Meet Merrick Gallegos | Blogger +. Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Merrick Gallegos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Merrick, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am from Berthoud, Colorado a small town about 45 minutes north of Denver. My parents were a wonderful example of a strong and faith-filled marriage. This past week, they just celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. Both my mom and dad had a tremendous impact on who I am today.

Growing up, my grandmother and mom were the ultimate example of faith, nurturing, and sacrifice for our family. My grandma and grandpa raised 11 children on a farm in a small town in North Dakota. From a young age, my mom was constantly cooking and baking for her large family. She acquired many life skills at a young age, specifically homemaking, that she passed onto me. For my mom, everything was made from scratch, breads, pies, cakes. My mom took those skills she learned as a young woman and carried them into motherhood, and in-turn passed these skills onto me. I’ll never forget growing up with chairs pulled up to the counter helping my mom put in the ingredients and helping her the best we could, but also sticking around to lick the spoon!

My dad was a lawyer and is still to this day an experimental plane builder and pilot as a hobby. We grew up with him working in his garage shop constantly. He always had a project he was working on and was extremely talented in everything he built. My dad had more of a tough love approach, always cheering us on but encouraging us to do even better. He never fawned over us but was always our biggest fan and supporter. I believe I developed my entrepreneurial spirt through him. He taught me to take risks and to never settle. I’ll never forget when I was interviewing for my first job out of college, a position in Denver as an elementary teacher, he said, “Merrick, if you get the interview, you’ll have the job”.

My parents suffered the loss of a son at the age of 8 to Leukemia, and as you can imagine, it changed them forever. Through that experience, an emphasis on faith and the importance of strong family relationships were even more present in our home.

We grew up working hard, playing hard, and praying hard. I’ll never forget running around playing with my sister, and my mom pulling us aside to pray a decade of the rosary. Or catching my mom praying quietly in her room. Having my mom as a role mode of unshakable faith was something I soaked in deeply as a child.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Overwhelming Joy is a website and social media platform that celebrates many of the different aspects of motherhood. My goal is to pass on family traditions, delicious yet practical recipes for busy families, home hacks, DIY projects, but most of all prayer and faith encouragement. My goal is to have a place where moms can go to know they’re not alone, try and help them along the way, and make faith the constant to overcome all our challenges.

By far what makes me the proudest is when I receive messages from some of my followers that share how much a particular message helped them, that they made one of my recipes for their family, or gave one of my DIY projects a try. This kind of personal connection truly touches me and keeps me going. Knowing that there are people out there incorporating pieces of my life into their lives is just….. humbling.

Getting to where I am today was definitely not easy. To be honest, I feel like my biggest hurdle has been my own feelings and insecurities. Let’s start with the fact that I’m allowing strangers to read my innermost thoughts, fears, and prayers but then couple that with the realization that I’m also sharing these vulnerabilities with those closest to me. I’ve had all the thoughts, that in retrospect I should have expected.

Those of feeling unworthy to carry this kind of message, or asking myself who am I to think that others will want to read what I have to say? About a month into this thing, I was struggling and questioning whether or not I was on the right path. I remember sitting in the kitchen telling my husband, Ray, that I didn’t know if all my strife and work was worth it, I mean, was anyone even reading this? A few minutes later, I got an email from my website.

A woman started reading my blog and told me my writings encouraged her to live healthier. She thanked me for starting my blog and she looked forward to new beginnings because of my writing. I knew right then and there it was a sign to keep going and even though this was uncomfortable for me, I was on the right track.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am not from Arizona but I recently visited with my family. We had a wonderful time hopping around yummy restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Based on my most recent visit, I would highly recommend taking a good friend to visit the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. Upon arrival, I would suggest eating at McArthurs for a casual lunch at the Biltmore. Everything on their menu was full flavor and down right delicious.

From there, visiting Cup & Cone on the Biltmore property with their spinning display of unique flavors of gelato is a delicious treat!

I would also highly recommend dining at The Macintosh in Phoenix. Their spin on American dishes were downright delicious and their cocktails were cold and crisp.

We traveled with our kids, so one of our favorite parts of our trip was taking our little ones to Medieval Times Scottsdale Dinner Theater. My kids are still talking about the knight’s sword fights and the look on their little faces intently watching the play is something I will never forget and I don’t think they will forget the fun they had that night either!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First off, I want to give a special thanks to my amazingly supportive husband, Ray. From day one when I announced I wanted to start my blog, he’s been cheering me on. He has spent countless hours taking photos, proofreading content, and offering suggestions when needed. I honestly could never have done any of this without him. I am forever thankful to him!

My sister, Hayley, has also been one of my biggest cheerleaders throughout this. Through doubts and frustrations, she’s always encouraged me to keep moving forward and to value what I have to share with others.

Through the experience of starting a blog and social media page, I have truly found the importance of having a supportive team behind you anytime you decide to take a leap of faith and start something new and out of your comfort zone.

Website: www.overwhelmingjoy.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/overwhelming_joy

Facebook: www.facebook.com/overwhelmingjoys