Thursday, January 25, 2024

UHG2.0

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. A few things have changed around here, so let's get (re)acquainted! 


I am....
💍 married to my best friend,  Mike O'Hara. We eloped on 10/31/21 in flannels and blue jeans at the place we had our first date on mothers day of 2021.
👩🏼‍🏫 I am an elementary school teacher with over 20 years in the classroom. Most of my experience is in K/1 Lutheran school classrooms. Currently,  I feel like a rookie all over again because I'm in my first year of teaching 4th grade at a new school. 
🍞 I am a bread maker! I grew my own sourdough starter about a year ago and having baking bread at home ever since. We call our starter Bubbles. 
👵 I'm a grandma! Mike and I don't have children of our own,  but I became step mom to his 3 adult children and grandma to Violet when we got married. 
🧚‍♀️ I'm am aunt to two of the coolest (and tallest) kids I know. And godmother to two terrific kids! 

Those are some fun things about me. There's also been some hard. 

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 I'm a daughter of divorced parents. My father remarried and I have 2 step-sisters. 
👵 I have lost three of my four grandparents. My remaining grandma is turning 95 this year! 
🫂 A month and a half after Mike and I eloped,  his oldest passed away unexpectedly. God had started working faith in her heart and she was baptized in the hospital before she was taken off life support. Her parents chose to donate her organs and give the gift of life to others. 
📈 I'm at the delightful age of 40-something, where eye-sight is changing, so I recently started wearing readers. It also means hormones are changing,  which means I have trouble sleeping, my hair is thinning, my body aches, and I'm gaining weight and can't seem to get it off. 

So.... what do at have in common?! Let's get get to know each other! 


Sunday, May 12, 2019

Missing

Crying because you miss someone doesn't make you weak. No matter your gender.

If you feel sad and need to shed tears as you experience your feelings that's ok. Let me sit beside you and hold space for you as you feel that feeling. There is no judgment. Your feelings are not right or wrong. They are simply your feelings.

Feel all your feelings. Let them pass. I'll be here with you.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Scar

I have a scar on my heart.

Four years ago I fell in love. He made me fall in love with him. He wrote me a poem about our first date as he flew home from visiting me. He was sweet and gentle with me, yet a strong and confident man. Though our relationship was long distance, we prayed together every night on the phone.

He fell in love with me first. When I was sick, he called to comfort me. He told me he wished he could take care of me. And before he hung up he said he loved me. I wanted to say it, too, but in person, looking into his eyes. I told him I wanted to say it, too, but in person when he came back again in a few weeks.

He never came back. At first it was reasonable excuses. Then it was silence. And a broken heart.

Then a few years later he popped up in social media. We chatted. I put together puzzle pieces about him and he broke my heart again at the things I came to realize about him. I never should have loved him. But I did.

And it left a scar. His promises to call and to visit that went unfulfilled. And now whenever a guy promises to call or visit and then is late or unable to, it tears at that wound and I feel the raw ache again.

It hurts.

It's not his issue. It's mine to deal with.

Some day I hope that there's a man who will not reopen that wound.

Saturday, May 4, 2019

Week Nineteen Intentions

Today my spirit feels lighter. I'm at the end of my antibiotics and feeling so much better. Summer break from school is only a few weeks away. And last night I took a trip out to the country to breathe some fresh air and spent time with a good friend and got love from his dog.

To keep my spirit light, this week I intend to:
* do morning yoga Sunday - Thursday
* walk outside or on the elliptical three or more times a week
* do HIIT on the elliptical twice
* go to bed at 10 pm on work nights to stay healthy til the end of the year
* spend more time in prayer meditation and scripture (2 or 3 nights)
* keep my gut healthy by avoiding excessive sugar
* call my mom and grandma to let them know I love them

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Week Eighteen Intentions

This week is about recovery.

I went to the doctor Thursday because I thought I was having really bad allergy symptoms, so I was going to get a stronger allergy whatever. Turns out, it was tonsillitis. Not strep, just inflamed tonsils and lymph nodes, so I still got put on an antibiotic.

I'm finally starting to feel better - praise the Lord! I didn't push myself as hard last week to get to the gym for weights or HIIT. I thought it was just because I preferred being in the sunshine, but I think it was me listening to my body to slow down (and maybe wanting to be in the sunshine had something to do with it).

So, this week I intend to:
* listen to my body. It takes as long as it takes to recover.
* do morning yoga
* walk outside if it's warm enough
* if my body's ready, HIIT twice
* if my body's ready, long walks outside or on the elliptical
* go to bed at 10 pm to give my immune system a fighting chance
* spend more time in prayer meditation and scripture (2 or 3 nights)

It's going to be a good week for improved health. I can just feel it!

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Week Seventeen Intentions

Last week I was unfocused and off track. I was extremely stressed by a situation at work that was out of my control but severely impacted me. My body and the scale reflected that this weekend.

This week, I intend to:
* prioritize caring for myself.
* create my vision board with inspirational photos and quotes and scripture, as well as part my written goals on them
* spend less time on Facebook and Instagram (setting a timer for 25 minutes) and more time in bible study and meditation
* eat only home cooked meals
* continue yoga Sunday - Thursday morning
* do HIIT on the elliptical twice
* lift weights on Monday and Saturday
* go for long walks outdoors or on the elliptical three or more times
* ask for what I need from others to stay healthy or get the support I need

I can and will do this. And my affirmation bracelet I bought the same time as my vision board will remind me I can.

Monday, April 15, 2019

My Adam

(An open letter to God)

I'm so tired of being alone. I want a partner to lean on. Someone to support me and give me strength when I'm tired. To listen to my hurts and be there with me through them.

I want to be able to be there for someone. To be his encourager and supporter. His safe place to come home to at the end of a day's work. Someone to give my love to and who gives his love to me.

I'm realizing that other things, like his job and education level don't matter to me quite so much. What matters more is if he's a good, honest man. Does he work hard? Does he care for me and protect me - emotionally and physically? Can we laugh together? Cry together? Serve together? Does he love You, too?

I'm just tired of being alone, God. Where is MY helper? MY partner?

When you created Adam, you said it's not good for man to be alone, so you created Eve for him. Who did you create me for? Who did you create for me?

I'm tired, God. And I'm lonely. Where is MY Adam?