Healthy Life, Happy Life

In just the last few months, I chose to take part in a much healthier lifestyle not only to lose weight, but to be a happier and healthier me. Heath is a big deal to me, obviously for the fact that I am diabetic. I am constantly counting carbs on a regular basis and keeping track of the foods I am consuming, and the amount of exercise I am taking part in, so why not go the extra mile?

Being healthy feels amazing. I'm not as tired (apart from working late some nights) and I have a lot more energy. And it was just the smallest change. Eating organic, healthy food. Every morning I try to have a smoothie that consists of:

250mL water
1/2 cup of Spinach
1/4 sqeezed lemon juice
1 cup of fruit (I love strawberries, mangos, oranges, and apples)
1 tsp of Nutrasure Omega3 apple flavoured oil

Of course, a smoothie is not the only change. I now shop at a store called Goodness Me. It is an all natural and organic food store. This means that there are no chemicals used on the foods while they were being grown, and many of the foods I get there are gluten, sugar, egg, wheat, and cholesterol  Wrong! Many foods have natural sugars and sweet flavours that make eating healthier, easier. Something as simple as having gluten free pretzels, and peanut free peanut butter thats made with sunflower seeds for a snack makes all the difference, and it tastes amazing too! I am still mind blown at how many really good foods there are for you that taste even better than the "junky" version of it.

At first, I had a totally wrong outlook on the whole "being healthy" thing. Prom was coming up and all of the girls wanted the perfect "prom body", and I fell into this fad pretty quick. I began dieting and cutting out many carbs out of my day. And ask many fellow diabetics know, this is very harmful to us because we need carbs for energy as well as to balance out our insulin intake. I kept getting low blood sugar levels during class and in the middle of the night, and figured out it was because of the low carb intake. Then I seen that this "diet" was so ridiculous, and was probably only hurting my body more than it was helping. Then healthy organic came into mind, and here we are. It really does feel great knowing that eating the same things as everyone else, with just a few better ingredients in them, has helped me so much. Proportions are also key too, however, without completely cutting out a dietary must such as carbohydrates. Throughout this journey I have come to realize that dieting just to look good really is such a bad way to view yourself. Society's view on the word "healthy" has changed so durastically that we fail to see the negatives in it. Starving yourself of what your body needs is not healthy, but giving it what it needs in a healthier form, is. Of course, without exercise or physical activity, you're not helping yourself at all.

One Year & A New Life

I know it feels as though its been forever since I last wrote, but I guess its safe to say that grade 12 is quite a busy year. Lots of heavily loaded courses, spending the last year with your friends, working, prom, and all that wonderful stuff has definitely been taking up a vast majority of my time lately. However, my one year anniversary of having Type 1 Diabetes was on May the 1st, and this is what I had to say about it:

Today marks a very special and important day for me. May 1st. Just an average day of the year for most other people, but for me, is a day my entire outlook on life changed. The day the world of Juvenile Type 1  Diabetes became my livelihood.  My blood, sweat, tears and passion. Most people would wonder why you would celebrate an anniversary of a chronic disease, but in all honesty, diabetes has changed me into a better person with a healthier lifestyle that I love. I've learned so much along this journey, and my outlook on life has changed drastically. Ive come to appreciate life a lot more than I ever have, and treat others so much better because you never know what someone may be going through. Diabetes is a tough, but silent disease. I walk past people who would never be able to look at me and say "she has diabetes".  I do my best to contribute to the diabetes association as well as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation because I know Im not the only one. I do have my weak days. as do all other diabetics, and somedays I wish I could just put this disease on hold for just 24 hours and live a normal life again, and not worry anout injections or my blood sugar, or how many carbs are in something I want to eat, but then I remember its part of who I am now, and this is the path God chose for me. I know He wouldnt have lead me this way if he didnt think i would be able to handle it. I have never been more thankful and appreciative for this beautiful gift God gave us, called life. And Im so proud to be in a nation where diabetes is a team effort of research and education. If this were my life 50 or 60 years ago, i might not have had the chance to be here today. I can truely say that I keep this chronic, yet learning experience of a disease extremely close to my heart. Talking and working with othe diabetics has showed me that together as a team, we can Dia-beat this! <3
May 1st 2012 - the day my life changed for the better, forever!

I'm very proud for how far I have come, and I cannot thank my family and friends enough for being there for me and watching out for me when I needed it the most. It does mean more than you can imagine. Diabetes is not an easy thing, and I really dont think I could have done it on my own. Without my support system, I really do not know where I would be today.

If Diabetes Could Talk

Lately, my diabeties hasn't been treating me the way it usually does - the way I like it to. Balanced. Simple. Manageable. Some days are worse than others, but I handle it the best I can nonetheless. Every type one has those days where they wish they could just put their entire situation with all the needles, blood sugar, and insulin on hold for just 24 hours to feel normal again - or for those who were born with it to feel what its like to not have a headache, or worry about counting carbs and eating healthy. I'll admit it, we all have our weak days, some more than others, but in the end its always worth it.

My sugar don't always behave. In all honestly, they've been quite a roller coaster the last week or so. One morning I woke up and they were normal, I was a bad decision maker and did not eat breakfast, and a few hours later they went up to 19. Then wildly enough, went down to 2.1 an hour and a half later. It was pretty crazy, and really made me want to just scream out "I QUIT". Days like these are what I consider "weak days". The days where I just wish diabetes wasn't a factor in my life and it just gave me a break every once in a while where I could go on a cookie binge, or eat all the skittles I wanted to. But as we know, diabetes has no mercy. It is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. It won't go away, even if I ask it to super nicely. But what if diabetes could talk? What if it could tell me when my sugar is getting too low or too high, or decide for me what I should eat for every meal one day? How awesome would that be? It could be that little voice that tells me to keep pushing through because otherwise I wouldn't be here anymore. Or maybe it could be that voice that guides me in the right direction when I don't know what to do. It could scold me when im craving cookies and chocolate, and pat me on the back when I devour a whole bundle of celery. It could chime up and be my alarm clock when it was time to take my long acting insulin, and tell you the best place in your stomach to put the needle instead of playing a guessing game everytime. It could tell you how long you have till your sugar goes below 4, or how long of a run you should go on everyday to maintain a healthy body. It would encourage me and tell me to keep going when I take part in the 5km run this march for the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation and tell me to educate people about it so that others who are not affected can understand. It could tell me to ignore those who are ignorant towards it and embrace those who are interested and want to learn more to help. It could tell me when there is another type 1 in the room so that we can talk about our lives and how diabetes has helped us to grow into who we are now.

I'd love to sit down and talk to diabetes itself for a day. Theres many questions I'd love to ask as well. Like "why me?". But the fact of the matter is, I already know the answer. I'm diabetic because that is the way God chose to make me. It defines me and it brings out the best in me. So maybe that was Gods idea of giving diabetes a voice. He gave it to me to teach people and share my experiences. To show people that I'm not affraid of it and I can do it no matter what. To reveal the true face behind diabetes and everything it has to offer. Diabetes does have a voice. It has many voices, and many heartbeats. And each one of these voices helps eachother along, because we all have weak days, and we all struggle. Without the many voices of diabetes, everyday would be a weak day, and everyday would be a fight. Supporting eachother is the best possible thing people with Type 1 Diabetes can possibly do for eachother, even if they are half way around the world!

- Jenn :)

New Beginnings, New Experiences

Wow, the holidays have already come and pretty much gone. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. All the lights, decorations, seeing family you don't often get to see, and for me, meeting my new boyfriend Evan's family and friends. Its such an exciting time of the year that often times things get pushed to the back of our minds with all the Christmas rush and the talk about the new and upcoming year that diabetes isn't always my first thought. With all the candies out on the table, the shortbread, the gingerbread barn that me and Evan made covered in sprinkles and candy, I sometimes realised that I forgot I was diabetic. Its crazy how fast your sugar levels can fluctuate. As a diabetic, I count carbohydrates so the mountain of mashed potatoes on my plate along with all the stuffing and gravy over my turkey can amount to the same amount of carbs in all the Christmas goodies as well so it was really tough for me this year. It was more of a trial and error thing for my first week off from school. I found that my sugar levels would spike from time to time, especially when it came to Christmas jiggs dinner with my moms side of the family. (For anyone who does not know, Jiggs dinner is like a turkey dinner but with a touch of Newfoundland). I felt pretty spacey for a lot of the time, but after the second Turkey dinner I had, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on it. I am still on the sliding scale for the amount of insulin I take, but I decided for the third turkey dinner I had that I would try carb counting and this seemed to work a lot better for me!

Since this is a new year, I decided that I would try to get a little more involved in diabetes awareness as well as being a lot more on top of my diabetes. As most diabetics, we do forget our insulin from time to time, or were out with friends or in my case, boyfriend, and I lose track of time and its then past the time that I usually take it. I am also brutal for forgetting doctors and specialist appointments when it comes to my diabetes, There are things that you can do to help with this, though. I decided to make an alarm in my phone for the time I take my insulin, and I also picked up a date book to keep track of the insulin that I'm taking and all the upcoming appointments I had. At first, I thought date books were more so for moms and older adults who had so much more going on than I do. My boss Jackie from TSC actually influenced me to get one since they come in some pretty interesting patterns and showed me that they're so easy and a good way of looking at what else you have coming up that week. I enjoy using it too, and it makes life so much more organized.

All in all, I just hope that 2013 is a much better year than 2012. Of course 2012 had its positives too, I pray that 2013 is even better! The last year has been quite tough for me with everything going on with family and personal life stuff, but its nice to be able to sit back and breathe for a bit now. My new boyfriend Evan has had a lot to do with it of course, and he makes me pretty much the happiest girl in the world, but I want this year to be a little easier than last. Its always good for new beginnings and changes. Whether is a new boyfriend and meeting his spectacular family and adjusting to their customs, or maybe you're a newly diabetic like I was just a few months ago. Whatever it is, make it count and make it worth it. Theres always room for improvement and changes when it comes to life itself, and its always good to make changes to help better yourself! My holidays this year were awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas and New Years, even though my mother teased me by filling my stocking with candy & DEX4 tablets! ;)

- Jenn

Cowgirls Don't Cry ; Ride, Baby, Ride !

Ive often wondered, why is the life of a diabetic viewed so differently than someone who does not have it? Why would it matter if i was a country girl, with or without diabetes? Does it really make any difference at all? As long as I take my insulin, eat properly and exercise often, I should have the same blood sugar as everyone else, right? My brain should be able to aprehend just as much as a regular grade 12 student if I keep all these things inline and sleep on a pretty decent schedule. I dont understant it. Why do some people feel the need to comment on a disease someone has? Does it make them feel better about themself that they dont have to take needles, get blood taken every 3 months, experiment with different insulins, or feel like shit just because their diabetes decides to act out from time to time. Some people really dont understand how diabetes affects an individual, and how their words do actually affect my blood sugar. Since being diagnosed in May of 2012, I am absolutely appauled at how many disrespectful people there are. I mean, in all honesty, society is pretty harsh and judging to begin with, but to have the nerve to degrade someone because they have a chronic disease that they had no control over getting is absolutely disgusting.

Since my blog is based soley on my person experiences, I wanted to touch on the topic of being spoken down to due to being diabetic. Im sure I'm not the only Type 1 to ever experience this, but it certainly is not a feeling I enjoy to see people saying rude things about being diabetic. What is our society seriously coming to? Are we going to be rude to people with cancer, too? I write a blog, yes. I volunteer for the Canadian Diabetes Association, yes. I raise money for the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation by doing the walk for diabetes, yes. But somehow people still feel the need to say things on the internet to try and degrade me and make me feel bad? Ha. I laugh at every single one of you who have ever done this to either me, or another type one diabetic. You're absolutely pathetic. You are the kind of people who keep me going even more, and push me to take my insulin to keep on living, and eat healthy and exercise. Youre the ones I like to prove wrong, and push me want to make even more of a difference in the world. So what? I write a blog, and  you know what? I enjoy every second of it. The feed back I get from my posts gives me a feeling of accomplishment I cant even begin to explain. Ive been told I am an inspiration a lot more times than anyone has or will ever talk down about me because of my diabetes. Im able to joke around with my diabetes when it comes to sugery foods, or subjects people dont often like to touch on because of it and I love that Im able to do that. Someone wants to eat a cookie or doughnut around me? GIVE 'ER ! Ill eat my carrot sticks or whatever. Actually no, Ill have a bite of that cookie. And you know what? Id deserve it from putting up with so much crap from ineducated people in this world who are so ignorant to diabetes. I push through everything, no matter what. You want to talk rudely about me and my diabetes? Okay, walk a day in my shoes then. You wouldn't last past breakfast. I have "Strength" tattooed on my ribs for a reason, and a tattoo on my hip to recognize that I am diabetic and proud of it. So say what you want, I wont be the one actually getting laughed at. The fact that anyone even has the nerve to speak badly about a chronic disease is pathetic enough, but to do it to someone you actually know? Thats a whole new level of disrespect and ignorance. I truely believe in Karma and that what comes around goes around.  

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Diabetes is one of those things that I find people are scared of. I was in the washroom doing my insulin at work one night and a lady who appeared to be about 40 walked in and right off the bat, knew what I was doing. She proceeded to tell me that needles terrify her and that if she were a type 1 diabetic, she would never take them. I explained to her that I almost died as a result of not knowing I was diabetic and ignoring my symptoms, just the same as if I were to abrupty stop taking my insulin. Intrigued by what I was doing, she continued to ask me how I can just stab myself in the stomach and be okay with it. Lately, Ive had a lot of people ask me about my diabetes and how I manage it from day to day. Instead of explaing over and over, and telling people that I just take my insulin when I need to as well as scheduled meal times, I wanted to do an actual walk through a particular part of my day, the morning, so people can feel and experience in their minds what its like to walk in my shoes.

Your alarm goes off and you wake up, Its 6:45 in the morning and you're exhausted. You hear your favourite song "Rain is a Good Thing" by Luke Bryan blarring in your ear from your phone and you roll over and turn it off without realizing. You sleep for another few minutes, and then your 7:00AM alarm goes off, this time, to "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry. You have a few alarms set because as a diabetic, you can be so tired for no reason and end up sleeping through the first alarm. The sun peeks through your blinds and engulfs your room as its own way of saying "Good Morning", so you get out of bed and automatically feel your entire body quivering from your nose to your toes. Your arms feel the worst, like you're sitting in a vibrating chair and cant change the settings, so you immediately sit up and reach for your glucose meter beside your emergency night time candies, crackers and sugar packed juice which was set out just incase of a low blood sugar spell in the middle of the night. You unzip the pouch, insert a test strip into the meter until it turns on and promptly asks you for a drop of blood. You begin to prepare your lancet. You pull the cap off, take out the colourful needle and walk down the hallway to throw it into the sharps container thats in the corner of your dining room cabinet that has its own designated spot for all of your diabetic belongings and "overstock". You add a different colour needle to the little lancet device, and put the cap back on, making sure that the lowest puncture setting is set for your girly little fingers. You massage your hands and fingers to get the blood pumping through them, and then push the hole in the cap of the lancet against your pinky finger the best that you can, and press the little unpleasant blue button to release the needle quickly, and almost painlessly, into your finger. It stings a little, kind of like an elastic being pulled on, and let go of onto the end of your finger, but it immediately goes away. The blood starts to slowly come out of your finger and you grab your meter and catch the blood with the little test strip. Your blood sugar reads 4.0 on the dot and you know automatically that any lower could cause you some trouble. You walk over to the kitchen, pour yourself a bowl of Kellogs Vanilla cereal and add 1% milk. You quickly glimpse at the nutrition facts to jog your memory as to how many carbs you are taking in, and savour every last bite because the vanilla has such a sweet taste that you do not get to taste to often in the day. You grab your glucose metre again and check your blood sugar. Its 6,5. Not too bad for just eating. Its 7:30 now and its time to take your long acting insulin, Novalin, the slow release insulin that keeps your sugar down throughout the day so you don't get random sugar high peaks. You walk back over to the cabinet, reach into the box of 100 needles, and grab one. You pull the thin, green sticker off the top of your 4mm needle case, and carefully twist it onto nova nordisk insulin pen so that you don't bend the needle even in the smallest way. You dial the pen to 27 units and you lift up your shirt and feel around for the most comfortable spot thats not too tender. You pull off the little clear cap that keeps the needle safe from any kind of pressure, then carefully take off the slender green one that barely covers the actual needle itself. You count to three, and fast, but with an extreme amount of caution and particular angling, pierce the skin of your stomach with the needle that is no longer in length than the nail of your pinky finger. You slide your hand up slowly to the top so that your thumb is pressing the opposite end, and push the little cap so the insulin is released inside of you. At first, your stomach feels warm where the insulin is spreading, then the insertion site of the needle starts to sting a bit. Once the cap is fully pushed in, you leave the needle inside your stomach for about 10 seconds so that you receive every drop. You pull it out at the exact angle you inserted it in so that there is minimal bleeding, and immediately the tiny little hole starts to sting a bit and a clear liquid, the insulin, secretes a small amount from it. You dance around, jump, skip, whatever you need to do, and wait for the insulin to be disributed to other parts of your stomach and  be less dense in one particular spot since its more of a throbbing pain now. You put the clear cap back on the needle and twist it off and throw it into the sharps container along with all your lancets. Its 7:40 and the bus comes in 15 minutes. You head to your room, plug in your straightener and throw on your uniform as it heats up. You start to straighten your hair that you washed in the shower the night before, being careful not to burn yourself as diabetics have a very difficult time healing from burns. Its then 7:50 and you hear the tractors and combines outside your window more vividly, and you know the everyone is starting to begin their day as well. You grab your things, throw on your backpack, and put your glucose meter and insulin pen/needles in your giant purse and head back to the kitchen. You woke up with a lower than normal blood sugar level this morning so you pack a few granola bars from the snack cupboard just incase your sugar drops before you get the chance to eat your lunch. You run out the door now that its 7:53, barely having enough time to put on your shoes, and jump on the bus where you finish off getting ready by popping in those head phones and listening to the knew Tyler Farr & Chase Rice songs you just downloaded the previous night to drown out the sound of screaming kindergarteners and obnoxious preteens, and finish doing your makeup. You then continue about your day being a normal teen who just so happens to have to stab themselves in the stomach or finger a few times a day. No big deal, right?

Of course, my mornings aren't always as perfect as this. There are days where I forget to take my slow release insulin and end up taking it at school, or wake up late and have to go toschool with low blood sugar because I dont have time to eat. Every single day is different. My afternoons and nights are not the same as my mornings, as thats when I'm the most active. The only thing thats really changes is my low blood sugars and my need to drop what I'm doing to grab a quick snack and check my blood sugar. Exercising can be a little challenging from time to time, which I will touch a little bit more on in a different blog post, but it definitely can lead to a low blood sugar that you can't notice. Besides episodes like this, my diabetes is managed just about the same way throughout the day. Its easy, just takes a lot of getting used to, a lot of time, and definitley routine and strength. I never once thought in a million years I would be giving myself needles on a daily basis, especially since they were my biggest fear as a child, but here I am now. Diabetes isn't changing your entire lifesyle for it, its making it your lifestyle. Its not hard, just takes a lot of practice and support from those around you!

Jenn :)

I'll Listen Till Your Tears Give Out

Not too often do I have days where I feel weak because for the most part, I know what makes me feel better. I've always been the strong one when it comes to my friends and I barely ever lean on anyone else when Im going through something since I'm pretty independant. Just today, I had one of those days where I felt like I couldn't be strong for everyoneone else anymore and had to be strong for myself for once. Lately there has been quite a lot going on in my life with friends and others that sometimes feels like a movie, and every now and then we all break down. Stress, as I mention often, is one of those things that Type 1 Diabetics really cannot afford since it does mess with our blood sugar and makes us feel even worse in the end, so when it comes to days like today, I look to a note that I wrote on facebook a few years ago when I was feeling like this and thought it would be an interesting blog post since I know a lot of people could relate to it.

Please note though, that there is swearing in this note. Theres nothing that anyone should take offense to, but I wrote exactly how I felt at the time and it helped to get my point and opinion across so please do not get upset about the odd "f-bomb" here and there.

"It all starts out so easy. Everything is handed to you on a plate, and you dont really think twice about a lot of things. The world seems so amazing in the eyes of a 5 year old, or even the eyes of a 12 year old. Life just passes you by, and everything is so simple. The hardest part about your day is getting out of bed, because your just so warm, and just so comfortable. Or maybe the fact that recess is over, because you want to keep playing those easy, childish games with your friends. Days, months, years go by and you barely even notice. But then one day, you just see it. You see how the world really works. Those friends you were playing with just the other day, yeah .. the ones you say your going to be best friends with forever? Well guess what, you're not going to be best friends forever. Forever does not exist. At some point, things do end. You may be in a car, driving for days and days, and you've been sitting in that same seat, and it feels like you're seeing the same things over and over, and it feels like you're never going to get there, but eventually you do. Your car ride ends and its all over. You'll never experience the same car ride again.. Or maybe someone tells you theyre going to be there for you forever, but guess what. theyre not. They'll definitely be there for you as much as they can, but theyre only going to be there for so long. People leave. They walk out of your life before you really get the chance to know them. Sure you may have been friends for since grade 5, since the very first day a your new school, but then they go to a different high school as you. You talk and stay in touch, but you never really hang out. Then everthing just stops. No texts, no phone calls, no messages, no nothing. You knew them for four years, but what the hell is 4 years out of like, the 70 that you're going to live? Did you really know them?  All thats left of them is the memories you made, the memories you cannot change. Thats the problem with people these days. They just walk out, they leave, and you're left to sit there and think "what the fuck did i do wrong"? Well, nothing of course. Nothings forever. Shit happens and people change. Some people change for the best, and some people change for the worst, and unfortunately thats also whats wrong with people in todays society. Barely anyone changes for the good anymore. Everyones too busy caught up with their looks, and their own problems. From the layers and layers of coverup and bronzer, to the fake eyelashes and nails, to working out for hours on end every night because they think they're fat, or theyre muscles arent big enough, to just not giving a fuck about anyone else but themselves. People are so selfish these days that they dont give a shit about your problems when you talk about them, and most people are happy that you have them so that theyre not the only ones going through shit. But between getting caught up in your own problems, and seeing so many fake people, you then find that one special thing, that ONE SPECIAL thing that you would give anything for. Youd take a bullet for; you'd fucking die for. Your life long dream.. but its so far out of reach that it feels like you have to swim across the ocean to get to it. So you give up. you just give up on everything because its too hard. Thats another thing people do way too much anymore. They give up. When things get hard they cant bare to face their problems and they run away like a little bitch. They wish they were young again, when things were easy.. but wishing isnt going to change anything. You have to be your own change. But people never see that. They expect everything to be handed to them on a silver fucking platter, or they try to escape. They turn to drugs, or they turn to alchohol, but thats only a temporary escape. Everythings still the same once you go back to your normal state of mind. Nothings ever simple, but an escape route is never the answer. You have to learn to fix things, to change things, because nothing is forever. NOTHING IS FUCKING FOREVER. You think you have everything, and in a split second it could all be gone. People take life for granted way to much. and thats the problem. Life can change in a moment, a heartbeat, or a flash .. and barely anyone ever sees that anymore. Were soo lucky to be alive, to have a beating heart, to be able to love, and to be able to live, that we get too caught up with lifes problems to see the things we should be out enjoying. You still have your whole life ahead of you so take a step back and look at yourself. REALLY look at yourself. Your a human, and you own your own life. You only have one, so live it, and live it BIG. Fall in love, fall out of love, and repeat until you know what its like to really love someone and be loved back. Dont hate everyone because of the things people have said or done to you. Dont get in the way of things you cant control because shit happens and people change, even though its a hard concept to understand, but you have to, and you learn to, otherwise your life isnt going to be much of anything except dwelling on your past and things you'll never be able to change. So live for something and live for yourself. Imagine. Inspire. Believe. Just let go of all the bullshit in your life, and all the useless things youd be better without and just live. Be something one day, make something of yourself and achieve your goals if its the last thing you do. Live your life and look back with no regrets ♥"

~ Jennifer O'Leary

January 27th 2011

Everytime Im upset and in a bad mood, I reread this over and over to remind myself that nothing is forever and that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. And of course, Life never throws something at you that you cannot handle. I try my best to push through everything bad that comes my way, and I even have "Strength" tattooed on me to remind myself to be strong and never to give up. Being diabetic, there are always going to be those days where you think you can't do it anymore and just wish you didn't have to stab your stomach with insulin needles and pierce your fingers with lancets to check your blood sugar, but its important to look at the positive things in life over the negatives, and remember that you can get through anything, you just have to find your purpose in life and reasons to be the happiest you can possibly be!

Jenn :)