Joy In The Midst of Struggles

Alright friends we all know I am very real on here so let me tell you about my real life and things I sometimes forget to talk about. This last weekend I was in Colorado for my best friend's bachelorette. I think I have told you all before that I take medication for my shakiness. I have to take pills three times a day (morning, afternoon, and night). Now let's be real sometimes I forget to take my afternoon pill and the last weekend I had forgotten to take my afternoon and night time medication. So here are the side effects...I become really shaky. So the following day the girls and I hit the downtown and got some coffee to warm us up. Well I think that I have already told you that carrying open drinks is not good. aka beware it will spill so if you combine that with not taking my meds...hot mess alert. The girls started walking and I tried to catch up but I was just spilling my coffee all over me (yeah these are my hot mess moments). But what was different about this one i...

A few days ago someone asked me if i had ever questioned God? Boom thats a heavy question now isn't it? So I am going to give you a little bit of my faith journey. I was raised in the Lutheran church and went to private school my whole life. This was a blessing as I have known of our amazing Creator my whole life but that does not mean I never doubted Him or got angry with Him. I specifically remember a time in 5th grade where I was having a very difficult time accepting my disability. At that time I had a leg brace that went to from my foot to my knee because I was having issues with my right knee always turning in. I remember laying on the ground crying why God? Why do you have to give me this stupid disability? Why can't you just heal me and make me normal? I remember that moment the most because that was the angriest I ever was with God. It's like you see other people getting healed and God performing miracles and you are praying just as hard and your like what the ...

For those of you that follow me on Instagram or Facebook you have probably seen my yoga videos that I have been putting up. On the recent one I had a friend comment about how much she loved my openness and confidence. This really got me thinking about what a road I have been on to get me to where I am at today. Back when I was a senior in high school I got nominated the most inspirational senior. Now when you are nominated for this award you have to write a speech and make the speech in front of the whole school at an assembly. I remember when I first found out I started bawling. Like what? People think I'm inspiring? At that time I was NOT comfortable speaking about my disability. In fact I couldn't even read the speech my principal had to because I was a wreck and was far from confident in myself. Even halfway through college I was not comfortable mentioning my disability. It was like the BIG elephant in the room. It made me nervous and I thought people already see that I...

Question from a reader: You possess the ability to navigate most physical challenges very well. To what or whom do you attribute your dexterity & ability? Well I have become this way through many many years and many many therapies. I will take you down this road. When my parents found out I had Cerebral Palsy they took me to CCS (California Child Services) which is a therapy service provided by the government until you reach the age of 21. I would go to physical and occupational therapy 3 times a week when I was in elementary school. Additionally, with this I had braces on my ankles to give more support to my ankles and legs. I continued with these ankle braces until I was in 8th grade where they declared them to be not necessary anymore because my ankles and legs were strong enough. In second grade I started going to therapeutic horseback riding aka hippo therapy. I did this until I was a  sophomore in high school. Horseback riding was such a b...

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...