Up the Black Ridge

I have a new adventure in my life.  I am going to be teaching a Weight Watchers class at SUU up in Cedar City, Utah. I will be driving over  the famous Black Ridge once a week for a while traveling about 50 miles each way from my home.  It is called an At Work meeting and will be done right on the campus. An interesting thing about this.  I went to SUU after I graduated from high school. I moved down there with my girlfriend Pauline. We jumped into college life and had a lot of fun. I was a poor college student so I had to work.  I began working on campus in the food services.  I chased my hubby to the end of town and back several times until I finally convinced him we should get married. (He must be glad I did because we just celebrated our 43 year anniversary)  When we were first married we lived in northern Utah and I though little of my SUU days. We then moved to St. George in 1984.
Fast forward 21 years and once again I was a student attending SUU. This time my friend Terri and I  were driving the black ridge to finish our second year of nursing school. A Dixie College/SUU partnership program with Weber State University. We drove every day and became pretty skilled at driving in the "Nurse mobile!" ( a little old white Volkswagen beetle) Terri use to say that if a big enough gust of wind hit us we would be tumbling down the mountain like an empty tin can..
Now 24 years later I am once again going up the ridge. I am excited. I will meet many new people who share my common goal of healthy living. The part about this new adventure that surprised  me is I will be holding the meeting in the exact building and in the exact room that I worked in so many years ago. What are the odds of that?  To me it is pretty amazing.

What is recovery?

I have not spent a lot of time on my Blog lately. I have had other projects going on and less free time. I do want to mention as it is recovery month that it has been 6 years since I spent my long summer in a rehab getting off my narcotic medications.  I posted a picture of me the other day on Facebook with a red recovery pin on.  Some of my friends thought it was for Breast Cancer but it was for Narcotic recovery.  Many wonderful things have happened to me in the past 6 years.  I have lost 125 pounds and gained my health. My mind has become clear and I am able to learn so many wonderful things.  I still have some fibromyalgia issues but they are so much less. I have been able to walk thousands of miles, gone on wonderful trips, (without the worry of running out of my pain pills), hiked hundreds of trails, and played a lot.  I have been able to work at Weight Watchers and meet so many incredible people and share in their own healthy journey's. I have made many new and cherished friends.  I have laughed, cried, and listened to many heartbreaking stories about loss of self esteem and health. I have watched those same people bloom and grow into strong self loving people.  One of the biggest joys has been spending time with my family. Just being able to be with  my grand's and watch the world unfold through their eyes. I should have not lived. I should have died in my sleep.  One of my children would check on me every morning just to see if I was still alive. I regret the pain I put them through. The worry and fear. I have had to learn to put that in the past. To live and celebrate my life now. I am so grateful that I had a moment of clarity and was able to get the help that I needed. If you are struggling with addiction accept that it has a hold on you. Ask for help. Live!