Let’s team up

2015 is your year, and your year, and your year, and my year! I’m not going to be selfish and say that this is going to be MY year to thrive, succeed, and reach unimaginable heights. This would be selfish because it’s always so much more enjoyable to succeed with others, especially those who are a part of your team. I can’t imagine a better way to live life than to be a part of the successes of others. I consider you to be a part of my team, and know that I’m a part of your team.

I feel a fire inside of me at the moment, and I hope that it remains brightly lit throughout the year. I know that part of it is the emotional and motivational high from the arrival of 2015, but 2014 was so good to me that I need to continue celebrating my growth from last year. Celebrating and refining.

I am currently celebrating my growth in the “acceptance” department. I am overjoyed to share that I have tapped into the beginning stages of understanding “acceptance”. I’ll give you an example. (I seem to like examples, don’t I?) My better half and I have been through many hobbies together, some are still around and others kicked the curb shortly after the beginning. Succulents were a hobby. We began with a couple of plants that quickly grew into a garden that took over our entire balcony. To make a long story short, most of our plants will be up for adoption in the near future.

The way I came to explain it to myself is, I experienced the art of gardening succulents. I enjoyed my time with them and they now occupy a special place in my heart, but it is time to move on and invest that time into a new hobby or passion. There are no regrets. No regrets because I wanted to do it, I did it, and I enjoyed it. Now it’s time to close that chapter and move on. Closing the chapter doesn’t mean I’ll never come back to loving on succulents…because I hold the pen that writes my story. (Cheesy, I know!)

With all cheesiness aside, there is no right way to live your life, so just as an idea…
experience it
enjoy it
move on
and have no regrets because you loved your life.

Finally gave myself the time to catch a full moon through my lens.

I didn’t get “exceptional” shots, but I loved being up there and appreciate the beauty in the experience.

And, as much as I love sunsets, I will always be a moon child. I have so many good memories of me watching the full moon from my bedroom window.

My favorite from tonight.

Cheers to our year!

On the trail to the top

Mountain biking is different now that I’m Little Nugget’s mom. It’s a good kind of different. It has become an opportunity for reflection. It has become therapeutic. It definitely continues to be the exhilarating workout with the great photographic opportunities of amazing views that it was, but there is something different. Something better.

I went on a quick ride up Caballero Canyon today.  It was the first time in at least four months. My post-ride body is hinting that tomorrow I’m going to be wishing that I had trained a little more before doing it, but no! This momma wanted a challenge. Well, I got one.

Caballero Canyon was where I started mountain biking, so I am familiar with it and had an idea of what sections I was going to walk. I didn’t go into my ride thinking I was going to walk, but more like I probably will walk. For example, I attempted the short and steep incline that I’ve succeeded in climbing maybe twice in my life; but I popped off of my bike. I also attempted the thin single track-like incline with the ditch next to it; but I unclipped before I could fall into the ditch (again). Even though I didn’t surprise myself by walking some pieces, I did surprise myself by doing others. I rode down what used to seem like the steepest piece of dirt I had ever seen, the top of Reseda. Today, it looked completely doable, and it was done by me! I sounded like Little Nugget reaching the gate where the dirt and road separate, “yaying” and “bravoing” myself for riding down that mountain. After tackling one of my fears, I had a smile from ear to ear plastered on my face.

There were moments where I thought I was going to quit; what snapped me out of it was telling myself, “Jasmin, you pushed a baby out gosh darn it!” I was back in labor breathing through each contraction, or in this case, breathing through every pedal rotation. The moments when I found my cadence, especially on the climbs, all I could hear was Josh telling me, “You got this Nugget!”, like he does when I ride with him. Today, riding helped me find strength I forgot I had. It helped me see that life is like a ride, at times you feel like you can’t go any further and you’re going to pass out, but in reality, if you stop and breathe, you’ll see that you can push through it.

My little heart couldn’t have been happier on today’s ride. I thought about my better half and Little Nugget the entire time. I realized that my motivation is wanting my two guys to be proud of me, to know that I am doing what I love and trying my best at it. I want to inspire Little Nugget to enjoy life and kick butt doing it. I want Josh to know that he inspires me to ride, and that I’m training to give him some competition. I love riding with him, and I can’t wait to get Little Nugget out on the trails with us.

I’m proud to say that I finished my ride strong. I finished strong for my family.

I really like riding in the mountains! Oh, and being cheesy.

Cheers to mountain biking!

 

I scream “Je t’aime” to the world because of you

Often times I forget that I have such an amazing man by side.  I am not proud to say that I forget, but in admitting it, I believe it helps me acknowledge and cherish all of the amazing things that Josh does for me and for our family.  I get so caught up in being a mother, daughter, sister, cousin, friend that being his other half gets pushed to the side.  There is no excuse for forgetting, and still my better half loves me nonetheless.  He is so awesome to me!

I miss the days where I would make him videos to one of our songs and get so excited to show it to him.  When he watched it, I would leave the room from how shy I felt because of how corny it was.  The anticipation I felt waiting for him to visit me in Santa Barbara made the days before I could see him so much longer.

I forgot to mention, we stem from a long distance relationship.  He lived in Long Beach while I went to school in Santa Barbara.

It has almost been a decade of knowing Josh and I still want to climb a mountain to let the world know how much I love him.  He has been there for me during some of the most important times in my life, two of them being my pregnancy and my labor.  He taught me how important it is to have a supportive, willing, committed, and positive partner at your side throughout a life changing event such as growing and delivering a baby.  Josh was at every midwife appointment, childbirth class, and was present for me during every contraction.  I strongly believe that my pregnancy and labor are two of my favorite moments in my life simply because I know he was living every moment with me.  He helped prevent the catecholamines in order for me to focus on my very important task of laboring, and he provided the oxytocin I needed to birth our son.

In honor of my best half, I will climb any mountain to scream “Je t’aime”!

Cheers to being madly in love!