Moving Forward.

I'm moving again...hence, I started a new blog.

Check it out:

www.ameliatritico.wordpress.com

I'll be posting from the new blog from now on. Thanks for reading!

Love and peace,

Amelia

Aaaannnd...I'm back.

Another two months have flown by without me blogging, and all I can say is:

I'm busy...so sorry.

After the spider bite debacle, Christmas came...then New Year's...then I was changing jobs...

then my best friend from high school got married...

then I went to Philadelphia for a weekend...

and now.....I'm just working...

Here:

It's pretty amazing.  Though I definitely don't hold any grudges against the first coffeehouse I worked in upon moving to Chattanooga, I'm kind of partial to this new place.  I love my new co-workers, the atmosphere, and the fact that I can listen to whatever music I want while working!  :-)  It's been a good change.

I love my life.  I really just can't say that enough.  The past few weeks have shown me how truly blessed I am.  When the going gets tough, God has placed these amazing people in my life, old and new, to help me get through it.  Stress was my closest companion for a while, but I had people there the whole time telling me it was going to be okay...just a few more days...

Letting other people bear my burdens is not one of my strong suits.  I tend to just carry everything that's weighing on me like a pack mule ascending to Machu Picchu (I want to go there!) in the middle of the winter while fighting a hellacious cold...okay...that's probably an exaggeration, but you get my drift.  

I feel like God has really been showing me lately that it's time to stop.  I need to let other people help me.  I need to learn how to share my burdens because that's what I'm called to do for others.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Galations 6:2

Things are good now...the stress has passed for the time being, but it will come again, and it's coming for those close to me right now.  Today is Valentine's Day, and in the United States it tends to become all about flowers, candy, and cards...but I distinctly remember celebrating this day four years ago in Costa Rica and absolutely loving it.  They celebrate El Día de Amistad y Amor...the day of friendship and love.  This is what today means to me.  It has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with the fact that I have to best friends and family in the world...I seriously couldn't create a better support system for myself if I tried.  

Thank you to everyone that loves me...I love you all, and I pray that I can show you a smidgen of the love you've shown me.  :-)

Peace and love,

Amelia

P.S.  If you ever have a chance to light Chinese lanterns, do it.  It's magical.  :-)  My new friends John Somerville and Molly Gardner took some awesome pictures of it.

          ©John Somerville

©John Somerville

                    ©Molly Gardner

©Molly Gardner

Madness.

Um....yeah, it's been a hot minute since I last wrote.

Why?

Two words:

Black widow.

For those of you who are squeamish, I won't post pictures.  I'll just let you use your imagination to conjure up an idea of what a black widow spider bite looks like.  Let me tell you...it ain't pretty, fun, or conducive to blogging regularly.

Around mid-October, I noticed a small red spot on my leg.  It didn't hurt or anything, so I just thought I'd bumped my leg on something without noticing.  A few weeks later...it was throbbing.  One of my new friends down here in Chattanooga took one look at it and immediately made a phone call to her doctor pretending to be me to get me an appointment.

The initial diagnosis was a spider bite, but the doctor didn't seem too worried, so she prescribed me an antibiotic and sent me on my way.  Ten days later...my leg was worse.  I went back to the doctor which resulted in another prescription for a second antibiotic and a second diagnosis.  This time, however, it wasn't a spider bite, it was a Staph infection.

5 a.m. the next morning...hello emergency room!  My poor roommate was awakened to a phone call from me gasping for breath in my room as I suffered through an allergic reaction to the second antibiotic.  So off to the ER we went!  (My roommate is awesome and a trooper...I'm so thankful that I live with her.)

After 4 bags of a third antibiotic, 2 EKGs, a chest x-ray, countless blood samples, and an overnight stay in the hospital...I was discharged with a prescription for a 4th antibiotic and the continuing diagnosis of a Staph infection.

Ten days later...my leg was still not better.  Back to the doctor I went!  This time, she sent me to get an x-ray of my leg.  When everything came back normal from that, my dad had me come back home to Sparta to see my regular physician.

Diagnosis:

Black widow spider bite.

Finally....finally....finally....

My leg is getting better.  Instead of antibiotics...I've been taking steroids which seem to do the trick.

Um...yeah, my life has been madness for about six weeks.  In between all of the doctor visits and the hospital stay, I've been continuing to work and finish up applications for graduate school.  

So...life is crazy.  You never know what it's going to throw at you.  I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that a tiny crappy spider turned my entire world upside down.  I'm ready for some peace and quiet, but I'm also quite restless...

It's getting cold here in Tennessee, and you all know how I feel about cold weather.  I need some palm trees and a drink with a little umbrella in my hand....all of this work I've been doing to fill out graduate school applications has me thinking about my future again and where I'm headed.

What to do...what to do?  Is there ever a 100% correct decision?  Can I just move to a tropical island, sleep in a hut on the beach, and watch the waves roll in?

I think not.

Overall, everything is okay.  I get to see this beautiful bridge with flashing snowflake lights everyday.

I have some amazing new friends.  My little bro is graduating from college in a week and a half...oh my goodness...and I'll get to see some of my awesome family members as we celebrate his achievement.  Graduate school applications have been sent off, so I'm done with those unless I decide to apply to more...we'll see...  

Life is pretty good....as is the Chai Tea Latte I'm currently enjoying.  

Right on.

Peace and love,

Amelia

P.S.  If I don't post again before Christmas...

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and a Happy New Year!

Identify...Identity.

My good friend and writer, Anica, recently posted an inspiring blog identifying herself.  As an avid barefoot runner, it made sense for her to purchase the Road ID, a band that runners wear around their wrist while running identifying themselves should anything bad happen to them during a run.

Being the creative writer that she is, Anica was moved to write a blog post identifying herself in life.  Of course, I love anything like that with quotes and thought-provoking material...so I clicked "like" on Facebook when she posted the link.

With that, the challenge was issued: "Amelia Tritico -- how do you ID yourself?"  I love a good writing prompt...so here goes nothing!

I'm a Barista, a writer, a publicist, a musician, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a student...

I love love.  I fail at it daily, but I want to live my life with as much love as possible.  I want to love and be loved.  If I'm doing a poor job at loving you...tell me, I'll do everything I can to fix it.

I'm addicted to traveling.  Short distance, long distance, you name it, I'll do it.  I love going places, meeting new people and having adventures.

Sunshine puts me in the greatest of moods, but I love a good thunderstorm.

Music fuels me.

I'm incredibly indecisive, but tend to make split-second decisions when I get frustrated with making a decision.  It keeps things interesting. :-)

I love making friends.

I love my family.  I've moved a lot, but through it all, I had the support of my incredible, loving parents and the friendship and fun of my amazing brother.

I am a Christian...I try to be more spiritual than religious, and I can't deny my love for my Creator and His love for me.  I love how He loves me.

I have the best friends on the planet.  Seriously...if you're my friend, you're amazing.  If you're not my friend, we'll probably be friends soon because I love making friends!  :-)

I just want to be happy in life.  I have no clue what I'm doing, but as long as I'm happy, I don't care.

I'm still learning things about myself that I didn't know.  I've learned more about myself in the past 2 years since graduating college than in the 4.5 years during college.

I believe it's important to know who you are, what you stand for and what moves you.

You can't expect others to understand you if you don't understand yourself.

Thank you for the challenge, Anica!  I pass this challenge along to all my readers.  Make a list of the things that you feel identify you.

Know who you are...inside and out.

Love and peace,

Amelia

P.S.  Yay, pumpkin carving!!!  :-)