Time spent with a positive influence

My time has been well spent this month.

I enjoyed art after dark in SLO with a group of friends. My friend Em and I got our eyes dramatized and brows waxed compliments of savvi salon. I learned to play a congo drum. I ate sushi and I drove a new friend home.

I went to Santa Barbara and spent time with the running group there. I got to see JT and Chan and make them popcorn and eat pbnj sandwiches. It's the little things that easily please me.

My 33rd birthday came and went. I worked on my birthday and received many well wishes. My mom sent me a really personal card that took time and thought it was much appreciated. My best part was the text message I received from Chan wishing me happy birthday. He knows just how to melt my heart. I love that kid.

I was privileged to meet a really incredible person just one week ago. Shortly after meeting the words of a song by Cary Judd kept repeating in my mind. "Did I cause a difference or was the difference in me?" How many times do we go throughout our day not giving time to pause and reflect or even appreciate moments like these? I feel things are given to us for a reason. Timing is everything. Both the good and bad timing. How many times have you heard that was really poor timing? How many times have you heard that timing was impeccable?

I turned in my application to SLO Ambulance on Friday. The newspaper article I read last November about 7 kids going to the hospital via ambulance was what prompted me to pursue my emt certification. I'm now elligible to do ride alongs and have my first one scheduled in just more than a week. I'm looking forward to brushing up and getting some much needed practice. It's surprising how quickly the material becomes lost when it isn't utilized each week.

Today was wonderful I took time to enjoy the unusually warm day and just enjoy the abundant opportunities in the area I live. I went to sunshine health foods for lunch and discovered a new delicious snack. Tamari pumpkin seeds. I then went hiking and did uphill sand drills as well as some free climbing. I met Em for a run at Morro Bay rock and that was more time well spent. Em is such a beautiful person both inside and out. I finished my day in a great quiet country area with a perfect friend and his dog.

Life will give you both expected and unexpected opportunities the key is taking the time to enjoy each one and expect the best and go for it.

Time to catch up

A small amount of time has passed since I've posted to my blog. I guess that's indicative of how focused and busy I've been.

Here's an update.  I passed my NREMT exam and got my county registration. I am officially a certified EMT.

I finished my EMT internship program over the course of the summer. It was a good experience never to be repeated.

I began half marathon training again only to be derailed by my ever hectic work schedule.  My half marathon training has been replaced with 5k mud run training to do a run on halloween.

I started running with a group on Thursday evenings. I have never had so much fun running. The photographer took some pretty great pictures. I posted the one pic he took. I look so focused and the scenery was incredible.

Today I did a run on my favorite trail.  On the way back to my car I received a text message from my Godson's mom asking if I could go pick up their friend's son from urgent care at the lake an hour from my house. Of course I said I'll be there asap.  All my EMT instincts kicked in and I started sprinting back to my car. I later got a message saying all was well and their friend's son would be staying at the lake. One can only imagine my relief.

In only a matter of days I have my written exam for my ambulance license from the dmv. This seems like such a hard long process, but I am choosing to stay focused on my goals.  I was reading a book not too long ago and came across a sentence. "don't give up your identity and your goals for the sake of love". For some reason the timing of reading that book and that statement seemed all too perfect and helped me get back to where I want my focus to be.

Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.

As I patiently give the process time all will work out the way it needs to.

STRENGTHEN AND BE STRENGTHENED ONE DAY AT A TIME

Today I started my morning doing my internship hours in the hospital Emergency Room.  My heart nearly fell seeing one mother's anguish and her husband's strength keeping himself humble and tear free while consolling his wife and then seeing their young baby's strength really gave me an amazing perspective.

I had an amazing ER Tech to shadow. She showed me areas of the ER I hadn't seen before as well as showed me how to make sure the areas were properly supplied with necessary items.  Some of the tasks were indeed tedious, but at the end of my 8 hour rotation I didn't want to go home.  For me its not so much the job that defines me but the job helps me define my greater purpose.

I was leaving and a patient was being brought in by helicopter.  If I didn't have my national registry EMT exam scheduled I would have loved to see the operations of how to care for someone that is transported to the facility in that manner.  This timing couldn't have been any better it made me look forward to my helicopter internship time. I can't wait to schedule my day to ride along with CALSTAR and see the daily operations of the helicopter and its crew.

I took my exam which is a timed 150 question exam and I was blessed to only be required to take 60 of the questions.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the news I receive is glowing.  I have to wait to receive the results.

When someone says you have great potential say "Thank You" and believe them that was my strengthening lesson today!

In time you will do it

Today is the day where I affirmed my little red sticker that I kept stuck to my emt textbook all quarter long.

Months ago I donated blood and they gave me a little red sticker that said I did it. Those were the three words I wanted to be able to say when I obtained my certificate of completion for the EMT academy.

Today I did it. That certificate is still nice and flat and has only been viewed once for errors and now it is tucked away while I look forward to the next step.  That next step is a written state exam that is only a few weeks away and I have some more studying to complete, but Im very much looking forward to the upcoming months.

I came home and went for a run.  I started academy excited to think that we would be doing a lot more running I think in 16 weeks that the academy as a whole entity may have logged an entire mile of running. We did do a pushup or nearly 200 one day, but I was expecting a much more physically demanding class.  What this academy lacked in physical demand it made up for in emotional and intellectual demand.

This is not something I thought I would ever do, but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life as I found hidden strength even as I was sitting in my room yesterday evening reflecting as the tears of mixed emotion fell. Tears of knowing all the people that were so supportive along the way, tears of knowing it was over, tears of fear of facing that next challenge, but mostly just tears that I had overcome one more obstacle.

And the lesson I learned in all of this is in time it can all be done.

I have my BSI is my Scene Safe

I started the EMS academy back in February and 2 weeks ago I got to participate in what was probably my most enjoyable day of class aside from the day I got to run and do situps and pushups and pullups.

Our class was invited to participate in a mass-casualty incident at the airport in order to assist emergency personnel in being more prepared should a real incident occur.

I was chosen to get a black triage tag which means I was a dead victim.  This was a lot of fun and at the end of class when I took a picture of my arm it actually looked very realistic. I could almost convince people I was in some sort of accident and my arm was bloody and covered in dirt and gravel.

My clothes were a mess I think I have yet to wash the white shirt I was wearing which conveniently said on it,"I eat mud for breakfast." I looked like I dined with pigs for breakfast.

I am thoroughly enjoying my EMS academy and in a short two weeks when all goes as I intend for it to I will be blessed to attend graduation from the academy and then move on to my summer internship and health class.

a little dirt

Of all the runs I have participated in which isn't too many I am certain I liked this one the best.


I got up Saturday morning at 6:00 am to drive to Orange County a 3 hour drive from where I was and I participated in the Eco Mud Run 5k. It was a 5k course with mud pits and wooden saw horse hurdles.  My knees got a little scraped my time could have been a little faster but I really had a great time.


I drove back to Santa Barbara after the run to celebrate the birthday of my strongest example and supporter in life Patty. I got to enjoy the evening picking up my 12 year old Godson from the bowling alley and then stayed up til 2 am with some 15 year olds to make sure they had a great evening. I have no idea how I even stayed awake for 20 hours.

I even got up the next morning and took my Godson's dog for a run as if I didn't run enough in the mud run.  The motivation to run that I thought was lost from last year's half marathon now has a new drive and appreciation.

opportunities to be in the right place at the right time

I had one of the most patience trying weekends at work I have faced in my one plus year of working in the Elderly care field. However it also taught me something about myself.  It taught me that I have to look at things differently than I currently was.

I got off work at 11:30 am today. I drove to my office and parked my car and took the keys out of the ignition and placed them on the center console of the vehicle and stepped out of my car and pressed the lock button. Yep really bad habit that I am going to break starting today. I don't remember this ever happening to me, but phew triple A to the rescue and off I was to my other errands. My most important errand was a bank deposit so I could secure my spot for the upcoming mud run this weekend.

I then went and got some fabric and learned how to sew burp cloths for my dear friend who is expecting her second son very shortly.  I made some king size pillow cases as well. It was less expensive to buy material and make my own than it was to try and find the color pillow case I was looking for.

I then drove over to Jamba Juice where I saw a car with its hood open and they needed a jump start.  I always keep my jumper cables in the car funny thing is I loaned them to someone and completely forgot to have them returned to me. So this young man and his significant other were stranded in the parking lot needed a jump start.  The young man found a set of cables and I was able to help him get his vehicle jump started.  I was just doing the right thing and trying to be in the right place at the right time.  This young man was so polite he handed me his cd he made and it was a great compilation of Christian rock music.

I then came home and signed up for Eco Mud Run Tour being held in Orange County this Saturday.  I had to gauge where I am in my running capabilities so I decided to just put the shoes on and run.  I have to say I haven't done a distance or endurance run, but twice since I completed a half marathon in November last year. I was pleased with my performance.

My day ended with an alanon meeting.  A friend suggested this to me last week and I decided it wouldn't hurt to see what it was about.  I can honestly say what I heard in that meeting was exactly what I needed to hear and I was thankful for one more opportunity to be in the right place at the right time today.

I had only been out of the alanon meeting for 5 minutes and I received a text message on my iphone (yes its connected to my hand almost surgically) from someone I least expected to hear from asking if I could be their sober driver for the night.  I was happy to do it and I got to learn some new things about the towns around me as well as a really neat new place to run as well as the trail to the grove of butterfly trees.

Today was just a really nice day I found serenity in my surrounding and peace in being where I wanted and needed to be.