Over the hump.

I had every intention of posting more this week...and then it just wasn't the priority. I've read lots of friends' blogs this week and several of them have talked about their blogs falling to the end of the priority list and I think that's totally okay!! If we all have something to say...say it! If not, let the blogs  sit silent until we do!

I realized this morning since I hadn't posted anything this week, the last post I had up was describing my medical scare and trying to figure my health out. I then thought to myself "self, it's time for a check in!"

Currently, I have gone one full (and glorious) week without a single headache or dizzy spell. I have boiled it down to the supplement I was taking for my mental health. Up until November of 2015 I was taking an anti-depressant. When I wanted to remove that medication, I went back to using St. John's Wort to help with mood stability. Last week when I was trying everything and could not figure out what was happening to my body, I took out all supplements and realized almost instantly that the St. John's Wort was to blame for my symptoms.

I've more recently learned that St. John's Wort is not as reliable as I was once led to believe, because as we all know supplements available in retail stores are not well regulated and St. John's Wort can have many unnecessary and unhealthy additives. Also, the main ingredient in St' John's is known to cause many side effects, some of which include the dizziness and headaches.

I am tempted to go as far as to say that my complex migraine was a result of my body not doing well with the St. John's as well. However, only time will tell me if that's true. It is possible that I get another hemiplegic migraine in a week or a month. We will have to wait and see on that one.

Since removing St. John's Wort from my daily life, I have felt instant relief from both the mid day dizziness and the frequent painful headaches. I have felt my energy bounce back up and am thinking much more sharply. I can't tell if I am struggling mentally and emotionally because of the absence of the supplement, or if it was a placebo effect and now I just "feel" like I am struggling. I have moments where I dislike myself very much and continue to tear myself apart for very unreasonable things. However, I feel well equipped to fight those mental struggles, whereas I was not okay living with the dizziness and headaches.

Because of the health scare and constant confusing, however, the beginning of 2016 has felt chaotic. I have felt completely out of balance, as if I am on a tight rope between two sky scrapers and everything is literally about to come crashing down. I have struggled to feel progress with my fitness. I have struggled to find enjoyment from my career. I have struggled to maintain enough energy to keep up with my toddler. And I have struggled to maintain normalcy.

However, I feel as if I am finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I think I figured out what was causing me to feel so horrible. I am working on my mental outlook on life. I am slowly catching up with tasks at work and at home. And I have recommitted to my fitness process. This last week I have been cutting (calories) and the dietary changes have shown great promise! I am going to continue to trust the process and be consistent and push forward!

The reason I do want to say all of this in a public manner, is so my community sees that everything we put in our bodies matters. We all understand the importance of nutrition and work on clean eating. But then I see lots of women supplement their diets with pills, pre-workouts, protein bars, etc. All of those things are chemicals and the bottom line is we really don't know what those chemicals are or where they are from!

If you work hard to keep your diet clean, why not keep the medications and supplements clean as well? If you are sensitive to food like I am, you will probably be sensitive to any chemical you ingest as well. I am not saying stop what you're doing, but maybe just be aware and really think of which products you are choosing to use.

Things are finally getting better in this Little Life!!

Health Scare.

I've been MIA for too long, am I right? I don't even know if anyone even reads my blog anymore, but I enjoy writing as a way to vent and let my thoughts out of my crazy head, so I am going to keep writing anyway!

So, it was Thursday. It was February 11. I was at work, in the middle of a Spanish 2 class. The kids were working so well and I was trying to file papers into the cabinet. I was trying to tell a student what word to write as a folders label. And it hit me...I could not get the words out! I was having a very hard time thinking of the right words in my head, but when I would finally get a hold of a word, I could not get it to correctly come out of my mouth! I just kept laughing at myself to hide my panic in front of the students.

As my head got foggy and dizzy and I continued to not be able to control my speech or my handwriting, I was getting very nervous. At first I thought I was having a blood sugar crash, so that was an easy fix. Class let out and I went to lunch, had a soda and all my food and waited for things to get better.

Instead, the entire right half of my body went numb. Foot? Numb. Hand? Numb. Cheek? Numb. Tongue? Numb. At this point I wasn't able to hold my cup of water or the food I was trying to eat. My head was spinning and I felt stuck and confused and was beginning to get very scared.

Like I always do, I tried to tough it out. I went back to the next class, but I couldn't even get the correct password typed into my computer. I alerted the principal who offered to watch my afternoon classes while I went home and rested it off.

I got him and told the babysitter I just needed to rest, so I ended up napping for several hours. I still woke up in the evening with a horrible headache and lots of neck stiffness and body aches. I just took it easy all of Thursday night, hanging out with the boys watching TV.

On Friday, my closest friend starts to get me freaked out, saying that what I experienced sounded like a stroke and that I needed to go to the emergency room. We compromised and in the afternoon I took myself to the Urgent Care. The PA suggested some routine blood work and a CT scan, which all came back perfectly clear with a steep price tag. So, we brushed it off a little, thinking I needed to rest more. We went and ate Olive Garden and had some MUCH needed girl time together. I just cannot resist the Lasagna Frita!! Yummmmo!

Now comes Saturday...I am going to tea with my Mom and my sister-in-law at a very cool old castle. Right before we are sitting down to eat, my left foot starts to feel incredibly heavy and almost as if it's not attached to my body. I start to take inventory of what's going on and I have a dull ache in my head again. Over the course of maybe 5 minutes, the entire left side of my body has gone numb. This time I can still talk, but the vertigo was overwhelming. I excused myself from lunch and started balling because I was so scared and the headache that was coming in was horrendous! I spent the entire three hours sleeping in the car while my Mom and sister-in-law had tea and the tour of the castle. 

When they were finished, I asked if we could go to the Emergency Room and we quickly went to the nearest one. The doctor this time really seemed knowledgable and he mentioned that it could be what is a called a vascular headache, since each episode had a bit different symptoms (the right brain controlling the left side of the body, the left brain controlling the right side of the body and the speech). He transferred me to a different Emergency Room to get an MRI done. The second ER was an absolute nightmare and I won't even go into detail of the 6 hours I spent there!!!

We were sent home finally around 11 pm Saturday night and I spent all of Sunday feeling kinda crappy, but slowly coming out of the haze. When I can finally think clearly again, the obsessive side of my personality takes over and I felt this feverish desire to figure out what was wrong with me. I had an appointment set with my General Physician on Thursday, so I just had to survive until then. 

Several friends received chaotic, psychotic text messages throughout the week as my brain ran the entire gamut of possibilities. Here is just a snippet of what I thought could have happened: a mini stroke, a hormonal episode, mercury poisoning from the tuna sandwiches, sensitivity to artificial sweeteners from my coffee, I made it up, alien brain takeover, etc. 

The best thing I did was type "vascular headache" into google and get a somewhat feasible starting point. Thank you very much to the ER doctor that I don't even remember your name.... After searching vascular headache I came to migrainetrust.org and this helped me dig through the types of migraines that people can experience. The only type of migraine that fit the stoke-like symptoms I experienced was hemiplegic migraines. 

I took this term and concern to my doctor and she agrees with the ER doctor that that is the most likely cause of the episode I had at work and at tea with my Mom. Now, I haven't seen a neurologist for an official diagnosis, but my physician said this is a disorder that doesn't have an exact diagnosis anyway. I've found out that I could do some genetic testing, but it isn't verified yet either. Currently, I've been given a prescription for migraine medication to use if I feel the onset of another migraine, I've been given some generic blood tests, and I've been asked to make a few changes to daily life.

The artificial sweeteners are silently killing me, I swear! okay, that's an exaggeration, but they are worse than I thought and I am very sensitive to them. The Blendicano that I enjoy every.single.day is made with one Splenda and Starbucks' Sugar Free Caramel. So, I've changed that by removing the Splenda and using the regular caramel syrup. I also noticed that the Quest Bars and Pure Protein bars that I eat had Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, so I tossed those. The Celucor protein has a bit of Sucralose in it...but that can was pricey and I just can't waste the money, so I will be finishing that. Today is day 6 without the artificial sweeteners, and a lot of my daily dizziness has gone away. 

 

I was also asked to change the timing of some of the vitamins I take. I changed to taking my St. John's Wort and Magnesium before bed, and only taking the B-12 in the morning. I will keep you updating on how that is changing. My Doctor also recommended a couple other B vitamins to help with migraine prevention and I need to look into that as soon as possible. 

Currently, I am just working on accepting the fact that at any point I could have another migraine, that begins with the symptoms of a stroke. I really hope it doesn't happen again, but most likely it will sometime. I will just need to figure out how to best cope and deal with the migraines in the future. I have considered wearing a medical alert bracelet in case I lose my ability to speak again...but that's for another day. 

For now, I am just trying to relax more and squeeze in some quality time with my boys! Things have been a tiny bit stressful in this Little Life!

Random Idea!!

I wanted to take a quick minute and talk to you guys about one of my absolute favorite "not-so-guilty" pleasures!!

For some reason, I am obsessed with podcasts! It's a moment for me to put my headphones in and breath and just listen to someone tell me their ideas. I love blogs, I somewhat like reading...but I LOVE listening to people! Their personalities come out in the Podcasts and they have discussions with other people and it's just a fun way to check out for like 15 minutes.

I listen to music while I run and workout, I listen to music when I need to GSD at work. But at home, when it's nap time and I am putting laundry away or just sitting for a second, my GO TO is a podcast! Most that I choose are 15 - 20 minutes long, so it's a quick break and then I feel a bit refreshed to start my next task of the day!



If you are interested in trying a podcast or trying a new podcast...here are my current faves:

• Women Wanting More. This is a podcast recorded by a chiropractor, I believe, and she talks about cutting through the bull-butter and getting stuff done. It's a variety of topics, but it's all about taking care of ourselves are professionals and busy women, how to be super productive in our daily lives and how to correctly prioritize our tasks. Warning, she cusses a bit, but that adds to the "cut to the point of it" feel when she is talking.
• Meditation Minis Podcast. This is more self explanatory, but they are very short guided meditation recordings. Take a few minutes out of a busy day, and just listen to her guidance and meditate your way to a more calm, less stressed day!
• The Charlene Show. This is my newest podcast, and I feel like her topics are all over the place. But she addresses tips and techniques on how to improve your life and get what you want out of each day. It ranges from marriage tips, exercise and health discussions, ramblings about how to navigate the insane world we live in, etc. 
• Sleep With Me. This is NOT what you think at all! This is a life saving, incredibly surprising podcast that helps put you to sleep! Lol! I am the type of person that will be falling asleep on the couch watching Chicago Fire, but then I go to bed and cannot fall asleep, because my to do list and worries start to float around in my head. So, enter the podcast. This man has the most boring, mundane, history-teacher type drone on and on voice and it gets me to sleep every single time without fail! Sometimes, I don't even make it two minutes in to the show and I am out! A word of caution: turn your sleep timer on your phone so the podcast shuts off after a certain time! Otherwise you may wake up in the middle of the night with the podcast still talking.
• Guys We F****d. Now this one is exactly what it sounds like! It is two girls from Jersey talking about the dirtier activities in life. They try to interview guys they have been with in the past, but it doesn't always end up being that. Melissa from Instagram first got me interested in this podcast and it is hilarious!! If you are NOT interested in dirty humor and talking about sex, do NOT even try listening to this one!

What are some Podcasts that you love? I would like couple to add to my favorites list! And let me know if you like any of these ones!

Have a great week! It's finally starting to calm down a bit in this Little Life.

Weekend Wrap Up

Now, I hope you're prepared for the most basic, mundane, boring Weekend Wrap Up E.V.E.R!!

Friday: This was such a fun day with Jaxon. It was like a mommy and son date in the morning! I am struggling a little bit with how busy I feel Monday through Thursday (working, working out, house work, etc) and feel like I am not getting a large amount of quality time with Bubba. So, I am VERY thankful to have all day Friday with him! This day we went to the Rec Center and kicked a ball around in the gym (it is still very cold outside here) and then went and played in the baby pool for almost an hour!

He still loves anything having to do with water! 

I think the pool is officially his favorite!

Let's be honest, it's mine too!

We have been hearing from a LOT of people about how Jaxon should be potty training. Now, looking at it logically...I don't think that's right. He is 26 months and has NO desire to work on it, so I don't think it's the biggest milestone for us right now. However, the unsolicited advice has gotten into our heads and we gave toilet training a go, starting Friday and going in to today.

Skinny little pants and "big boy underwear." 

We haven't made any real progress. He will now gladly wear the underwear and feels the mess so he can tell us "uh oh." But I really don't think he understands the feeling of having to go and has no ability whatsoever to make it happen while sitting on the potty. We will spend anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes sitting on the toilet, and then give up just in time for him to pee his pants afterwards. I could be wrong, but I just don't think we are there yet. 

Exciting side note: happy mail came on Friday! My Mother in Law sent the biggest care package! We got the 31 Bags we ordered a bit ago, a pair of workout pants (loooooove), and some treats for all of us! I am completely addicted to the 31 Bags! 

Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes!

Saturday: I spent the morning working out by myself in the gym which is my favorite!! Quiet time to GSD without having to wait for any equipment? Yes, please! I lifted shoulders, but it was rushed so I only had like 40 minutes to work.

The workout was rushed because hubby and I had massages today! Let me tell you, if you can find someone you trust and can afford, a monthly massage is the best thing you can do for yourself! Ours is more of a deep tissue, sports recovery massage and it has done wonders for our aches and tensions and just helps us relax!

Then we hung out at home working on the potty thing until it was time for DATE NIGHT!! I was loving how my hair turned out for the evening.

I don't have any photos of us out on the town because I left my phone off and in the car! Hands free for the evening = totally focused on my marriage. We were the lamest couple ever, however! We went to Ulta and PetCo to complete errands, and then went to dinner at Mt. Fuji and that. was. it. We were SO tired from the work week and the January blues and the potty training...so, we called it an early night and watched NetFlix. Go us!

Sunday: I am living with the philosophy that a "Sunday well spent brings a week of content." To some of you that might mean outings as a family, but for me it means workout, house work, meal prep and planning. Some blogging and some classroom work, and a movie with my little Turkey! I need an entire day to get organized for the week, otherwise I am a grouchy mess of a woman the rest of the week!

My Sunday tasks:

• Workout: today it was my first CrossFit foundation class and a short CrossFit workout.
• House work: pick up clutter, get the sink clear of dishes, put ALL laundry away, etc.
• Meal Prep: organize my lunches, roast and package veggies, bag up snacks, etc.
• Nap time work: classroom prep, blogging and/or scrapbooking
• Planning: a MUST so I can visualize the week and get my head wrapped around how it will go
• Family time: I LOVE that Jax is into movies right now. We will probably watch Big Hero 6 or the Croods again today, but we eat popcorn and cuddle under our blankets and just chat about his toddler nonsense. It is my favorite part of the week, I think. The Sunday Cuddle Routine.

That might have been the longest boring post ever! What did you all do this weekend??

It's a lovely Sunday in this Little Life.

Teach Tuesay

I had GRAND intentions last August about being very consistent with my teaching themed blog post. But NO surprise...teaching got in the way of blogging about teaching!!

Just to remind you, I took on several new theories of teaching this year: I went to a blended classroom model, mixing lots of flipped classroom techniques, real world applications, ditched the textbook, added as much technology opportunities as possible and went to a project based system. I have tried to implement more rubric based grading and lots of more opportunities to speak and hear and read Spanish.

Now, that was a short paragraph on paper but a VERY tall order in real life! I just told a student that I feel like I am only "5 minutes ahead of my lessons." With recreating the curriculum, constantly trying new activities, falling behind on the amount of grading I have with all those new assignments...I have just not been able to stop and think about what I am doing.

I am holding on to the hope that next year, once I have the packets typed and the curriculum laid out, that getting in and getting my hands dirty with the students, working with them non stop will be much easier. But for right now I am in the beta phase. Just totally experimenting, trying things by myself with no guidance or advice, making up all the worksheets and units the students get as well as making all the podcasts that go along with the new units. Just writing that makes me feel stressed.

So, anyway...as I am still putting all the puzzle pieces together in my classroom, I just wanted to do a quick list of things that have worked very well for me this year! These are activities, lessons, techniques, etc. that I have loved and my students have loved even more than me (if that's possible)!

1st Semester Home Runs:

• Baile Jueves. I found resources from a teacher doing something called "Baile Viernes" or "Dance Friday." I changed it to Dance Thursday because we are a 4 day week and most students LOVE the opportunity to dance and get up to move around. Some kids loath this activity and fight me every week, but I have two classes in particular that really get into it and I just focus on them and enjoy those 5 minutes each week! 
• Google Voice. For any teacher needing a way to speak with students one on one and possibly have it recorded, Google Voice has been amazing! For my Spanish classroom, I have the students call my "voicemail" number each week, listen to one question in Spanish and answer it  in a complete sentence or two. This allows me to check in with them on their fluency and pronunciation, and not have to waste an in class period calling them up one by one. Also, Google Voice let's you send a text message back to the student, so I give them feedback based on their performance on that assignment. 
• Storytelling. I am not a gung ho TPRS teacher, but I do see the fun and the benefits of storytelling with language students. I have been selecting one or two stories for each unit and dedicating one or two class periods to each story. The students love when I tell the story because I am goofy and act it out for them. Some classes I have asked students to act it out to check for understanding. Some of the stories are turned into videos on YouTube. I have not mastered the reading comprehension part (IE: do they write answers to questions, do we discuss, how do we ever get the point if they just miss something in the target language, etc) BUT these have been a very fun addition to my lessons!
• La Silla Caliente. I love doing the hot seat at the beginning of each class, and I think any classroom can benefit from this. I have the last person who walks through the door put on the hot seat, and they spend 2 or 3 minutes answering questions in Spanish from their classmates. This could serve any subject, because the class can come up with review questions about a text, current event questions, discussion questions...essentially they are making up assessment questions for the student in the hot seat to answer.
• A "Standing Teacher Desk." The more and more I got bogged down in making videos, typing curriculum, adding grades online, etc. the more and more I sat at my desk and the more and more my back and neck started hurting. It was just so easy to fall into this bad habit. BUT I recently ordered an adjustable laptop stand for my desk, that will reach a level of standing or be lower if I choose to sit. This maybe doesn't directly help my students, but it makes a fitter, happier teacher and maybe that helps them in the end too!

So, that's my list of things I love in the Classroom for now! 

Until next week, the classroom is crazy but progressing. I am trying in this Little Life.

Finally figuring it out.

I'm not a total believer in astrology, but sometimes you hear things that make sense or just hit home. That's exactly what happened the other day when I had a talk show playing in the background on the tv and the host was talking about astrological signs. My ears perked up when they talked about Libras. They said something about Venus and the moon lining up, blah blah, but what I ended up hearing was that the way things are lining up, Libras are going to finally start figuring out what they want in life.

So true.

I am having one of the best years of my life and I think it's because I'm finally figuring out what I want in life and what matters most. I'm in my late twenties, and just now learning how to prioritize time for myself. This is time to put into my appearance to put my best foot forward, time to put into taking care of my health so I feel better, time to decompress and unwind. How is it as busy, working Moms we just 'forget' to give ourselves a moment? 

I'm realizing what is the biggest priority in my life, too. Do I need to chase all around trying to keep up with friends? No. Do I need to seem superficial approval from people who don't really know me? No. All that matters to me right now is the happiness of my family. If I can provide genuine, life long, joyful memories for myself, my husband and my son, then I fell like I have accomplished something. 

I've learned how to do certain things more efficiently {ie house cleaning} and cut certain time wasting activities down {ie Instagram and Pinterest} so that I don't get burned out and have more time to get down on the floor and play with my baby boy or go into the garage and help my husband with his race car. At the end of the day, isn't this what really matters more than endless updates online?

All in all, I truly just feel comfortable and confident to be me. I am proud of who I am and what I do, I am no longer scared to put myself out there and stand out a little bit, I can take chances and try new things, get outside my comfort zone achieve more than I ever dreamed possible. 

Maybe all the Libras out here are feeling a similar sensation...but I truly hope all of us can feel this way sometime soon. 

Just confident. Just comfortable. Just content.

It's all about the simple things when leading a Little Life.