My biggest motivation...

  At 6'4" and 230 pounds he literally is my "biggest" motivation haha... but he's just as great a man on the inside because he has an extremely big heart.

 

 

This is my boyfriend, Makani, but everyone else knows him as Keoni, linebacker at the U of A (except my mom who calls him Mac).  I've known him since we were freshmen in high school but we weren't together until about 2 and a half years ago, and let me tell you, those 2 years have been quite eventful.  In his short 19 years of life, he's been through much more than most people will go through in their entire lifetime, yet he continues to amaze me everyday with his courage and strength.  At the age of nine, he was removed from his biological family, and was adopted by a different family, along with five other newly adopted siblings.  At this point, most kids are placed into a wonderful family home where they happily spend the rest of their lives but the hard times were far from over for Makani and his 5 siblings.  A lot has happened since then, and long story short, Makani and I have been taking care of his four younger brothers since April, 2013. We are now in the process of becoming official foster parents for all four of them and soon permanent guardians for the younger two, as the older two will be moving to Washington with family.  This makes us the youngest foster parents in Arizona and maybe even the country! Aside from this Makani is a full-time student AND a full-time athlete.  He is a living example of the transformative power of crisis; instead of letting all the crises in his life tear him apart, he looked at it as an opportunity to change himself and build his own future.  He reminds me everyday of what true strength really is... True strength lies not in what you can do, but in overcoming the things you thought you couldn't.

My New Years Resolution

2014 New Years Resolution

In the spirit of the new year and this new blog, my first post is dedicated to my new years resolution. Resolutions tend to be empty promises for many people, but that doesn't mean they have to be for me. They key to a successful new years resolutions is small, reasonable, attainable goals that can be applied to your life in a positive way.  Instead of cutting out bad habits completely, like drinking soda, add something positive to your life instead.  Pledge to drink 8 cups of water daily and it is likely that your soda intake will decrease.  That said, here are my  resolutions for 2014:

NUTRITION

8 glasses of water a day- more water, less of everything else.

Healthy food prep every Sundays- so you have no excuse to eat unhealthy...

FITNESS

Stretch every day- to relax, rejuvenate and meditate.

Start Boxing and Hiking-add variety, fun, and CHALLENGE to the routine!

ACADEMICS

Stop skipping classes- as much as you think you can catch up on your own, you won’t.

Spend more time studying at the library- and less time studying at starbucks and at home.

LIFE

Early to bed, early to rise- makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Stop making excuses- there’s is ALWAYS enough time to do what you want to do.

Stop waiting and start doing- there’s no better time than RIGHT NOW!