Shannon Markel

When I first came into the program, I was a broken, beat down person. I was living in quiet desperation. My body had been torn up, my mental health was non-existent. I was depressed, anxious, self centered, full of fear, suicidal, and broken. By this time I had a couple of rounds in residential treatment facilities. While in treatment we learned coping mechanisms, our bodies began to heal, our minds began to clear and we were introduced to gratitude. When I found my first sponsor, she...

How balanced is your life? For me finding balance in my life has been an ongoing struggle. Especially while trying to navigate early sobriety. The issue has always been finding ways to fill in the hours that I'm no longer spending drinking. Suddenly I'm left with space. Space to learn, space to heal, to play, to explore, to contemplate, space to cry, space to reflect, and space to dwell on things unnecessary. The positives and the negatives. What I chose to do with this space is of the...

The timeless classic, king of all cookies, has got to be the chocolate chip cookie. Its sweet and salty, crispy, yet soft and caramelly (if that's even a word) in all the right spots. In my opinion the best chocolate chip cookie is big, crisp on the edge yet chewy in the center with chocolate in every bite. I've baked hundreds of chocolate chip cookies and thus far they all seem to fall short. It's either too thin, too thick, not enough chocolate chips, too hard or just lacks flavor. I've...