We've had this blog going for a little while now, and being so caught up in getting content out to you, we have not all introduced ourselves. So, this little blip for you, is all about me!
I am a Christian, and have grown up that way my whole life. I know for a fact I can't get through anything without God. I have a wonderful church family that I've had since I was probably 15 years old. I've met my best friend there, have been joined by other best friends, and learning about Jesus together makes us that much stronger. I can honestly say for all of us here at PTB, that Jesus is the center of our lives and we hope to share that with you.
I am a dog mom to Athena, who is a great Pyrenees mix. She's wild, protective, but lovable. A few of my furbabies, like Maggie, are in heaven with their daddy.
So yes, I'm also a widow. I became a widow at age 26. Colby was my soulmate. We were married for 7 years, and had known each other since we were 16/17 years old. I miss him and work through my grief everyday. His family is still my family, so I'm also an aunt to a beautiful niece and our adorable nephew is my mini-Colby.
I am an autoimmune warrior. I've had ulcerative colitis since 2015. See my full UC journey on my post here. Ulcerative Colitis is a disease that affects your colon/large intestine. I've had many surgeries to make mine better, but there is still no cure (surgery is not a cure!), so myself and my family and friends volunteer for a few events each year to raise money in the name of research.
I am an accountant. I work for a CPA firm now, and I love it. I like numbers, having everything organized, and obviously I use Excel for everything - work and personal. (Yes, I use Excel to organize vacations). I am currently studying for the CPA exam, and I finished my MBA this summer. Besides doing taxes and financials at work, I love to budget and help others out with budgeting, tools, and taking control of their money (Dave Ramsey can light a fire in you). In the future, I'd like to learn more about investing!
Another important part of my life is the gym. My gym family is the best. We've been together for about 7ish years. We train together almost everyday, we are friends inside and outside of the gym. We have always supported each other's activities - marathons, 5K's, MMA, strong man and CrossFit competitions. I personally love working out - it's a release, it's a focus where the rest of the world can be set aside for an hour or two and you have goals to reach. It has always made me feel better, going through UC and Colby's death - it is my safe place. As a whole, I normally do CrossFit, spin class, I am training for my second half marathon (go St. Jude's!), we have a class called JoeFit - circuit training, and I teach a yoga class.
Obviously, like everyone else, my family and friends are so important to me. I have a sister who guest blogs here on PTB, she is becoming a therapist! Our family is from St. Louis, and we spend a ton of time there - doing the normal StL things that we love - seeing Cardinals and Blues (huge fans), the Arch, the Zoo, Old Spaghetti Factory, Anheuser-Busch tours, the City Museum, Grant's Farm, and Fritz's (I like Ted Drewes too, but come on, it's Fritz's).
I like to travel. I'm not saying I travel all over the world all the time, even though I'd like to (I did just go to Mexico, which my review of the resort will start this week-watch for those posts). But I like having fun activities planned with family and friends. Colby was always very 'let's go somewhere' 'let's do something fun today' and I've tried to keep that going since he's been gone. My family lives spread out so even traveling the 3 hours to see everyone, we try to do something fun when we are together. Memories mean so much, and it's very cliche, but I say it all the time - life changes when you lose someone you love. You have to make the most of your time with your people. Do those things you want to do, take those trips instead of always saying 'we'll do that next year' because for us, next year didn't come. Do it now.
I've become an outdoorsy person because of Colby. We had horses, we went hiking, weekend trips to the lake and river a lot. I've continued that (except the horses - maybe someday I will again!). I enjoy kayaking, canoeing, (not fishing), sometimes hunting (I get bored easily), hiking (one of Athena's favorite activities too), and just working outside in my yard - it's my goal since we bought our house to make it prettier, and the landscaping will be the death of me, but I try.
I hope you've learned some things about me, and can start to gather why we named this blog Perfecting the Balance. We all have so many parts of our lives, and we try to balance them as well as possible through our journeys.
Love,
Christine