In 2006, my life changed. I lay in a hospital bed wondering if I fulfilled all of my goals and dreams. If that was it, was I satisfied? I was twenty-one years old and finished becoming an adult so quickly in those moments.
My life would never be the same. Yet, I consider myself to be so lucky. I was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome which is heavily responsible for a large majority of sudden cardiac death cases in young people. Somehow I was spared from that fate. I get to lead an amazing life. While I have not let that one traumatic event in my life define me, I have allowed it to inspire me to help others and to go after all of the things that I want in my life. It is better to try and fail than to never try at all. In that regard, do you ever really fail when you put your best effort into something? I don’t believe so.
This website is a collection of things that I want to share with you like blog posts about stuff that I am passionate about, things that I find interesting or just life in general. Everything based on my website is of my own personal opinion.
Recipe: Oat Bites
I know many of us are always looking for new healthy snacks to try and I came across an idea similar to these on Pinterest. I made a few changes to make them more my style and you can also adjust to meet your own personal taste. You can cook these in either a muffin or mini muffin pan–I’ve tried both. My preference is to use the mini muffin pan because they are quick bite-sized snacks for when you’re on the go or just want a little something to curb your hunger. Do not line your pans with paper liners. Use either oil/flour or a spray. I personally use a quick spray. For the mixture you will need: 1. 3 cups of oats 2. 1 tsp of cinnamon 3. 1 tsp of vanilla extract 4. 4 large bananas Mix-Ins: This is the part where you can add whatever mix-ins that you would like. I have made quite a few different varieties to see what I like best and honestly, they have all been delicious. Here are a few suggestions below. 1. Raisins 2. Strawberries 3. Pineapple 4. Apple 5. Banana 6. Chocolate Chips Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Grease your muffin pan. 3. Mush your bananas up and add in your other ingredients, mixing thoroughly. 4. Fill up close to the top with your mixture because it will not rise. 5. If you are baking in a regular sized muffin pan, I would suggest 15-18 minutes. If you are using a mini muffin pan, check them at about 10 minutes. 6. Let them cool for a... read more
Skincare Recommendations for Rosacea
Finding products to help clear our skin can feel like a nightmare. I searched through so many blogs and couldn’t find anything that worked for me or would help me figure out what was going on with my skin. I had visited the dermatologist several times over the course of 2 years and he was unable to diagnose what I had. It left me feeling pretty hopeless. I’m going to share my experience in the hope that it can help others find a product that works for them too. Seeing the dermatologist was frustrating to me because I knew something was abnormal with my skin. The first dermatologist gave me various creams to try, had me tested for Lupus and finally had me replace all of my makeup with Bare Minerals with the advice to get an allergy test for makeup product ingredients. Listening to my intuition, I bought the new makeup to try–which didn’t change what was going on with my skin–and decided to seek a new opinion. The second dermatologist immediately diagnosed my skin with rosacea and gave me a few different products to try along with a prescription cream for my face. Want to see what was hiding under the makeup making me feel so self-concious? Here’s a photo showing my skin three months apart. You can see how well my skin has improved with the right products. It initially took about 2 weeks for my face to be mostly clear of the little red dots and the pinkness has continued to decrease over time. It was such a relief! If you’re looking to try new products to see if... read more
Review: Savi’s Workshop at Disney World’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
On August 29th, Disney World opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There are some really cool experiences and very realistic props–equating to a dream for any Star Wars fan. My boyfriend and I frequent Hollywood Studios just to visit Galaxy’s Edge quite a bit. We both wanted to make a lightsaber so bad but they come with a pretty hefty price tag ($199, and about $215 after taxes). As a pass holder, you do not get any discounts either. I’m guessing you want to know what it is like to build the lightsaber and if the cost is worth it. For Christmas, I was surprised with a trip to Hollywood Studios where we had an appointment to make our lightsaber! For the price, you get a really rad experience and the following: Commemorative pin based on the hilt that you select Carrying bag Custom hilt Blade Kyber crystal (Available in red, green, blue and purple. You can purchase white or yellow at an additional cost). The experience begins when you check-in for your appointment. This is where you will be asked which lightsaber you would like to craft and receive your commemorative pin. I would recommend that you look inside of a stacked container to the left of the check-in desk that holds all of the pieces used to make the custom hilts. This was really helpful to see the pieces up-close. My boyfriend decided to switch the lightsaber he was going to make after seeing the Sith hilt pieces (Power & Control). Things definitely look different in photos than in person. Below is the menu that they will show... read more
Heart 2 Heart: Two-Part Series on Heart Health
Learning isn’t always fun, especially when someone keeps throwing statistics and figures at you. I get it, it can be confusing. Infographics aren’t for everyone. What I decided to do was create a realistic atmosphere where people can learn about the affects heart health can have on the body and mind. I’d like to introduce you to a two-part series that I am calling Heart 2 Heart where I will be introducing you to experts in the mental health and fitness fields. It’s free to tune in and you can totally participate. This series will be done through Facebook Live at the Ms. Florida United States Facebook page. Schedule: Friday, July 19th at 6:15pm EST: Licensed Mental Health Counselor Natalie Rosado will be discussing mental health’s impact on the heart. Wednesday, July 24th at 9:00pm EST: Coach Taz of Taz Fitness will be talking about the role of fitness in heart health. I will post the links to the sessions in this post after they have been completed. I hope to see you... read more
Overcoming Your Fear to Workout
When I was twenty-one, I was diagnosed with a rare heart condition. The doctors in the Emergency Room told me if I walked up a set of stairs I could die. A month later I had the surgery to correct my problem. It may have physically corrected the problem but mentally I was still in shambles. I was experiencing PTSD every time I had to walk up the stairs to my then second floor apartment, and crumbling from anxiety anytime I needed to leave my safe space. Over the years I have connected with other WPW patients over social media and we’ve talked about what we went through. I have still never met someone that had surgery prior to when I did, so I’ve never had anyone to measure my experiences with in that regard. However, the people who I connected with that had their surgeries after me, I could tell exactly where they were at in their recovery. It felt good not to be alone. I participate in a group on Facebook called #GoRedGetFit and I asked the ladies if they had fears when they started working out again and what it was that they began doing. For me, after about 7 years of living in fear, I jumped on a treadmill when nobody was around and ran until I couldn’t run anymore (which was 3/4 of a mile!). Our bodies are such amazing things. My desire to workout and get back to something I enjoyed finally trumped my fear of, “What if something bad happens?” My new mentality became, “What if something good happens?” The women in... read more
Review: Jeni’s Ice Cream, Wrigleyville
I feel like the best parts of a vacation are sometimes the ones that you don’t plan and happen to stumble across on accident. Being a big baseball fan, it was so exciting for me to catch a game at historic Wrigley Field. I’m still kind of in that “pinch me” stage and it’s been a few weeks. Following the game, my friends and I were hungry and I am a big dessert fan (if you couldn’t already tell), so we walked into Jeni’s. Oh, the flavors. You can’t walk into Jen’s expecting that you’re going to get a normal flavor. I settled on the Gooey Butter Cake in a cup. My friends haggled me because one of the cool things about Jeni’s is that they are making the cones fresh right in front of you. I needed portion control. However, I would have considered a round two for sure because the ice cream was outstanding. It was just the perfect flavoring of sweet and savory and melted in your mouth. There were many additional flavor combinations such as Lemon & Blueberries and Pistachio & Honey. The Wrigleyville location was super cute and trendy. It was a pretty small space but tons of people were able to pack in there because of the way that the seating was set up. While the line was long when we arrived, the staff was patient and kind to all of the customers. I’d totally go back a bazillion more times if I lived in the area. I’m hoping maybe they bring one a little further south for us Floridians. Turns out they... read more
