Matthew and I had our own vision boards when we were dating but after the wedding we not only combined them, we changed them entirely. There are things that I wanted in my original board that I no longer have on the board. It may seem that we had to give up on dreams for each other but in reality the complete opposite happened. We changed our vision boards because we had been setting our sights too low. We realized that together we could accomplish a lot more, a lot faster. Our priorities changed and as a result our vision boards look completely different.

Recently, my husband and I have been doing a lot of traveling. It’s so much fun to visit new places and to take on new adventures together. In the past 60 days we have been overseas, and seen the East coast, West coast, & the Midwest. What a blessing to have the flexibility to travel so much! In fact, I am writing this blog from an airplane as we have one hour left to arrive at Miami, FL. I cannot wait to see my puppy Bentley! We are now returning from our trip to San Francisco, California where we participated in a leadership retreat. We had a wonderful opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, and expand our skill sets compliments of the Shaklee Corporation.

Recently, our home was plagued by sadness due to the death of a dear friend and sister in Christ Esperanza Alvarez Muniz. There are times when I feel numb and go about my routine trying to make sense of it all. Then there are times when it hurts more than a physical wound. I feel like I have been going on about my day like a zombie just going through the motions- eating, sleeping, etc. How do you deal with such a tremendous loss and then proceed to move forward? It’s different for everyone but I would like to share what it has been like for Matthew and me.

In 2006 I transferred to Andrews University and was fortunate enough to join the RA (resident advisor) team immediately. During the RA training, I soon learned that I was going to make friendships that would last a lifetime. The other ladies I was working with were not going to just be co-workers or classmates-they were going to become my sisters. One of those sisters’ names is Esperanza Muniz. Her wonderful spirit and prayerful life had a great impact on me and made my time at Andrews all the more special. She has always had a special place in my heart.

Cooking has been a favorite pastime of mine for many years now. Food has the ability to bring people together in a very special way. When you cook for others, you connect with them on a very personal level. The food you put together impacts their senses and satisfies a great need they had. Most of my great memories involve food.

More importantly, food is an expression of one’s culture. Ask my husband. He raves about Greece for nothing other than their food. When we were in Michigan for our second wedding reception, I got to learn about dishes that Matthew grew up with and learned more about local dishes. Thus, making food an amazing way for people to connect with each other.

Ever seen anything that is too good to be true? Too easy to think it was worth it? We have and we are glad we stayed away from it. Matthew and I both had a chance to date people that would have gladly dated us and not wanted us to change a thing about ourselves. It would have been easy and it would have validated who we were at the time. But we knew ourselves better than anyone could ever know us. We knew that if we were to date people who were willing to settle for who we were then, we were settling on who we could be. At times, who you date is a reflection of what you think about yourself or what you think you can achieve.