about you. Tell me about yourself and your family. What do you struggle with most? What do you celebrate in your life? What would help you on your journey to celebrate life and thrive with chronic illness?

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