Elevator Blog

30 secs to tell my blog-ry (my blog, my story—my blog-ry) Born and raised in Houston, Texas; married the man of my dreams; lived in Maui for two years and now living in the Emerald City telling people about our journey including all the ups and downs—his new jobs; my job searching; my certification as Nutrition and Wellness Consultant; work as a mentor for the NPF; and our second year of marriage in a brand new city. 1 min to tell my blog-ry My inspiration comes from my family, friends, work, husband and the life we are living together. Whatever we are going through as a first-time married couple—with no kids and no mortgage— I want to be able to help those couples going through the same thing. We have been grateful to live in some great places (Houston, Maui, Seattle) and we want people to know that it's not just about where you are but who you are with as well. I want to debunk that "one year and three year marriage itch" myth. In a marriage you have to fully committed to actually wanting to spend your life with this person, make them happy and live the best life you can together. We want to tell the same couples—or those who feel like they may be struggling—what has worked and what hasn't and offer up as much advice as we can. I like to touch on how being a supportive wife is a really essential component to happy marriage. I also like to bring in my experience as a psoriasis mentor and a certified health instructor. 2 mins to tell my blog-ry You might think living in three places in the last three years might be stressful. All while planning your dream wedding. Well, at first it was. What kept us sane was definitely the support of our family and friends. But for me it was also having an outlet to write down and document everything I was—and continue—to go through. At first Chris thought it was kind of silly. But while writing I thought it was a good idea to bring in a male's prospective too, and it seem to worked well. This is just life, thoughts and stories of a married couple living their life together. I like to talk about the amazing adventures we are so grateful to go through, our trials and tribulations, accomplishments and promotions and so much more. I also like to take time and write about my role as a wife and supporting my husband while trying to get a full-time job. I like to talk about stress—who doesn't have it—how I over come it; living with psoriasis and being a part of a reputable organization(NPF) and my health certification. As I continue to start my health website— offering educated guidance to clients seeking nutritional advice, weight management tips and enhancing health and fitness performance—I will be researching what I can do to help me along the way. I think society needs to look at choosing food in a completely different way. All it takes is a little knowledge and a different way of thinking and we all could be making healthy food choices—that's where I would come in. If we can help any first-time married couples by lending our advice and funny stories then that's a good day. If I can help make a difference in someones life dealing with stress and psoriasis, then I hope more people will find out. This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

See Yourself Succeeding

"The way you see yourself has a lasting impact."

Isn't that the truth? You have to be able to love yourself fully; be completely happy where you have been, where you are and where you are going to fully appreciate your goals; be happy if you accomplish something you set as a goal for yourself.

That has been the biggest challenge for me. To fully appreciate when something good happens, because we usually take for granted when those things come and wish it was something better, or think that we don't deserve it. Why couldn't it have come last month when I really needed the promotion? Well my co-worker helped me so much on the presentation, she should get most of the credit? Why? We all want to succeed. So we should be happy when we do. It's OK to take a mini celebration for those major things that we worked so hard for. Stayed up all night to pull off the greatest presentation of your job thus far? Time to celebrate! Worked double shifts and overtime to finally pay off that car? Rejoice you don't have any car payments, not the time it took you to get there.

I have always said that my life motto is NO REGRETS. There is no point to have any regrets. Everything you have done, experience, and gone through—bad and good— has led you to where you are today, right now, the present. You can't focus on the past or concentrate on the future. All we have is the time we are given today. So succeed in everything you can. And don't be in a rush. We will all get there eventually. We are gonna make it. We are gonna make it out of this. We realize that time is nothing at all but what we make it.
My high school experience, my hard lessons learned by making mistakes, the boyfriends, the fights with my siblings, too many jobs and homework to graduating and no jobs, death, crying, stressing out, getting my first job out of college, my family and long-time friends, heart aches, hospital visits, my first big paycheck, my amazing wedding to the most amazing man I've met, living and traveling together—everything has got me to where I am today.

Everything I do, I always try to succeed and make those around me proud. I feel like I've done a pretty decent job. Now, I can only concentrate on my life with Chris as we navigate this crazy thing called life—doing it together and hopefully succeeding as much as we can.

"The way you see yourself has a lasting impact on your life. When you consider yourself worth of achieving your goals... you'll become who you want to be. You'll see yourself as confident and capable, and you'll follow a different path—because you now see yourself walking toward success. We don't always realize the full impact of our thoughts— how far they reach or how they truly affect us and our goals. See yourself in this brand-new light. Think you can—and you will. Do all you can to become everything you want to be." Barbara J. Hall

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

Me? A Teacher? Why Thank you!

We all think we are good at something. Good enough to teach a class? Maybe some of us are a little more confident than others. But if I had the opportunity to be able to teach a class, I would love to be able to teach it about healthy eating and finding the right balance between a healthy diet and life-long healthy decisions.

It would be based on my website: Healthy Food Healthy You which is a nutritional consulting company. Everyone has different nutritional needs and weight management goals and at Healthy Food Healthy You, we will work together to create a life style plan for you based on your nutritional needs and goals. There is always time to start your healthy lifestyle ­­— why not now?

Tutorial to include:
- Educated guidance to clients seeking nutritional advice, weight management tips and enhancing health and fitness performance
-Food supplement and nutritional advice such as vitamins and minerals
- Knowledge and resources to formulate and design your own personalized meal plan based on the new 2010 government healthy regulations
- Initial consultation to determine short and long-term goals
- Grocery Store Tour
- Reading(and Understanding) those Pesky and Oh-So-Long Nutritional Labels
- Exercise Tips and Suggestions
- At Home Cooking Experience for the working professional, on a budget (because who doesn't want to save money?)

Why do I feel like I'm great at this and the right person to teach a class on this?
Being a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant I have extensive and functional knowledge of nutrition, weight management, daily exercise and how to combine all of these important skills to meet a clients lifestyle goals. I also can offer a sound nutritional plan for optimizing health; advise and present a balanced and nutritional strategy and provide nutrition counseling and education.

I have also been a long-time sufferer of psoriasis which is an auto-immune, non contagious disease that appears as dry, red scales on the skin. Learn more about psoriasis here. After undergoing medication trials, experimenting with topicals and injections, I am currently 90 percent clear and have all the confidence in the world. Having psoriasis has given me the drive to educate myself on eating right and making life-long healthy decisions as well as the want to get my nutrition and wellness certification. I want to give my clients the knowledge and confidence I have—and believes it starts with healthy food which makes for a healthy you.

I like to draw inspiration and stay on top of nutritional news by visiting The Doctors and Doctor Oz.

I also like to suggest following Women's Health(@WomensHealthMag) and Men's Health(@MensHealthMag) on Twitter. For easy health tips, recipes and so much more to incorporate into your busy life.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

If It Aint Broke, Don’t Fix It

What is working well in your community, health care, blogs, social media, or your work in particular? What do you like about it?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Educational Summit for Patient Advocacy and the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act, as a mentor for the NPF. Phew, just saying the long title gets me winded. While a lot of the topics were a little over my head, I was excited to hear how, myself as an individual, can truly make a difference. Sara Kofman, from the NPF, was there to speak as part of some of the many patient advocacy organizations.

What is working, which is something she touched on that I think the NPF does so well, is that they inform and educate their volunteers and advocates so well. They equip us with the information we need in order to do our job better. I think that is something a lot of organizations and companies can learn from. In order for your employees, staff, volunteers, etc to be at their best, they have to be equip with the best and correct information. If they don't know what their own companies message is, then how are they supposed to reproduce that to others? Another thing that is working is people actually wanting to be informed and wanting to make a difference. To be apart of a generation making these changes is inspiring.

That's the thing that is so great online. If you don't know something, research and the answer—albeit, probably not the right one at first—is right there. It may take some digging, but you'll get there eventually. Social forums, blogs and discussion sites are the best for this. It allows the public to have an open conversation and get input from people ALL AROUND THE WORLD. The power of the Internet, right? I think that is by far the greatest tool. The power of being connected at our finger tips is changing the world and how we interact with one another. It's time to be apart of that and start making changes.
People my age love it. We were born and raised on computers. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when my future kids come into this world. But for people like my parents and grandparents who grew up on news print and handwritten letters, the Internet can be a funny thing. But there really isn't anything better than getting a handwritten letter in the mail. I still get them from time to time and I LOVE. And I still write them. It's different, but still cool with a vintage feel. To know that someone took the time out of their day to sit down—and not on their drive to work, their 5 min coffee break, during a board meeting or at dinner— and write something, leaves you with a good feeling.

So I leave you with the good of what is working in our health field and all around us, and how it will only continue to improve with education, research, discussions, blogs and social media. But I also leave you with this questions: when was the last time you wrote a letter to someone?

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

The Future of Online Activism

Our favorite social media sites are constantly undergoing renovations to become quicker to navigate, easier to interact with, all encompassing, mobile, and everywhere. Imagine the same thing about your community – how will they evolve, improve, and grow?

I remember the first time I saw a commercial on TV telling everyone to get more information by going to this World Wide Web address. It was the craziest thing. And it just took off from there. I started a computer learning class in high school—had to practice our typing skills; then how to write online correspondence; and get familiar with this new and amazing thing. And then I got my first computer! It has evolved since then and it will continue to do so.

With Google+ now, we see how email is evolving. You can now categorize everyone into circles and just see what they have been doing, who is connected to who, etc. I think google will only continue to improve. How? I am definitely not the expert. Because right now we can send emails, search online for ANYTHING, call and facetime with anyone in our phone book; watch movies; read books, all at our finger tips.

Who am I do say how that will improve? I can only imagine. But to me it's like that movie Walle. Where basically all the humans got so lazy that all they had to do was sit on their butts because this magical chip inside their head did everything for them. I sure hope it doesn't come down to that.

As far as social media goes, Facebook is by far the coolest thing for keeping touch with everyone. I am talking to my family from ARGENTINA on a day to day basis. Not having to worry about the time difference, or if I missed a major thing that happened in their life. Now we all know what happens—right as it happens. Which is really cool—and weird—in a sense. It will continue to connect people after years of not knowing where they were; it will connect adopted children to their biological parents(and has already done that); connect families after natural disasters. Leaders have even taken to Facebook to create groups on their organizations advocacy issues.

Twitter is also a great tool for online activism as well as pushing out important messages. Especially when natural disasters happen. The Red Cross is great about sending out tweets and updates on their efforts. In that aspect, it will only continue to improve the technology and presences to reach as many people as they can. Twitter has also been great with all the elections. To think that President Obama was the first president to fully incorporate social media into his presidential campaign was a huge leap in that department. He was reaching demographics they never were able to reach in the past. Online activism? Of course.

Social media has been great at pushing out important news in the health field too, which is what I love. I am able to stay on top of the current health bills that are being past; what I can do as a psoriasis patient and mentor; the representatives I can reach in my community to speak to personally and so much more.. If it wasn't for the National Psoriasis Foundation's online efforts to reach out to more people and bring awareness to this disease, I would never have been a mentor. Now I have the opportunity to do that as well. Health activism at its best.

It gives us those outlets we didn't use to have. It gives us a voice we didn't we have. And it will continue to give us a place where people can hear what we're saying and truly make a difference.

I look forward to what the future has in store and can only be thankful to be apart of all these incredible changes.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

3 Truths and 1 Lie

The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge

Tell us 3 things that are true about you, your condition, your Health Activism, or your life. Now tell us 1 lie. Do you think we will be able to tell the difference?

For those reading this blog who know me, will most likely be able to tell which one is the lie. But here goes.

I am in the process of starting a health and nutrition website with my AFPA Health and Nutrition Consultant certification.

Chris and I have backpacked through Europe and our favorite place was Tuscany.

I have had psoriasis for over 10 years and am now a National Psoriasis Foundation mentor.

I have family from Buenos Aires, Argentina and Spanish was the first language I spoke.

Can you guess which one is a lie?



Keep guessing?



Think you have it?



Well, by now you should know I do have psoriasis and have had it for a long time and I am also in the process of starting a health website. So if you guessed those, you're wrong!

Next, Spanish WAS actually the first language I spoke growing up. My mother is from Argentina and we would go almost every Summer. We had the best time.

So Chris and I have never backpacked through Europe. That is actually one of our long-term goals. He has only been out of the country once, and that was recently when we went to Vancouver. He has also been dying to go to Argentina since meeting me and hearing all these wonderful stories from my family. So our next, long, long-term goal is to take about a month off and go to Europe... before we have kids :)

Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me and my life!

Think your close friends could guess the lie? Try it today!

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

Case of the Mondays

The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge

Write about something that gets you down, burns you out, or makes you sad. Purge it in a blog post.
Turn it around at the end. Tell Tuesday why you’re ready for it.

Let's see. Things that get me down: The fact that I don't have a full-time job right now. My husband has a great good job and he loves it. I do freelance PR and I had a really great project recently doing all the PR for a new restaurant that just opened up. I loved it! I felt so energized getting up everyday and working on this new project.

Now, I'm back to square one. When I think about the fact that I can't help contribute to our marriage, financially, and at a steady rate, it gets to me. I know things could always be worse. But it's like Chris and I keep getting things thrown at us and we're really not ready for it. Doctors bills that should've been covered by the insurance but weren't; expensive rent; bills; pet bills; car insurance, etc. Yes, bills that everyone has, but probably on two incomes. So we're trying to cut back where we can and hopefully get our savings back up to where it was before we moved here.

That's the major thing that gets me down. Smaller things: not seeing my family and friends as often as I would like; not working out when I should; not reading as much as I would like; driving around a new city not knowing the back streets; traffic; construction; our loud neighbors; my psoriasis.

Now, on to Tuesday. Bring it. I have pretty much been stressed to my max, so I'm ready to take you on like no other. I am actively looking for and applying for jobs which will eventually lead to me getting a job and making a steady income—fingers crossed. Cmon awesome company that wants to hire me! Chris and I are also setting a weekly budget for ourselves to make sure we stay afloat and on top of all financial things.

I always take things one day at a time and try not to stress out while doing it. I am always thankful for the wonderful husband I have who I am able to come home to (well, he is able to come home to me) and thankful for the life we have together. That's all you can do, is to be thankful. So bring it Tuesday, I am thankful for everything.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

If I Could Do Anything As A Health Activist

… Get aspirational. Money is no longer an option. What is your biggest goal that is now possible? How could you get there?
Now bring it back down to size. How much of this can you accomplish now, in a year, in five years?

Once I got certified as a Health and Nutrition Consultant—and even before—I knew all I wanted to do was help as many people as I could. To be able to do that, I would want to start a Health Consultant company. But it wouldn't be one of those super expensive ones that charges this much for a consultant and then you have to sign a contract then meet with someone else before you even start talking healthy anything.

It would be called Healthy Food, Healthy You. I would make it super affordable for all types but enough to earn the best reputation for being one of the best companies out there. We would start with a consultant asking about current health status, areas of concern and questions, medications, etc. Then I would come up with a healthy food plan and recommendations that are easy to incorporate into the busiest of lives. We would talk about short-term and long-term goals and come up with a plan to meet both of those. I would also offer at cooking tips, recipes, grocery tours and even cooking lessons at a clients house.

Part of this company is not just about learning how to eat healthy, but it's also about being a healthy you. So it would have to include a Pilate's/workout area. I would be working with my best friend who is a Certified Pilate's Instructor. And we would offer Pilate's classes, easy exercises anyone can do at home, etc.

Everyone can dream big, right?

But then reality sets in. If I could accomplish this with in this next year, I can start with my website, which is still in the works. It is called Healthy Food, Healthy You. And include everything from above.

After five years, I would hope that the word has spread and I have clients with long-lasting relationships and satisfied with the results; word-of-mouth clients eager to get started; and an amazing studio to do everything.

While also showing people how easy it is start their healthy life as long as the motivation is there, I would also be able to bring awareness to living with psoriasis. I would like to be a guest speaker, guest blog or even write a book and talk about living with it and how to eat healthy to keep it under control.

I would continue to stay on top of my health certifications, attend conferences and network with those in my field. And hopefully it takes off from there.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

What Happens After You Press “Publish.”

Part of the The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Prompts (#HAWMC)

What happens after you press “publish.” Write about your post-blog-writing process. Do you immediately tweet a link? Email it to everyone? Re-read it for spelling errors?

In this digital day and age, you can't ever be too careful. When everything you say or do is recorded and posted online via blogs, Twitter, Facbeook, Youtube, etc.

After everything I write, I ALWAYS spell check. Be it the "PR and AP style" writer in me, my mother's voice or just my self saying there's always a mistake somewhere.

After the spell check, yes, I definitely Tweet it and post to Facebook. I love sharing what I write to everyone I know and hopefully to people I don't. Maybe someone out there gets a giggle or a thoughtful insight from what I write.

No matter how your day goes, how many people you talk to, the person you come home to or the people in your life—there should always be time for yourself.

Writing is so therapeutic. There is always so much on my mind, which some times keeps me up at night. I think we're all guilty of that. So writing it down just makes it a little easier to deal with.

Whether you blog, spell check, tweet, Facebook post or Youtube upload, write down what you're thinking. You never know how much it helps or whose face it will put a smile on to make their crappy day a little better.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

My blog is being turned into a TV show!

Ha, I got your attention! It really isn't being turned into a TV— don't we all wish we were on TV for a little while?! This is my second blog post, so read on :)

2. My TV Show. Your blog is being turned into a TV show! Congrats – you’ve
earned it. In fact, you get to co-write it. Write about the TV show based on your life or blog.

Eeeekkk, I thought the book titles were hard. I can't tell you how many times I've heard in passing, conversations with friends, FB updates "my life should be turned into a reality show" or wow, that is definitely reality TV show ready.... Everyone wants their 15 mins of fame. And if they say no they don't, then they're lying!

Now, back to my TV show. I would love the TV show to incorporate all my book titles, hehe! Basically chronically my life as a twin, the good and the bad (definitely some drama for the ratings); my family dealing with the health scares of my parents; my diagnosis with psoriasis which was in high school—like high school isn't rough enough on a teenage girl, I now had to deal with a disease we knew nothing about—then later going on to become a National Psoriasis Foundation volunteer mentor; my sister getting her first teaching job; my moms cancer treatments; meeting my husband (add in some ups and downs) and then our marriage(lasting longer than 72 days, mind you. Too bad, Kim K!). Then a season finale can be that Chris accepted the job to be the Mauitime Art Director and we move to Maui!

Season starts off with us living in paradise and chronicles the tough times—no job for me or friends for awhile, small place, planning our wedding, adjusting to a completely new island lifestyle, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous(can you say Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Josh Radnor, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban?) and the good times—Chris excelling in his job, being honored for his design work, meeting life-long friends, visiting breath taking places and everything else in between. Shots back home to include my sisters promotion at school; brother moving to Colorado; updates on my parents; Chris's brother graduating high school and starting college. Season ends with Chris accepting another job to become the Associate Art Director at the Seattle Met Magazine! Surprise—time to move, again!

Next season starts off with our new life in a COMPLETELY different city. Going from living in tank tops, swimsuits, shorts and flip flops to jackets, scarves and rain boots; handling the death of a very close friend; still no job for me; public transportation; moving expenses; new puppy; one year anniversary; family visits; planning and leading my first event; learning a new city and the list goes on.

So there you have it. No, I haven't given this any thought..... what would your TV show be like? I'd love to hear!

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

National Health Blog Post Month

Earlier this week, the National Psoriasis Foundation, with whom I am an volunteer mentor, posted this:

Calling all bloggers and aspiring bloggers: It's National Health Blog Post Month! Let's make sure everyone knows about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis! If you feel up to the challenge, sign up and blog about your experiences with psoriatic disease. It's a great way to tell your story - and teach others about these diseases.

I love being apart of the NPF and helping as many people as I can. Not to mention I love blogging about my experiences, whether it's health updates, psoriasis tips and advice or just the adventures Chris and I have here in Seattle. So I LOVE this challenge and encourage any bloggers, aspiring bloggers/writers to take up the challenge as well.

I am three days behind, so I will post all four posts today to get back on track :)

This is part of the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Prompts.
Nov 1: Titles of my future book. Say you’re writing a book about your life, community, condition, or Health Activism. Come up with 5 working titles and a quick book jacket synopsis.

Not a lot of people know this but I have always dreamed about writing a book about my life, corny, yes I know. I've thought about writing it about my life and being a twin; about planning a wedding and all the things people don't tell you; my life-long battle with psoriasis and my parents health conditions; becoming a health consultant..... But with all the silly books and reality TV show books, why not me? To come up with a title is kind of hard but here goes:

1. It Takes Two, Babe

You can choose your friends, but you definitely can't choose whether you're going to be a twin or not. Live their journey with them through birth, elementary school-college, boyfriends and bad jobs, fights and first time big-girl jobs and moving and marriages with an everlasting bond that can never be broken.

2. Your First Dress Is The One: What They Don't Tell You About Planning Your Dream Wedding, Secrets Revealed

Yes, it's true. I heard everything in between from "the first dress you try on will be the one" (it really was); there will be things that go wrong (my ring bearers didn't have a pillow while walking down the aisle!) to many more. These are real secrets, revelations and pet peeves from brides planning their dream wedding. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent or guilty—however you read it.

3. Overcoming Battles, Being Patient

My 76 year old father overcame a triple by-bass at age 70 and prostate cancer(1999) and was in remission for 10 years, then it came in 2009 and is still in treatment but doing great; my mother battled through Uterine Cancer at age 60 and won; I have been a long-time sufferer of psoriasis, an auto-immune disease that appears as red, scaly flakes on the skin, and has no cure; my mother in-law fought through a triple by-pass. Through everything I have learned that things could always be worse and that nothing helps cure anything better than patience, friends and a good laugh.

4. Healthy Food, Healthy You

Eating healthy isn't just about, you guessed it eating healthy, it's about wanting to eat healthy and change your life for the better. Receiving my AFPA Health and Wellness Certification has given me the strength and motivation to want to help others change their life for the better. Healthy food equals a healthy you, and I equip you with the simple knowledge it takes for you to understand the simple equation of your life.

5. The One Year Itch, Surviving a Marriage The Right Way

I don't have to tell you the divorce rate for you to understand the sanctity of marriage. I have been married for a year now and it has, by far, been the best year of my life. We always heard it's the one, third or seven year itch that's gonna test your marriage. Well, the one year didn't get us so bring it on three and seven! I'll give you our advice and tips on having the best marriage you can have while surviving the ups and downs life throws at you.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J