Going for Gold!

My Valentine's Day consisted of eating dark chocolate, drinking wine and sobbing my eyes out...but not for the reasons that you think! 

After a fun filled day of handing out Valentine's at work and treating myself to a dessert of frozen yogurt I came home quite content as to how the day panned out. I went to check the mail and there leaning up against the wall was a flower delivery for ME! I was thrilled and was secretly glad no one saw me as I jumped up and down and squealed in delight (thanks Amber)! I also got a "love box" from my mom and a sweet Valentine cards from some other friends and family members. I felt so loved. 

So with a heart full of love I sat down on the couch to watch the Winter Olympics and that's when the waterworks began. I was watching a sport I'd never heard of before - the Skeleton Race. It's a fitting name because you practically have to be a skeleton to slide down that skinny track that the competitors race on.

That's when I first heard of Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Noelle has been to the Olympics prior to this one and at the time decided to retire afterwards and work on building her family with her husband instead of going after her dream of getting an Olympic medal. After the 2010 Olympics, Noelle and her husband were excitedly awaiting the arrival of their third child when Noelle suffered a miscarriage. Just devastating. As she told the story of her heartbreak my heart broke right along with hers.

Noelle started training again for the Skeleton Race because that was the only thing at that point in time that was helping her cope with the loss of their child. She soon realized that maybe this was a sign that she should give her dream of claiming Olympic gold another shot. Then she seriously started training for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The interview ended and it was time for her to race. I've never seen anything like it - Noelle took off running down the slippery slope and jumped onto her board and zoomed off towards her goal. With every bend in the track and every close call to her skidding out and becoming a frozen skeleton, she came closer to reaching her goal. Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain was currently the leading lady of the race that Noelle was vying to claim.

Then in a flash it was all over and as she zoomed over the finish line the announcers exclaimed with excitement that Yarnold had claimed the gold and Noelle had won silver! As the cameras spanned over to Yarnold so that we could see her excitement as she smiled and waved the Great Britain flag, something else caught my eye as the camera turned their attention back to Noelle. I'm sorry to say this (well, maybe I'm not) but the best part of this race, and it makes me cry to think about, is how Noelle reacted. She knew that she didn't get the gold, but she could have fooled me! She crossed that finish line, the line that symbolized so much that she had went through in the prior Olympics by not placing a medal and the pain she went through with the loss of her child. What she did next is what made me burst into tears. She immediately jumped off of her board and even though I couldn't hear it, she probably did a warrior yell, and literally climbed the spectator stands to hug and kiss her waiting and thrilled family.

Noelle did not care that she didn't place gold because she already had the real gold, and that was her family and achieving her goals despite adversity. It was one of the most emotional victories I have seen and I sat there crying because I could tell how much it meant to her.

Her emotions captivated me and the way she reacted to her silver win made me proud to be an American. When life throws challenges our way we fight back. We don't let being in 15th place or falling and getting hurt, much like Jeremy Abbot, stop us from putting up a fight and defying the odds. No. We get back up and we try again. Jeremy skated his personal best in the Olympics and when he skidded to a stop on the ice his smile was brighter than any gold medal. 

Later that night I received a phone call from my Great Grandma Jean. She had gotten my Valentine package that I had sent to her and my two other widowed Grandma's to make their day more special. She was close to tears as she thanked me for the "Kiss Me" frog stuffed animal exclaimed that she had never received a Valentine as thoughtful as this - that was gold to me. 

This weekend the Winter Olympics will end and those that won gold medals will go home and put it on a shelf or encase it in something special and look at it from time to time. But I believe that Noelle and Jeremy really hold onto the real gold medal - family and having the will to succeed and reach your goals no matter what "medal" you end up with.

-A

Happy Valentine's Day!

Single ladies (& gents) the DAY is here! Did you do something creative for a loved one or a person in need? Share your stories with me! 

<3 A

Status Update: Why and How I Quit Facebook

If you know me then you know how much I love social media. I have loved it ever since that first day my mom connected to dial up internet and fired up our Juno email account. Oh the sound of dial up internet still rings in my ears! Then I discovered the joys of AOL Instant Messaging! Truth be told, that's really how my sister and I learned how to type so fast...sorry Mavis Beacon. 

Earlier this week Facebook had its 10 year anniversary and as a complimentary gift to its users it created a small video of the users most important posts on their wall and status updates. When I first heard about Facebook my sister had just started college and I watched as she joined the now global phenomenon social network. I was jealous. I could not wait until I could go to college and join Facebook. Luckily for me I didn't have to wait until my college years to join the network and I started using Facebook late 2005. It's shocking to realize that I was a part of the Facebook world for about 8 years!  

Since I haven't had a Facebook account for almost 5 months now, I wonder what my video would have looked like and if it would have really reflected who I've become since I joined (and left) Facebook. When I left Facebook last October I was at a turning point in my life and I decided that if I was going to get serious about certain things in my life that I had to be willing to part with some things. When used wisely, Facebook is a great tool to feel and be connected with loved ones. Since I'm a highly relational person I needed to make sure the social media tools in my life were enriching my relationships and if they weren't, I needed to let them go. Facebook just happened to be one of the tools that I felt that I wasn't using wisely and I quit cold turkey. This decision came for me when I realized that I was spending more time updating my status rather than communicating individually and intimately with my family and friends.

At first when I quit I really didn't feel anything and didn't think nothing of it. Yes, I loved Facebook...but there was this side of me that I wasn't positively portraying through that social media outlet and I wanted to focus more on that. As I mentioned about how I want to build strong relationships, I also want to portray who I am in a different light and I don't think Facebook was allowing that. That's mainly why I created this blog. I've loved blogging these past 5 months and I feel not only am I allowing people to view and read about my life at a deeper level but I feel as if it's enriching my personal life. For example, I've had more people reach out to me in different and sometimes creative ways because they legitimately want to be included in my life. I've loved that! It's much more fun to get together with my sister and look at her pictures of her recent vacation and tell her that I like each one in person rather than clicking a "like" button. However, I do realize that being that I live out of state and away from some of my best friends, I want to include a general update in this post and let you know how my life is going.

Since creating this blog I have been encouraged by some of my readers to submit my writings to real publications and quite frankly, I haven't gotten the courage to do so yet. But I do plan on doing that in the next month or two. It makes me nervous and excited to think of someone critiquing my writings. One of the publications I want to submit to also has a weekend filled with seminars that I'm hoping to attend in August.

Next month my awesome cat turns 3 years old! He's just as feisty as the day I brought him home but my life would be boring without him. My best friend Emily, who is halfway through her pregnancy, will be coming home for her baby shower and and I am SO excited to see her baby bump and to celebrate this exciting new time in her life.

 

In April I plan on making the trip to visit one of my friends, Angie, and her family and spend a few days with them for my birthday and to see their new house and life since they've left their home state. I can't wait!  My sister and her husband also plan on coming home for Easter so I'm really looking forward to that. As far as the summer goes I have no solid plans as of yet. I'm just looking forward to continue to write in my blog and form deeper relationships. 

So no, I currently don't have a Facebook account and I'm okay with that. Maybe some day I'll create a new one...but for now I'm okay with my status update being: deactivated. 

-A