04/14/2026
Wait, is this real?
I still can't believe that the universe aligned and gave me an experience I will never forget. I didn't think logistically it would work, but it did.
On March 10th, that horrible hail storm came through and damaged my car - in fact about $9k worth of damage. At the time I was shocked when insurance told me my car was deemed a total loss. It was still very much drivable and only had 80k miles on it and for an 11 year old car I kept it in pretty good shape.
I went from saying goodbye to my first car, to negotiating with insurance, and haggling with car salesmen in about a span of 3 weeks. And I was sick through all of it - comparably small problems, but the stress was high with timelines and the lack of another car.
It all came together two weeks ago. I went from no car options and a low settlement, to getting more money from insurance which allowed me to get the car I wanted, and taking our first road trip to celebrate our 11 year anniversary and do some work along the way.
Along with being an illustrator, I coach beach volleyball. One of our athletes was playing at Austin Peay and we wanted to go watch a college match of theirs before they graduated. Clarksville, TN was 50 minutes away from (a vintage furniture space) and I knew that we could make it to the book release of
It's amazing what the universe throws at you, how resilient and brave you are capable of being, and how in the end it provides you with a little bit of magic for your hard work. Keep going, keeping believing in you and hold onto faith when you can. I had doubts in the moment, but somehow it ends up working in the end.
If you would like a copy of the book, you can get one here: https://www.goddessway.co/shop/p/earth-sky-planter-4awkk-nazcb-gxy3f
believe in you - book illustrations - children's book - book release - nature art - flower artwork - kristin heldt art - art licensing - art commissions
