The council one of my families

I started on the council in 2014 after a bit of time as a seasoned self advocate it has been a long and winding road the past five years college and other commitments got in the way at the beginning but remedied that and ended up becoming vice chair and going to three national conferences and having a great light to people at the council and I genuinely continue to show kindness and generosity and continued support and other projects continue to come up with all my system change and other items in policymaking and continued council values I continue to be a great light with the overall length of the meetings and listen to the staff who continue to create a positive outlook and the members who continue to show up for a lot of work and dedication to it and getting my fingers dirty and doing the grunt work with all of the projects which have continued to be created in such a way that I can always love what I do and learn how I can listen to what people have to say and be accommodating people from the council have continued to create a positive impact in my life and I even have done things outside of the council with people on staff inspiring others and learning a lot more my self advocate career has blossomed with the council and I am about to embark on starting my own business I expect that to continue with each passing moment thanks to the council I look forward to doing more the next four to six years

Flamboyant and exciting hero

I am someone who loves the color pink and purple I am someone who takes everything not seriously enough times considering what I do but also considering my activism role continue to be involved politically active and socially strong enough to take care of everything I do I am someone who has several mental health challenges and intellectual challenges but still graduated from college I am a hero and I won't be backing down from anything when I do what I need to do it is always in a way that would be awesome to have for anyone else but is ordinary for me I am someone who has flamboyant personality but also considering that I have many people in my corner that is the same way I always trusted my gut feeling with what I do and even though I might be too controversial for some reason I always get things done yet in a way that would work for me I am so grateful that activism is my calling and checks and balances says that it is may everything continue to show success in my endeavors and stay tuned for my blog post on the council after I get back from New Orleans

My latest experiences or 34 and 35

At the bright young age of 34 I graduated from college and was a regular basis meeting with my squad and lived it up my last semester however although I did young life college I also did service learning, mentoring, leader in partners in policymaking and vice chair of the DD council which I ended up doing again at 35 I had way too many late nights in partners in policymaking and still graduated I have refound a lot of hiking and camping spots and also have done way more new classes with the y and fort boise and have become an international ambassador for special Olympics and might have come close to having a career path while 35 was the first year without school since I was 2 I have learned from experience, training, self-help books, motivational videos, volunteering, legislative work and testifying, and relational items that my learning is still active and strong in a couple of weeks I turn 36 and in the past few months with the schizoaffective disorder diagnosis things are just getting into place again it has been a long six months but I am getting everything under control one day at a time and have many people on my team here's to a great start to another year and another phase in my life stay tuned for my blog post a day before my birthday on my personality called flamboyant and exciting hero

Blog Post 3 24-33 tales of self-direction and further into professional acumen and living it up

Well to be honest 24-33 was a big time in blossoming my professional connections shortly before I was 24 I started work at Albertsons' a job that I still have and then a few years later I started Self-Advocacy Leadership Network which first blossomed into the Council and Community Now and has continued to blossom into other arenas later also I went into self-directed services when I was 29 which brought my independence from 25% to 96%ish (I am borderline on services due to my latest diagnosis but can do a lot on my own) I have gone up and down in weight but have kept a pretty steady exercise acumen finding fun runs, yoga, dance, pilates, and a host of other classes first at the Boise State REC Center and then at Bikram Yoga, the Y, Sage Yoga, Fort Boise, and some impromptu yoga in the park. I met some of my best friends who I have to this day and I also moved from Linda Vista on the edge of Boise to the edge of Garden City which is also near Boise to by the Boise Mall to downtown Boise which is where I am moving soon I built strong rapport with most of my support and also leaned on my professional support for others to help me further my acumen professionally I discovered that I have friends who live it up at that point and I was influenced by them there were a few regrettable nights but mostly I was safe overall I have learned a lot of lessons with that gone on a lot of vacations including international travel and Nevada where I rode the bull and rafting which I did with bad toes that fell off and with staples in my head and numerous other less regrettable times including my birthday where someone almost got pushed off I also shook Obama's hand and got to shake some other people's hands that were famous and volunteered all over the place and continued to start on my hard road of making Boise a place for activism I started with disability activism and LGBT activism but have also have done environmental activism at this point and did other activism later and this is the point where I started testifying in the capitol I also brought my Boise State grades up in that interim with a quick flurry at the end I feel like it was an excellent further influence into professionalism and with everything else in the past couple of years I will write the blog on that in a couple of weeks shortly before 36!

Blog post number 2 12-23 the great transition

We always have to be reach the best transition because we continue to reach out for the parts of the transition period from the great news about the lessons for which three goals I have reached in that time frame one of which is the best way to perceive what works for me which was the group home which is wonderful because I learned how to be independent and I am grateful for the memories of the best places of the high school and middle school at least at the time of when I learned from the community conversation with the places of when I will be receiving the same treatment with the rest of the places of where I created lifelong friends from the fort Boise community center and everywhere else I feel like the start of college and the start of the new creations of the best things where I have continued support of the best places of the most important thing which were considering that places I listen to the song of my life and the lessons for which everything else which I learn to create positive changes throughout everything else about will continue looking forward to seeing everyone who has been a great experience for what I listen to others opinions and start speaking with a couple other things I listen to a learned creation of the lessons which consists of why I am asking about the confusion which is wonderful for being a great light and I have learned what works for why I will continue looking forward to hearing what I need to do anything with what I did to lessen the impact of the best things about the great ten years of which I was a bit of a difference making places where I need anything else from where I continue making to be a little bit of a difference making sure that would work better for what I continue making sure that I need to create positive attitude for the great service for the opportunity to work with the team and where I listen to what did need to get a new creation of why I love to have learned everything

0 to 11 the bad old days

I honestly think that this will probably be the shortest blog post I will ever have because I don't remember much of what happened and everything I do remember was oral this is what I know: I didn't speak until I was 5 but learned how to swim at 3 and how to read at 4 and my mom knew that I was smart around then here's also what I know: I had a long rebellion streak I was in 6 schools by the 5th grade either preschool or elementary school and I had three battery charges by the time I was 11 I also had bad experiences where my growth wasn't fostered I was smart and didn't know how to handle it hence the root of my anger my mom and dad divorced when I was 9 and my Dad got remarried 10 months later and I was in the time out close more than the classroom in kindergarten I watched a lot of cartoons ate relatively healthy but never thought of exercising much and had a great amount of support though I didn't know it yet I started baseball and swimming practice around that time and was often looking around at birthday parties and traveled a bit and then I turned 12 on the dreadful North Idaho trip the next should be a bit better 12 to 23 the group home years and side note the other things I remember until I was 11 was that I was a pain for my mom and despite her trying everything I was still trying and I swam in the Atlantic ocean for a long time and I had my first taste of alcohol and green tea before coffee and I was an incredibly big pain for most people however I have changed and have been in a better place and no I don't think that I would wear my penguin shirt if I had one or my banana costume every day at this point in time (just had to throw that in) happy Sunday evening everyone next one will be more cheery

Final what if post: what if I didn't stay in Boise after graduation from college

This is the final what if post I was strongly considering moving after college somewhere else I thought about moving to Oregon or Washington or somewhere else but I decided not to because of the cost of living and having to start all over with my connections that took me a long time to build probably fifteen years I also felt like there are plenty of things close by in Boise and because of the council and my wonderful team I have decided to stay indefinitely I have the best team that I have ever had and it is growing also and I think if I moved I would be making a decision that could backfire let's just pretend that I moved it would be hard to keep the connections similar and myself journey would be different I struggle a bit financially now and if I moved I would be struggling a bit more than I was also I think that I would have not as easy of a job right off the bat and I would possibly not consider a way to volunteer at places that are solid my calling of advocacy would suffer as I wouldn't be needed as much and I also would potentially happen to not have as much wherewithal to be in the best spot I could be in so is Boise a forever home perhaps depending on what works for the time is it good for now mos def and I really appreciate all the hard work my team members put in to make it so I would potentially be isolated and insufficiently alone and that isn't something I would repeat I have made my choice and it was a great one stay tuned for my story of my life glancing over what I know of the bad old days in the first part of a four part blog and after that there will be a blog post on community all worth reading

Blog post what if #5: what's if I didn't start being an advocate

I'm trying to make sure that I continue to work hard on my career and I know that I will continue to create memories of what I need to do to change the world I am continuing to be in a way to learn more of what people need to do to create positive social change and I will learn how to continue to work on my way to help others reach their goals my mantra is standing up for those who can't and I make things work hard on what I should do to make things work the best for others who can't speak up for themselves I learn a lot of why's and I need to continue to create a positive attitude towards what needs to happen if I wasn't a strong advocate I would have a hard time making the world a better place I am thinking that given my voice I couldn't even think about what works for what I should try to do the work for others and what I should do to make things easier for others I think that if I didn't have a voice things wouldn't be that much brighter future for others and a relatively bright future for Idaho being an advocate is something that is a calling for me and I continue to pray that I make it a calling my whole life long

What if number four: what if I didn't start going to the Y

The tour of the Y it felt like it would be magnificent and some place where I would have mostly full acceptance. Turns out I was right. Since the first time I worked out there as a member in Core Power a class where I still occasionally go to despite it being geared towards senior citizens due to my social interaction with a lot of them I felt at home. With a few slight hiccups here and there and in spite of them I have many friends who I high-five there some who I hug and a lot of fun memories either at the gym doing classes or power workouts on fun runs swimming on the Boise Community team as a member going to classes with friends shooting baskets just to get coordination going to the hot tub or steam room and all the conversations with others in the locker room, the Y is the place for me to be and I even have complimented staff online on several occasions and have written a positive review about the fun runs. What if I never went to the Y? I would be stuck with the REC getting an expensive alumni pass working out with people with high tool level of bro and people who have skimpy clothes that are female. I also wouldn't be happy at the REC because for years I only felt safe at the pool or group exercise. I might've tried Anytime Fitness but there isn't any classes there that I am aware of and the clientele is for sure not as good as the Y because the Y clientele is the best of any gym I have gone to. On a more practical level than what gym to go to I wouldn't have the acceptance of a great friendly community one where the first time I went the door was open for me. I had never had that experience before at any gym on the first time or ever. I also feel like the community I have had at the Y extends to management the community continues to amaze and inspire me and the management has my back all the way. If I never had a membership to the Y I would not be without community- I have two church families and my advocacy family and my support family and my Special Olympics and coffee shop and Ten Barrel and Fort Boise and Albertsons' family but I would be sans gym family and that wouldn't be ideal because I love to work out and I love to feel solid even when things aren't always worked on completely in my health otherwise. I will continue to go to the Y for the rest of my life and I intend to look at being a Y ambassador and what it entails in May. And I am glad that I found the Y it has been absolutely incredible.

What if number three what if I never went back to southminster Presbyterian Church

Southminster is family to me I don't consider people from that church in my close friends besides jesse, Kiran, and my mom for that reason I feel like there was a decision when I was sixteen to go back to southminster full time and that decision and the leadership I have incurred over the years has been invaluable to no end starting with choir and youth group and going towards ushering and volunteering and liturgist with deacon and committee and other things with the youth group in between if I never went back to southminster I wouldn't have been able to recognize my full leadership potential and I think that I wouldn't be a Christian unless I found the MCC another way I would've converted to Buddhism and I would've definitely not been able to see the love of Christ that some places have I have been hurt by a lot of the christian institution but southminster has only offered love and kindness and generosity when I needed it who helped with moving to fariview and cole largely southminster who has helped me with my papers a former professor from southminster and there has been a lot of other charity from people there over the past twenty years they are who God intended people to be Christlike and that is why I stayed with them it feels like home

What if number 2: what if I never went to the group home

The fact of the matter is that the group home saved my life I learned many independent living skills at a young age that served me well as well as communicating with others and working on social skills and knowledge of various types of activities I might be a bit late on learning those tools but I certainly learned them well enough to have a headstart on self-directed services and to almost immediately be the poster child of it I went to the group home so that I could be independent like my sisters and so that I could eventually work and do everything well if I didn't go my brain would turn to mush, no college graduate, no self advocacy, no council vice chair, no self-directed services,no freedom because I would probably be in the treatment center or locked up, no living downtown and being a great part of many communities, my friends would be radically different, my general career path wouldn't be available because I would be a criminal, and I would likely not find what I truly appreciate in life this is the starkest and bluntest of these blogs because without the group home I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am right now it truly was dedicated to changing my life and the rest of my life was so radiant and compassionate which was a trait I learned a long time ago by the past program boss who ended up being like a second mom to me and who is still in my life today I still get together with the guys once a month and I will check with the current supervisor of that home after tools for life I am inspired to give back and help others reach their goals there because some have dreams of something else that is bigger than what the home can provide them and whose to say that they can't you never know what people need unless you try I was needing 24/7 care until last decade at the home and I am doing really well with the minimal support I am getting at home regardless of what I can do now and having what it takes there is a notion that if I was never in the group home none of this would have happened stay tuned for my next blog what if I ended up deciding to can southminster Presbyterian Church

What If Episode 1: What If I Never Went To Boise State

There are several things I think what if I never did this that were truly life-changing that will be fleshed out in the next several blogs. This one is a what if I never went to Boise State which has far reaching ideas other than just education (though that is one thing that would be affected) so what if I never went to Boise State my life would be drastically different for 6 reasons:
1) leadership: one of the things I started doing with Boise State was service learning and mentoring in my first couple of years there. I ended up becoming the Michael Jordan of service learning and built a strong rapport that lasted from my first to my last semester and the mentoring kick started a vast leadership empire that traversed at least 90 different things as I did leadership every semester after that and my leadership empire is still growing. So my activism that started when I was public speaking grew into a full force through college and then became what I want to do for a career. And with that early introduction missing that would possibly be a void
2) social: I would still have social capital but not nearly as vast the majority of my friends who I don't know from church and activism and Special Olympics I know from campus. If I had never gone to Boise State I don't know where I would be honestly. I would either be dead, super depressed, or living life elsewhere not having the arena of opportunities I do. The majority of my best friends I met at Boise State other than some of them in the disability community and yes I feel like I would've still made friends but given how close I became to people at Boise State it would be dramatically different
3) education: some of the best and worst teachers I have ever had taught at Boise State. I wouldn't know nearly as much if I hadn't gone there, with my photographic memory I can still have anecdotal evidence from classes I took years ago, I wouldn't have had as much knowledge, as much fortuitous attitude, as much ideology of what good education looks like, or as vast education. I had an all around education and ended up with almost maxed out credits but it was done well.
4) internships: I have a couple of jobs offers because of internships and volunteering if I hadn't had the internships with Special Olympics, Self-Advocacy Leadership Network, or the Volunteer Services Board I wouldn't have had as much knowledge of stuff and how nonprofits work which might have addressed deficits professionally. I am in a few internships now however since they are not for credit I can address them on my own terms and since I had to pack in 135 hours in 13 weeks in the summer internships and 150 hours in 16 weeks in the Fall one I was learning a lot of training and packing in a great amount of learning curve and professional knowledge
5) time management: my time management is getting better because it had to. in college I was doing multiple organizations, multiple leaderships things, hanging with numerous friends on a regular basis, reading a lot of books, doing work of some sort, doing volunteering, socializing, and just trying to be a human being and have family time and church leadership pretty much every semester. as my time with Boise State was coming to a close I took my last semester as a mostly professional semester and also continued to create a lesson or two in how to deal with time management well. Now a lot of my free time is traversing YouTube videos, working out, writing, and overall things I truly enjoy like activism and I have more of it. In college I was doing things I liked the most and letting everything go that I didn't because that's what I needed to do. That's life.
6) connections: I have made connections not just socially but also professionally on campus that will last a lifetime (and I feel justified in saying that). I have made great connections with lots of people who work on campus that continue to amaze me with solid interactions every time I see them and continue to recognize me even when it has been a while since they have seen me. Even today seeing someone who did academic coaching with me at the rally made me smile that she remembered me. There have been lots of other people she has worked with but it has been a year since graduation I look different and I am more professional looking in my hair and she was still able to remember me. That's priceless.
So that's my blog on Boise State and what would be different. Stay tuned for my next blog in a couple of weeks what if I had decided to stick with residential habilitation what would've happened

Things I Do Well And Things I Need To Be Better Last Year

Finally had a year without school and a solid amount of friendships that went well and did some hiking and some other things and gained a partner and traveled almost every week. 2018 was a good year overall and 2019 will be even better. I feel like there are things I need to be better at and things I do well here are the things I need to be better at first:
1. snacking: I can get ice cream (Halo Top at this point), chips, and candy as rewards and that is a terrible thing to do. I can sometimes snack up to a few times a day and not eat as well. I have lost some weight but why I sometimes can't keep it off is snacking. I am going to try something to when my chips and protein bars are gone no snacks in my apartment for three months and try to get low-sugar protein bars and fruit and vegetables. That way I can have something in my mouth without gaining too much weight and to help me with my sugar sensitivity.
2. alcohol: during the summer I drink a few times in the weekend and a couple times during the weekday. sometimes in the rest of the year it is almost as bad. I want to try to not drink until the summer starting the end of this month and then once September starts detox for three months. I know that I can do that it's just a matter of working on it and having friends that support it. I think as with coffee for years I am ianfluenced by my friends and most of my friends like to drink so creating boundaries with them would be helpful. Not drinking will help me lose the waistline and my wallet will be richer as well.
3. late night carousing: it's fine in the summer but during the fall and the spring and definitely the winter it's not really safe. I need to be better about communicating that some nights don't work as well because of my work schedule and some nights I have too much to where I just can't do that. It will help with my sleep, with my time management and with my overall health.
4. social media: I scroll for sometimes an hour when I am alone at night and sometimes overuse my phone when I am at the laundromat for something to do and to fill in time. it needs to stop. I need to be able to do yoga, meditation, reading, and journaling on a regular basis for my health to be the best it can be and scrolling for hours stops that from happening. also I need to be more consistent with putting on pajamas so that I can gain people's trust that I am able to do well.
5. communication: I can go on a wild tangent about this but let's just say for all the times I am with people and for my field of study it's not a strong point. next
Five things I do well at:
1. exercise: part of the reason why I have been healthy is because I exercise almost daily even when it's hard to get to the gym I am able to find other ways that make myself have at least 20 minutes a day. There are a lot of workout classes I enjoy and a lot of power and therapy workouts I do and a lot more stamina with snowshoeing and hiking that I have gained and swimming as well. I will be able to do even better this year because I have goals at exercising real well.
2. good friends: I won't spend too long on this one but I feel blessed to say that the friends I have are some of the best friends I have ever had they are like family to me and I continue to see them as being a true asset in my life. I have friends from everything I do and that is such a blessing in my life.
3. finding work: A few internships that fell into my lap, a few committees, Albertsons', church, my ministry, some volunteering- I'd say that it is not a problem for me to find work and hasn't been for a while. I am a very personable human and I care about what I need to do to be better.
4. perseverance: I could find many examples but the biggest one that says everything you need to know about why it's a strength is my college itinerary: three times in basic algebra, four times in lab sciences, fourteen and a half years plus summers to graduate, and two times taking communication classes that I either withdrew from or failed again and passing well. I think that says it all. next
5. always having the will to get better: whether it's activism, health goals, self-help books and motivational videos, making great friends in my life, making great connections that are better as time goes on, listening to others as a sounding board, or coming up for ideas to make things work I have a desire to get better. I don't want to be good I want to be great and I'm not satisfied with the status quo.
Next blog coming up in a couple weeks: part one of the what if section what if I never went to Boise State stay tuned.