Dreams Are Made For Coming True

Dreams are constantly created, whether you are asleep or awake. Last night and early this morning, my mind was constantly thinking about dreams that I wanted to come true in my life. It's important for me, and should be for everyone, to stop in the midst of life and ask yourself: what do I wish for in life?

My biggest dreams include (not sequentially):

1.) Travel: I want to travel all over the world. Ideally, I'd like to start sooner than later because I'm still young and single.

2.) Author: One day, I would love to become an author of a children's book.

3.) Yoga: I wouldn't define myself as a "yogi", but I truly enjoy practicing yoga as much as possible. It helps ease stress, it strengthens my body, and I always feel better leaving a class. It provides me with a sense of peace and calmness and allows me to have a clearer state of mind. I'd like to travel (possibly to India) to study yoga in more depth and learn more about how the mind, body, and soul connects in its term.

4.) South Africa: I want to make a difference in a less fortunate country. Going to South Africa to teach has been something I've dreamed about since I was a teen. Even as a child, I always told my mom I wanted to adopt an African boy. Whether it's teaching English, or providing African students with school supplies, clothes, or cleaning the environment, I want to make a difference in a child's life outside of America. Here's a picture of a child that I pray for. I hope to meet a child like him one day. I found this picture on one of my favorite websites, pinterest. Feel free to follow me on there too!

5.) Habitat for Humanity

Always Count Your Blessings

Well, here it goes! I'm secretly very geeked to start this new adventure of blogging. I've done blogs in the past, but they were meant for teaching purposes only when I was taking classes at MSU 3 years ago (hard to believe). I've always wanted to share my insights and experiences through blogging, but I never took action. Hence, a new year approaching...meaning change and determination to reach my goals. :)

My inspiration? Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project. I'm still in the middle of reading it, but she mentioned the importance of challenging and expressing yourself, and I need a little more of this in my life. I love writing, so why not write and share it with others?

As 2011 comes to an end, I have had time to reflect on my experiences this past year. Although this year wasn't my favorite, I constantly remind myself of all the blessings I have had over the year. I'll start with what I am most grateful for.

My family: My family is my soul, my entire world. I have a beautiful, loving mother who has the biggest heart of anyone I know. I can only dream to be a mother like her one day. To my daddy, I am his "precious" and baby girl. He would do anything for me at any moment. My parents work extremely hard because they want to provide me with everything in life. Sometimes I feel like I don't appreciate that as much as I should, so I hope in the new year I will continue to tell them how grateful I am for their support. My brother is my hero, he is the best big brother on this earth. He's over protective, yet nurturing, blunt, yet kind hearted, strong yet sensitive... and I hope to surprise him with something big one day because he deserves it.

My friends: One of lifes greatest blessings, because friends are the family you choose. I find myself the happiest when I am surrounded by my friends, and I am very thankful for the friends that I have. I've had friends since I was a toddler, friends that I have from high school and college, and friends from my work. My best friend, Sarah, is God's gift to me. She's constantly by my side, and I am my true self when I am with her....sometimes she knows me better than I know myself. We have so much fun together, whether we are out to eat, drinking wine, watching our favorite shows, or reminiscing about all of our memories. I'm truly blessed. I'm also thankful for my two best girlfriends from my sorority: Caitlin and Steph, my bestie Rachel from MSU, and my friends from childhood, Martinez and Brittany. I'm thankful for my other friends Lauren and Abby who I've become closer with over this year. I honestly have a lot of friends and could continue a list, but as I've gotten older and wiser, I've learned about the importance of quality over quantity. <3

At the end of January, I was hired full time in Walled Lake as an intervention reading teacher for grades K-2. Prior to that, I was a 2nd grade long term substitute from October until January. Luckily, I was at the same amazing school all school year long. I was blessed to be at a school that felt more like a family, as well as a team of educators, students, and families coming together in a community of diverse learners. Some of my co-workers are my best friends, and my students taught me something about all aspects of life each day I saw them. I am always thankful to have such driven,positive, motivated people in my career. Every day, no matter how chaotic, no matter how stressful or busy it may have been, I left with a sense of peace knowing that I made a difference in students' lives (academically, socially, behaviorally), and they gave me that karma right back! Children are the best tools for teacher success...just listen to them, they can change your world too.

In March, I celebrated my 24th birthday and St. Patricks day with a group of friends from high-school and college. My brother (my hero) has done more for me than I could ever imagine, and once again, he went above and beyond to make me happy. He planned a party for me where a limo took us to downtown Royal Oak where we had VIP at one of our favorite bars.

In June, I was unfortunately laid off, but I remained positive, knowing that I was lucky enough to have a teaching job right after my internship. June is the beginning of summer, one of my favorite times of the year. You're probably thinking because I'm a teacher I get summers off right? Nope, not me. In the summers I work at an amazing summer camp for special needs children called SCAMP, located in Bloomfield Hills. I've been fortunate enough to work there for more than 5 years now. At age 18, I started as a counselor, but after 2 years, I became one of the teachers, and I can honestly say this is what I look forward to most during summer "vacation."

In July, we took our first family vacation in a LONG time where all of us were together *me, mom, dad, and my brother Eric. We stayed in our dream house log cabin on a small lake called Long Lake in the city of Fife Lake, not too far from Traverse City. During this time, I read a lot, reflected a lot, and really gave thought to my life. I thought about what I was grateful for, what I hoped for, what I dreamed about, and even things I wanted to change about myself. Without saying too much, in 2011, I worried too much, especially about the little things, or things that were out of my control...and I knew it was time to let go of the past and to focus on each moment. As my grandma would say, "Let go, let God." I will never forget that vacation, it will remain a close experience to my heart because my family had so many adventures together during that short week...yet we relaxed, and finally spent time together away from home.

Here is a picture of our dream log cabin...one of my favorite parts of the trip was watching and listening to the birds every morning, and just being surrounded by the beautiful nature of Up North living. :)

Here's another picture of Pure Michigan....I'm blessed to live in such a beautiful state. It's a picture of me with my beautiful mother at the Sleeping Bear Dunes. My mother inspires me to be true to myself and is my number one idol. LOVE you mom!

Another blessing that I am going to share with you today is a random trip I took with my grandma in August. My grandma is my spiritual leader, a divine woman who has shared her experiences with me and has taught me everything. She is extremely honest and has provided me with world traveling that I will go into another day. With the trip in August, she wanted to visit two of her girlfriends who lived Up North for possibly one last time...I offered to drive her...and this trip was not what I expected. My grandma and I bonded more than ever during all the driving, lunches, dinners, glasses of wine, art galleries, and more, over a course of 3 days. I never knew I could do so much in such a short amount of time. My heart was filled to the top, because I could feel the gratitude my grandma had toward me during our adventure together. Her stories will never be forgotten, thank you grandma for sharing with me, I'm so blessed to have you in my life!