Kimberly Trigo | The Grit and Grace Project

table view of a woman writing in a journal with a cup of coffee after choosing to forget new year's resolutions

Forget New Year’s Resolutions—Small Changes Are All We Need

As we start the New Year, I am reminded of years past and what I have longed for, accomplished, and have yet to fulfill. I just love the newness of a Monday or the first of the month or a January full of unrealized potential and loads of plans and goals. With each January we are given a new chance and more time and, as I get older, I am realizing that time is more valuable than money. I have a small list of resolutions this year: less sugar, less screen time, more quality in our week, more love for my husband and my kids, and leaning on my Jesus. Giving myself grace, walking daily, returning to yoga, writing on Sundays, and […]

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When Life Hits Hard, It Just Takes a Little Faith

By Kimberly Trigo / Faith

I have a story to share on the greatness of God. The past 10 years have been full of some major life changes, big decisions, trauma, and absolute joy, and throughout all of it, God was right there. Never yielding, never leaving us to wonder. Just always right there reminding us we are not alone. It just takes a little faith. We recently relocated across the United States without any family, no job, no house or land—just God’s calling. Before I share how amazing that has been, let me give you some of our backstory. I grew up in a single-parent home from the age of 13. She did the best she could to provide for my brother and me. We moved

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woman jumping in the air at the beach who is happy with her body image and swimsuits in the summer

When Body Image and Swimsuits Collide: A Guide for Every Woman

By Kimberly Trigo / Life & Culture

Sitting here with a bad sunburn after a day at the lake for Father’s Day, I can tell you one thing that has changed my life and my summers with my children: not caring about my size or what people will say when I slip off my bathing suit cover. I was 5 feet 5 inches tall and 95 pounds in high school. My mother was 5 feet 3 inches tall and 100 pounds, so I was a small girl. Back then I would lift weights to bulk out a little. All those wonderful kids I went to school with gave me the nickname ‘Toothpick.’ Oh, if they could see me now. I was skinny and never had a weight problem, but

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woman with leather pants and red heels sitting crossed-legged and confident on stairs because she learned how to say good riddance to shame

How to Say “Good Riddance” to that Pesky Shadow: Shame

By Kimberly Trigo / Faith

I did not have an imaginary friend when I was a little girl, but I had something else that followed me around for as far back as I can remember: shame. Shame has been along for the ride for as long as I have had my shadow back there. Only in the last few years am I realizing it has never been a friend. I can remember as far as back as elementary school feeling ashamed of my alcoholic father. I loved my dad and was a total daddy’s girl, but I knew then my dad was different from other dads. Not knowing it was shame, of course, until now. Until looking back. Then the shame from being the girl with the

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grandma hugging her son in front of a Christmas tree

It Really Is the Thought That Counts—My Grandma’s Gifts Proved It

By Kimberly Trigo / Relationships

Sometimes something isn’t special while it’s happening. It isn’t a memory or has no significance until much later in your life. My grandma’s gifts are a prime example of that. As the holidays approach and things in our families change over the years, I have been reflecting a lot on holidays past and what I want to share with my children and what I hope they will share with theirs. In recent years, our family has changed the way it looks. My brother and I have lost our parents, while my husband and I have had our twins. Boy, have they made the holidays magical, and nothing says magic like children at Christmas. Another change in our family was that our grandma

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I Changed My Mind; Change Can Be the Right Thing to Do

By Kimberly Trigo / Purpose

We recently decided to pull our twins out of school and homeschool them for 4th grade in an effort to preserve what’s left of their childhood. After our move across the country last summer, that was the one aspect of all of it that I kept having a hard time with: I did not have peace. As I get older, I am realizing more and more our gut is our compass. So, I changed my mind, and guess what? That’s okay. We can start off one way and decide that’s not for us and turn around mid-destination. Life allows U-turns. Starting Over We arrived in our new state last summer, and last fall was the first time I worked outside the home

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Harvest Some Positivity This Spring

By Kimberly Trigo / Faith

We recently celebrated the first day of spring. The sun has melted away the 20-degree temps we awoke to. Makes me think Mother Nature was hibernating herself. I was born in the spring. My birthday has even landed on Easter a couple times, which was way more exciting when you were a kid. I would get a big chocolate bunny on my birthday cake. I love how in the spring you can see everything come to life. The trees, the seedlings, the flowers. My favorite flower has always been a daisy even before Drew Barrymore rocked them in the 90s. Spring Is a Fresh Start Not sure if it’s the flowers or the fruits, but there’s something about spring that excites my

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What this California Girl Learned from Her First Hibernation

By Kimberly Trigo / Faith, Best Of

Winters chill keeps us inside. Inside our homes and inside our heads. I had never noticed before the beauty in winter. The beauty that comes from just stopping and resting and letting go of the chase and hustle, even just for a season. Maybe I had never noticed it before because I have spent all my winters in California and this winter, I was in Tennessee. It was cold and wet. Now, I must wait a few more days for the start of spring to do the things I need to do. Waiting in Winter Waiting is hard for me. I am a person who is always busy, and although in recent years I have learned to slow down and take care

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What Can You Learn from Your Loss?

By Kimberly Trigo / Purpose

They say loss teaches us the worth of things. But what if loss teaches us the worth of who we are, as well? I believe we are constantly changing and growing. Loss comes in waves, yet so does growth and abundance. It’s how we handle those seasons that teach us the most about ourselves. I remember the day our house burned down, the black under my fingernails, the worry on my toddler’s face, the sad on my husband. As worried, and sad and blackened as we all were… A Lesson After the Fire We had everything. We had each other. A neighbor I met in that moment said those words to me and it changed the day, the season, and my heart.

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It’s Just a Season

By Kimberly Trigo / Purpose

It’s winter in East Tennessee. I’m not sure if it’s the holidays approaching, home sickness, my first job working outside the home or the fact that I am living in a travel trailer with our twins and small dog, but the reminder comes daily: It’s just a season. My husband and I either coined the phrase or grabbed it from some wise voice along the way to guide us through some of the hardest moments we have faced. In those moments, we would share those words of wisdom with our twins, telling them not to worry, that it’s just a season. It’s Just a Season… …When our home burned down, and we were in a hotel with makeshift Christmas trees awaiting new

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This Mama Is Getting Her Pink Back

By Kimberly Trigo / Motherhood, Best Of

Tomorrow, I return to the working world for the first time since I left J.P. Morgan Chase in 2014 to be a stay-at home mom to my twins. I have never regretted that decision, even in the moments where I could not afford a purchase or in the tantrum-riddled days where I could not seem to catch my breath until they were fast asleep. Looking back on these last 8 years, it all went so fast. A Helpful Flamingo Analogy My niece recently shared with me a little trivia about flamingos and how they lose their pink color while taking care of their young. As the flamingos start to get more independent, the mama starts to get her pink back. I am

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