Many of your that are keeping up with this blog and my updates know that I left my job in Flagstaff for medical reasons, and like most people around the country have been unable to find work in my new city.
Well I decided to take work into my own hands. I figured if I couldn't find work in my field right now, while I apply for graduate school, I decided I'd focus more on working from home to make ends meet till I could start graduate school full time. This is also really allowing me to spend the time I need to help get my health back under control while also working on my business and leadership skills, that I hope will help me in the future.
I've already written about why I choose to join my good friend Jen's Scentsy team, but I decided to join Watkins as well.
Watkins falls in wonderfully with my goals and dreams. Over the years I'm become even more socially and environmentally conscious. Especially with health problems, I've learned that its not just better for the environment and ethical business but also for my own health to use natural products. This is why I joined Watkins, I was introduced by a fellow AmeriCorps member a year ago, now not only am I now able to get the products I love at a great discount, but I also get to share this incredible socially and environmentally responsible company with others.
Please feel free to ask me any questions about the Watkins products and company, becoming a Watkins associate to get your own discount on everyday products you use, or ask me about the incredible business opportunity with Watkins.
I love getting to work for companies that understands my values and interests in corporate social responsibility, but also supports me in my growth as a person and a professional. You can contact me about Watkins anytime at My Watkins Email
So say hello to Watkins Independent Associate #390038! I'm exciting to be getting great discounts on products I love and I get to support and share the mission of this amazing company as well!
I will be writing another blog post about citizen philanthropy soon, as I think explaining this incredible new section of philanthropy will help everyone understand why I'm such a firm believer that even if you make $800 a month, which is where I was as an AmeriCorps member, you can still make a difference for people in your neighborhood and world.
For those of you interested in citizen philanthropy here's a sneak preview.
I'd hugely recommend Give a Little, by Wendy Smith and to check out Citizen Effect one of my favorite organizations and the one I currently work with. This organization has truly shown me how one individual with their social network can truly be a force for positive change in the world. To check out the latest update on my current CP project you can read the Citizen Effect blog at Coral's Citizen Philanthropist Project
Wishing everyone a great end to their week!
Coral :)
*Disclaimer: The statements made and opinions expressed on this page are those of an Independent Watkins Associate who is the publisher of this document, and are not to be construed as the statements or opinions of Watkins Incorporated. *
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Summer Update on my Citizen Philanthropist Project
Hi everyone. Many of you know that I'm a Citizen Philanthropist for Citizen Effect and that last year I signed up to do my first project to continue my Clinton Global Initiative commitment. I immediately started on my second one as soon as I finished my first over the holidays last year. I have a separate blog through Citizen Effect's page, but I wanted to repost part of the post here to those of you who haven't checked out the blog there can check it out here. If you want to see pictures and information about the community in Peru I'm currently working with check out:
http://citizeneffect.org/blog/chincha-multimedia-classroom-equipment-project
In May I did indeed have my first art gallery show in Flagstaff at the new Criollo Latin Kitchen, they were wonderful and very helpful since this was my first art show ever. Unfortunately we did not sell any art the month the show was up, but I was able to begin getting some exposure for the art and the project.
What I've decided to do in terms of the photography for sale for the project is to use either eBay and donate a percentage of the proceeds to Citizen Effect through Mission Fish and/or opening an Etsy store online with the art. I currently have my work on Fine Art America, but I have not found that to be a very effective place for photography so I'm thinking about changing it around. I will keep everyone posted on where the photography will be going for the next few months. I just recently changed computers so I will upload some photos from the show soon. Below was a blog post about the show, if you'd like to see some of the photography that will still be up for sale for now you may view it here:
http://criollolatinkitchen.com/2010/04/29/new-artist-at-criollo-this-may/
I've recently become an independent consultant for Scentsy, an extremely social responsibility focused business that sells wickless hypoallergenic beautiful ceramic candle warmers. My best friend was already working for this company and I really loved their mission: simplicity , authenticity and value. A simple beautiful product perfect for homes, dorms, offices, cars, and more. The fact that the company follows the highest standard of business ethics that the Direct Sales Association has was very impressive to me. And the value they place on guaranteed satisfaction for customers, hosts, and incredible personal and business training for consultants was a huge appeal to me.
My biggest reason for joining Scentsy besides the fact that they hold such an importance on business ethics but they fact that they have a philanthropy branch as well was a huge reason why I wanted to be a part of this company. Each catalog they donate proceeds from one warmer to charity,they have a campus collection where universities get to fundraise for their schools, but also what I love is they also allow independent consultants to work with groups to develop fundraisers for them, providing scentsy as the product for the fundraiser. The independent consultant gives all of the commission from those sales to the charity or group. I absolutely love this, because it not only lets me focus in on organizations I'm already working with like Citizen Effect, but also hopefully expand and help other organizations and small groups as well.
To spread the word about Scentsy, a company that's really concentrated in just a few states right now I really want to focus on the basket party model and the fundraising to spread awareness about this great company.
To learn more about this amazing company I've chosen to be a part of check out,
http://scentsy.net/en-us/about-scentsy/scentsy-story.aspx
and to learn more about what I'm hoping to do through Scentsy check out,
https://coralz.scentsy.us/bio
Currently I've hosting a digital launch party for the month of August, everything in the spring/summer catalog is currently 10% off, it's a fantastic time to check out what Scentsy is all about.
To contact me about scentsy please visit https://coralz.scentsy.us/Contact
I'd be happy to send anyone a catalog and some samples that may be interested in checking Scentsy out, just email me at the contact address above.
I'm also considering joining Watkins this fall, another organization I truly believe in and love their products. They hold some of the highest environmental and social responsibility standards in the natural products industry, to learn more check out http://ow.ly/2oOJG . I will keep everyone updated as to when I join their team, and as with scentsy I plan on using various ways to provide some of the proceeds to continue to support charities and projects I believe in.
Enjoy! I hope everyone is having a wonderful end to their summer and as always thank you for your continued support of my CP projects.
Coral :)
http://citizeneffect.org/blog/chincha-multimedia-classroom-equipment-project
In May I did indeed have my first art gallery show in Flagstaff at the new Criollo Latin Kitchen, they were wonderful and very helpful since this was my first art show ever. Unfortunately we did not sell any art the month the show was up, but I was able to begin getting some exposure for the art and the project.
What I've decided to do in terms of the photography for sale for the project is to use either eBay and donate a percentage of the proceeds to Citizen Effect through Mission Fish and/or opening an Etsy store online with the art. I currently have my work on Fine Art America, but I have not found that to be a very effective place for photography so I'm thinking about changing it around. I will keep everyone posted on where the photography will be going for the next few months. I just recently changed computers so I will upload some photos from the show soon. Below was a blog post about the show, if you'd like to see some of the photography that will still be up for sale for now you may view it here:
http://criollolatinkitchen.com/2010/04/29/new-artist-at-criollo-this-may/
I've recently become an independent consultant for Scentsy, an extremely social responsibility focused business that sells wickless hypoallergenic beautiful ceramic candle warmers. My best friend was already working for this company and I really loved their mission: simplicity , authenticity and value. A simple beautiful product perfect for homes, dorms, offices, cars, and more. The fact that the company follows the highest standard of business ethics that the Direct Sales Association has was very impressive to me. And the value they place on guaranteed satisfaction for customers, hosts, and incredible personal and business training for consultants was a huge appeal to me.
My biggest reason for joining Scentsy besides the fact that they hold such an importance on business ethics but they fact that they have a philanthropy branch as well was a huge reason why I wanted to be a part of this company. Each catalog they donate proceeds from one warmer to charity,they have a campus collection where universities get to fundraise for their schools, but also what I love is they also allow independent consultants to work with groups to develop fundraisers for them, providing scentsy as the product for the fundraiser. The independent consultant gives all of the commission from those sales to the charity or group. I absolutely love this, because it not only lets me focus in on organizations I'm already working with like Citizen Effect, but also hopefully expand and help other organizations and small groups as well.
To spread the word about Scentsy, a company that's really concentrated in just a few states right now I really want to focus on the basket party model and the fundraising to spread awareness about this great company.
To learn more about this amazing company I've chosen to be a part of check out,
http://scentsy.net/en-us/about-scentsy/scentsy-story.aspx
and to learn more about what I'm hoping to do through Scentsy check out,
https://coralz.scentsy.us/bio
Currently I've hosting a digital launch party for the month of August, everything in the spring/summer catalog is currently 10% off, it's a fantastic time to check out what Scentsy is all about.
To contact me about scentsy please visit https://coralz.scentsy.us/Contact
I'd be happy to send anyone a catalog and some samples that may be interested in checking Scentsy out, just email me at the contact address above.
I'm also considering joining Watkins this fall, another organization I truly believe in and love their products. They hold some of the highest environmental and social responsibility standards in the natural products industry, to learn more check out http://ow.ly/2oOJG . I will keep everyone updated as to when I join their team, and as with scentsy I plan on using various ways to provide some of the proceeds to continue to support charities and projects I believe in.
Enjoy! I hope everyone is having a wonderful end to their summer and as always thank you for your continued support of my CP projects.
Coral :)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Food Diaries of a Life Long Picky Eater Part 1
I promised on my new twist to the blog I wanted to not only talk about some of the things that I've been getting involved with to help use my skills to work on projects and with companies I believe in but I also made a commitment to myself to write more about life as a young adult living with chronic illness.Well today I wanted to write about my major transitions with food in the last few years and why it's not only helping me get healthier little by little, but also helping support sustainable agriculture and the environment.
When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at 16 never once did anyone ask me about the foods I was eating, this continued to be the case over the last few years until last year, a month before my 22nd birthday. You would think that doctors would ask what you eat and see how it relates to your health.
I never really realized my stubborn eating habits, were not just for silly reasons, although trust me I will admit as my lovely boyfriend Rob likes to point out, sometimes I have the worse excuses for why I don't want to eat certain foods. Just ask about seafood and Mexican food, and you'll understand.
After spending 5 amazing months in Costa Rica in fall of 2008, I was SOOO healthy and happy. Before that my final semester at Elon I had gotten very sick even though I was probably the least stressed I'd ever been in my college career. Spring of 2008 I had been determined to eat very healthy, which to me at the time meant switching to all whole grains, lean meats, etc. Low and behold, it didn't take me 5 months to gain over 30 pounds. When you're a former competition gymnast, gaining 5 pounds is rare, gaining 30 is unheard of.
Of course this freaked me out, and as I was soo busy writing my thesis my final semester,I had been doing Tibetan yoga as a class to help keep my stress down in a semester that was truly either going to break me or make me stronger ( think spending 20 hours a weekend working on your thesis). I thought my eating healthy plan and scheduling my relaxation time would work wonders. And it did mentally, but physically it took a huge tole, which didn't make a lot of sense.
Well it wasn't until Spring 2009, when I returned from Costa Rica and moved to Arizona to start working that puzzle pieces started to come together. In March 2009, I started getting super sick again, fainting and black out spells were extraordinarily uncommon. It wasn't till I went to an MD who was also a licensed naturopath that someone actually asked me for a full medical history and that included my diet!
To my lovely surprise, I knew I have never really liked food, yes yes I know that's weird but it's absolutely true, but there was a reason!!! I knew people had food allergies, but I had never known that people could get food sensitivities. Who would have thought that half the odd feeling you get from certain foods are because your body is sensitive to them and doesn't digest them right. I truly had no idea that this could account for a some of my fibromyalgia symptoms.
Well the doctor prescribed a yeast-free diet, which at that time when he handed me a list of what I could eat, which was not a whole lot in my opinion then, I seriously felt like I was being handed a death sentence. I had never eating and especially didn't know how to cook what was essentially a vegan and gluten-free diet.
At the time I was working at a boarding school, and as part of that all of your food is paid for, so to have to use the little money they actually give you since housing is part of your salary as well, so I didn't have a whole lot of money to start experimenting with food. But I started to try.
For a while I didn't even know where to begin, I really had a very low level of cooking skills so I went straight to cookbooks. I really like Gluten-free girl, a memoir of a true foodie who didn't know till she was in her 30s that she had Celiac disease, and while I don't have celiacs our diet requirements are very similar. Yeast-free is essentially gluten-free/dairy-free , and while you can have meats so it's not vegetarian or vegan, you are supposed to really minimize your intake.
The shock of this type of diet to someone who basically lived off of starches and dairy is a small trauma in itself. Yes I was really that ignorant growing up to think my picky diet would never catch up to me.
So needless to say I've been going through the roller coaster of trying to live out this diet for a long time. I wanted to make this a series of posts that reflects my changing attitude towards food, and how it's helped me be even more aware of the environmental impact of food and why that's now a very important place in my life.
Next time around I wanted to send some shout-outs to some amazing people who don't even realize that conversations I've had with people over the years have truly helped me to get where I am today with my relationship with food and how it is so very much intertwined with my interest in environmental sustainability and now sustainable food. I'll also love to tell everyone about this fantastic blog that I frequent often and how it's really helped me change my opinion about food.
I hope these posts really help someone else or others who might be living with some of the same issues and facing all the struggles that come with chronic illness and that hopefully this information that it has taken me years to understand and really start applying will be helpful to others that are in the constant struggle as well. I also hope that starting the dialog with others about sustainable food and environmental responsibility will encourage others to really start learning and exploring and realizing what a difference it makes in our lives and that of the world around us just when we start making little changes.
I want to end this series of posts with an explanation of why I'm always talking about how little changes make a difference and why that's so important to me, especially now when as Suze Orman likes to call us: young, fabulous, and broke :). But I really want to show how that doesn't stop me and many others I know in their 20s and early 30s from wanting to make a difference in the world with what we have to offer both skill wise but also with the little money most of us have.
I hope you continue to enjoy these posts as much as I am enjoying really taking a different direction with my blog.
Enjoy, and I hope everyone is having a fantastic end of summer!
When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at 16 never once did anyone ask me about the foods I was eating, this continued to be the case over the last few years until last year, a month before my 22nd birthday. You would think that doctors would ask what you eat and see how it relates to your health.
I never really realized my stubborn eating habits, were not just for silly reasons, although trust me I will admit as my lovely boyfriend Rob likes to point out, sometimes I have the worse excuses for why I don't want to eat certain foods. Just ask about seafood and Mexican food, and you'll understand.
After spending 5 amazing months in Costa Rica in fall of 2008, I was SOOO healthy and happy. Before that my final semester at Elon I had gotten very sick even though I was probably the least stressed I'd ever been in my college career. Spring of 2008 I had been determined to eat very healthy, which to me at the time meant switching to all whole grains, lean meats, etc. Low and behold, it didn't take me 5 months to gain over 30 pounds. When you're a former competition gymnast, gaining 5 pounds is rare, gaining 30 is unheard of.
Of course this freaked me out, and as I was soo busy writing my thesis my final semester,I had been doing Tibetan yoga as a class to help keep my stress down in a semester that was truly either going to break me or make me stronger ( think spending 20 hours a weekend working on your thesis). I thought my eating healthy plan and scheduling my relaxation time would work wonders. And it did mentally, but physically it took a huge tole, which didn't make a lot of sense.
Well it wasn't until Spring 2009, when I returned from Costa Rica and moved to Arizona to start working that puzzle pieces started to come together. In March 2009, I started getting super sick again, fainting and black out spells were extraordinarily uncommon. It wasn't till I went to an MD who was also a licensed naturopath that someone actually asked me for a full medical history and that included my diet!
To my lovely surprise, I knew I have never really liked food, yes yes I know that's weird but it's absolutely true, but there was a reason!!! I knew people had food allergies, but I had never known that people could get food sensitivities. Who would have thought that half the odd feeling you get from certain foods are because your body is sensitive to them and doesn't digest them right. I truly had no idea that this could account for a some of my fibromyalgia symptoms.
Well the doctor prescribed a yeast-free diet, which at that time when he handed me a list of what I could eat, which was not a whole lot in my opinion then, I seriously felt like I was being handed a death sentence. I had never eating and especially didn't know how to cook what was essentially a vegan and gluten-free diet.
At the time I was working at a boarding school, and as part of that all of your food is paid for, so to have to use the little money they actually give you since housing is part of your salary as well, so I didn't have a whole lot of money to start experimenting with food. But I started to try.
For a while I didn't even know where to begin, I really had a very low level of cooking skills so I went straight to cookbooks. I really like Gluten-free girl, a memoir of a true foodie who didn't know till she was in her 30s that she had Celiac disease, and while I don't have celiacs our diet requirements are very similar. Yeast-free is essentially gluten-free/dairy-free , and while you can have meats so it's not vegetarian or vegan, you are supposed to really minimize your intake.
The shock of this type of diet to someone who basically lived off of starches and dairy is a small trauma in itself. Yes I was really that ignorant growing up to think my picky diet would never catch up to me.
So needless to say I've been going through the roller coaster of trying to live out this diet for a long time. I wanted to make this a series of posts that reflects my changing attitude towards food, and how it's helped me be even more aware of the environmental impact of food and why that's now a very important place in my life.
Next time around I wanted to send some shout-outs to some amazing people who don't even realize that conversations I've had with people over the years have truly helped me to get where I am today with my relationship with food and how it is so very much intertwined with my interest in environmental sustainability and now sustainable food. I'll also love to tell everyone about this fantastic blog that I frequent often and how it's really helped me change my opinion about food.
I hope these posts really help someone else or others who might be living with some of the same issues and facing all the struggles that come with chronic illness and that hopefully this information that it has taken me years to understand and really start applying will be helpful to others that are in the constant struggle as well. I also hope that starting the dialog with others about sustainable food and environmental responsibility will encourage others to really start learning and exploring and realizing what a difference it makes in our lives and that of the world around us just when we start making little changes.
I want to end this series of posts with an explanation of why I'm always talking about how little changes make a difference and why that's so important to me, especially now when as Suze Orman likes to call us: young, fabulous, and broke :). But I really want to show how that doesn't stop me and many others I know in their 20s and early 30s from wanting to make a difference in the world with what we have to offer both skill wise but also with the little money most of us have.
I hope you continue to enjoy these posts as much as I am enjoying really taking a different direction with my blog.
Enjoy, and I hope everyone is having a fantastic end of summer!
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
New Life Step 1: New Job
To my many friends and new friends, those of you that know me know that I typically do not just jump into a venture without really thinking it through, that's why entering graduate school has been on hold for me for a while even though I've been looking for the right fit for several years. So you may be wondering why I've chosen to join a direct sales organization, well the answer's is pretty easy: Simplicity, Authenticity and Value plus my best friend and Scentsy sponsor, Jen Lindsey. Scentsy's mission spoke to me, over the past several years I have truly become a supporter of organizations that have a high standard of ethics. Whether it's a business that truly believes in fair-trade and giving workers around the world a fair living wage, or its organizations that either started from the beginning and are taking a major turn now to environmentally friendly, or charities like the one I have been working with for almost the last year Citizen Effect that allow individuals just like me to make a big impact on global problems; I value companies with high ethics. I believe Scentsy is one of those companies.
I've chosen to be a part of my best friend's Scentsy team to spread the word about a product I believe in, and a company that believes in me.
I'm a graduate of Elon University in North Carolina; now I live in Tucson, Arizona with my incredible boyfriend Rob, and near my wonderful aunt Vida. I have a bachelors’ in International Studies and Latin American Studies. I'm currently in the process of applying to start my masters program in the spring. I'm a former teacher, tutor, advisor and education facility coordinator. I value education, social justice, and citizen philanthropy.
I truly feel that every person can achieve their wildest dreams, and that every individual can make an impact on our world to a cause they believe in if they just set their mind to it.
I love the fact that Scentsy is helping me develop more as a leader and I hope that once you start learning about Scentsy you understand why this company matches my values, and why I've chosen to support it.
Please take a look around the site. Whether it's your first time checking out Scentsy take a look at the clearance and discontinued items where you can check out our products and get a 10% discount. Don't forget each month Scentsy has a warmer and scent of the month where you can also get a 10% discount.
Are you a huge supporter of your alma mater? Check out our Campus Collection, where $5 from every sale goes to your favorite school. But don't stop there, each month Scentsy features a charity where one warmer each month is designated as the cause of the month, warmers cost an extra $5 but similar to our campus collection these funds go straight to the charity.
Are you as big into philanthropy as I am?? Check out our Scentsy fundraisers. If you group or organization is looking for a product to use to fundraise for your favorite charity, ask me how I can help.
I also plan on setting aside one month twice a year to donate all proceeds to my favorite charity, Citizen Effect, where I have been able to fund education projects in rural Peru. I hope to continue these efforts for many years to come.
I hope that you enjoy Scentsy, and if you have any questions about our products, hosting a party, or joining our Scentsy team, please do not hesitate to ask.
To check out my new Scentsy site, and check out my August digital launch party go to:
coralz.scentsy.us to learn more about this great company I've chosen to join!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Mid-Year Crisis = New Life, New Blog :)
Hey everyone. So I committed to writing more often and as usual life gets in the way. It's funny I really want to ramp up this blog, I've read some pretty spectacular blogs and I'll love to be as connected to my readers as other bloggers are, so I'm going to work harder to write more often and truly start changing up the content of this blog.
From now on this blog will still have personal updates for all my friends and family that read it but also hopefully to bring in a larger audience to this blog. If there is something I have learned in the last 12 months when I lived in Flagstaff, AZ it's how very different and alike us young professionals really are from previous generations. We are truly moving back towards being like the 60s idealists, and while some of use have parents who grew up in that era some of ours did not, and we tend to have very different viewpoints from our family on specific topics.
Well I want to use this blog to talk about the ups and downs of being a young idealist professional that still has the optimism and drive to actually work to see a difference in our world. Many people tell me don't ever loss that spirit because so many others have lost their spark with the discontent they've had with our government, our country, and our world. And trust me sometimes I'm one of them. But something I really learned at Elon University was we can't just complain, we have to go out there and make it happen. And guess what that's exactly what I plan to do. I welcome you to the roller coaster ride that is my life. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride.
Another area I really want to talk about more on this new blog, is chronic health issues and how it is affecting so many of us now. I have had a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia since I was 16, a "syndrome" that using doesn't affect people till there late 30s and usually more women who are typically type A. People who don't know about this and find out only when I get really sick, typically tell me they had no idea I even had health problems because I've always had such a hard time admitting that I have limitations. I pretty much want to be wonder women, which as I'm truly seen over the past few years, is the biggest reason why us women have a hard time with not only traditional roles but also with our modern roles. The older I've gotten and the more time I've spent out of college, the more I realize why my mother wanted me to start changing my life around when I got the fibro diagnosis. She told me that we women are far more likely to not know how to say no, be workahoics, but then expect to have a normal personal life, we just want to make everyone happy. Which in the last 6 months I have learned harder then ever that she's totally right and always has been. My health has deteriorated in the last several months and I knew it was time for a drastic change. I need to learn balance better, I'm always been great at the academic and work life, but it's my personal life where I really struggle the most. Whether it's my friendships, dating relationships, or the lack of time I spend actually taking care of myself, when I ended back in the hospital 3 weeks ago, I knew everyone who has always tried to help me have always been right. But like they say, until the individual has had enough and decides to change it themselves they will never change. Well guess what, I'M THERE!
3 Weeks Ago, I left my job, moved to a new town to live closer to family, after long discussion Rob and I decided we'd actually take the plunge and live together, been going to countless doctors to get to the bottom of the most recent major flair in symptoms. As I've always thought there was a missing diagnosis and that the fibromyalgia was just modern medicine's way of saying " we have no idea why you are the way that you are" . But answers have slowly been coming in and I've been able to set up an appointment with a specialist in Fibromyalgia who actually takes a look at medicine from an integrative standpoint, so I can't wait to actually go see him, and start getting this healing process to go into overdrive. I'm now just contracted to tutor, and have been looking at some new opportunities to start consulting. I also FINALLY after many years have found the perfect masters program for my interests and personality and will be applying in the coming months to hopefully start in the fall.
For those of you that are new to this blog, the post below is a quick update of the last several months, so you can catch up. But from here on out I hope to make a major change to this blog and my life.
I hope you enjoy riding on this roller coaster with me, and that the personal and professional growth I am so deeply seeking might be an inspiration to others who may be experiencing some of what I've been going through. Please comment and post, and contact me through LinkedIn or twitter to connect. I love constantly expanding my network of incredible people around the country and world.
I look forward to enjoying this adventure as much with any new readers and getting to finally focus on what matters most, living life one day at a time and enjoying it!
Till Next Time, Coral :)
From now on this blog will still have personal updates for all my friends and family that read it but also hopefully to bring in a larger audience to this blog. If there is something I have learned in the last 12 months when I lived in Flagstaff, AZ it's how very different and alike us young professionals really are from previous generations. We are truly moving back towards being like the 60s idealists, and while some of use have parents who grew up in that era some of ours did not, and we tend to have very different viewpoints from our family on specific topics.
Well I want to use this blog to talk about the ups and downs of being a young idealist professional that still has the optimism and drive to actually work to see a difference in our world. Many people tell me don't ever loss that spirit because so many others have lost their spark with the discontent they've had with our government, our country, and our world. And trust me sometimes I'm one of them. But something I really learned at Elon University was we can't just complain, we have to go out there and make it happen. And guess what that's exactly what I plan to do. I welcome you to the roller coaster ride that is my life. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride.
Another area I really want to talk about more on this new blog, is chronic health issues and how it is affecting so many of us now. I have had a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia since I was 16, a "syndrome" that using doesn't affect people till there late 30s and usually more women who are typically type A. People who don't know about this and find out only when I get really sick, typically tell me they had no idea I even had health problems because I've always had such a hard time admitting that I have limitations. I pretty much want to be wonder women, which as I'm truly seen over the past few years, is the biggest reason why us women have a hard time with not only traditional roles but also with our modern roles. The older I've gotten and the more time I've spent out of college, the more I realize why my mother wanted me to start changing my life around when I got the fibro diagnosis. She told me that we women are far more likely to not know how to say no, be workahoics, but then expect to have a normal personal life, we just want to make everyone happy. Which in the last 6 months I have learned harder then ever that she's totally right and always has been. My health has deteriorated in the last several months and I knew it was time for a drastic change. I need to learn balance better, I'm always been great at the academic and work life, but it's my personal life where I really struggle the most. Whether it's my friendships, dating relationships, or the lack of time I spend actually taking care of myself, when I ended back in the hospital 3 weeks ago, I knew everyone who has always tried to help me have always been right. But like they say, until the individual has had enough and decides to change it themselves they will never change. Well guess what, I'M THERE!
3 Weeks Ago, I left my job, moved to a new town to live closer to family, after long discussion Rob and I decided we'd actually take the plunge and live together, been going to countless doctors to get to the bottom of the most recent major flair in symptoms. As I've always thought there was a missing diagnosis and that the fibromyalgia was just modern medicine's way of saying " we have no idea why you are the way that you are" . But answers have slowly been coming in and I've been able to set up an appointment with a specialist in Fibromyalgia who actually takes a look at medicine from an integrative standpoint, so I can't wait to actually go see him, and start getting this healing process to go into overdrive. I'm now just contracted to tutor, and have been looking at some new opportunities to start consulting. I also FINALLY after many years have found the perfect masters program for my interests and personality and will be applying in the coming months to hopefully start in the fall.
For those of you that are new to this blog, the post below is a quick update of the last several months, so you can catch up. But from here on out I hope to make a major change to this blog and my life.
I hope you enjoy riding on this roller coaster with me, and that the personal and professional growth I am so deeply seeking might be an inspiration to others who may be experiencing some of what I've been going through. Please comment and post, and contact me through LinkedIn or twitter to connect. I love constantly expanding my network of incredible people around the country and world.
I look forward to enjoying this adventure as much with any new readers and getting to finally focus on what matters most, living life one day at a time and enjoying it!
Till Next Time, Coral :)
Life Got Busy, AGAIN :)
So here's a quick update. Hold on for the roller coaster it's going to be a long ride...
Last time I wrote it was about to be the grand opening of the new facility that I had been working on to open in Flagstaff, AZ. Well now the facility has been opened for almost 4 full months and we are gearing up for a new school year, but without me.
About 3 weeks ago I left Flagstaff due to medical issues and am now in Tucson. I had been trying to moving there for quite sometime but like everyone else these days, the job market is a little rough for my taste and I hadn't been able to find anything. The last two weeks that I had been there I was at least able to go to some interviews and I just going to be doing some tutoring again for the time being.
I just came home to visit family this past week to take a break to recuperate from the endless Dr visits before I went back for more.
I've always been interested in consulting and working for myself because I have so many interests that span a lot of different fields. So I'm currently looking into that and thinking I may continue working in education access but offering cheap alternatives to high end professionals so I can continue my professional growth doing what I love. So we'll see how this all comes together, I've been talking with some of my very trusted friends who always have great information and am looking at my options.
I was able to find a great masters program that I can actually start in the Spring, which is great, I've been looking at graduate schools since I was a sophomore in college and I have missed the academic environment, I know I want to teach ( as a professor) and do some consulting so I can work on different projects. So I think while it may seem that having to just up and quit my job and move was a rash move, even for me, someone who likes to move around and try new things, I think in the end things are coming together better then I could have ever planned.
I get to live in a fantastic new place I live very close to my aunt who I'm very close with. And I think the opportunity to just do contract work for various companies now will really help me grow my network and let me really finish tunning down my interest areas so I can design my masters.
The neatest thing about the masters program I found is that it is completely self designed perfect for someone like me who has a hard thing following anyone elses idea of what I should learn and study. I know I want to be a professor and with my masters I can at least start teaching at a community college and I'm really looking forward to this opportunity. So it seems all you have to do is stop being so type A like me, let go for once and see what happens. I think better opportunities have come the minute I just decided to forget it leave town get the medical help I needed instead of constantly putting it to the side, and now I'm also finding incredible professional and personal opportunities in my new town.
I'm excited for my new adventure and I promise to write more frequently for the rest of the year. My best friend Jennifer has even got me looking at doing Scentsy just so I can continue to develop my business skills, so we'll see that's still up in the air, but I feel like for once I'm breathing more even though more things are just floating right now. I'm happy and starting over. I'm excited for the new challenges and opportunities, and I'm sure I'll have some interested stories to write about soon.
And most importantly, for those of you who know I am a Citizen Philanthropist for Citizen Effect and that last year, 2009 I raised money to improve a school in Peru. I am still doing this work, although with all my personal life changes it is currently at a standstill, but soon I will be auctioning the photos that did not sell from my first art gallery show in May on eBay and will be posting all smaller pieces of art on sale on Etsy, keep checking the blog for more updates.
As always stay in touch, many of you who read this have my email address, if you do not feel free to connect with me through LinkedIn or twitter. Both those profiles can be found on the left side of the blog.
Signing Off! Hoping everyone is having a great summer and enjoying it!
Last time I wrote it was about to be the grand opening of the new facility that I had been working on to open in Flagstaff, AZ. Well now the facility has been opened for almost 4 full months and we are gearing up for a new school year, but without me.
About 3 weeks ago I left Flagstaff due to medical issues and am now in Tucson. I had been trying to moving there for quite sometime but like everyone else these days, the job market is a little rough for my taste and I hadn't been able to find anything. The last two weeks that I had been there I was at least able to go to some interviews and I just going to be doing some tutoring again for the time being.
I just came home to visit family this past week to take a break to recuperate from the endless Dr visits before I went back for more.
I've always been interested in consulting and working for myself because I have so many interests that span a lot of different fields. So I'm currently looking into that and thinking I may continue working in education access but offering cheap alternatives to high end professionals so I can continue my professional growth doing what I love. So we'll see how this all comes together, I've been talking with some of my very trusted friends who always have great information and am looking at my options.
I was able to find a great masters program that I can actually start in the Spring, which is great, I've been looking at graduate schools since I was a sophomore in college and I have missed the academic environment, I know I want to teach ( as a professor) and do some consulting so I can work on different projects. So I think while it may seem that having to just up and quit my job and move was a rash move, even for me, someone who likes to move around and try new things, I think in the end things are coming together better then I could have ever planned.
I get to live in a fantastic new place I live very close to my aunt who I'm very close with. And I think the opportunity to just do contract work for various companies now will really help me grow my network and let me really finish tunning down my interest areas so I can design my masters.
The neatest thing about the masters program I found is that it is completely self designed perfect for someone like me who has a hard thing following anyone elses idea of what I should learn and study. I know I want to be a professor and with my masters I can at least start teaching at a community college and I'm really looking forward to this opportunity. So it seems all you have to do is stop being so type A like me, let go for once and see what happens. I think better opportunities have come the minute I just decided to forget it leave town get the medical help I needed instead of constantly putting it to the side, and now I'm also finding incredible professional and personal opportunities in my new town.
I'm excited for my new adventure and I promise to write more frequently for the rest of the year. My best friend Jennifer has even got me looking at doing Scentsy just so I can continue to develop my business skills, so we'll see that's still up in the air, but I feel like for once I'm breathing more even though more things are just floating right now. I'm happy and starting over. I'm excited for the new challenges and opportunities, and I'm sure I'll have some interested stories to write about soon.
And most importantly, for those of you who know I am a Citizen Philanthropist for Citizen Effect and that last year, 2009 I raised money to improve a school in Peru. I am still doing this work, although with all my personal life changes it is currently at a standstill, but soon I will be auctioning the photos that did not sell from my first art gallery show in May on eBay and will be posting all smaller pieces of art on sale on Etsy, keep checking the blog for more updates.
As always stay in touch, many of you who read this have my email address, if you do not feel free to connect with me through LinkedIn or twitter. Both those profiles can be found on the left side of the blog.
Signing Off! Hoping everyone is having a great summer and enjoying it!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Waterfalls and Chaos haha :)
Hey everyone.
It's been another crazy few weeks for me, but hey I'm still hanging in there.
The Northern Arizona College Resource Center, the new college resource center that I am coordinating is finally opening after the 8 months that I've been in Flagstaff working on this project.
I'm totally pumped and we are in crunch time right now trying to get everything ready, it's been crazy chaotic because we have a space in another facility so all of our actions can't be taken until they are ready which has been very interested these last two weeks, but it's getting done and I'm trying to remember to breathe!! But I'm exciting to be moving into the facility and am excited to see the facility start having students come in.
We're doing a huge event on Saturday and it's basically our huge marketing campaign day as we're platinum sponsoring a major event in the city. I'm also getting to really start getting out and doing community presentation on the project, and that's honestly one of the best things about my job, I love meeting other individuals that are passionate about similar ideas and living in a small community has definitely been the advantage of this whole project. Other college resource centers typically take several years to get up and off the ground but we've been able to do it in 8 months because of so much community support, without all the partnerships I've formed we would definitely not even be close to where we are today.
In what little free time I have right now, Rob has been incredible as well as other great friends like Lin Marie and Leveta use who just been phenomenal and making sure that I am taking time to enjoy the little free time I have. I had a great dinner with Lin Marie last week, and Leveta and I are meeting up Friday to finish getting everything together for our Saturday event. Rob had the brilliant idea last Saturday to get me out of town, he knew I had to work on Sunday and that I only really got one day off last week so he took me to Strawberry to the Fossil Creek waterfall. It was so great to get out of Flag and enjoy the day on a short hike to the waterfall.
Flagstaff has just been fantastic for me. It's definitely been that crossroads that everyone tells me is so traditional for Flagstaff. They have this saying here that you aren't really a local until you've been here 10 years because it is such a transient town. But I love it, it's been a place where I'm really been able to establish myself as a professional but have been able to explore a lot of my personal interests as well. I'm been able to start dancing again in Flag and even though it's crazy right now I'm typically been going multiply times a week. I also have gotten huge support for my art projects and have really been able to use that as a way to fundraise for the schools in Peru.
I have two shows going up in late April and May and am excited for all the events we are planning and hope that I can at least fundraise half of my goal for this year by June, so we'll see!
That's the latest update, I hope everyone is doing well. You know how to contact me so please do stay in touch!
Coral :)
It's been another crazy few weeks for me, but hey I'm still hanging in there.
The Northern Arizona College Resource Center, the new college resource center that I am coordinating is finally opening after the 8 months that I've been in Flagstaff working on this project.
I'm totally pumped and we are in crunch time right now trying to get everything ready, it's been crazy chaotic because we have a space in another facility so all of our actions can't be taken until they are ready which has been very interested these last two weeks, but it's getting done and I'm trying to remember to breathe!! But I'm exciting to be moving into the facility and am excited to see the facility start having students come in.
We're doing a huge event on Saturday and it's basically our huge marketing campaign day as we're platinum sponsoring a major event in the city. I'm also getting to really start getting out and doing community presentation on the project, and that's honestly one of the best things about my job, I love meeting other individuals that are passionate about similar ideas and living in a small community has definitely been the advantage of this whole project. Other college resource centers typically take several years to get up and off the ground but we've been able to do it in 8 months because of so much community support, without all the partnerships I've formed we would definitely not even be close to where we are today.
In what little free time I have right now, Rob has been incredible as well as other great friends like Lin Marie and Leveta use who just been phenomenal and making sure that I am taking time to enjoy the little free time I have. I had a great dinner with Lin Marie last week, and Leveta and I are meeting up Friday to finish getting everything together for our Saturday event. Rob had the brilliant idea last Saturday to get me out of town, he knew I had to work on Sunday and that I only really got one day off last week so he took me to Strawberry to the Fossil Creek waterfall. It was so great to get out of Flag and enjoy the day on a short hike to the waterfall.
Flagstaff has just been fantastic for me. It's definitely been that crossroads that everyone tells me is so traditional for Flagstaff. They have this saying here that you aren't really a local until you've been here 10 years because it is such a transient town. But I love it, it's been a place where I'm really been able to establish myself as a professional but have been able to explore a lot of my personal interests as well. I'm been able to start dancing again in Flag and even though it's crazy right now I'm typically been going multiply times a week. I also have gotten huge support for my art projects and have really been able to use that as a way to fundraise for the schools in Peru.
I have two shows going up in late April and May and am excited for all the events we are planning and hope that I can at least fundraise half of my goal for this year by June, so we'll see!
That's the latest update, I hope everyone is doing well. You know how to contact me so please do stay in touch!
Coral :)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Dancing in the Streets!
Hey everyone. So here's the latest update. 2010 has truly been so far a year of major ups and downs, lots of new exciting, lots of changes but it seems like it is all coming together now for the better.
Some moves aren't supposed to work, I ended up leaving my friend's house in a month and just realized sometimes you can be very good friends but you really aren't meant to live together, so that's ok. I now have a very cute little house close to the university and a roommate who is only here part time as they split their time between Flagstaff and a community about an hour away from here.
Rob and I had a phenomenal dance photo shoot on V-Day. I have been working with a local photographer who has been helping me put together my first gallery show, that will be going up the second week of April and will be there till July. He knew I was a dancer and thought it would be fun to photograph Rob and I and then some solo shots and potentially incorporate them into the show. So after pushing stuff back a lot with scheduling conflicts, it was funny how V-Day feel on a Sunday and that was a good day for everyone so we ended up having a photo shoot on V-Day. I'll be posting the top 100 pictures on a photo slideshow on the blog, so I hope that you enjoy them. It was truly an awesome way to spend V-Day, Rob and I are both really not into the commercialized aspects of it all but we got to do something that was soooo us and just have a good time. We hope you guys enjoy these pictures.
More past the dancing, life has been incredibly good lately. Dating Rob has been an experience, that's for sure :) . I've never really been much of one who likes food and have been picky from a very young age but Rob's actually been patient and is actually teaching me how to cook. He is a FANTASTIC cook, I mean we have smoked chickens, flambeed them, stuffed them like chicken cordon blue with our own twist = AMAZINGNESS!!! Not only does he cook like my own personal chef, because he's such a good cook he's very selective when we actually go out to eat, and since I'm not really explored food much in my life, each week's date night is for sure an adventure. Just last week I had Sushi for the first time, Greek the next night with friends, Indian for date night, and Arabic at his house over the weekend, yeah not only are my travels hopefully going to get more global, I'll actually know what to try when I get there!
It's pretty incredible to have someone that loves dance as much as I do, is also a Latin American focused individual, loves to travel and escape like me, yeah I would definately say it has absolutely =ed AMAZINGNESS!! (Finding a theme here :) )
Work is going great, we open our brand new facility in a month so I'm getting really pumped as I'm started to meet and talk with groups individually in the community and tell them about this great facility that we are creating as a free community resource, we are actually up live now, check out the project I've been working to establish since I moved to Flagstaff in July, it's www.nacrc.net . I'm really excited about what we've been able to create and I'm happy that I'm helping to bring a badly needed community resource to a place I have fallen in love with.
It's funny when I first took my position it was suppose to be a one year contract, a lot of things have played out this year and I now know that I will be looking to relocate to Tucson at the end of the summer. While I absolutely loves this community and am truly integrated now, cost of living is high and it's not a good place to save for graduate school. So Tucson actually has the graduate program I am looking at, and since it is so Latin AMerican centered and that's my region that I want to continue working with I think it honestly makes a little bit more sense. I'm so happy for the opportunities I have had in Flagstaff and I finally feel that I am stepping into my role as a professional more then a student now, and am happy. But I do miss the academics and I know my goal has been for a long time to go to graduate school and I feel that Tucson will allow me to do both graduate school and grow professionally, so we'll see how it all plays out but hopefully I'll head down to Tucson in August and see where we go from there, I'll be applying to grad school to start the following fall.
SO that's the latest update. I'm having fun and living life outside of school and it feels great to know that life finally seems to be falling into place, I'm getting to do a lot of things I love and I feel very blessed.
I hope everyone is doing well, please send updates I love to hear from everyone and we'll chat soon!
Coral :)
Some moves aren't supposed to work, I ended up leaving my friend's house in a month and just realized sometimes you can be very good friends but you really aren't meant to live together, so that's ok. I now have a very cute little house close to the university and a roommate who is only here part time as they split their time between Flagstaff and a community about an hour away from here.
Rob and I had a phenomenal dance photo shoot on V-Day. I have been working with a local photographer who has been helping me put together my first gallery show, that will be going up the second week of April and will be there till July. He knew I was a dancer and thought it would be fun to photograph Rob and I and then some solo shots and potentially incorporate them into the show. So after pushing stuff back a lot with scheduling conflicts, it was funny how V-Day feel on a Sunday and that was a good day for everyone so we ended up having a photo shoot on V-Day. I'll be posting the top 100 pictures on a photo slideshow on the blog, so I hope that you enjoy them. It was truly an awesome way to spend V-Day, Rob and I are both really not into the commercialized aspects of it all but we got to do something that was soooo us and just have a good time. We hope you guys enjoy these pictures.
More past the dancing, life has been incredibly good lately. Dating Rob has been an experience, that's for sure :) . I've never really been much of one who likes food and have been picky from a very young age but Rob's actually been patient and is actually teaching me how to cook. He is a FANTASTIC cook, I mean we have smoked chickens, flambeed them, stuffed them like chicken cordon blue with our own twist = AMAZINGNESS!!! Not only does he cook like my own personal chef, because he's such a good cook he's very selective when we actually go out to eat, and since I'm not really explored food much in my life, each week's date night is for sure an adventure. Just last week I had Sushi for the first time, Greek the next night with friends, Indian for date night, and Arabic at his house over the weekend, yeah not only are my travels hopefully going to get more global, I'll actually know what to try when I get there!
It's pretty incredible to have someone that loves dance as much as I do, is also a Latin American focused individual, loves to travel and escape like me, yeah I would definately say it has absolutely =ed AMAZINGNESS!! (Finding a theme here :) )
Work is going great, we open our brand new facility in a month so I'm getting really pumped as I'm started to meet and talk with groups individually in the community and tell them about this great facility that we are creating as a free community resource, we are actually up live now, check out the project I've been working to establish since I moved to Flagstaff in July, it's www.nacrc.net . I'm really excited about what we've been able to create and I'm happy that I'm helping to bring a badly needed community resource to a place I have fallen in love with.
It's funny when I first took my position it was suppose to be a one year contract, a lot of things have played out this year and I now know that I will be looking to relocate to Tucson at the end of the summer. While I absolutely loves this community and am truly integrated now, cost of living is high and it's not a good place to save for graduate school. So Tucson actually has the graduate program I am looking at, and since it is so Latin AMerican centered and that's my region that I want to continue working with I think it honestly makes a little bit more sense. I'm so happy for the opportunities I have had in Flagstaff and I finally feel that I am stepping into my role as a professional more then a student now, and am happy. But I do miss the academics and I know my goal has been for a long time to go to graduate school and I feel that Tucson will allow me to do both graduate school and grow professionally, so we'll see how it all plays out but hopefully I'll head down to Tucson in August and see where we go from there, I'll be applying to grad school to start the following fall.
SO that's the latest update. I'm having fun and living life outside of school and it feels great to know that life finally seems to be falling into place, I'm getting to do a lot of things I love and I feel very blessed.
I hope everyone is doing well, please send updates I love to hear from everyone and we'll chat soon!
Coral :)
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