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camera, cheer, coach, content, copywriting, Disney, ESPN, Florida, freelance, goals, Holland, mental health, Michigan, Nationals, Nature, Orlando, parenting, peace, photgraphy, pictures, struggles, teenager, Tulip, Verblio, writing
It’s been about 6 weeks since I last posted. I’m disappointed to report that the struggles with my teenager haven’t improved. While I love that girl more than life itself, I’m having a hard time parenting her. She’s changed so much and I really wish my sweet, sassy, sensitive, creative, kind, thoughtful and hard-working daughter would make a reappearance. Until she does, I’ll keep praying and I’ll keep trying – there’s no giving up on her!
Today, I’m switching it up…I’m sharing a few exciting-ish things that have happened in the last few weeks. Sometimes a gal needs to take a break from the struggles and spend a little time reflecting on the good. Know what I mean?
First, I’m still coaching cheer. This winter, I wrapped up my 10th year at the high school level. I’m no longer serving as a head coach, just an assistant. That was a major change and I’m not sure I’ve fully adjusted to my new role. The truth is…I like to be in charge, but right now I just don’t have it in me to be a head coach. It takes more time than I can currently dedicate.
Anywho…I wanted to share that our competition team made it to Nationals. For those unfamiliar with cheerleading, Nationals is basically like the Super Bowl or World Series for us – we’re talking BIG time! We loaded up our team of 20 with 3 coaches and 2 moms and off we went to Orlando, Florida to compete at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It was a very cool and memorable experience. We stayed at a Disney Resort and had a chance to visit the parks. Wayyyy back in the day when I was a high school cheerleader, I religiously watched the National High School Cheerleading Championship on TV. So, to finally be there in person was downright awesome! Our athletes are so fortunate to have had this experience and I bet it’ll be one of those special memories they cherish for the rest of their lives. Here’s a few pics (the FL sun is to blame for any squinty eyes)…
My next adventure occurred much closer to home, in Holland, Michigan. Over the last couple of years, my interest in nature and photography has really soared. I think through all of the chaos, I have found renewed strength, appreciation, and peace in nature. Whether it’s walking a trail, stepping on crunchy leaves, listening to the sound of waves, or seeing the simplistic beauty of a flower, nature has a majestic way of healing my soul. That on its own is fantastic, but my desire to snap countless photos of all the beauty I see is even better. I love it! Put me in nature with a charged battery and I’ll literally spend hours upon hours there. When I’m done, I’ll feel rejuvenated and my camera roll will be filled with gorgeous pictures. It makes me so happy, Someday I’m going to invest in a nice camera and really up my photo game. For now, my iphone camera just does fine.
Oh, wait…back to Holland, MI (I got distracted, ha ha). The reason I went there was to check out their annual Tulip Time Festival. I had heard about it and I really wanted to see it for myself. It did not disappoint! How could millions of tulips in bloom disappoint? It’s not possible! Here are some of my favorite photos from the day. And yes…I stressed myself out deciding which pictures to share. They’re so pretty I want you to see them all.
Okay, okay…third and final update. My goal is to someday work full-time as a writer in about any capacity – this girl just wants to write! In an effort to help foster that goal, I applied to Verblio as a freelance copywriter toward the end of 2020. I was approved and I’ve slowly started writing for them. It took 5 MONTHS (which felt like a lifetime) for my first piece to be reviewed, but once it was, it was purchased and it received a 5-star rating. I was so excited!
The process on Verblio can be slow, really slow, but…for me that’s okay (at least for now). With working full-time and coaching, I don’t have a lot of time to submit content. But, it’s great experience that will hopefully lead to more writing opportunities. Recently, I’ve sold additional content – social media posts, a couple of blog posts and website content. Because I’m so new on Verblio, I’m not raking in big money…at all, but it’s so much more than that for me. It’s about the experience and the boost of confidence – that maybe, just maybe, I really can do this.
That’s all my friends. I’m sure I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled content – detailing all of my struggles soon enough.