Grace for everything

Hello friends!

Just stopping by to share some engagement pics. Life is so incredibly busy between student teaching, youth ministry (which I'm seriously stinking at right now), the behavioral health job and of course planning a wedding. I honestly cannot wait for April to come! 

News, news, news !!!!!!

Hello world!

Life has been absolutely insane between student teaching, two jobs and planning a wedding!

What?! A wedding?

Why yes, a wedding!

A certain handsome guy asked for my hand in marriage! 

                                                                                              Sept. 26th, 2016


Excitement isn't even the word as every day in bride territory turns out to be full of joys, surprises and even some frustrations (venue searching ehhhh). 

More details to come!!!

One Week into Student Teaching!

Yay!!!!!! What a wonderful week of learning, teaching and sharing! More on my classes and students later but for now, let's just celebrate a week of fun outfits! 

 

Arts and Crafts

As some of you may know, I work as a freelance therapeutic mentor/training specialist for a behavioral health organization. Here are some crafts and interventions I have learned and used:

Calming bottles

Calming bottles (or time-out bottles as they're sometimes referred to) are great for helping children to self-regulate. If a child is so upset he or she cannot be consoled or can't engage in another calming activity, calming bottles can serve as a great visual "anchor" to help bring focus into one place as their world seems to be spinning out of control. Holding the bottle and watching the glitter fall,  can slow her heart rate and respiration.

Here's the recipe:

16 oz water bottle (I used glass containers here but I normally use plastic ones, safety first!)

Glitter glue

 Glitter

 Glue gun or crazy glue (adult must handle this)

Begin by having the child pour glitter glue of various colors into the empty bottle. When they are done, fill out the bottle half way with hot water. Now have the child add more glitter (as much as they'd like!). Fill up the bottle with water at room temperature and seal the bottle with hot glue or crazy glue. Wait a few minutes for the glue to dry and shake shake shake the bottle. Now watch as the glitter particles fall, helping the mind and body to relax and focus.

Play dough stress balls  

Stress balls are great for kids (and adults) who need to manage daily stress (and who doesn't?). For this activity you will use a smiley face balloon, another balloon of any color to hold the play dough, and enough play dough to stuff the balloon (I normally use 1 1/2 - 2 tubs of Play Doh).

I begin this activity practicing deep breathing with kids by blowing the balloons. I then spend some time squeezing the play dough (great stress reliever!). Then, the tricky task is to stuff the solid balloons with play dough. Once that is done I stuff all that into the smiley face balloon. I like to use two balloons to prevent breakage. Squeeze away!

DIY Sachets

 While I am not an aromatherapist, I do love using essential oils and enjoying their benefits. I also enjoy seeing the kids' faces when I tell them smells can help them feel more calm! For these sachets I used about five cotton balls, a few drops of lavender oil and little organza bags I bought at Walmart.

Essential oils can be pricey so I purchased the diluted form at Walmart for about $2. I found a pack with 6 organza bags on sale for $1 and used some cotton balls I had lying around the house.

I began by explaining the concept of aroma therapy to my kiddos and proceeded by having them squeeze a few drops of lavender oil on each cotton ball. We then stuff each organza bag with four or five cotton balls and voilà!  

The Best of All Times

Time flies when you're having the time of your life! 

While traveling and sight seeing are great, nothing fills my love tank like time spent with friends (Can you guess my love language?)

So here are some highlights of our trip, although the beautiful faces are what really made it memorable.

1. Biking to the Golden Gate Bridge 

2. Driving down Big Sur

3. Kim and Brandon's wedding ceremony . The homily on hope deserves mentioning too!

4. Reception at the Serra Retreat House 

5. Horseback riding to the Hollywood sign

 

 

 

"There is nothing on this Earth more to be prized than true friendship."

St Thomas Aquinas

 

 

 

Paralysis isn't fun : conquering my fears

Hello world!!!!
I realize it has been ages since I wrote my last post, but I must blame it on the awesomeness and chaos of life!

To start, I was able to test out of my last two college courses (U.S. History I and II) and complete all my coursework!!! Can you say "It's been a loooooong journey"????? After roughly five years of fluctuating between attending school part time and full time, working a few different jobs and being incredibly broke though all of it, I am happy to stand just a few student-teaching-filled months away from finally graduating. Whoop whoop!

This is hardly the most difficult thing I've done in my life though. I'm embarrassed to say I have been seriously lacking in the conquering my fears department these last 24 years. I must admit being born was a very courageous thing to do though. ( Go me!)

Since they say a life unexamined is not worth living, I figured I couldn't let this major event go unrecorded. So here goes the story of fighting a paralyzing fear of water and signing up for swim lessons.

"Gabriela, you MUST learn to swim."

These words from Nick's opa could easily have ended up in my "I should but probably won't" list of ideas to try. While I have always been intrigued by water and enjoyed the feeling of going into a cool lake on a hot summer day, swimming was just not something I thought I could do. Summer after summer I told myself I would get serious about learning to swim and year after year I failed to even begin.

Perhaps it was the bluntness with which Nick's opa suggested ( read: strongly suggested) I learn how to swim or maybe it was knowing that the summer before student teaching was a good time to do it, I decided to take action and sign up for classes.

Armed with my ill-fitting goggles I marched to my local gym and met my instructor at 6:45AM on a Tuesday morning. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I love my sleep and giving up my usual 9 hour slumber is not something I normally do. But I was committed.

 As usual I tried to keep my expectations low so as to not put too much pressure on myself. The instructor began by having me do a variety of exercises to get accustomed to the water on my face and every one of them was so beyond my comfort zone I honestly wouldn't have done them if I didn't have so many people holding me accountable. As the people pleaser that I am I certainly didn't want to let anyone down so I pushed through.

Each new exercise pulled me out of my comfort zone and into the scary place of not being in control. Going under water, allowing my body to float, touching the bottom of the pool and jumping into the shallow end were all so incredibly difficult for me it would take me many gut wrenching minutes to finally try it. While my fears were not in any way based on reality, they were crippling and painful. Every time the instructor asked me to complete a new task (retrieve an object from the bottom of the pool, etc...) my body would immediately go into total panic and I would shake uncontrollably, which would often last for many hours after each lesson.

As my third lesson was ending, my instructor asked me to try to swim across the shallow end of the pool. He made it clear that I could always stand up half-way and begin again if needed. He also gave me the option of wearing my trusted bubble. I figured I had nothing to lose at this point since I was already in panic mode so I left the bubble behind and allowed myself to float and quickly began to kick and make my way to the other side. It took me a few seconds to realize I was swimming without a floatation device and only a few seconds more to reach the other side. The smile on my instructor's face and the affirming applause from the lifeguard who had witnessed my many attempts at beating this paralyzing fear of water made this feat even more real and gratifying.

Ahhhhh the joy of letting go. I'm not sure if this is unique to me but I often find myself so comfortable with my fears that I'm hesitant to let them go. (No, Lord! I like my fear! It's actually quite cozy!). I often take for granted the fact that the way something is now is how it will always be, but am always pleasantly surprised by the possibilities God presents me with. What a good father we have, guys! And while my task is far from complete and I'm committed to improving as a swimmer, I have already learned so many lessons.

I have learned that my crippling fear of falling keeps me from trying so many things! From allowing my body to float to fun activities such as skating or pursuing new adventures, such as new job opportunity, I am great at doing what is right in front of me, but often hesitant to try things I may fail at.

I have learned that fear is often completely divorced from reality. While jumping into a shallow pool will likely not bring me to my deathbed, my fears told me it would.

I have learned that the way my body feels, whether it is shaking uncontrollably or urging me to do something my mind would rather not do, is not always the best indicator of what action to take.

Finally, I have learned that sometimes it is better not to fight nature. I've learned that swimming is not so difficult after all if I can keep from freaking out and fighting my body's natural tendency to float.

As anything in life, swimming is about using what God has given me and putting it to use while trying my best to overcome the inner voices that tell me I can't do it.

Stepping out of my comfort zone can be scary and even physically painful, but it can also lead to greater confidence in God's protection and trust in the many possibilities he places in front of me.

Who knew jumping into a pool could be such an effective spiritual exercise? 

Twenty-three from twenty-three :-)

It's hard to think that in just a few hours I will be 24! With trips and many adventures, 23 was so good to me!!!!!!! While there was something good in each of the past 365 days, here are some highlights! (Please excuse the blurry pics.)


1. New friends!

 

2. Disney World. I mean, can you believe I had never been???

 

3. Being super duper close to finishing school.

4. Visiting with the Mission Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

5. And of course, following them all around Baltimore and D.C.!

6. Summer of 2014. See here.

7. This guy! 

8. Consecration to Our Lady on the feast of the Annunciation led by aforementioned guy.

9. SEEK 2015.

10. Meeting the YHOPE community.

11. Camping!

12. Weekly (or almost weekly) dinners with this girl.

13. Getting caught in the rain in Boston on July 4th (it was actually the 3rd). 

14. Learning  to swing dance! 

15. Praying the rosary more often.

16. Daily Mass and Adoration.

17. Trivia nights!

18. Mass at the top of Mt. Monadnock (AMAZINGGGGGG)

19. Super Bowl (not so much the game but the party, oh the party)

20. Clearwater Beach with the family.
 

21. Finding a gelato place nearby. (It's the simple things, man!)

22. Many hours spent in my very favorite room at MFA! See here.

23. Spending time with the teens in our youth ministry! They really are the best!

So here's hoping 24 brings many more adventures!!!

Easy peasy lemon squeazy... without the tartness.

Hello everyone!!!

(no response...)

Not sure anyone still reads this blog (yikes), which might be a consequence of my negligence of it.. No worries! I'll just ramble to myself.

The last few months have been crazy busy with school, work, work and all the snow heaven could ever think to send our way! While it has been super hard to maintain a routine, this season has been very blessed, as they always are.

As we embark on another journey leading up to Easter, I'm constantly reminded of God's protection and care for me. His faithfulness and goodness have carried me through seasons of doubt, anxiety and simply not knowing how this crazy thing called life would ever turn out! It's amazing to see that every mountain and valley was meticulously planned by God to bring me to this very place. And what a joyful place it is!

As most of you may know, one of the ways God has chosen to show me His care and love this season is through a very precious relationship. While I'll spare you the lovey dovey details (did I lose you yet? No? Good! Hang in there!) I have to say this is exactly what my soul has desired for a loooong time.

And now it is here.

And it is oh so good!

"I have found him whom my soul loves." Song of Solomon 3:4

New Year, still me!

What?! How is it 2015 already??? I'm not even done with last year's resolutions yet!

And what a year it was! So many adventures and surprises. If the first days of this year are any indication (I'm waiting for my plane to take off as I write this)  I will be doing quite a bit of traveling in 2015 too! 

I was blessed to spend a few days at the magnificent Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville, TN for SEEK2015. While the food and accommodations were spectacular and I certainly needed some rest, the highlights of the week were the wonderful opportunities to learn more about the faith and witness so many missionary hearts gathered in one place!

(More on that later...) 

So before I forget , allow me to share some photographic evidence of the weekend: