Tender Mercies

I drove home from the rink, my heart filled with mixed emotions. "You were her favorite coach," her mom had said to me after the lesson. Do you really have to leave? It had been a decade since I began coaching ice skating in high school in San Jose. Coaching was what I did through college to pay for ice time, and I took it with me to Alaska.  As a younger skater, I never wanted to coach. I never thought I was good enough to teach others the art of figure skating, nor thought anyone would hire me. When I turned 16, coaching group lessons at the rink was the only option for me if I wanted to keep up my lessons with my coach and keep competing because I needed a way to pay for my ice time and lessons. And so the journey began.  I learned that while I was not as strong with the technical side of teaching older, more advanced skaters, I found a love for teaching the basics to younger children. I also loved teaching adults.  Coaching brought to me a s...

This just happened. I am officially a certified yoga teacher! Can I say, Hallelujah? It's interesting how time can change things. Two and a half months ago when I completed my 200 required hours of training, I did not necessarily feel ready to teach. However, after a couple of substitute classes under my belt, teaching my husband in the evenings at home, and getting more training in since then, I now feel qualified. Sure, I have tons more to learn, but my sweet teacher Suzette has been teaching for 30 years and she is still humble enough to learn from her students. THAT inspires me and motivates me to be my best self.  When I first began the program and looked at all the books and training manuals I needed to study, never mind the weekend intensives that I was required to attend, I was overwhelmed. For starters, the Sanskrit names for the many yoga poses was intimidating. So, for the first couple of months I didn't really worry about the books. I flipped through t...

It is natural for us to make dreams and hopes for our future. I think this is so healthy for us to do because it gives us something to strive for. However, sometimes our future comes and we realize we aren't where we thought we "should be" or wanted to be. We get disappointed, depressed, or just grumpy. We give up. Or we don't. We find a reason to celebrate and find joy in how far we have come. There are so many tender mercies, so many good things that happy in our lives when we try our best every day. These are cause for celebration, which is exactly what I have done. Last year, I kept waiting for when I'd have a cute baby bump so that we would have an excuse to take family pictures. But then I realized I really don't know when this would ever happen and decided that the only reason we needed to schedule a family portrait session was to C elebrate Us!  I hope you enjoy this simple movie as much as I enjoyed making it and reminiscing these past 5 yea...

My husband and I were walking through the parking lot on our way to our friend's law school graduation when we saw a group of 4 or 5 men praying next to their car on mats. There was an elderly gentleman who was sitting on a stool because kneeling was probably too difficult. They were not trying to be conspicuous, nor were they trying to not be seen. They were just being true to what they knew and what they believed. For them, that meant participating in their daily prayer rituals. Just seeing this act made me so incredibly happy inside!  A week prior to this experience, my husband and I had the privileged to have dinner at the home of a dear friend and her husband from my college days.  In their home, my friend's husband said a sweet prayer before we ate, and again, my heart was lifted in joy. Technically, the men praying in the parking lot and my friend from college and I, attend "different" churches. But I don't think that matters.  What matters to ...

It's been nearly 10 years since we first met in California. What started out as just seeing each other once in a while at the ice rink turned into a friendship where we saw each other 6 days a week--encouraging and motivating each other through jump repetitions and new spin variations or coaching little ones how to skate on one foot. There were laughs, tears, sweat, food, and silly pictures involved. We had one thing in common, and that was figure skating.  And yet, despite the high school graduations, cross-country moves, college, vet school, marriage, and time zones, we have still stayed friends. It was the day-in-day-out bonding we had at the ice rink back in 2005-2008 that helped us get to know each other on a deep level that could withstand life's changes.  Even now, nearly a decade after moving apart, we still text, send handwritten letters, and talk on the phone occasionally.  We aren't sole mates. We might have different religious perspectiv...