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My Little Adventurer

Emery is five years old. And she loves having her little adventures. I usually only like the outdoors when I'm in the mood for them. However, Emery is all about it. She wants to be outside, running wild, and barefoot pretty much 24/7. She wants to be in the water, picking up turtles, and climbing rocks. She is pretty fearless, and I am completely in love with that. I also think this is one of the main reasons why I miss living out in the country so much. We had a lot of space out there and a lot of back roads. Our lake was a five minute drive, and at night you could layout in the front yard and look out at the countless stars that just seemed to go on forever. Probably because they do. Even with the occasional urges to get out of the house and go exploring with my little girl, it's just not enough for her. She craves it all of the time now. And I'm sure now that summer is right around the corner that need is about to grow exponentially. 

Thankfully, I have a pretty awesome brother and sister-in-law that make up for what I lack in this department. And they live for this stuff. Kayaking, archery, biking, camping, cave exploring, rock climbing, and digging in the dirt are just a few of the many amazing things that they enjoy doing. They're also always there when I need suggestions on what we could do that would be cheap or free. They told us about some nice spots to go visit during the summer for camping which I'm hoping we'll get to do this summer. However, there's a lot about this stuff that I know NOTHING about, or we just can't afford to spend on the proper equipment for. So, it's great that recently Emery's been able to spend some time with them to learn, and try out some of these things she's always talking about! 

On Sunday they went kayaking and once she had been dropped off she had a so many stories to tell. She informed me about the water, the fish, and the stuff that her tia and tio let her do. She was really excited about going again, and she was adamant that next time I would have to go as well. On Wednesday they took her to go enjoy a trail that's been recently put into place, and she was able to take her bike. Throughout this whole time, of course, I'm a nervous wreck. I trust them completely with her, but she's still my baby. And not being able to see her at all times still gets me nervous. This is why Kim is under strict orders to update me with pictures:

Now, even though my signature is on these the real credit goes to them. These are just two of the many I was sent while they were off having fun. Now even though you can't see it in these pictures she is always wearing a huge smile. And when I call to ask if she's ready for me to pick her up or if she wants to come home, the answer is usually the same as she's running off: "No, I'm not ready yet." And I just smile as she makes her way back to the fun.

I can't say it enough, so here it is again: I am truly lucky. I have so much support and love from my family, and that's a pretty amazing thing. There is a great big world out there, and I don't know everything. I've never claimed to. But I do have a very curious little girl that wants to try new and exciting things I might not always be able to provide for her. So, it's nice to have people there who can help me nurture that side of her. They help me keep my little adventurer's fire alive, and I'm grateful for this every single day.  

Gym Rat; The Addiction is Real

Back in December my dad gave me a gift card to spend on whatever I wanted. Of course, being me, I kept thinking about what all I could get Emery. Did she need new shoes, or maybe some clothes? Of course it was right before Christmas so I knew she'd be getting plenty from everyone in our family. So, at the insistence of my mother, I did something I rarely ever do. I spent the money on myself. I was finally able to pay for the rest of my glasses (which were needed) and the what was left over I spent on getting my fitness membership through **BCBSTx. So, I finally had access to a gym again! This meant that I had no excuses really. I needed to get back into working out regularly. And so, I attempted to do just that.

I chose to go with a local gym in my tiny little town rather than the big fancy one in the next town over. My gym is actually pretty small, and rundown looking. It smells like sweat, and the equipment is all pretty basic. But I absolutely love it! There usually isn't a lot of people around during the times that I go, and even when it does get pretty full it seems like everyone moves around each other in steady sync . We all have our earbuds in for the most part, but there's this vibe that you get as soon as you walk in that makes you feel at ease. There's no competition about it, and people don't look at you. There's the acknowledging "nod" that everyone gives you as you come in, but after that...nothing. Which is probably what makes me love it even more. So as soon as I walked into this gym I knew this was where I wanted to be. 

At first, school was my main priority because it was my last "full" semester, and I wanted to come out of it with another 4.0 in order to bring up my overall GPA. Which I did! For me this meant that my academics came before my workouts. My schedule really only allowed me to work out once during the week and twice on the weekends. However, once finals were over with, I found myself spending quite a bit of time there everyday. What was even better is that they have a small kids area which has a TV, and two plastic bins filled with toys if you decide to bring your child along. You can also plug in a tablet and they have a small table for kids to sit at in order to play on them. Now, even though I try to get there as early as possible there are times when other kids that are around Emery's age show up and the fun goes up about ten times for her. So, on the days that she decides she wants to join me there is a place for her to enjoy as well. 

All of that said, I've seen such a huge change in myself. Not regarding my weight because I wasn't too concerned with that at first. My main priority was getting into a routine that I liked, and building up a "weight tolerance" again. The changes I'm talking about are in my moods, and how I feel on a daily basis. I look forward to my hour (or two) at the gym at the end of my day. That's where I go to relieve the stress, frustration, or just crappy mood that I sometimes find myself in. On days that I don't have any of those issues it just feels great to sweet and push myself further. I also get that second wind of energy to knock out the rest of my day's chores or errands which is pretty damn great if you ask me! If I miss a day, I'm usually pretty bummed about it. I immediately start to think about what I'll do the next time in order to make up for the day that I missed. So, I can officially say that this has become an addiction. I still find myself smiling when my mother calls and as soon as I tell her where I am I hear that sigh followed by "Again?! Really? Weren't you just there last night?" Well, yes I was, but that was also yesterday. It could be worse I tell her, I could be addicted to meth. And we all know that meth is gross. ;)

Now that I'm building everything back up I feel like it's time to start changing my diet again. It's time for me to really start focusing on my problem areas, and getting rid of those rolls you see above once and for all. A coworker of mine gave me 25 days worth of "Thrive for Women" for free this past week and I'm currently on day two. Already, I've noticed some changes to my appetite which I'm a little surprised with. I'm hoping this helps jump start some weight loss. Once this is over with I want to continue to move forward without using a lot of products. I want to tone, tighten, and start working on longer distance running. My goal is to do at least 5 miles consecutively, and lose ten lbs by the end of July. I'm pretty sure I can get there, it'll just take a little bit of time. As they say "Rome wasn't built in a day!" And even though I know this is true the waiting is still a pain in the butt. :)

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Storms

Recently, central Texas has been hit with quite a few storms. We've also had a few tornadoes land very close by. One actually started to come down, up the road from where we were, before going back up. It was frightening and yet extremely thrilling. There is so much power, and force that these storms create that you can't help but feel a little excited when they roll through. It could also be that after watching Twister at a young age I had dreams of being a tornado chaser? But that's a story for another time. Anyway, my geology teacher always said "Mother nature is a hard, hard mistress. And she doesn't give a damn about anything." Now, I never doubted this. We see so many natural disaster that happen all over the world on daily basis. However, I've lived here my whole life and we've never had sirens go off. So, when they went off a few weeks ago (and again this past weekend) I didn't know whether to take it seriously or continue on with what I was doing.

I know it's probably on the "unsafe side", but we always laughed about these "Tornado Warnings" because they would never ever come anywhere close to us. It was like a joke between the locals. A lot of us would just smile when out-of-towners got all worked up over storms. In fact, when this recent one came through I was taking a nap with the little and our two dogs. A coworker of mine was texting me and then I got a call from my boss. All of them asking if we were okay? Whether we were taking shelter? I looked out our window and saw clear skies. And I actually giggled. All of this worry for nothing. About ten minutes later the sirens went off. I ran out of the house to see what the skies looked like and sure enough that storm was right above us (hence why I couldn't see it earlier). Ten minutes later my brother told us to get out of the house and come to theirs because they could see rotation. The rain started coming down and they were huge drops. Five minutes later we were rushing to my parents house; dogs in tow.  Our timing couldn't have been better because just as we got out of our cars we had high winds, hail the size of baseballs, and reports that a tornado had been spotted on the ground. And this was just the first round. 

Two hours after that first storm hit we had another one, and it messed up our vehicles. Another tornado touched down in a neighboring town. A few days later, we had another storm with more hail. It's been raining pretty much every other day since. And this past weekend we had two more tornadoes come through a few miles away and golf ball size hail as well. To say we've taken a beating...well for us is an understatement. I know there are places that get it much much worse, and we were lucky to not have any fatalities. We also live in a very rural area, so land and homes are pretty far apart which I think plays a pretty big part in that. Still, we've had floods and major damage to houses, and vehicles. A lot of us walked out of our homes with our heads hanging. Grateful to be alive, and yet really bummed out at how much damage there was. 

There has been a bright side though. Our lakes are filling back up which was really needed. So, I'm not completely against the rain and thunderstorms. I could just do without the hail and tornadoes. And if I don't hear those sirens go off again this summer, I wouldn't hate that either. 

Hail, from the first round; they got bigger

So much hail; looked like snow & the temp dropped

Second round on it's way

Funnel cloud; bounced right back up

Wordless Wednesday

This was taken on 4/28/15, but it's pretty much been our view for the past few weeks. 

Miracles

In my last post I spoke to you guys about my aunt. She had recently been diagnosed with Stage IV Gallbladder cancer. She was told that it was very aggressive and resistant to treatment. Anything they did at this point was only going to buy her time. We were pretty much told that this was it. But my mother, kept insisting that this was not the end. "Miracles happen every day, Raquel. God has the last word." And so with that, we kept praying. 

I've heard so many tragic stories though. In my heart I knew that the chances of recovery would have to come down to just that: a miracle. And so I started to prepare myself for the time when I'd have to let go. When I'd have to be strong for my mom. When I'd have to say goodbye to my aunt. That alone was unreal to me. I'm 27 years old and still I'm the one who seeks out my mother when I need to break down. When I need a good cry. When I need that reassurance that I'm going to be okay. She has always been my strength. So, for us to reverse roles when she needed a moment was so unexpected. It definitely made me appreciate her that much more for all the times she's helped me back up. And during this difficult time, she needed us to believe. She needed us to get on our knees every night, and say a little prayer. She needed me to give her a hug, and let her know that everything was going to be okay. And so, I did just that. 

Now, I know that there are so many people out there who believe in God, and just as many that don't. I'm very much aware that my religion isn't the only one out there either. And I won't treat anyone else any differently for not believing the same way that I do. Well, maybe if they use it as an excuse to hurt someone but that's another can of worms. It's their free will and in the end I have no right to judge. However, for me this is it. And at the end of April, we received some pretty amazing news. And just like my mother said "God has the last word." 

Many didn't know what I was going through these last few month's. Well my family and I. Here's part of my testimony....
Posted by Linda Graciale on Thursday, April 16, 2015