Do you compare yourself to other people? Do you wish there was something different about you? Today while hanging out at the pool with my kids, I thought, how awesome am I! I am a mom of two kids, and I have never been healthier, and have never had more energy. I’m 20 pounds less than I was my senior year of high school. I can run 5 miles without stopping. I love my life! No crazy diets, shakes, gym memberships, or health programs. Just me being me and living every day to the fullest, living every day free!
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“Unstoppable”
I’m excited to finally have these, “Unstoppable,” Braille T-shirts available so that everyone can show the world how, “Unstoppable” they are.
Why did I choose the word, “Unstoppable?”
Two reasons.
Reason 1. My Aunt Say. For those of you who have followed my blog for a few months now, you may remember me writing about her. Last October, at the age of 48, she suffered from a stroke. For the first few days following the stroke, she was paralyzed on her left side. Two months later, she walked into her newly remodeled house (a welcome home surprise from her sisters) with the assistance of a cane. Today, she is walking, cooking, cleaning, and …driving! She is, “UNSTOPPABLE.”
Reason 2. My Mini-Me, my Marley. She is the ultimate mirror of her mommy. At the exact same age, she displayed the exact same symptoms, and we have the exact same diagnosis of Optic Nerve Atrophy. Just like her mommy, she doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She is a determined, courageous, creative, passionate, and UNSTOPPABLE little girl.
Are you Unstoppable? Show it off by wearing one of these, “Unstoppable,” Braille T’s.
Braille birthday cake
yesterday I was feeling lousy. My cough turned into a chest cold and I decided to wait a day before eating cake. All week my kids have been bugging me about what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday. My answer? I want a braille birthday cake.
It also needed to be chocolate.
My husband picked up a German chocolate cake, and Marley taught him how to spell my name, “Mom,” in Braille with white chocolate chips.
Just like this blog I’m posting from my phone, here it is. Short and sweet.
Happy Birthday to Me!
On this day 32 years ago, my mom gave birth to me in a tiny hut in a refugee camp in Thailand. My parents couldn’t be more happy to bring me into this world. I was their first born. My arrival meant they were a real family. If you think you’ve seen an over protective father, you haven’t seen my dad. All their love, joy, hopes and dreams, there it was in a tiny innocent precious body. Little did they iknow, less than two years later they would beimmigrating to the United States, learning a new language, and finding out that their daughter was blind. I can’t even begin to imagine what they must have felt.
Grief…
Sorrow…
Guilt…
Fear…
They traveled up and down California searching for an answer. Doctors said my vision would improve, other doctors said it wouldn’t. Through it all, they protected me, sheltered me with unconditional love.
However, that protection and sheltering caused me to grow up never truly feeling adequate, and led me to continually second guess and doubt my abilities. My constant need to prove myself and compete with other woman in my life are from my parents unknowingly putting me in competition with my younger sister. She spent her childhood making sure her big sister was safe, going to blind camp with her big sister, driving her sister around, ultimately missing out on being the younger sister.
That was then.
This is now.
I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for everything I did and didn’t do. I don’t let my past or my circumstances control who I am, who I want to be, and what I want to do. I especially don’t let my blindness play any role in my decision making. I live to be a positive role model for my daughter and son, and everyone whom I may come into contact with.
As many of you know I am in a leadership program on emotional intelligence. Yes, it started with a lot of self discovery and break throughs. The main focus however is the 100 day stretch of living outward focused. We are the source of a world transformed by joy, love, and giving. This week we will prove that even the most outrageous and impossible tasks can be done. My team and I are raising $175,000 for Tuesday’s Children to benefit Eddie Rivera, a 9/11 first responder who’s health has failed him since he volunteered in the search and rescue efforts after those planes hit that tragic Tuesday morning. I am committed to personally raising $2,500 by Sunday. I am asking each one of you to please support me in reaching my goal by donating here. As a firefighter’s wife, this is especially close to my heart. Everyone in the entire world is still effected by the events of that day, some more than others. Today, on my birthday, I ask you to make a difference in the lives of those who were there at ground zero on September 11th, and those weeks after searching for survivors.
Reason, Season, and A Life Time
Another one I just can’t keep to myself after reading.
Vintage Dilbert
March 22, 2006
People come into your life for a REASON, a SEASON or a LIFE TIME.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, It is usually to meet a need.
You have expressed.
They have come to assist you though a difficulty,
To provide you with guidance and support,
To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend and they are….
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then , without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
This person will say or do something to bring the relationship to and end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes the act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realized is that our…
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It’s finally here!
It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here!
We’ve been talking about it for years.
For Valentine’s Day, we decided to purchase ourselves a hot tub.
“Oh no!” What if we were scammed?
A bounced email in the inbox the day after the order was made..
A series of phone tag, unanswered calls, and messages…
A delay due to bad weather in Kentucky where it was being manufactured…
Then… last week we received a glorious call from the delivery company.
“Whew”
FINALLY
There it was. In our driveway.
It cost us half the price, but now we needed to get the thing from the front to the back on our own.
800lbs, 5 men, and about an hour later,
There he was. Jackson inside the empty hot tub.
Yesterday my awesome handy man husband spent the morning converting the electrical outlet to support the power.
We spent evening waiting for it to heat up.
And…after the kids fell asleep, we snuck out to enjoy wine, cheese, and crackers under the stars.
This morning, Marley and I hopped in for some mommy/Marley time before she hopped in the shower before getting ready for school.
looking forward to enjoying my morning coffee in that thing from now on.
Did You Know
I couldn’t read this one without sharing. Enjoy!
Vintage Dilbert
March 23, 1994
1. Your shoes are the first thing people subconsciously notice
about you. Wear nice shoes.
2. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there’s a 50% chance
you’ll die within the next 3 years.
3. There are at least six people in the world who look exactly
like you. There’s a 9% chance that you’ll meet one of them in your lifetime.
4. Sleeping without a pillow reduces back pain and keeps your
spine stronger.
5. A person’s height is determined by their father,
and their weight is determined by their mother.
6. If a part of your body “falls asleep”, you can almost always
“wake it up” by shaking your head.
7. There are three things the human brain cannot resist noticing:
food, attractive people, and danger.
8. Right-handed people tend to chew food on their right side.
9. Putting dry…
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Screaming for Balance!
I’ve been told that I’m controlling. I’ve been told that I’m selfish. I’ve been told that I’m impatient, irrational, impulsive, and unempathetic.
In contrast, I’ve been told that I’m loving, generous, passionate, incredibly thoughtful, and inspiring.
I’m struggling.
I’m struggling to find balance between the two sides of me.
It’s even more difficult these days with 5 extra people (including a 2 year old and 6 year old) under my roof.
I feel as if everyone is screaming for space, screaming for time, screaming for attention, and me…
I’m screaming for balance.
photo credit to Aaron Rupp from http://www.theseedproject.net
Running to me is…
On Saturday morning I will be participating in my first 5K in years. I’d registered to do the Ugly Sweater Run last December, but due to scheduling conflicts I wasn’t able to attend. This weekend’s run comes at the perfect time. I’ve been running for weeks around my neighborhood. I’ve decided that by next Thanksgiving I will be running the Las Vegas Rock n Roll half marathon.
What I’m looking forward to most about completing this 5k is having my children there to cheer me on and watch me cross the finish line. Earlier this year, I found out that my daughter has the same love for running as her mommy. After she participated in her school Fun Run Fundraiser, we asked her how it felt to run. Her response, “I love to run because I feel like I’m free, like I can fly.”
Growing up, I was usually the last one picked in gym class because I was so awkward. I couldn’t catch or throw a ball. I was never good at sports. I don’t even enjoy watching sports. It wasn’t until recently that I began running.
Running to me is freedom . When I run I am able to get out of my head, zone out and zen out, and all I focus on is my rhythmic breathing and the sound of my feet hitting the pavement.
Running to me is peace.
Running to me is another way to break down misconceptions and low expectations about blindness.
Running to me is how I don’t just talk the talk, or walking the walk, but literally running it, and showing my kids that their mommy is an unstoppable, courageous, and powerful woman.
Not being able to see doesn’t define me. It doesn’t stop me from doing the things I love. If I stop and think about it, it’s because of my blindness that I’ve been able to do such amazing things. I am determined not to sit back and live a mediocre life.
There is a scene in the movie McFarland USA that I think of when I run now. The coach was having his team run the mounds in the ag fields to practice running hills. These mounds were the byproducts of the almonds and other nuts those boys literally shelled by hand everyday when they weren’t out in those fields picking. He said something to the nature of, “You’re running those hills and you’re not going to stop. When you see those hills, you’re going to smile. You’ll smile every time you come up to hill.”
That’s how I run. I run with a smile on my face. Every hill, every challenge or obstacle that comes in my path, I greet it with a huge smile. When I get to the other side of that hill, there waiting to greet me are my children who have been watching me the entire time smiling.
pre-run selfie
Drunk off of Vulnerability
As some of you may know, I have been in a leadership program on emotional intelligence. I am in the middle of the leadership portion of the program, and last weekend I became drunk off of vulnerability. I totally drank the cool-aid and I can’t sober up. Best of all I don’t want to sober up. This feeling inside my chest, my entire body, is so powerfully engulfing that I never want to loose it. Please allow me to share this feeling with you.
I’ve tried sitting down and writing my, “Drunk off of Vulnerability,” post since Monday morning and have gotten nowhere. I can’t stop crying. Needing a little help of putting this intoxicating sensation into words, I decided to watch one of my favorite Ted Talks, “The Power of Vulnerability,” bye Brene Brown. She sums it up perfectly.
1. I’ve gotten rid of shame.
2. I have a sense of love and belonging, because I believe I am worthy of love and belonging.
3. I live whole heartedly.
4. I have the courage to be imperfect.
5. I have the compassion to tend to myself first, then to others.
6. I have a connection with others because of my authenticity.
7. I fully embrace vulnerability.
8. I believe what makes me vulnerable makes me beautiful.
So, to you I ask, what makes you vulnerable?
Blind Mom in the Burbs 
