Creating Wellness: Unit 2: Reflection

We have been asked to reflect on the Journey on Relaxation exercise. First, I must say that these are my favorite types of visualization,guided imagery, and meditation exercises. I found the man's voice to be very soothing and comforting. I had never heard of "autogenic" training, but I love the concept behind it. I had a very stressful day at work, so this was a much needed escape from the stresses of the day. I felt not only relaxed and felt the stress melt away by the time it was over, but I began to be more focused and felt that I was concentrating better while finishing the remainder of my homework.

I also liked the "word pictures" such as his example of a sponge saturated with water and how it becomes very pliable and bendable, just as our muscles can be in a very relaxed state. I could feel the warmth and heaviness from the flow of blood filling back up my arms and legs and into the core of my body. By the end of the audio clip, I was disappointed that it had ended and wanted more. I did have a hard time bringing myself back to reality and having the energy to begin my homework at first. After a few moments though, I felt more focused and was able to continue and finish.

Kris Sinclair

Creaing Wellness:Unit 2: Welcome

Welcome to my blog! For this week's blog discussion, we were asked to create a welcome statement for this class. I am new to blogging, so I hope you will be patient as I figure all of this out. I hope that you will also take a moment to look around. I want this to be a fun experience for us all, and I want you to get to know the real me in the process.

So, pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit down, relax, and enjoy!

Kris Sinclair

Colton Dixon: Everything - Top 9 - AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11

My Grandbaby!

My grandbaby is 2 years old. His name is Charles Henry Thomas Green, Jr. and we call him CJ. I absolutely adore this little guy! My daughter lives in Alabama now so he is way too far away and I miss him sooooo much!

My kids

My kids are my world!

Missy is 17 and in 11th grade!

Josh is 15 and in 9th grade!

Megan is 11  and is in 6th grade!

Mackenzie is 8 and is in 3rd grade!

Jenny is 19 and is out of the house now and lives in Alabama!



The Love of My Life

My hubby Andy is the love of my life. We have been married for almost 13 years. It hasn't always been easy, and times we thought we would lose everything we had, but we fought through the hard times and have learned to appreciate life more in the process.  We are learning to not take life for granted and make every second count. Throughout it all, there is no one I would rather be on this "ride" with!

I Was Here Lady Antebellum Lyrics

I Was Here

One of my favorite songs that mirrors my life is by Lady Antebellum. It is called "I Was Here". I have posted the lyrics below. Enjoy!

I WAS HERE

You will notice me
I'll be leaving my mark like initials carved
In an old oak tree, you wait and see

Maybe I'll write like Twain wrote
Maybe I'll paint like Van Gogh
Cure the common cold, I don't know
But I'm ready start 'cause I know in my heart

I wanna do something that matters, say something different
Something that sets the whole world on its ear
I wanna do something better with the time I've been given
I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life
Leave nothing less than something that says ?I was here?

I will prove you wrong
If you think I'm all talk, you're in for a shock
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/lady-antebellum-lyrics/i-was-here-lyrics.html ]
'Cause this dream's too strong and before too long

Maybe I'll compose symphonies
Maybe I'll fight for world peace
'Cause I know it's my destiny
To leave more than a trace of myself in this place!

I wanna do something that matters, say something different
Something that sets the whole world on its ear
I wanna do something better with the time I've been given
I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life
And leave nothing less than something that says ?I was here?

And I know that I, I will do more than just pass through this life
I'll leave nothing less than something that says ?I was here?
I was here

Graduation Speech: Welcome to the Spirit of Change: April 2011

I’d like to welcome you all tonight, to a celebration of our graduation from Kaplan University and to a celebration of The Spirit of Change. Though our degrees may differ in the major we have chosen, and the steps we have all taken to get to this moment in time are most definitely unique, our voyage throughout this process has now intertwined our lives and bound us together for a lifetime. We have been changed forever, our lives touching each other for one brief, yet momentous place in time. We have encouraged, reassured, and definitely inspired each other to continue, when at times the whole process felt overwhelming and excruciating.

I have got to give credit to all of the staff at Kaplan, for without this team, none of us would be here today. From Nick, my recruiter and cheerleader in the beginning, telling me I COULD do this, to the financial aid office, the business office, and all of the staff involved in keeping Kaplan running and on its toes, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity.

I would also like to thank the entire medical assisting department and all of my classmates who have stood beside me, who have laughed with me, and even cried with me, as we spent hours, studying with each other, taking those dreaded pharmacology and A & P exams, and using each other as human pin cushions to successfully get all of the necessary blood draws in to be able to advance to our externship sites.

I am excited to be able to say that throughout this process, I have also gotten hired on at my externship site as a Medical Assistant with Midtown Medical Group!

 And most importantly, I would like to thank my ever so patient and supportive mom, husband, and kids, who helped me study for many exams and encouraged me to keep going even when I felt overwhelmed. You are my inspiration for staying strong when things get tough. Thank you for allowing me to spread my wings and fly, while you were missing me and longing for me to be home with you. You had faith in me, when I didn’t believe in myself and I can’t believe I am standing here today, finished and graduating with honors!

      When I was asked to write a speech for our graduation, I was not only honored, but terrified of getting up here and speaking to all of you here tonight. I thought about my own life and the reasons why I should give this speech, and I knew that if I could reach just one person who is struggling in their life, one person who is trying to succeed and feels that they can’t go on, then I have done my job, and I have succeeded.

The symbol for my life has always been “the butterfly”. So in pondering this topic for my speech, I realized how appropriate it would be to equate this to our graduation. The butterfly stands for a period of rebirth, transformation and awakening. If you think about the butterfly, it begins as an egg and the larva, minute and almost impossible to see with the human eye. Weren’t we a little like this when we started our classes here at Kaplan? We were all a little scared, and we felt small and insignificant, and we wondered if we would ever make it into the person we hoped to become at the end of all of this.

The next stage of the butterfly is to become a caterpillar. How many of us couldn’t see this day at the beginning of our journey? We felt like the lonely caterpillar, slowly learning to walk, taking baby steps and hoping just to make it through another exam, another challenge, and not get stepped on in the process! So we trudged along, making a little further day by day, sometimes feeling like the walk was just too long, but somehow finding the strength inside of us, to put one foot in front of the other, getting through another day, and then another, and then another…

The next step in the process is the cocoon stage. Haven’t we all been in this stage in our lives? I’m sure some of us would rather stay in this very stage, warm, comfortable, and safe from the outside world. This is the stage I hit around our next to last term. I felt like I was accomplishing the skills necessary to become a competent Medical Assistant, but I was scared to take the next step in the process; scared to begin my externship and wander out into that big dark world, where I would have to start a whole new career and prove to myself and the world all over again that I could do this, I could succeed! But something inside of me told me to keep going that it would all work out in the end.

I kept taking those baby steps; I kept warm in my cocoon yet kept sticking my “feelers” out to test the waters outside; and before I knew it, I felt myself wanting to push just a little harder and I realized when I looked back that we were just around the corner from graduation and we were almost there! How had I managed to work full-time, take care of 5 kids at home, and still be a successful student? Where are all those reservations and fears now? They were gone! I had done it! I had reached the end of my goal and here I was, ready to graduate with honors! I felt free, like a butterfly ready to spread her wings and fly to the next stage of my life, my next journey.

I believe the butterfly signifies change in all of us. And from time to time, all of us must enter a period of intense change in our lives. Sometimes, this change is unwanted, unsettling, and the most difficult thing we have ever gone through. But the butterfly reminds us that it is a natural part of change, and that change although sometimes frightening, is only temporary. Sometimes in the depths of our deepest, darkest hours, is where we learn to grow new wings, to reach for things we thought were never possible. Each time we grow those new wings and stretch them to new heights, we push ourselves, just a little more, breaking down those walls that have confined us for so long, breaking down those words of the people who told us that we could not do this and that we wouldn’t succeed. Through our struggles, we have been reborn into this world, as a new, transformed and beautiful creature! Change is not merely an external force, it is also a vast potential for new ways of being that dwells within us all.

Tonight, as we part, I challenge each and every one of you, to become all that you aspire to be, in your own time. Never forget the memories we’ve made together not the ways in which we have changed each other’s lives. Be determined to not let tragedies nor obstacles define you. Always, welcome the spirit of change, as you never know where it may lead you and in which ways it will help you grow. Aspire to someday finish this process of metamorphosis so that you can become the butterfly, who is not afraid to spread its wings and fly to wherever the next path leads! I am a living example of what perseverance, hard work, and patience is all about on this journey through a college degree. In the end, it has all been worth it and I believe that you all have it within you, if you just open your minds and welcome the Spirit of Change! Embrace it, live it, and let it become your next journey in this life! Goodnight everyone!

Welcome To My Life

Welcome to my life! I hope you enjoy my blog. You aren't going to find an exciting life of travel, of fortune, or of fame here. What you will find is the story of a woman who loves with all of her heart, who is finding who she is for the first time in her life, who strives every day to find a peace within that she can spread to each person she touches in this life. I want to make a difference, I want to stand out in a crowd, and I want to leave my mark on this earth and make the changes needed for my children and grandchild to have a beautiful life of peace on this earth.

I am 42 years old. I love my job as a medical assistant/office manager at Midtown Medical Group in Omaha, Nebraska. I also attend school full-time at Kaplan University, earning my Bachelor's Degree in Health Sciences in the field of Health and Wellness. I am happily married and have 5 children and a grandbaby that I adore!

My  main passion in life is music and writing and of course my family.  I am happiest when I am outside in the middle of nature where I feel closest to my maker and the universe.

I believe that I am like a butterfly. I have been in my cocoon stage for years, in a state of stagnancy and I was comfortable here. Within the past year, I have begun to shed my cocoon and have learned to expand my horizons, while slowly growing my wings. At first, I was scared and it felt odd to be stretching beyond my comfort zone. But as I have grown and opened myself up to unlimited potential, I have begun to find myself, the real me, hidden underneath complicated layers of fear and self-doubt, and I have seen my future in a new and different light. I believe that all things are possible if we only believe. I believe we create our own reality by the things we think and feel, and our minds are the only thing holding us back. No one can stop us, no one else can steal our dreams and hopes for the future. Believe in yourself, and you can do anything you set your mind to!

Last year when graduating from earning my Associate's Degree in Medical Assisting, I was asked to be the valedictorian of our ceremony. The name of my speech was titled "The Spirit of Change." (Please see my next blog for my complete graduation speech.) In this speech, I challenged each of the graduating student to strive to complete the process of metamorphosis and grow into that beautiful butterfly who is not afraid to spread their wings and reach for the sky. I challenge each of you to accept the same path.  Walk with me, throughout this blog, as we learn about the ways we can continue to grow and change and become the true people we were put on the face of the earth to be. Let's make the changes necessary within ourselves to change our world!