I am excited to encourage you and cheer you on,
as you begin to make time for yourself, recognize what self-care means to you and connect to activities that spark joy back into you & your pets lives!

About Chenee 

As a wife, working gal, swim mom, & doting dog mom, the days are always busy!

It was not so long ago that I was pushing perfection,
in order to carry out my well planned, fully highlighted birth plan … that let’s just say, did not
go (so according to plan). 

And you know like JLo says, .. "Ain't life funny."

Where I was...

Well can I just share with you for a moment, that you sure do learn alot of about yourself & life after not only having a baby, but also experiencing a 36 hour labor.. ? At that time, I was trying to survive life as a new nursing mom, with no help, working to balance my client load as Marriage & Family Therapist and continuing to teach my weekly yoga classes as a yoga instructor.

Can you believe there was also a time in my career when I entered the field of education, thinking that a pivot into teaching would allow me more time with my young son ….. Welp, that did not go according to plan either, lol! Although I really enjoyed teaching my themed lessons each month, having little to no school support as a new teacher left me finding myself working day and night (literally), to meet the demands of school admins and parents. Imagine yourself drowning, while calling for help, and then to only have others watch you struggle day after day ... yeah that's what teaching felt like. 

I really gave it my all, was always sick and nearly had walking pneumonia during my 2nd year of teaching. Teachers sacrifice a lot and I was sacrificing my health & well-being all in the process.

That’s where I was. Doing so much, filling my plate beyond its brim and meeting the needs of everyone else but myself. Fatigue and burnout might as well have been my 1st and last name. Self-Care was (not) at the top of my priority list and at that time, I did not know how to make enough time to really take care of myself. Sure, physically, I was eating well, doing pilates and teaching yoga, but what I really needed was to do LESS. 

Fast Forward a bit..   

And don’t forget to throw in a world pandemic and boy oh boy, if there was ever a year to experience the most vital unprecedented lessons that would make you re-evaluate your purpose, your relationships, your priorities and your well-being… then friends, … this was that year!

Going into 2020 was awful but literally 3 weeks before the world shut down, I welcomed a dog named: Finley, into our home and the rest is history! Why Finley … why now … well I just don't know, but I do believe it was meant to be, for me to meet him. Ain't life funny ..? At a time when life was about to get really RUFF, Finley sure did show up at the right time.

We spent 730 straight days together. A pandemic that took 1 year, somehow turned into 2 years and we ended up spending everyday with one another. Having spent so much time at home with Finley, helped me manage a lot of the immense anxiety that I was feeling through the pandemic. I learned how to cut back on a lot of things that were just, not bringing me joy. I needed to add more fun and positive vibes to my life … and because of that, Sniffs & Pawsitivty was born!

Finley's companionship through the pandemic and even now, have really helped me with the effects of having been isolated for such a long time. The walks we share together brighten my day and bring my life more clarity & purpose. In a world that can sometimes still feel so glum, unkind and negative, I sure do hope to spread a whole lot of pawsitivity around here!

My couch is not complete without my Finley and I sure do hope to bring a SMILE to your day, each time you join us!