Ah, love.

I surprised my kids with teddy bears today and it was one of the greatest feelings ever. I’d like to share something that happened to me today that just really touched my heart.
A little backstory, most of the students that come to my school are on the lower side of the income spectrum. A lot of my students in particular are families that are coming from other countries or Puerto Rico, and are just establishing themselves in Florida. I have one student, we’ll call him Joe. I know he doesn’t have much. His mom is really young and has four kids, so I’m sure that’s a struggle on its own. A few weeks ago we had a vocabulary parade. All of the kids would be assigned a vocab word and would then have to dress up as the word. When the day came, he didn’t have a costume. As soon as I noticed that I very quickly looked around the room for something I could make for him. His word was metal so my eyes immediately went to the aluminum foil on the back table from our experiment the other day. I prayed that we still had some left. My prayers were answered. I wrapped both of his arms in aluminum foil and made him a little crown. He was so happy.
Now, back to current time. Today we had a valentine exchange in class. Almost everyone had brought in things to share with the class. Joe was one of my kids that didn’t. While everyone else is grabbing their things I pulled Joe aside and gave him enough pencil cap erasers to give to everyone in the class. When I gave him these he said something that just hit me. I’m not sure why, it really doesn’t seem like a big deal, what he said, but it touched my heart. He said “Ms. Perez you’re such a nice person. You gave me a costume for the parade and now you give me pencil cap erasers to give to everyone, thank you.”
In those moments where I feel like I may not be making a difference. Where I feel less than instead of greater than. I will try to remember that I made a difference for this child. I will try to remember that those small things matter. A reminder to all of you as well, February’s theme is kindness. Even if it seems like the smallest act of kindness, even if you don’t think it’ll make a difference, do it. The smallest ripple can make a wave.
Happy Valentines Day everyone.

Target-1, Cami-0

I went in for hangers, I came out with candy for my family, flowers, decorations, a present for Jess, and hangers. Target wins once again haha.
Today wasn’t bad. I didn’t really eat lunch because I was so busy catching up on work.
I’m excited for tomorrow! I just love spreading love!

We’ve reached the end.

I did it!
I made it all the way to day thirty. I have to say today might’ve been one of the most, if not the most tempting day yet. I stayed late at school for our Literacy night, and as a food for people that came we had McDonalds. My station the yearbook station was right next to the food. Let me tell you, it looked like there were hundreds of burgers and that place smelled so much like cheeseburgers. It was really hard not to grab one. But I didn’t. I’ve already made it so far. Why would I throw it all away for a cheeseburger?
Besides all of that. Today was my last official day of Whole30. I’ve lost 21 pounds and 25 inches, but I’ve gained so much more from this experience.
I’ve mentioned before how I’m going to think more about what I eat and how it’s going to affect my body, rather than it just being what I want it that moment.
I gained something during this experience that means more to me than anything else.
I believe in myself again.
I set my mind to something, I succeeded. I am going to continue to succeed. I have really big goals I want to achieve. For so long I carried the weight of being angry at myself. Instead of trying to prove myself wrong I drowned in self doubt.
I know that I will eventually reach the goals I set out for myself. I know that I am capable of doing anything I set my mind to. I know that this is just the beginning.
The reason I decided to post a picture of my arrow tattoo today is because I really think it fits in with this whole journey.
My arrow tattoo is a daily reminder to me of the obstacles I’ve overcome. I read a quote once and it really resonated with me. “An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming.” As soon as I heard that quote I knew what I wanted my first tattoo to be. The reason I decided on a “broken” arrow is because a broken arrow symbolizes peace. I wanted this tattoo to be a constant reminder of where I’ve been, to stay focused on where I’m going, and to remind myself that I’ve found my inner peace. It’s a remind to love myself and that when the going gets tough it’s only because there’s greater things ahead.

Toothbrush Chronicles.

You know how everyone always says they do their best thinking in the shower? Or that’s when they feel like they may think the most? I think I do most of my thinking when I’m brushing my teeth. I realize how odd that sounds. I just feel like when I’m taking a shower, I’m relaxing. I’m thinking about how good the hot water feels running down my back, how nice it feels to wash my hair. When I’m brushing my teeth I’m just kid of looking at myself in the mirror. Sometimes I think about different aspects of my face, I think about what I have coming up that day or how the day went. A lot of the times I just make odd faces at myself.
I’d say that about 75% of the time I spend brushing my teeth, I spend making faces at myself.

Never miss a Sunday.

I took some progress pictures of myself today!
I woke up, stepped on the scale and was super surprised. If I’m honest I am fully anticipating going back up a pound or two tomorrow. That’s one of the coolest things about weighing yourself everyday. I think that may be why Omada asks you to. It’s really interesting to see how much your weight fluctuates. I’ve been consistently going down, minus the week I had my period (TMI?) which I read up on, did you guys know that the average girl gains 3-5 pounds on their period? As if cramps, headaches, wild emotions, and bloating wasn’t enough.
I know I promised you guys an update on my progress today, but I figured I’m going to make a post on my last day of Whole30. So you’ll have to wait a few days.
I measured my inches, and I was feeling pretty good about myself today. I decided to hit the gym. I haven’t really gone to the gym since I started Whole30. Actually the most I’ve worked out is yoga, and aerial yoga. It was weird being in a gym. I kind of felt a little lost. Let me rephrase my previous statement. I haven’t been to a gym in about, two years. Yeah, I’m one of those people that shell out 21 bucks a month and never go. It’s just so hard to get yourself to want to go, and then out of the door. I always feel like there’s so many things I have to do, I just don’t have time for it.
Today, I made myself a priority.

Day 40

Today was mostly spent on this, making a yearbook sure does take time.
Tomorrow’s post will be an update on my weight loss, inches lost, and just a general update. Everyone does a “State of Union/Education” address at the beginning of the year. This will be a State of Cami address.

Day 39

Still trying to figure out if I want to create titles and add the day in the caption for the photo.
I spent a lot of time at work today. It was a pretty stressful day and I’m glad it was right before the weekend!
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I’m excited to update you all on my progress so far on Sunday. I know I missed last week but I’ve been pretty busy and had a lot of other pressing things on my mind. We’re finished with Whole30 on Tuesday. Part of me is excited to have cheese again, and another part of me is nervous for the next step. Jess wants to do a week of not Whole30 and then go back to Whole30 for another month but I’m not sure. I mean it’s working for me, I’m not hesitant for that reason. Actually, I’m not really sure why I’m hesitant. I guess maybe I’m just nervous.