stassinicole

Turn Up Tuesdays w/Stassi: I am a teacher.

I am a Teacher…and it’s teacher appreciation week.

As an educator, there’s nothing greater than hearing students say how much you have impacted their lives. Most of us understand that this is a life of service and we definitely don’t commit to this career for the money. We understand that there will be “tough cases” to solve with each new group of students and we jump at rising to the challenge of getting those students to engage and meet our academic expectations. I have learned so many lessons from my students over these few years and my daily prayer is for God to show me ways to be a source of encouragement and support to touch the lives of those who will touch the lives of people, and in many cases children, to come. But I have to admit that there are moments where it feels tough to be in education: When I see the stats of our…

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Overcoming FEAR #journeytohandstand

I have been in pursuit of mastering (well actually doing one for the first time) a handstand off and on for the last couple of years. I can walk up the wall, but didn’t think I was strong enough to completely hold the handstand. Then reality struck me like a ton of bricks…my strength isn’t the problem. Yes, I can definitely stand to build more upper body and core strength, but that isn’t what is holding me back. It’s FEAR. Good ‘ole fashion FEAR. I am afraid of falling on the top of my head…again…yeah that happened back in high school when I was attempting to learn how to complete a back handspring. Needless to say that after falling on the top of my head, I pretty much gave up that dream. But it was that experience that was holding me back from my handstand victory!! So today, I built up the courage to try a headstand. I realized that in order to overcome my fear of falling on my head, I just needed to stand on top of my head…ok so I’m not sure if that thinking was rational but it made sense to me! So today I tried. I started with yoga blocks but they didn’t quite work for me so I tossed them aside and went for it.

It took a few tries, but I was finally confident enough to kick my legs up to the wall and balance on top of my head.

I did it!! I did a headstand!! I overcame my FEAR and finally tried the upside down thing!…and it felt GREAT! No, it wasn’t the handstand that I’m aiming for, but it was progress. #journeytohandstand #progress #yogichronicles

#twistedlunge

“Standing twists require leg strength, balance and stamina. Your mental fortitude improves when you challenge your body in a Twisted Lunge or Twisted Chair.” Twists are essential to my yoga practice and daily stretching routines. Especially on days when I’m in my office sitting for more than 10 minutes lol it helps to keep me loose as I have been having lower back issues for the last six months. Strength, balance and flexibility are important to me and what I am focusing on improving for this year, and twisting poses certainly help in all areas.
Be kind to your spine & twist it out!

#twistedlunge #yogiinthemaking

For more info about the benefits of twisted yoga poses check out: http://www.livestrong.com/article/351542-what-are-the-benefits-of-yoga-twists/

Sin Births Deep Wounds

In the moment,

it feels like love.

The hugs, the kisses, the staring deeply into each other’s eyes,

it feels like love.

Even afterwards,

laying in each other’s arms, basting in the joy of the desires of the flesh satisfied through physical acts…

it feels like love.

But the reality is…

The Spirit recognizes it as counterfeit,

as a separation from God

that leaves an unbearable emptiness on the inside

The emptiness highlights every negative feeling inside.

The insecurity, the loneliness, the faithlessness, the weaknesses, the shame, the depression…

every LIE from the enemy

that leaves an emotional and spiritual hole in the heart.

The struggle is real…

Even in the midst of it all,

He knows how we continually fall

to sin

and do exactly what we don’t want to do.

But He opens His arms and protects us anyway;

that is love.

The Grace, the mercy, the constant fight between the flesh and the spirit,

that is love.

In Every moment,

thanks be to God, for

He IS Love!

Photo: By Love_Heart_broken.svg: Nevit Dilmen (talk) derivative work: Nevit Dilmen (Love_Heart_broken.svg) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Sundays with Stassi: Giants do fall.

TheWRITEaddiction.com

Our recent church series has been titled “Daring Faith” and has been filled with new ways of looking at examples of faith based on traditional bible stories. Today’s lesson was about David and Goliath, but specifically about Giants. Of course this got me to thinking about the literal meaning of a giant. At first thought, I’m like everyone else and I thought about someone who is really tall. However, when you think about Giants in terms of life, then we know it’s not about a tall person. When I first searched “Giants” I uncovered Giant food store, giant bicycles & other results not related to what I was looking for at all. Finally I decided to check an online dictionary and found this definition: “apersonorthingofunusuallygreatsize,power,importance,etc.;majorfigure;legend:” What stood out most to me was that a giant is something of great power or importance in our lives. It makes us feel like…

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Sundays with Stassi: Healthier Eating

#tuesdaytips

TheWRITEaddiction.com

Every trip to the mainland is filled with shopping nowadays. Mostly food shopping as I search for less expensive high quality organic food. So, the last time I was there I spent some time in one of those very small, in the middle of downtown in a major city Whole Foods Market. How delighted was I to be reacquainted with some decent prices for high quality food!! I went for grains and beans since those are pretty easier to toss in my suitcase, which I finally got TSA approved locks for since I’ve had waaay tooooo many luggage mishaps in the last 9 months. No, seriously…One time my luggage arrived with one of my packages of Oreos missing like 3 or 4 cookies like I wouldn’t realize the seal was broken or that one row had tons more movement than the other. Oh and another time my bag came off…

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Sundays with Stassi: FB memories…modern time capsules?

TheWRITEaddiction.com

Are you on Facebook?

Do you get those “On this day…” memories that pop up out of nowhere on your timeline?

Well, I do and let me just tell you that those memories speak LIFE into my life. It’s amazing how these old posts can remind you of what was going on in your life 1 year ago, 2 years ago, or even 5 or more years ago. You can see a snapshot of the things that you have gone through, both joyous and saddening, but most importantly how you reacted to those times. I have noticed that when I am reminded of posts that occurred during some of my most difficult times, they are usually filled with scripture and encouragement to other people rather than me dwelling on the negative of my life. I am thankful to have a spirit that enables me to encourage others during the times…

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Sundays with Stassi: MOM. Enough Said

TheWRITEaddiction.com

Dedicated to my mom…

How many of us have them…Friends

Ones we can depend on…

Friends
Each. and every. one. of us.

If we’re truly honest with ourselves

If we search deep within

We KNOW. From the soul of our being that we can replace Friends with another…
How many of us have them…

Moms

Ones we can depend on…

Moms
Well. I can speak. For. myself.

When I really think about my childhood

When I remember the sacrifices

I KNOW. From the soul of my being that I can’t replace her with another…
My rock, my confidant, my sounding board, my travel buddy, MY plus one…

MOM.

Thank you for knowing your role.

A calm, gentle, loving soul when I needed a mom

torub cream on my chest when I was stuffy at night,

To bandage my knees when I fell off of my bike,

To tell me

Everything…

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Sundays with Stassi: Mayday! Mayday!

TheWRITEaddiction.com

I remember running around a pole with ribbon as a child at school. Never really understood why…still don’t…I did some google searches about May Day and found out a few things but nothing that really stood out to me. However, I think I most identify with the historical celebration of summer on May 1st, especially considering the recent Carnival celebrations here on island. It is fitting for May 1st to roll in on the heels of our Carnival celebration. It’s been a month-long celebration in anticipation of summer. Well, I’m sure that is not the historical context for Carnival, but that’s exactly how it has felt to me.

So, back to May day celebrations, and what they mean to me. Well, usually I would welcome summer, that is when I was living in places like Illinois and Arkansas and even Georgia to some extent. If it had been a long…

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Sundays with Stassi: JOY comes in the morning

TheWRITEaddiction.com

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”‭‭Psalms‬ ‭30:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

http://bible.com/116/psa.30.5.nlt

I think there’s a difference between happiness and joy. I can be sad and joyful at the same time! Happiness is an emotional response to a particular circumstance or situation, whereas JOY is a state of being or the way I approach life. For instance, in my last job there were many days of anger, frustration, disappointment, and sadness about how me and my students were treated by the administration. However, I believed that God was/is with me and that He had/has a plan for my life…to prosper and not harm me despite the situation that I was in. Therefore I still approached my life in joy. I smiled and I spoke life to my students and colleagues because I knew that…

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