At 37, this is my first blog entry. So why now and why blog? I have my undergraduate degree in English/Communication Arts and I'm a former high school English/Language Arts teacher. Since high school, I've had a passion for the art of language. A passion that I've always wanted to learn more about, grow, and improve upon. I am not the world's best writer, but I yearn to write my thoughts and tell my stories. Learning English has been a journey for me. My parents are both immigrants from Mexico. My dad arrived in the US at age 17 and my mom arrived when she was in the 4th grade. Before Kindergarten, I only spoke Spanish. My whole life I have felt that my English can improve and needs to improve. As an aspiring writer, I've always known that my vocabulary is limited. My spelling is amazing, but my word bank is small. I desire to speak and write more eloquently and to communicate more effectively and, most importantly, gracefully and peacefully. It's very important to me. I know that many of the world's problems and even many family and marriage problems are due to errors in communication. Still, as mentioned previously, I want to learn more, grow and improve.
It's been years since I've written in this form, probably since my pre-mommy days. It's been too long. Life gets busy with little ones. Their needs have come before mine, and rightfully so. Very recently I've kept thinking, "I need to write - I need to start a blog" simply because it's an art that I don't give myself the opportunity to practice and an outlet that I seek to have. I have missed it. I have so much that I want to write. My brain is full of ideas of untold stories just waiting to be written. None, that I feel are absolutely vital to share to the world, and none that I'm even sure others would be interested in reading about, but that's okay. It's primarily for me and for my family. If others enjoy listening to my words and my voice, then that would just be the icing on the cake. What writing will do for me is simply take me to a place of tranquility and will most definitely feel therapeutic.
I suppose I'll continue with a bit more of who I am. I love to read any chance I get. I'm a slow reader, always have been, but I'm happy if I can squeeze in at least one book a month, and I'm in a wonderful book club that keeps me motivated. I am envious of these amazing authors of books that I've read and the beautiful stories that they write. Maybe, I think, that can be me one day.. or year. I love reading fiction books that inspire, especially those that inspire self-reflection. Last book I read did just that, which was What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. And my two all-time favorites would be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and, most recently, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, both of which I highly recommend.
I love being inspired by others, especially other moms, whom I can learn from. I enjoy learning from real life. First my son and I before his Kindergarten year, and now my daughter and I love going to play dates with our friends on a weekly basis - trips to parks, visiting friends at home. It gives us great joy to spend time and have fellowship with other moms and their kids. We are part of an amazingly supportive stay-at-home community a.k.a. playgroup. Our adventures together throughout the years have been a godsend. And, let me just add, motherhood has been my best and most favorite occupation yet, and I feel beyond blessed.
I also enjoy going to the gym - not something I would've thought I'd be doing if you asked me five years ago. I absolutely love Zumba, and Step, and Body Pump. I really enjoy eating healthy, although I am not well-versed, or, shall I say, not versed at all in any of the terminology when it comes to calories, gluten-free foods, and so on. Still, I'm inspired. Inspired by all the wonderful women in my fitness classes and inspired in particular by my Zumba fitness instructor. She is most definitely a woman who is beautiful on the outside, but, much more importantly, beautiful on the inside. I've been working out in her class, twice a week on average, for the last, oh say, five years. Without her, I would not have been motivated to keep my gym membership for as long as I have. And, as a side note, I've recently become more health conscious when I finally started shedding off the last of the baby weight last summer and finally got back to my pre-baby weight this summer. Amazing! It was simply by just eating better and working out consistently and turning both into healthy habits. My family deserves a healthy happy mom and wife.
I've learned to love to cook in recent years. It's an art! I'm not fantastic at it, but I try. Honestly, I love all things art, not just cooking. There's also baking, photography, playing music on my clarinet, dancing, painting, gardening, creating with clay, creating just about anything! Now, do I do all these activities on a daily or even weekly basis? Sadly no, well, with the exception of cooking. Family's gotta eat, right? Hehe! If I can squeeze all that in at least once a month, I'm lucky. Life is busy, yes, but I'm trying to make time for myself at least a bit more now that my kids are getting a little older.
I'll finish my inaugural blog post with one final thought to leave you with, and it's about faith.
Words to live by.
-Anita
