40 Days of Blessings

Day 2: My Grandparents & "You're in my Heart" 
My grandparents mean the world to me, so today, "40 Days of Blessings" is all about the love that exists between my wonderful grandmother and grandfather, Angel DeJesus and Eneida Sierra. The picture below is from our trip to Gatlinburg 3 summers back. Check out those studs on the right :)

To begin with, my grandparents are absolutely my favorite couple of all times. The love that they exude is energizing and moving and has truly been the forefront to my ever growing faith. These two have taught me how to love, to succeed and to embrace who I am. They are my mentors, my inspiration and my most trusted friends. Everyday, I thank God for blessing me with such beautiful grandparents. I owe much of who I am today to their upbringing and guidance. The values, wisdom and knowledge that they have bestowed upon me have set the pace and attitude to the life I live today. The God I know, love and serve, is the God they taught me to worship, fear and rejoice. Without them, I would not be where I am today in my faith, my education or my relationship with others. 


It makes me smile to think that who I have become and will continue to grow to be is a representation of their life, their love and their dreams. They are without a doubt my most cherished blessing. 

In honor of their love, I thought Rod Stewart's, "You're In My Heart" would be a most promising song choice for tonight's "40 Days of Blessings." It describes their relationship perfectly, as they continue to be very passionate, yet light-hearted with one another. They are truly soul mates who are still in love and still wooing one another with wine & cheese, walks on the beach and nights out dancing in each other's arms. I am so blessed to have them as my grandparents. 


As for you all, only one more day until the weekend. I hope you enjoy a kickback to the 1970's as you celebrate your own blessings this Thursday. Who doesn't love Rod Stewart or that hair? Take care and goodnight.

40 Days of Blessings

Day 1: Health & The Beatles

In working in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, I see a lot of sick people who are weak and scared for what their future may hold. I have cared for patients with brain cancer, lower extremity amputations, severe deficits from stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple trauma fractures from car wrecks, painful hip and knee surgeries and various neurodegenerative diseases. In working in this setting, I have learned how beautiful and precious life is and how often I took my own health for granted. 

The blessing I am most grateful for today is my health. I am so thankful that I am healthy and that I am able to use my strength to lift up others who are weak. I thank God for providing me continual strength and energy, as He is the source of my very well-being. Cheers to health and sunny days!

"Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles is one of my favorite songs. It always puts me in a great mood, no matter how I am feeling before. The cheeriness of its tune is light and simple. To me, this is what "my health" would sound like if you took a stethoscope to my heart :) Enjoy and good night.

Beginning of Lent

Ah, Wednesday! I hope all of you are doing well and that all of you are having a wonderful week. Today marks the beginning of Lent and whether you are Catholic or not, I always found the Lenten season to be a good time to practice self-restraint and humility. In preparation for this year's Easter celebration, I have decided to give up and take on the following over the next 40 days:


Lent 2011: Honoring Christ Through My Actions

• No chocolate (in any shape or form).
• Start and end my days in prayer.
• Go running at least 4 times/week.
• Blog 40 days of blessings, big or small.

No Chocolate: This is huge for me, especially considering I have newly opened Oreos in my fridge, two tubs of chocolate ice cream in the freezer, chocolate pudding snacks for lunch, trail mix with M&M's in the kitchen and leftover Valentine's Day candy sitting on my desk. I love chocolate, to say the least, and manage to sneak it into my diet everyday. This will be a challenge but worth it in the end. 

Steadfast Prayer: Sometimes I find myself so caught up in my own agenda that I start and end my day without prayer. I can tell when I have managed to skip the most important step in my routine, because I begin to feel stressed and things start to fall out of place. In being such a demanding time of my graduate program, it is especially important to dive into steadfast prayer; not for my successes, but for the successes of my patients. My prayer focus during this Lenten season will be on continually welcoming Christ into my heart and allowing Him to work through me so that I may help others recover from injury and disease. I want to be a vessel for His good works, His love and His mercy. I pray that He would send me courage, strength and a healing smile to help those I meet during my rotations and provide me with the means to seek out continual growth in my faith and in my profession. 

Running: What better way to glorify God than by running! He has blessed me with such great health! No more excuses. Rain or shine, I am running for Him and for my wonderful patients!

Blogging 40 days of blessings: I will be sharing my 40 days of blessings here, through my music blog, starting this evening. Every evening, for the next 40 days, I will post a single blessing in my life along with a song that better showcases its deeper meaning. In sharing my life's little blessings, I hope to inspire you to look around and ask yourself how Christ has blessed you. I look forward to sharing my Lenten season with you in this special, musical way. Wishing you all a happy and humbling Lent!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Jams

This week has been incredibly busy at Siskin & running errands all across town doesn’t seem to make my days any shorter. Somehow I continue to get by, finding something to always smile about: wonderful patients to work with, a little pup to keep me company, the best parents in the world, a supportive beau back “home,” a roof over my head, an inspiring younger brother, food on my makeshift table & oh-so-good tunes to jam out to. Check out the songs that kicked off this week to a great start. Click on the ones linked for my top picks for this month! Happy March, my friends!

Shamrockin’ Playlist:

• Chromeo: "Bonafide Loving"
• Kings of Leon: "Back Down South"
• Lady Antebellum: "Looking for a Good Time" & "Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You"
• Girl Talk: "Let It Out"
• Enya: "Caribbean Blue"
• Keri Hilson: "Pretty Girl Rock"
• Cee-Lo Green: "F*ck You"
• Two Door Cinema Club: "What You Know"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers: "The Zephyr Song"

Anyone with information on Two Door Cinema Club, please share! Obsessed with this song and music video. Caught the end of this little gem this morning when I was getting ready for work. Heard only a few notes & was drooling. It has been on replay since I got home today. Talk dirty to me, Ginger!! Enjoy, my loves....

Jet Planes

Dearest friends. I hope you will excuse my absence as I have been dutifully & meticulously occupied with work the last few weeks. My time here has continued to be a wonderful experience, which makes it is hard to imagine that I will be up & moving to a new location in 4 weeks considering I am now just feeling comfortable in my role as an inpatient occupational therapist.

I have learned a great deal since starting my rotation at Siskin and feel very fortunate for the people I have met along the way. With this experience, I, more than ever, have been reminded that tomorrow is not promised & that life is meant for living through & with Christ. I not only have my patients to thank for this beautiful reminder, but I also owe much gratitude to a boy back in Charleston.

Yes, I continue to be pleasantly distracted by love & have been enjoying growing in love and in faith with this person. And as I make my way back home this evening (after making a surprise visit to Charleston this weekend), I find myself humming love-showered tunes by Keith Urban and feeling extremely blessed in all aspects of my life. Keith Urban’s, “Only You Can Love Me This Way”, “Sweet Thing” and “You’re My Better Half,” have been in constant replay since leaving Charleston and I assume none of you are strangers to this genuinely romantic man of country. 

I deviated from this country-playlist only briefly when I overheard Mariah Carey’s, “Fantasy,” playing throughout Concourse E in the Charlotte airport. I smiled to myself and with a new "pep" in my step, I continued on to my connecting flight to Chattanooga. Thank you, Mariah…such a wonderful weekend.

New week begins tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing my patients & my fellow OT’s on Monday. Praying for continual growth as an occupational therapist, for creativity, increased perspective and an understanding and passion for others. Back to Charleston this next weekend for another rendezvous of studying in the C of C Library and relaxing in the Low Country. Growing up isn’t so bad. Take care, friends. Miss you all dearly. 


FINE PRINT: Blog post from Sunday evening. Thanks to Comcast, discovered my internet was disconnected February 25th, only to be reconnected just this evening. Still wanted to share my day with all of you and the music that kept my spirits up. 

Cosmic Love

Came across this gem of a band this evening. This is the first time I have ever heard of Florence and The Machine, but I am absolutely mystified by this song, "Cosmic Love."

• "Let’s talk about magic. Because music, at its best, is a kind of magic that lifts you up and takes you somewhere else. 'I want my music to sound like throwing yourself out of a tree, or off a tall building, or as if you’re being sucked down into the ocean and you can’t breathe,' says Florence Welch. 'It’s something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you’re either going to explode with it, or you’re just going to disappear,' says Welch (From Florence and The Machine Website).

Could she have said it any better?? From what I gather, Florence Welch is a beautiful mess that I would love to learn more about. Any insight to her music is welcomed. As I listen to "Cosmic Love," I can't help but fall into a turmoil of day dreams that encircle the Lowcountry region. Only 4 more days until I fly to Charleston [sigh]. Hope you are all staying warm this February.

Ooh La La

Happy February, everyone! This is bound to be a great month, as evidenced by a great morning and productive day at work. My February will be scattered with visits from friends and a long awaited trip to South Carolina in 10 days! I am absolutely surging with happiness at this very moment and hope you enjoy the following festive jams! If you are short on time, definitely listen to "Back to You," "Paris" and "Night by Night".

February Play-list

• Coconut Records - "Back to You"
• Ke$ha - "Your Love Is My Drug"
• Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina - "Stereo Love"
• Jack Johnson - "Bubbly Toes"
• Chromeo - "Night by Night"
• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - "Paris"

Coconut Records recently released their new album, Davy, which hit stores January 20th. I have not yet purchased the CD, but I formed a quick attachment to Coconut Records after listening to "West Coast" per Tara Imoto's suggestion. Their sound reminds me of a mix between Phoenix & Modest Mouse. Delicious, really. I anticipate a blog post solely dedicated to Coconut Records in the future, as my mind is racing with other songs I am dying to share.

The band Grace Potter & The Nocturnals is fairly new to me, but I absolutely love the band's cohesive energy, their rock-infested "F-you" attitude and (my goodness!!) that sex-appeal (hello new girl crush!). The song, "Paris," is the only song that I have heard from this band, but I like what I hear so far. Expecting great things from Potter and her "cohorts." 

As for Chromeo, can we say hello 80's! A singular duo with a smashing sense of humor and cool-techno talent. Chromeo is great to dance to, whether you consider yourself to have rhythm or not. Their sound really wakes you up and gets you moving (against all will!) and is a "must-have" come this February.

That wraps things up, my friends. I'm purely loving all these artists during the month of February and I hope you do to. FYI: Hangout Music Fest tickets go on sale tomorrow, February 2nd. The line-up looks phenomenal. Dates are May 20-22 in Gulf Shores. Don't miss out.