Sunshine Blogger Award Nominee!

First off, let me just say that I am beyond honored and grateful to have been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by a blogger I have looked up to and found inspiring since the day I first came across her blog, Alyssa-  fightmsdaily.com.

Alyssa’s blog has inspired me in so many ways. Not only that, but I learn something each time I read her blog. Whether it be about her life experiences and the lessons learned though them, new ways to bring positivity into my life, or how to feel powerful and strong even though I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease!

So, thank you, Alyssa! And if you haven’t already, please go check out her blog for some positive vibes in your day fightmsdaily.com !

So what is this Sunshine business? 

The Sunshine Award is about recognizing bloggers who contribute positive, uplifting and inspiring energy to the blogging community. When I started blogging I was looking for a creative outlet for all of the new emotions and experiences I was going through with a new diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.

I was also looking to find people who could understand the things I was feeling and the diagnosis I was trying to come to terms with. Little did I know I would discover a whole MS Family that has welcomed me so warmly into the blogging community. It’s amazing to feel so connected and close to those that are all the way across the globe, or just the next town over! I love you blogging brings us all together!

I have also found some truly inspirational blogs from people who are beyond passionate about what they do and what they love!

Once nominated, a blogger is asked to:

1) Write a post in which they thank the blogger for nominating them and link back to their blog.

2) Answer the 10 questions asked by the person who nominated you.

3) Nominate 5 other blogs.

4) Give them 10 questions to answer.

5) Notify your nominees and display the rules and The Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post.

So here we go!

1. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because this past fall I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I was having a hard time emotionally dealing with the diagnosis. I have always been passionate about writing ever since I was a young child. Through the recommendations of my therapist and my husband I got the idea to start writing again. I felt like blogging would be a great avenue of positivity for myself. I would be able to connect with others in the MS community, as well as spread awareness and my personal experiences with both MS and Anxiety/PTSD.

2. What is your greatest inspiration in life?

My greatest inspiration in life is when I see people doing acts of kindness or spreading love to one another, even in the smallest ways! In a world full or so much violence, fear, and hatred those moments of human compassion truly remind me what we are on this earth for!

3. What is one country you would love to visit?

I would love to visit South Africa. I am very passionate about animals and wildlife. I have always been fascinated by big cats and elephants! So, I would LOVE to be able to visit a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa someday! Did you know that when an elephant looks at a human it releases the same chemical in its brain that a human brain does when it sees a puppy or something else cute? Elephants think we are cute!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

4. As a child, what did you dream of doing for a living?

As a child I dreamed of being a Broadway actress! I actually pursued that dream, up until my anxiety made it difficult for me to continue, a couple of years ago. I have

my bachelor’s degree in Theater Performance and have a special place in my heart for classical theater (wassup Shakespeare). Some day when I have my anxiety back under control I would love to return to the stage by either directing or acting again!

 

5. If you could choose any superpower, what would it be?

Definitely flying! I have dreams about flying all the time and it is so freeing and fun! Plus, I could travel wherever I wanted to without being stuck on a plane!

6. What are your top five blogging necessities?
   1. Positivity
   2. Honesty
   3. A little bit of humor 😉
   4. Creativity
   5. Passion

 

7. What is one interesting thing about you that people do not know?

I rode horses my whole childhood! I was quite the little equestrian…

Special shoutout to my mom and dad for watching a 10 year old ride around “barrel racing” at what, I am sure, can only be described was a snails pace, with the grace of newborn giraffe.

8. What do you love most about blogging?

Meeting new people and connecting with people all over the world who share similar life experiences, interest and passions as myself!

9. If you had to listen to one song on repeat, what would it be and why?

Dancing in the Moonlight – Toploader  I just love that song, it’s one of those songs that makes me happy every time I hear it. I dare you to listen to it and not start shakin yo booty to the beat!

10. What is your biggest fear?

That I won’t live my life to the fullest. I am learning to live in the moment and experience the joy that each moment in life has to offer. I just feel that there are so many amazing things to experience and places to see.  I hope that I can experience all of them in my lifetime!

My turn to nominate! 

Now it is time to nominate some fellow bloggers for the Sunshine Award! I am pretty new to the blogging scene and I apologize if you have already been nominated for the award.

The bloggers I chose have struck me with passion, love, and made me feel so welcomed here on the grand blogosphere!

Please do not feel obligated to write a post if you do not have time (or hell, if you just don’t want to!) but I would love to read your responses to my questions if you do! Just know, either way, you have taught me, inspired me and made me smile through your blogs!

Hannah – mymultiplesclerosisandme.wordpress.com

Anita – discoveringyourhappiness.com

Brenda – brendamueller.com

stumblinginflats.com

Hannah – hannahelizasite.wordpress.com

Again, thank you to Alyssa for nominating me, and thank you to everyone who has read my little blog and made me feel so welcomed and loved in this community!

Nominees, here are your questions! 

1. What is a trait about yourself that you are most proud of?
2. What is a good book you have read recently?
3. What is a piece of advice that you were given that you will never forget?
4. What is a song that always cheers you up?
5. What is a fond memory that you have?
6. What makes you feel empowered?
7. Who inspired you to begin writing/blogging?
8. What is your go-to relaxation activity?
9. If you could meet a character from a book who would it be, and why?
10. What made you smile today?

 

I hope everyone finds a reason to smile today and feels the positive, healing, energy around them!

-A

Birthday Weekend: Day 1

First things first, today marks the completion of my first week of Glatiramer Acetate injections. It was also a rough injection day. Maybe I wasn’t paying as much attention to what I was doing because ‘hey, this is my third time doing this in five days. I’m an old pro at this right?’ No, I am not.

I injected into my upper thigh today, as was planned in my “injection rotation planner”, but I must have had the depth setting too high because I ended up injecting into my muscle. Glatiramer Acetate is meant to be injected into the fatty layer before the muscle, and let me tell you, there is a reason why! It hurt like a mother trucker.

It didn’t help that I could not, for the life of me, find my heating pad this morning. My brain fog has me getting seriously forgetful over the past month or so. The other week I put ice cream in the fridge and didn’t know until I looked for it the next day only to discover that my ridiculously overpriced $4.99 gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free “ice cream” was now a lumpy sludge in the fridge. Shame. But this thing is LOST. My husband and I spent a good half hour scouring every corner (and yes, I looked in the fridge) for the hot pack and is nowhere to be found. And I literally used it two days ago!  I’m sure I’ll find it in some random place eventually

…unless it was stolen…I am looking at you Sparrow Mom.

Luckily, my husband was there to carry me to the couch and help me apply pressure and ice on my leg until the pain subsided enough for me to be able to crack a smile at some silly joke he was saying to try to distract me. And it worked, with his comfort, terrible jokes, and instant and caring reactions we got through my first injection stumble. I’m a lucky wife.

In other news, turn 25 on Sunday! I am so excited for this weekend. I have always loved birthdays. I love looking back at the past year and seeing how I have grown, how my life has changed, and the lessons I have learned. I love looking forward and the excitement and wonder of what another year will hold. Birthdays just make me happy. They celebrate life and all that comes with it!

My life has changed A LOT in this past year, and I can already tell that this weekend will not just be a regular birthday. This year I feel like I am feeling everything a little bit more. More love, more joy, more nostalgia, more gratitude for what I have; an amazing family and friends, my husband and even the medicine that I have access to that is giving me a chance at my new “normal”. My heart is dancing with all of the good vibes I am feeling today.

To start out my birthday weekend I would like to share some things I am thankful for in this past year.

• I am thankful that my husband and I found a perfect neighborhood and home to establish our roots in.
• I am thankful that even in the darkest times, just after my initial diagnosis, I learned an extremely powerful lesson. That no matter how much darkness is thrown at you the light of love will always shine through brighter.
• I am thankful that the man of my dreams finally asked me to marry him 😉
• I am thankful that I have been able to focus so much of my recent time and energy on getting healthier both physically and mentally.
• I am thankful for the immense amount of support and love my family and friends, and even strangers, have shown me since my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Every single person who has reached out, prayed, walked in this years Walk MS: Twin Cities with “Dumbledore’s Army”, donated, sent good vibes or shared my story and MS awareness with others. I am thankful for you!

 

-A

Happy with a headache…

I have a headache. It’s funny, for someone who has a disease that affects my brain I don’t, and never have, had a lot of headaches. Growing up I can probably count on one hand the number of times I remember having a headache. Starting about two years ago I started getting periods of time where I would get headaches of various intensities quite often. Then I’d go months and months without one again. I’m in a headache period right now!

My husband was sick this weekend (finally feeling better this evening) so I am crossing my fingers that this is just a stress headache and not my already struggling immune system giving in to whatever virus he brought home.

I start my injections tomorrow, so I am pretty anxious about that. I played around with my “whisper inject” (automatic injector) without any actual needles/syringes and watched/read all the “how to” materials again. I wouldn’t say my anxious feelings are negative or bad feelings. They are more the healthy kind of nerves and tension that I always feel before a new medical procedure. It’s just anxiety watching out for me and wanting to make sure everything is safe and ‘ok’ before I try this new thus scary thing. But anxiety, I got you girl, I’ve done my homework, I’ve got a nurse coming to my home for the first injection and I will be OK! (positive thoughts!)

Ok, I HAVE to update ya’ll on the Sparrow Mom situation. WE HAVE CHICKLETS. I repeat! We have a birth…multiple births…hatches? Anyways, my (taller than the average human) husband walked past my hanging basket of African Daisy’s today and casually said “Oh, they’re alive. Watch out when you water this”.

Seeing as I was not bestowed with his same gift of height I, precariously, balanced on a patio chair and held my phone up so I could take a picture and “see” these “live” birds! And behold….sure as shoot Sparrow Mom is gonna be a busy ladybird from here on out!

Don’t worry, I was very careful not to touch the plant/nest or disturb them at all!

So as anxious as I am tonight, for what tomorrow holds, this was mother natures way of reminding me to stop and take in all the beauty and life around me! It completely made my day. And I have to say that I am, in general, very proud of my plant and animal babies today.

Fern be so fluffy!

My most precious baby of them all. Sir Mac N Cheese!

This tough fella already lost all his flowers once this season and now is looking so dapper again!

Lavender – I’m looking into how to harvest/make my own essential oils!

My (daisy? I forget…) seeds are sprouting!

My succulents are getting so big! Repot soon?

 

Gratitude

Today started out as a very frustrating day. I spent hours on the phone with different pharmacists, nurses and representatives of the MS helpline trying to get my first at home nurse visit set up, where I will learn to give myself my injections of Glatiramer acetate  (the generic form of Copaxone).

There were many questions, warnings, and instructions that each person had to go over with me. By my fourth or fifth phone call of the day I was starting to get annoyed at the information I was hearing over and over again. I know that all of these people wanted to help me, and were just trying to make sure I understood my medications but I just wanted to tell them “Listen, I am completely aware of all of the risks and side effects of this drug. I went over them with my doctor extensively. Also, you don’t have to tell me that it is not a cure. I’m aware of that. What I don’t know is how to give myself a shot, and you can’t teach me over the phone so let’s get to the part where we schedule the training.”

But instead I sat there and listened to each of them repeat the same information. The same words smashing around on the inside of my brain. Scarring. Injection. Needle. Risks. Pain. Insurance. Not a cure. Syringe. Scarring. Injection. Needle. Risks. Pain. Insurance. Not a Cure.

I finally ended my last call of the day two minutes before I walked into my therapist’s office for our weekly appointment. At that point I think I was really needing that appointment. I just needed to vent.

I was feeling frustrated. I couldn’t help but feel more and more like a name on a list of “people with MS” each time another bored sounding employee from the drug company would call me up and talk to me in the same monotone voice about the drug I was about to start, and the risks, and the things to watch out for…

I was completely consumed in my anxiety, frustration, and the loneliness I felt at that moment. Not a single person (with the exception of my neurologists assistant) that I had talked to on the phone had sounded like they cared. They just sounded like they were bored and reading off a script the drug company had given them. It all felt so cold.

I was letting the negative energy I was feeling take control of my mood and thus, how my day was going.

After talking with my therapist I started to realize this and shift back into a more positive energy and we ended up talking about the power of the intention behind our thoughts.

Dr. Masaru Emoto was a Japanese researcher and author who theorized that the human consciousness could have an effect on water crystals. He tested this by taking a drop of water from a constant water source and placing it on a single sheet of paper (also from a consistent source). He would then very intentionally focus all of his consciousness on either a positive or negative statement spoken (and in another test, written) to the water on the paper. He would then place the papers in the freezer and examine them the next day under a microscope. The results are incredible!

The water droplets that had a positive statement spoken to them were formed in intricate and beautiful patterns, just like a snowflake. The droplets that had a negative statement spoken to them were deformed and discolored. He also tested his theory by exposing the droplets to different music, prayers, and names of people in history. There are some youtube videos out there if you google his name where you can see most/all of the actual photos! It’s really amazing how powerful our thoughts and intentions really are. Below are some of the photographs taken by Dr. Masaru Emoto during is experiment.

I really love the beauty in the positivity!

 

It kind of reset my perspective for the day. I decided to stop focusing so much on the negative aspects of my day and instead to concentrate all of my energy on the positive things. My mood has already shifted positively and I am so grateful for the lesson that I learned today and my therapist for helping me discover it.

I know it’s not always easy to find a therapist you really connect with, but it is worth the wait and the search. Don’t give up on your mental health and be kind to yourself!

I challenge you all today to think of five things you are grateful for and send that positivity out into the universe. Lord know’s we could use it 😉

I am grateful for the sun.

I am grateful for a husband who supports me emotionally and financially in these hard times.

I am grateful for my dog, sleeping with his head on my foot.

I am grateful that Sparrow Mom decided to build her nest where I can watch her babies grow.

I am grateful for words and language and our ability to express and connect with people though them.

-A