My Origin Story: Becoming Kristen, Unfiltered

There’s a version of me that didn’t know freedom.

She was lost in chaos...stitched together by trauma, survival, and worship whispered through tears.

But today, she’s not the one writing this. I am.

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I’m Kristen. A 29-year-old woman...(almost 30!)

I’ve known the deepest love, the hardest heartbreaks, and the wildest grace.

I’m a wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. A believer. A content creator. A photographer.

A chronic pain warrior. A mental health survivor.

My story isn’t perfect.

It’s messy. It’s real.

And it’s soaked in both grief and glory.

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I grew up in a whirlwind...divorced parents, years split between homes and states, stability and upheaval, love and loss, joy and pain.

I watched my mom navigate life and heal her wounds all while raising me as a single mom for ten years. Later, I became a sister to two incredible younger brothers when she remarried and found her forever love in her best friend... just as I did.

I’ve lived in Florida, Texas, back to Florida, then North Carolina, and now Virginia.

We plan to return to Florida soon to celebrate our wedding in front of family and friends, build our forever home, and start our family.

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I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in 2019, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in 2025.

I live with Fibromyalgia (diagnosed in 2022) and Anemia since 2013.

There were days where the pain in my body screamed louder than my thoughts.

Days where getting out of bed was the victory.

Days where my mind became a battlefield.

But then came the breakthroughs.

Quiet mornings where I didn’t wake up with a heavy heart.

Moments where I laughed from my soul.

And the still, soft realization that healing isn’t loud.... it's steady.

It’s showing up, again and again, even when everything hurts.

That’s where I found my power.

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Marriage changed me in ways I never expected...both sharpening and softening me.

Adrian and I eloped under God and by law in August 2023, after knowing each other for six years, dating for one, and being engaged for another.

In those years, we’ve loved deeply, struggled honestly, failed loudly, forgiven quietly, and rebuilt faithfully...over and over again

It’s not a fairy tale.

It’s two imperfect people trying to build something sacred and lasting in a broken and temporary world

And sometimes? We fall.

But in the end, it’s still him and me... choosing each other.

Growing side by side.

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Faith is my anchor.

Not religion... faith.

I wasn’t raised in church.

I didn’t meet God in a building.

I met Him at 3 a.m., crying into my pillow, not knowing how much longer I could keep going...

And truthfully? I was right. I couldn’t...Not alone.

Honestly , i'm not sure how I got through the first nineteen years of my life without HIM. I'm not sure how anyone does.

I met Him in the silence, when I was ready to give up.

When life was falling apart one pillar at a time... like what happened in the movie inside out? Yeah that one. (My favorite Disney movie)

BUT GOD...

I met Him again in the joy...

In my cat Shadow’s head nudges...

In our puppy Nova’s wagging tail...

In the stillness of worship music...

In the grounding safety of my husband’s arms...

In my mom’s unconditional love for me...

And most of all...in me... in the way I love, fiercely and without conditions.

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I created Kristen: Unfiltered ...to tell the TRUTH...

Not the curated highlight reel. Not the Pinterest-perfect version.

The real stuff.

The stuff I needed when I was young, raw, and breaking.

This is for anyone who’s been misunderstood, misdiagnosed, mislabeled, or misused and confused...

You are not too far gone.

You are not “not enough ”

You are not “too much”

You are exactly who God made you to be...

And He’s not done with you yet.

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So welcome to my world.

To my testimony.

To the war I’ve walked through... and the wonder I still believe in.

This blog is my healing ground.

My roar.

My release.

My resurrection.

And I’m so glad you’re here.

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“For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

— Psalm 139:13–14 (NIV)