Hi, I’m Sherry.
I’m 56, sitting in nursing school classes with people half my age, continuing the healthcare journey I started 36 years ago.
At 20, I joined the Air Force to become a medic—to pay for college, gain healthcare experience, and find out if I would faint at the sight of blood.
I didn’t.
I learned I didn’t panic under pressure. I discovered I could do hard things. But when I left the military, I didn’t have the confidence or knowledge to navigate the path to medical school. So I pivoted. I started teaching science. Spent nearly 28 years in education—teaching middle schoolers, eventually becoming a principal, always wondering if I’d taken the wrong path.
For most of those years, I thought I’d failed. That I’d given up on my real dream to settle for something more accessible.
Then, at 56, I went back to nursing school.
And I finally understood: I hadn’t given up. I’d been preparing.
The Air Force taught me composure under pressure.
Teaching showed me how people learn and grow.
Working with struggling students taught me patience and that everyone’s timeline is different.
Being a principal taught me leadership and systems thinking.
Starting Little Pine Life—my Etsy shop- proved I still had the courage to try something new.
Every step—even the ones that felt like failures or detours—led me here.
The Real Life is where I share what I’m learning:
Non-linear paths aren’t wrong paths—they’re preparation.
“Wasted” years often turn out to be exactly what you needed.
It’s never too late to continue what you started, even if it’s been decades.
You can live life as it comes, be real about struggles and setbacks, and still be happy, (because that is the real life, not the imagined one) trusting it will all bring you where you’re supposed to be.
This blog is for you if you think you’ve spent too many years on the “wrong” path.
If you’re a recovering planner or permission seeker who judges yourself for taking detours.
If you believe it’s too late because you “should have done this years ago.”
It’s not too late. You’ve been preparing your whole life.
I’m documenting the messy, honest journey of building on everything I’ve already learned—the small switches that save mental energy, the courage it takes to show up imperfectly, the joy of finally continuing instead of constantly restarting.
If you’re ready to stop judging your path and start building on it—messy, non-linear, real—you’re in the right place.
Build on yesterday. Start with today.
Let’s continue together.
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