Summer 2016 Recap

Fall is here but I wanted to do an update and tell you all about my summer. I’m so grateful. I mean just beyond thankful, for the summer that I had this year. You all know how rough last year was for my family and this summer was the complete opposite. Everything was perfect and I think I can officially declare that the summer of 2016 was my best one yet!

I’m disabled, my Dad is retired, and my Mom is a teacher so we are lucky enough to get to spend summers at home together. We spent a lot of time in the pool, reading good books, watching fun movies, shopping and playing our favorite board game – Monopoly! We spent a lot of good quality time with each other and also went on a lot of adventures. We also played some mini-golf and went on lots of hikes and walks.

We took a short vacation to our favorite coastal town in Oregon, Newport. We spend 2 days there and it was really nice. We spent a lot of time on the beach and actually ended up sitting on some driftwood and watching California Gray Whales off the shore for a couple of hours. They were feeding but kept breaching and it was so much fun to watch them. We took Cooper, our dog, with us and he really loves being on the beach just like the rest of us. We spent some time shopping on the Newport Bayfront, which was fun, and then explored Ona State Park, which I think is one of my new favorite places in the world. It was a short trip but the majority of it was perfect!

July 17th was an important day of celebration in my household because it makes my Dad’s 1st ReBirthday!

He still has cancer but he’s doing so much better now. We celebrated with gifts and cake, just like we would with any other birthday. It was such a happy milestone for our family to reach.

We started kayaking this summer and we went many times. Kayaking has become one of my all-time favorite hobbies! I really love it. It makes me feel at peace to be on the water and the physical act of paddling makes me feel so strong and healthy. We’ve been to so many beautiful places and been lucky enough to explore them from the water. We were going at least once a week, but often twice, and we loved every minute of it.

We also went camping. I don’t love camping but I do love being outdoors and getting to spend some quality time with those I love. We ended up having fun even though it was pretty cold and there were so many spiders. I mean, I get that there are spiders outside and I’m okay with that but there were more than you can even imagine. Cooper isn’t a huge fan of camping either. He ended up spending most of his time wearing his coat in front of the fire and sitting in his camp chair, LOL! We did have a nice time, though. We took the kayaks because we camped right on Diamond Lake and the water was great. Cooper rides in my Dad’s kayak and one morning he tried to chase some ducks that were on the water and ended up soaked after he jumped in after them. He was so confused and it was adorable. We got a good laugh out of it! He still loves to kayak, though.

If you’re ever in Oregon and want to go kayaking you should definitely check out Spring Creek and Lake of the Woods. They have been my two favorite places we’ve been so far.

Pretty much every single day was full of love, laughter and time spent together as a family. It was perfect! Except for the last two weeks of summer when I got West Nile Fever. It took me quite a long time to recover but I'm back to normal now.

I'm sorry this post is a bit late but I had a hard time picking out which pictures to share. We took so many! Anyway, how was your summer? I hope your fall is off to a wonderful start!

Good Reminder

29

I’ve said this before but there have been so many nights where I have been in bed thinking that I wouldn’t wake up in the morning. Whether it was because I knew something was wrong within my body or because the pain was so extreme I knew I couldn’t handle it for much longer or whatever other reason; I was so scared that I would die, and that would be the end. But I haven’t died, yet, and I’m still here. Tomorrow I turn 29 and I’m so grateful for another year.

Every birthday that comes and goes is another chance for me to live and be thankful for the time that I have been given. I don’t think saying how grateful I am can even begin to translate how I really feel. I am thankful more than words can describe. I have a wonderful life and an amazing family. Yes, I’m sick but I’m alive and I’m here and I’m able to take in the world and all that it encompasses. Every single day is a gift, and it is one that I am beyond honored to receive.

So, here’s to making the most out of my 29th year and remembering how lucky I am to be here.

Physical Limitations and (not) Conquering the World

Writing posts for this blog has become increasingly more difficult with time. There comes a point when being ill stops being something you need to talk out and vent about and it just becomes your new normal. It’s just a (very big) part of who and what I am and I can’t do anything but accept it and go on with my life making the appropriate changes.

However, I’ve been kind of bummed out about my physical limitations lately so I thought I would sit down and put my thoughts down on (digital) paper.

My Dad is remodeling our living room. He ripped out the carpet and put in beautiful hardwood floors. I’ve tried to help where I can but I quickly discovered that there’s not much that I can do physically. I volunteered to pull all of the nails and staples out of the stairs that were left behind form the carpet the other day and I managed to get a lot of them but I burst into tears afterwards. Sitting at our kitchen table, having a glass of water on a break led me to have a bit breakdown. I was in so much pain and it hit me all over again how unfair this all is. I never thought that life was going to be fair but I’m only 28. I’m young, right?

I should be able to do anything and everything. I should be able to conquer the world but I can’t. I understand that I can’t but my understanding doesn’t change the fact that it sucks.

I don’t want my Dad to know how useless and incapable of doing things I am but he doesn’t read my blog (either of them, actually) so I feel like it’s okay to put this out there. By the way, he loves me and he wants to protect me and keep me safe and he doesn’t know that asking me to do things often means asking me to do things that are out of my range of ability so it’s not his fault. I asked if there was anything I could do to help him this afternoon and he set me up with a piece of sand paper and some paint. He asked me to sand the window frame he just patched up and paint it so I did but my hand locked up and I kept having tremors and I was terrified I was going to spill the white paint on the new floors. I didn’t say a word, and Mom I know you’re reading and I don’t want you to either. I will always volunteer because I want to help. I need to help.

I just wish I could do more. I mean, my Dad has cancer and arthritis and a million things wrong with him and he is physically capable of doing more than I could ever even imagine doing in my entire lifetime so I want to help him as much as I can even if it’s with things that I cannot do.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this to any of you yet but you know how adult coloring books are all the rage? I’ve tried to color and it hurts so much. It hurts so, so much and I can’t do it. Can’t everyone color? Shouldn’t I be able to color? Coloring is easy and basic and even toddlers can do it, but I can’t.

I accept and understand that I am sick and as time goes on I probably will progressively get worse. I get it, I do, but sometimes I’m so angry and so sad and I can’t be at peace with it.

2016 Goals

Happy 2016! I hope you had a very wonderful holiday season. Today I am sharing a list of everything I hope to do in 2016. I don’t really believe in making big new years resolutions and declarations of things that I absolutely must do in the new year because I think they just set us up for failure but I do have some things that I think are achievable that I am hoping to do and I think sharing helps me to stay on track.

In 2016 I would like to:

Write daily in my Gratitude Journal
I received a Gratitude Journal for my birthday and had yet to write it before yesterday. I already in believe in focusing on the positive things but sometimes we all get a little caught up in the bad things that happen so I’m going to take a little time each night to sit down and write out the good things that happened to me in any given day and the things that I am grateful for.

Blog more regularly

I know, I know! I say this every year and I really do try but then my health gets in the way and I find myself unable and unwilling to take the time necessary to take photos and write posts and then get them published. I’m aiming for at least one post a week on Beautiful Basics. This blog is a little trickier because sometimes I just have nothing to write about so maybe once a month?

Stay calm and find ways to control my anxiety

This one needs no explanation. I think I just need to remind myself to take deep breaths and remember that I’m okay.

Shop less, save more, and use up what I have

I’ve been a naughty shopper lately and I need to knock it off. I have everything I could ever want and/or need so I need to use the products I have, wear the clothes already hanging in my closet, and use things up before I buy more. I tend to be an impulse puchaser and I end up regretting my shopping habits.

Wear real clothes more often

I tend to go for comfort over fashion so my daily uniform consists of yoga pants and sweatshirts. I think I need to wear real clothes more often because I think it will help me feel more like a real, functioning human being.

Start stretching or take up yoga 

I need to move more and exercise tends to make me feel worse so maybe some gentle stretching or yoga will be a good routine for me to take up.

Be more gentle with myself and others 

Being gentle with all living beings is important for our overall well being and something I forget to be kind to myself or I get frustrated with those around me. Life is too short to be anything but good and loving.

Push myself out of my comfort zone and try new things 

I need to get out more and my anxiety often keeps me in the same routine as always.

Read more 

I love to read and unfortunately when I’m feeling unwell I often lose the ability to see and other times I’m unable to comprehend what I read so I get frustrated and just push all my books to the side. Reading is something I really enjoy and I need to do it more this year.

Spend more time outside 

The world is beautiful. I want to see more of it.

Spend less time on Facebook

I spend a lot of time on Facebook and it’s really a waste of time. Checking it occasionally is okay but I think I might be weirdly addicted to it and it does nothing for me.

Regulate my sleep

I don’t keep very normal hours and I would like to wake up earlier and go to sleep earlier.

Eat more regularly throughout the day to keep my blood sugar normal 

I’m hypoglycemic so I have major issues with my blood sugar levels. Eating more often is the key to keeping them regular, which helps my mood and the way I feel. Simply remembering to eat breakfast and having an extra snack or two throughout the day makes a huge difference.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you’re hoping to do in 2016 or if you have any suggestions for me.