Living with Christ, Coffee, & Compassion

Day 4 of blog challenge

Earliest Childhood Memory

One of the first memories I have as a child is playing in the backyard of one of my first homes at a barbeque celebrating my 4^thbirthday. It’s hard to tell what I actually remember and what was told to me. My grandma had a picture of me sitting on a swing set holding up four fingers in a denim dress with a white turtleneck underneath. My grandma has always been really good at photographing everything.

At this time in my life, my mom was together with my younger sisters’ dad and my grandpa was still an alcoholic. He has now been sober for over 10 years. My other grandpa, my mom’s bio dad, was still alive but I don’t know if he was there or not. He didn’t attend much of any of the events in our lives.

Many of the earliest memories I have are with family, much like everybody, but I affiliate my family with alcohol, blended families and fighting. Many stories are similar for my family, divorce, drugs, run ins with the law, children out of wedlock, teen pregnancy, poverty, emotional struggles, and very little positivity.

Because of this, I will be more diligent when raising my children. Not that I blame anybody for the exposure I had as a child or for the choices that my family members make but I just hope and think my family will be different when I bring children into the world because my mom is a new person, granted I don’t know what my husband family will look like but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Let’s talk about Arizona living. As a recent transplant from beautiful, cool Oregon I am not yet sold on the extreme heat and intense waves of humid monsoons seasons and blistering dry air that literally cracks the earth. Everything from scorpions to javelinas reside in this state making it uninviting to want to spend time outside.

So what are the perks? Why do people move here? Could it be the low taxes? Or the proximity to big attractions like Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon? Perhaps it’s the lack of a winter and the wide variety of things to do. Arizona is diverse and is packed with influences from many walks of life, from Native American, Latin American and even Wild West culture.

Arizona is one of the few places that does not recognize daylight savings time and instead goes by Mountain Standard Time all year round. It’s very easy to grow citrus trees here, and the sunsets are some of the most vibrant in the country.

But not everything in Phoenix is a walk in the park. Be sure to watch out for scorpions, rattlesnakes and coyotes. Public transportation is not ideal for the area’s size, and sometimes the hot weather can burn you, literally.

Phoenix is widely known as the Valley of the Sun. It’s located in the Sonoran Desert, the hottest desert in North America. The sun shines, and its intensity can be felt particularly in the summer when temps soar well into the 100s. Even with little humidity, the dry heat can be unbearable and be draining at times.

But cost of living is significantly less than places lining the east and west coast and you will most definitely get more house and yard for your money. I keep telling myself that it will be nice to reside in a place where christianity is a common belief and a majority of the voters are republicans, guns are accepted, and many of the people are traditional making my dating pool full of more options.

Wish me luck as I navigate the survival skills of living in the desert!

Peace and love,

Adrian

Meaning of my blog name:

Its day three of my blog challenge and I will be explaining the meaning behind my blog title. Living with Christ, coffee, and compassion is rather self-explanatory. I am a Christian coffee lover trying to be the kindest version of myself.

I was raised catholic and as I get older the meaning of church and faith take on a more important role in my life. I have taken the step to seek a more relatable church and a bible study group in order to incorporate my understanding of God into my everyday life as well as attending weekly mass as an opportunity to meditate on the ceremony and to do it alongside my family.

NOW LET’S TALK COFFEE!

There’s people who love brewed coffee and then there are people who like coffee flavored, sugar filled, creamy beverages. I am an actual coffee lover. Hot, dark roasted beans steeped through hot water with a splash of cream and stevia to cut the bitterness and sipped on while still hot before even considering breakfast. The only way to start the day. Coffee actually has many health benefits. But for me it’s all about the routine of making, drinking and savoring the liquid cup of joy.

Compassion is a complicated task that can be executed so simply with the right mindset. The benefits of compassion can be experienced in all of our lives. Compassion, with the desire to help others, is a key element of heart-based support that can be applied to ourselves and others to assist with the authentic flourishing of life and self-realization. Compassion is a natural instinct within all of us but is stifled when we lack mindfulness and are not present to life. Compassion, along with mindfulness is the key piece to authentic living. It can be healing for others and ourselves.

Always remember to enrich our lives with more compassion, coffee and most importantly Christ!

Peace and Love,

Adrian

1. I ONLY LIKE COFFEE SERVED HOT
2. MY FAVORITE COLOR IS PURPLE
3. MY GREATEST GOAL IN LIFE IS TO BE A MOTHER
4. I MET FOUR OF THE FIVE BACKSTREET BOYS
5. MY MIDDLE NAME IS MARIKA
6.   I CAN’T STAND THE HEAT BUT LOVE COLDER SEASONS
7.   RAINY AND SNOWY DAYS ARE THE BEST DAYS EVER
8.   I ALWAYS HAVE MY FINGER AND TOE NAILS PAINTED
9. I HAVE TMJ
10. I CAN’T STAND VIDEO GAMES
11. I HAD A BLACK CAT NAMED CHESTER
12. MY FAVORITE FLOWER IS A STARGAZER LILY
13. I CAN’T STAND TOMATOES
14. I PREFER IPHONE OVER ANDROID
15. I STRIVE TO LIVE A NATURAL, CLEAN, GREEN LIFESTYLE
16. I WAS RAISED CATHOLIC
17. MEXICAN FOOD IS MY FAVORITE
18. I LIKE FLORAL AND AZTEC PRINT
19. I COLLECT NAPKINS
20. I WILL NEVER WEAR ORANGE
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

Hi y’all!

I am so excited to jump right in and kick off my new blog with a 31 day blog challenge for the month of September! First of all, can we take a moment to realize it is stinkin’ September! IT IS ALMOST FALL!

So, heres a little about myself: I am 21 years young recently transplanted to Arizona aspiring to be a writer of sorts while also living my passion of being a childcare provider. I currently work with my mom watching four amazing kiddos who make my life full of fun. I spent the last couple of years attending college to obtain my teaching certificate. The original plan was to get a degree but life took me from New Mexico, to Oklahoma, to Oregon, to Arizona all in the span of 4 years so the straight and narrow plan of getting a college degree was thrown for a curve with all of the relocating but I can honestly say I grew as a person and became a little more self-sufficient with each move and for that I will be forever grateful.

The journey of moving has brought me closer to God, my family, and has made my goals more clear than ever before. I am in a transitional season of my life and I am seeking the steps to move to the next season of my life. I am a single, rather simple woman but I want to grow as a person. I want to share my journey towards strengthening my faith, my social life, and my self-confidence ❤

Peace and Love,

Adrian

Hi there! I am so excited to build a virtual space that allows me to talk about my trials and triumphs and invite my peers to share theirs. I am an infant/toddler teacher in search of the next season of my life. I have lots to share and want a platform to share it. Thank you!