life as we now know it

its been a crazy ride the past few months.  My life has changed in ways I never imagined they would.  I have officially lost 45 lbs, and still not done losing.  I feel so much better! So much healthier and happier!   I love working out, and I am really tasting food.  Its weird but when you eat to much fat and salt, your tastebuds almost seem to die off.  They are fully awakened now, and I love it!  I still have a long road ahead of me, as far as recovering goes.  My body has really been punished all these years, and I am suffering the consequences of that.  Knees, back, ankles, even my wrists ache.  But I know my body will recover from all this damage.  I have even been batting around the idea with my dad to train for a 5k marathon next year.  I just have to take baby steps to get there.  I asked him to run with me.  He used to run a lot, and did several marathons.  He is a little out of shape right now, but i know he can get back into running mode with me!

Aside from the health improvements, we also  bought a house!  It really is our dream home.  I sat on the front porch yesterday of our new home, and it just felt like i was at someone elses house.  Theres no way this beautiful house can be mine! Its not our first time as a homeowner, but its the first time I have ever, in my life, went in and painted, and really made the house MY STYLE.  I look back at where we came from, and where we ended up (with a lot of hard work and dedication), and I can hardly believe its all real.  Sometimes  I don't want to believe I deserve this amazing life, God has given me.  But I thank Him every night for it!  This little girl raised in a tiny 5 room house in the ghetto, never imagined living in a house like this.  Nor did i imagine living in a quiet peaceful neighborhood, where i feel safe with my daughter playing safely in the front yard.  I don't think my husband dreamt as big either.   Its been a fantastic journey with him, working together to make this life we have.  We started out with nothing.  one soup pot, one spoon, one pillow and blanket to share, and a computer.  Thats it!  We have come a very long way.

I think coming from the background we have had, makes us more appreciative of all the little things.  It makes all the hard work and hard times, worth it.  It makes you realize, you CAN have the life you dream of! Hard work, and never giving up, and your dreams WILL come true! 

First Goal

My weight has always been a huge struggle for me.  After moving to Virginia I really let myself go.  I wasnt working as often, my husband was working long hours and had a long commute, and I didnt know anyone here.  What was left for me?  I found my comfort in food.  Its always been my go to source of comfort.
I hate admitting how big I had let myself get.  and being as though we didnt have a scale in the house, i was in denial about how much weight I had gained.

for the past several years there has been a number I have strived to reach.  I have fought and fought, but whenever i got close to that goal weight, i sabotaged myself and gained it all back.  After a conversation wtih my dad, I was real with myself and saw what I was doing.  Since starting this journey 2 months ago, this number was my first goal.  the first finish line for me, so to speak.  I just needed to get under 300.

the number 300 has haunted me pretty much my whole life.  I was a chubby kid, and my dad hated that.  His famous phrase to me was "you keeping eating like that, your going to weight 300 lbs"  (my dad was not the amazing man he is today, not even close)  I guess being as stubborn as I am, i took that as a challenge.  Some where in my psyche i kept myself above 300 as a way of punishing myself.

I look in the mirror now, and still see a huge fat person.  but I also see the progress I had made.  I look and say "how did you let it get so far?"  How did i get so fat??  Alot of people dont even see a difference, because when I was in Michigan I was no where near as fat as I got here.

But on the bright side, im not going to beat myself up over it.  Im just gonna keep moving forward, keep improving, and keep fixing what i broke.
I see huge changes in my blood pressure (provided i can keep the stress out of my life), my body is stronger, and im able to do things, i couldnt do 3 months ago.  My heart is acting alot more normal, and not trying to quit on me, or pound out of my chest.  And I have dropped down 1 dress size, fit into old shorts, that fit me in Michigan.  and actually they are kinda baggy, considering i don't need to unbutton or unzip them to take them off.

My next goal is simple. I just want to lose 25 more lbs before I go to Michigan in June.  that would make me 249 lbs.  and I havent weighed that since before I got pregnant with my daughter, 8 years ago.

If you ever feel like you cant do something, or life is too hard.  Just remember this, you can fix anything in your life, YOU ARE IN CONTROL of your life!!!!  If i can do this, you can do whatever you set your heart to!

National Cherry Blossom Festival Washington DC 2013

The blossom watch predicted peak bloom from the 6th-8th.  When we arrived down town, we saw this wasnt even close to true.  I would say only 4 or 5 trees were in full bloom, most were still in the budding stage.  But thats ok, I didnt mind.  Ya see, being from Michigan our spring doesnt come until May.  So when I see flowers in February and April, I get all kinds of happy! 

I convinced both my husband, and my 7 year old daughter to get up at 5 am and head on up to DC.  About an hours drive from my house.  I dont know why they let me talk them into such things, but I am so grateful they go along.  We arrived in Dc just as the sun was starting to crest the horizon.  

We have only been in this area for a year and a half, so much of DC is still left unexplored.  It was my first time visiting the Jefferson Memorial.  It was virtually emtpy.  I am not sure if this is because it was so early in the morning, or because everyone was outside viewing the cherry blossoms.   Either way, it was nice to enjoy the quiet beauty of it all.  

I have heard alot of other photographers complain about wasting the trip to DC this weekend, only to see the flowers NOT in full bloom.  I dont consider it a waste at all.  I got the pleasure to see and photograph the flowers in all their stages of progressions.  From tiny pink buds, to pink with a little white, to full white cloud bursts.  It was so magical to witness.  

Another handy little tip, besides going before dawn, is to go inland.  Everyone was set up on the tidal basin, seeing the same thing, getting the same shots.  We walked inland some and got to see Cherry blossoms, but also other flowering trees, and monuments that were virtually going unnoticed.  

 A beautiful magnolia basking in the morning sunshine.  Lending its fragrance, and colors to a magical morning.

 The lonely dogwood, hiding itself from the crowds up near the Roosevelt monument.










Dr King watching over the whole event, with his majestic stare.

and finally the massive Roosevelt display.  

All of these sites, a first for my family.  It was so much beauty to take in, and all before 9 am.  It was another one of our famous Rivera Adventures.  Seeing new things, things I can share with you. There is so much to see and do here.  Free things, I might add.  So many more adventures to be had.  So much more exploring to do.  I am so greatful I am blessed with this life.  

macro jewelry

Took a little time to do some macro jewelry shots.

 mother and daughter rings

 Turtle necklace

 art deco necklace

 til we meet again

 eye of the tiger

Mickey is so Charming

Healthy Recipe, Avocado cucumber salad

I love avocados! In fact my whole family loves avacados.   I make the absolute best guacamole around! but there is a limit to how much guac one can eat.  I also like to put sliced avacados in my salad.  But i was trying to come up with a way to eat them as a side dish with dinner, or as a nice lunch.  This salad is really good stuffed into a wheat pita pocket, or along side your favorite dinner item.  We had it with a roast last night, and it goes really well with grilled chicken.  Try it, I promise you will love it as much as we do.

2 ripe avacados
half cucumber
2 tbsn red onion
half chopped jalepeno
juice from a lemon (or lime)
one small roma tomato

Dice everything and mix together, add a pinch of salt.  Easy peasy, and so delicious!

life as we know it

I never got to finishing my blog posts about our wonderful trip to Disney World.  Complications came up and life became very hectic.  What is most important in my life, became very prevalent.  I decided to not try and stretch myself so thin, not push myself so hard, and just do what was most important.

 So what does that mean really?  It means I am backing off from the business of photography.  All the logistics just became too much for me to deal with at this time.  It means photographing people I care about, and doing it for the love of photography.  It means alot less time on the computer.  It means dedicating my life to being healthy and happy.

I have made some really huge life altering decisions in the past 2 months.  And life is changing, and I am happier, and healthier, and things are looking so good to me.

Change is scary, and can be very hard to do.  There is no doubt about that.  But embracing the changes I needed to make, and being my normal stubborn self, my life has greatly improved.  I put so much more trust in God, than I knew I was capable of.  I still feel like somehow I have control over everything, and get arrogant enough to think I can outsmart Him and do it my own way.  But I am really putting all my effort into putting all my faith in Him and giving my entire life to Him.  Saying the prayer "Your will be done" and trusting  His decision for the next step in my life, helped me let go of all my fear and worry.  Knowing that He has forgiven me for all the mistakes I have made, and all the bad choices.  And that He will always be there loving and forgiving me, even when I don't love or forgive myself.

For a long time I was arrogant, I thought well that could never happen to me, I am healthy.  I had no idea that my body was on the way to betraying me, after I had betrayed it for so long.  I never expected to go to the doctor and get all the bad news, that I received   I had no clue I was so sick, when i thought i felt just fine.

My dad told me, that he knows I can change my life, that i can make it all better.  He told me, I am strong willed and stubborn, and if i can accomplish all that I accomplished through my photography, he knew I could do whatever I set my mind to.  He told me to just put all the effort into myself, that I put into my photography, and I will see big differences in my life.  Knowing that my dad has faith in me, has probably been the thing that kept me going the most.  I promised him, I would fix this.  I have only made 2 promises to my dad in my life.  The first one, was to quit hurting myself, when I was a teenager.  I saw the pain in his eyes, after he learned of my nasty little secret.  And I never hurt myself again after that.  I guess this new promise is kind of the same.  I promised to heal my body, and live a long happy life.  Because I heard the pain in his voice, when I told him my diagnoses.

Its been 6 weeks, since i decided to make a change.  I have lost 23 lbs, got my blood pressure under complete control, all my other blood levels came down to a normal level(sugar, cholesterol), and my heart is doing really well.  I still have surgery to look forward to, but i can go into the surgery now, knowing im healthy enough to go under the knife.  And its really just the beginning for me.  Not only am I eating healthy, but I work out almost every night.  I love working out.  I love the way it makes me feel, i love the energy i get from it, i love the tension release.  I love just turning on my playlist and hitting it hard, til im sweaty and out of breath.  But most of all, I love watching my heart rate.  It never gets too high, no matter how hard I push myself, and it recovers so quickly now.  I can retain a normal heart rate in less than 30 seconds!

I am trying not to take anything for granted, trying to put all my faith in God, and trying to be the very best person I can be.  I guess those are the keys to true happiness.

Disney World 2013. Day 1 So magical!

Here you leave today and enter the world of Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy.

That little plaque, having above the entryway to Magic Kingdom really says it all.  Entering, you leave behind the real world.  And when leaving and entering back into the real world, is almost a culture shock.

Disney World is our vacation of choice, in this house.  If we are not at Disney World, we are planning our next trip there.  We already have the next 2 trips in the planning phase.  I dont know if its a sickness, addiction, or just a deep love and appreciation for the magic within.  My first trip to any disney park, was in 2006, when my daughter was 1 1\2.  We took her to Disneyland, Ca, on a trip out west to visit family.  This trip was good, but it wasnt until 2008 when we visited Walt Disney World, Fl, that we became true Disney enthusiasts.  We make it a point to try and get a trip every single year.  

Our last trip, was less than magical for me. I was in a pretty bad place in my life. The trip brought more dread than joy.  This trip however, I was determined to have a great time.  We planned out the whole trip, made reservations, put aside some extra spending money, and basically prepared in every way we could think of.  Including going to walks, to get our bodies ready for the hours on your feet every day.  We got a pretty awesome deal on the hotel, and upgraded to a moderate resort.  It was a first time at a moderate! We chose a Royal Room, at Port Orleans Riverside.  

The hotel was fantastic, they really make you feel at home.  My daughter loved the fiber optics in the headboard, and the magical Genie lamp facet in the bathroom.  I loved the waterslide and hot tub at the pool area.   My husband, well he loved the whole experiance.  It was so fun to watch him go down the water slide like a big kid! He can be too much of a grown up sometimes, and its so nice to watch him unwind, relax, and just be a kid again.  Our first day there, we had a cast member sing HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, over his loud speaker, and another cast member stopped to give my daughter 5 packs of mardi gras beads.  

Our first day in the parks, we decided to go visit Epcot.  Disney is having "limited time magic" and our first day, was the last day of Epcots special magic.  Epcot was having a winter wonderland in the Canada pavilion, and we were headed over to see the snow, and special characters.  On the way around the world, we stopped at a pin vendor, to buy some collectors pins.  We stepped to the side to admire our purchases, when these HUGE doors open just to the side of us.  I had no idea what was happening, because usually when giant doors open, there is a parade coming.  Seeing as though there is no parade at Epcot, i was shocked at what I did see.  

A courtyard filled with characters.  We didnt stop and visit them all, because we knew we would see big names like Minnie, and Pluto, at some of our Character meals. We did however, make sure to stop and see the less seen of the Disney faces. Max, and Goofy. Baloo and King Louie from Jungle book. Stitch, because he is my absolute favorite! Wendell from Country bears, Mr Penguin from Mary Poppins, Genie from Aladdin, and Turk from Tarzan, just to name a few.  Raffiki was also there, but my daughter wasnt really interested in him.  the doors were open for about 10 minutes before they closed them off to the public.  It truly was a perfect timing situation for us! 

Compared to what we just experienced  Disneys limited time scheduled magic, just didnt seem as extraordinary.  But it was still neat seeing the snow, and winter dressed characters all together.

I was so happy, and filled with the spirit of disney magic.  I walked around the whole day with a goofy grin on my face.  I knew the rest of the vacation had better be pretty awesome to live up to this day.