Let me just start off by saying I am NOT a blogger. I have a feeling I will be singing a different tune in the next 6 months but until then bear with my scatterbrained randomness as I attempt to take a stab at this blogging thing 😉 Since this is my first blog for the World Race I figure it should say a little bit about me so you all can get to know who I am and what I'm about. So buckle your seatbelts cuase here we go…
I was born and raised in the magnificent state of Colorado and absolutely love it here! It was a perfect place to grow up for an outdoorsy girl like myself. Camping, hiking 14ers, biking, white water rafting, rock climbing, and many other adventures are just waiting right around the corner; is there anything better!
I grew up with my dad, mom and two younger brothers Jamie and Stephen. The more you get to know me the more you'll hear about my brother Jamie because he is the absolute joy of my life and the glue that holds our family together. Jamie has pervasive developmental disorder; basically his cognitive and mental functioning is at the level of a 3 year old trapped inside the body of a 21 year old. As you can imagine growing up with a brother who has special needs was a very rough road overflowing with trials. It challenged our family and transformed us into the people we are today. I wouldn't change my childhood for anything becuase it was the path specificaly chosen by God for my life and it has transformed me into the person I am today. More than that it has brought about more blessings and joy than I could have ever imagined. Through years of therapy, and by the grace of God, my brother has come leaps and bounds in his development and behavior. He now brings such a wonderful dynamic to our family where he once caused such heartache and struggle. It's funny to me sometimes how God works in our lives and orchastrates every detail along the way to prepare us for where He wants us in the future. Becuase of my brother and the influence he has had on my life God has called me to a career as an Occupational therapist to work hands on improving the lives of special needs individuals and their families. Something that I look forward to taking to the mission field someday to be the healing hands of Christ to the invisible and discarded special needs population in third world countries.
So that's a little bit about my family and my childhood, but now I think ill just share some fun facts and some things about me that make me unique 🙂 (fair warning…many of these will probably be really random…becuase i'm pretty random!)
1. My absoulte favorite color is pink…and yes I am a girly girl just as much as I am an outdoorsy girl…I like to think of it as the best of both worlds 😉 I love fashion, shopping, and getting all dolled up. I also love camping, hiking, bathing in rivers and not wearing makeup!
2. I'm hispanic and proud of it! Which of coarse means that my favorite food is authentic mexican food! My grandma makes the best homeade tortillas! But my all time favorite food that I could eat for every meal is breakfast burritos oh and jalapeno poppers!
3. My best friends name is Lauryn and we were roomates in college. Our days as roomates were filled with random dance parties in the kitchen, trying to fit three people on a snowboard while sledding, and Grey's anotomy marathons while eating Chipotle (God's gift to all mankind lol). We have the exact same sense of humor which is why our conversations consist soley of Hot Rod and Hangover quotes…sinful I know 😉
4. I love animals! I'm actually an animal advocate through PETA and of coarse I'm a vegetarian…this is gonna be one interesting year for me lol. I have 4 pets that I adore; 2 dogs named Molly and Maddie, 1 cat named Bean or "roo snoo snoo", and a hamster named Steve or "Mister" who is the love of my life 😉
5. My fun goals for my life are to climb all the 14ers in Colorado, run a marathon, scuba dive the great barriar reef, travel to Ireland, and own a teacup pig.
6. I was crowned Miss Arvada last year and competed in Miss Colorado last June. Contrary to popular belief the Miss America Organization is a phenomenal organization focused on community building, volunteer efforts, and advocating for humanitarian organizations and cuases. The girls in this organization are role models to me with such selfless hearts and beautiful characters. I was honored to compete among the best of them!
7. I love to sing! I used to lead worhsip at the church I grew up in and now have a wonderful opportunity to lead worhsip at a new young adults service that just started at my new church. Praise God!
8. Missions is my heart! I have been going on missions trips since I was12. I've worked with inner city missions many times and worked on Inidian reservations throughout the United States. My overseas travels have taken me to Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago and the jungles of Peru. I love seeing God work in and through me on the missions field and I love seeing the promise of His kingdom fulfilled on earth. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses me, challenges me, transformes me, and loves me through this new adventure.
9. I got the opportunity to make my pilgrimage to the Holy Land this past January. What an amazing experience and blessing from God! If you have not traveled to Israel yet…DO IT! It was absolutely amazing to walk where Christ walked and to see the scriptures truly come to life! I already can't wait to get back there!
10. I love making homemade gifts for my friends and family. I rarely, if ever, buy Christmas or birthday gifts. I would much rather spend time making something personal and intentional for each person I love. I love creating new beautiful things out of someting old or unused. Im curently learning to make quilts…we'll see how that goes…I've only ever sewn on buttons lol.
