Joy In The Midst of Struggles

Some of you have noticed my recent love of yoga and asked specifically how it helps me as a person with Cerebral Palsy so here goes a little background on me and a little lesson of why I chose yoga.  How I Got Into Yoga I started my yoga journey back in my senior year of college. My two roommates and I became members of a local gym that offered yoga classes. I had heard yoga was good for me so I decided to try it and fell in love with doing it and would go 3 times a week. It was something that I felt like I could do and made me feel stronger. Then I graduated and I joined LA fitness and would go to some of their yoga classes but I just couldn't really find a good instructor like I had in college and I wasn't as dedicated. Fast forward to April of this year. I decided to join CorePower yoga because it is in the same center as my apartment. Ever since that first hot yoga class I fell back in love with yoga and I felt like the teachers were genuine and really noticed who ...

I am not going to lie I am glad to have year 25 be over. Looking back I had a rough year filled with a lot of stress, a lot of letting people down, and a lot of tears. I thought going into my 3rd year of teaching that I would have a handle on things and I would be fine with doing my Masters. However, I got a very challenging class and doing my Masters was a lot more challenging then I had anticipated. I had many car rides home from work where I would just cry. I had many guilty moments of having to say no to going out with friends because I had homework to do. I just felt like I wasn't really myself this year. I also lost my dog who was my best friend and my go to girl through everything in life.  However, I do want to highlight some of the good things that year 25 brought. 1. I moved out on my own This was such a big decision and choice to move out by myself with no roommates but it was the best decision. I am so so happy I made this choice for it has taught me a lot about myse...

Wow in the last week and a half was filled with 3 goodbyes and 1 of them was not expected. Bare with me as I have so many emotions about all of these goodbyes. 1. Goodbye to Kindergarten I have been preparing for this goodbye for the last 2 months. It is such a bittersweet goodbye. As I sat there on the last day of school I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears. Kindergarten is the grade I started this beautiful career of being a teacher. It has had so many ups and downs and I think about the 30 kiddos I have had in that classroom and how they have each impacted my heart. I remember when I got the phone call that I was hired to be a kindergarten teacher and thinking um what I have never even entered a kindergarten class before. It taught me that this teacher career is not just about academics but it is about how to teach kids to love and accept one another for their differences. I learned to look at life and appreciate it more of the simplicity that it offers and to encourage and co...

I decided to take a little break from writing my Masters paper and write a little reflection about this school year. Here I am 4 days left of school (not Masters, work school). 4 days left of being a Kindergarten teacher. 4 days left of being in that little portable. When I say this year was hard I am not exaggerating. These were the hardest 10 months I have ever had in this life so far. I honestly do not think I have cried so much before. I have cried from exhaustion, frustration, sadness, and just cried because I did not know what else to do. I knew when I signed up for my Masters that it was going to be a challenge but combine that with a challenging class equals a rough time. It's where you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror to find the bags under your eyes even deeper. Where you drink more caffeine than you do water and you drink a Redbull at 5 pm and can still fall asleep at 10 pm because you are so exhausted. Where the question of how are you becomes almost ...

Hi friends! I know I know it has been quite a while since I last posted. You know sometimes life just swipes you away and you get caught up but I wanted to come on here and give you a little life update/what I have been learning. I don't even know how to put it but sometimes God gives you opportunities that you are afraid to take to say yes to but after you do you understand exactly why He presented it to you. Ever since I moved out I have found a new joy and a new me. I have found myself in moments where I should be dragging because I don't sleep (aka Masters life) but instead I am just pure  giddy and smiling. Because how are you ever going to grow or change if you don't grasp at the unknown? When I signed that lease for this apartment I had so many fears and thinking oh no what am i doing? But as I write this my eyes are filling up with tears because now I finally see someone who is capable and who is able to be independent. Living on my own was the one area of my li...

Last week I had dinner with one of my best friends who has been through a lot of ups and downs of life with me. We were discussing about where our lives are at now and how at the age of 25 we have accomplished so much. Then I began to realize something. That I am at a point now just like the quote where I realize it is all happening. You know growing up I thought that I would be married at age 25. Well, that ain't happening but what is happening is freedom. You know those moments where you realize wow my God did have a plan that I never could imagine.  You see this whole living on my own at age 25 is exactly what I needed in my life. Because now I not only realized that I could have my dream career that I have been fighting for the last 10 years of my life but I can also live independently. Maybe thats why I thought I'd be married already because I thought I would have to have someone to depend on and help me in my life because surely I can't do everything on my own....

It's a special day because it is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness day! As I was driving home (to my new apartment..eek!) I started getting emotional thinking about how much I have accomplished as a person with CP. You know when I was younger I had no idea how my life would turn out. I didn't know any adults with CP or quite frankly I didn't know anyone else (young or old) who even had a similar case of CP. CP is a disability that does not have that much awareness which is why I created this blog so people can understand it more. I mean how many times do you go to the store or go to eat and see someone with a CP. It is so very rare. Therefore, I hope this day makes you "normal" people more aware and I hope it makes those with CP know that they are not alone! However, I did want to touch on what the Lord has enabled me to do. In fact as I am writing this blog the song came on saying "Our God is able". Oh man is that true. Here I am a 25 year old adult...