Oddest reunion and other things

Everyday I'm reminded of my trip to Europe and everyday I'm reminded why I love meeting new people. Mainly meeting people who love to travel.
Yesterday I had the craziest moment. I was taking pictures of sunset and out walks a guy whose looking at me funny. Immediately I'm thinking I know this person, and before my brain figures it out I'm blurting out "oh shit that's rick". Hahaha as soon as I said it my mind went back to u12 soccer when I was 9 years old. My mind was boggled, how am I in Costa Rica and seeing someone I haven't seen in my own hometown in 6-7 years plus. It was great to see him, hear about his life, the yoga, the foood, the life and the dream he is living.
Today we got a surf lesson and were out on the ocean for 2 hours. It was a blast, caught some good waves. Wiped out a bunch and added to my collection of sore muscles and bruises! We will be back out by 4pm for another session and then stay for sunset!
The people on this trip are awesome, we got drinking and playing games last night. It was a lot of fun, a lot of laughs.
My napping has been often and timing hasn't always been great. I napped after dinner last night and came back out for drinks. Not ideal but you gotta work with what you got.
Anyways, time to tan. :)

Happy New Year & All That Jazz

It’s that time…I owe everyone a blog update and I owe myself the tranquillity that the writing brings me.

Things have changed since I last blogged, but my life is always changing and that’s why I love it! My photography is still slow going and will be a continual work in progress, however I have met up with a Wedding and Event Planner! It was a great coffee date that went in nothing but the right direction; we will be working together this year on building both of our portfolios! I am super excited and although it might be work that’s not paid…it will one day all pay off!

I am still working in retail at the children’s clothing store Ivivva and honestly love my job there. The company is really inspiring on the basis of goal setting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I’ve always had goals in the back of my mind…but writing them down, showing the world what they are, and making a “by when” finish date makes the goal seem more achievable. I’ve got some goals I’m aiming to complete in 2014; I will share one from each category personal, career, and health!

Personal: Scuba Diving Certification by August 2014

Career: Shoot one Wedding as the main photographer or second photographer by December 2014

Health: Have my percentage of body fat at or below 20% by July 2014

My only complaint is since Christmas I haven’t been getting enough hours. This one complaint has me on the lookout for another job, one that’s flexible!

Recently I was in Hawaii with a friend from College…She conveniently decided to run her first marathon in Maui. Also convenient that she had no one tagging along for the adventure! I gladly stepped up to the plate and so happy I did. I had an amazing time in an absolutely gorgeous place. If you haven’t been I highly suggest you put Maui on the list. It’s incredible and warm and perfect and I want to be back there!! We got to go surfing, snorkeling and kayaking. I have a soft spot for surfing, I find it incredibly fun and have now been three times…and can’t wait to go again. I hadn’t been kayaking before so I found it fun and the spots we stopped to snorkel were neat! I swam with some turtles, literally could have touched them if that wasn’t frowned upon! We also lucked out completely and had the luxury of being present to a baby humpback whale and it’s “playtime”. I couldn’t believe it, probably 20 feet away from us out popped a baby whale slapping in the water, twisting, turning and just having a grand time. You could see the shadows of mom and dad under us…absolutely massive animals. It was impressive and truly a unique experience! I’m a little sad I am already back home in the cold, but these trips are the ones that give me the motivation to save my money for more travelling!

My life is full of workouts these days as I try to lean out and build upper body strength. Since summer I have lost about 20 pounds and feel better about myself and happier in general. I have a great friend who works out with me 6 days a week at the Universities gym. It’s a huge help to have someone to go to the gym with, it’s motivation to finish the workouts and to stay on track. My social life is rather boring, everyone is back in school and broke…actually we’ve always been broke we just pretend we have money during winter break and the occasional weekend. Funny enough on one of those “pretending to have money” weekends back in October I ended up meeting a guy I am now dating. Turns out boys don’t have cooties; a lie I was told in kindergarten only to find out at age 20 that some guys are pretty all right. My dog seems to like him and he’s been rather kind to me so I’ll keep him until given reason otherwise. Haha.

In the world of narcolepsy and meds…

Slowly but surely cataplexy has entered back into my life, nothing of the collapsing sort or the disabling type. Just the face weakness I remember from high school. It could be from the simple fact that I find myself and my friends to be hilarious… or the actual and pure fact that I am tired. It never seems to happen in the day, but usually at night and late and it’s usually from reading a ridiculous text from a friend, joking around with someone or just plain funny things. It’s almost as if I go to giggle and laugh that my face lacks control and causes me to frown. It’s like cataplexy hates laughter or seeing you happy and it’s got to let you know…either way it’s not debilitating or anything and I am perfectly fine.

I did however get a new prescription yesterday. I’ve always taken 54mg of Concerta…occasionally I’ll take 72 mg or low doses like 18mg on days of naps and no driving. It’s been working but I’ve been also feeling like I don’t realise that I need the 72mg until it’s too late in the day. Since Concerta is 12 hour medication I can’t really take it past 10:30. It’s been between 12-4 that I’ve noticed “I might not make it to the end of the day”. Medicating with Caffeine isn’t ideal because of the crash I feel after and the broken sleep it causes on an already broken enough sleep. All this being said my doctor has prescribed me the regular short acting Ritalin. Just the low dose of 5mg…hoping it helps and I am able to make good use of it on the days where I am struggling at noon! Will keep you posted on this in future!

Last but certainly not least I wanted to introduce a new blog I have found. It’s just up and running recently and I’m inspired and happy to see a young narcoleptic taking the time to blog. His family is helping him; clearly doing a great job at supporting him with school and extra activities. Normal is all we want in our lives, especially when we are young and trying to fit in. I wish him nothing but the best in his journey and look forward to reading the blog!

http://www.narcolepsykid.com/

Enjoy your day!

Life's not good it's great;

I don’t know where to start; honestly I am so grateful and humbled by the people who have emailed me both recently and in the past. This blog was never intended to be anything more than sharing my experiences as a narcoleptic. My life is above average for a narcoleptic, and I’m happy that this life of mine is inspiring the life of others. I honestly figured that most people who read it would be my friends, family members and past teachers. To see how far its gone in 3 years boggles my mind, to see how many people view my blog monthly astonishes me. I feel whole when I write this blog and I feel uplifted and ecstatic that I have inspired, motivated or given hope to people around the world. Truthfully your emails encourage me to be a better person, motivate me to write more and give me faith that the future of narcoleptics is positive. So for that I thank you, you all are wonderful people and I hope in the near future I am able to make it to a Narcolepsy Conference to meet you all.

My life is looking pretty promising from where I am sitting. If you’ve followed along on my blog for a while or know me personally you’ll have known I went to school for photography. You also may have realised that since college I’ve done next to nothing in the photography world. It was kind of unintentionally intentional. I think taking a year and a bit off was one the best decisions I made. I know my parents wanted me to or at least questioned why I didn’t dive right into my career and start a business. However for me, I think I would have gave up on it within the first month. There was moments I even questioned if photography was where I wanted a career; I think it was just the simple fact that I don’t like being told what to do and school was a lot of that! ;)

I realised that it’s not like I was sick of photography, but I was sick of having people to please and my crafts being what pleased everyone. I love photography, I get a real joy out of creating images and peoples reactions to them…however after school I had had enough of the go go go and needed some slow down and breath time. Quite frankly it’s been really good for me, I’ve been able to focus on other things, and now realign my heart into photography.

With my heart back in it I’ve decided to invest my energy and time into my career. I realise it’s going to take a few years to be where I want, perhaps even longer. However the longer I wait to start, the longer it will take to get where I want to be. Ultimately I want to be making a living off my photography; the end goal would be solely working as a photographer. It will take a while, but I do believe in myself and I do think talent will overcome the obstacle of everyone being a “photographer” these days.

I’ve had a few shoots in the recent months, family, couples, maternity and a shoot with a friend and her horses. It’s been really fun and I’ve learned from each shoot. I don’t claim to know everything about photography; yes I went to school but I’ll always be learning or finding new ways of doing things. I’m basically just working towards expanding my art and getting my name out and work out there.

My mom gave me some of the best advice the other night. “You will attract the kind of clients you want by doing what you love”. My mom was a dog breeder for years, a well established one and never once did she advertise; people who were wanting what she had to offer came looking for her and her boxers. She didn’t have to advertise and her clients all appreciated what she did and were always loyal. It’s sometimes hard to understand that logic, but I don’t want to be a photographer for someone once. I want the customers that come back for each milestone; the clients who rave about me to friends and the people that seek me out. One day I’ll be there, for now I will continue to put in the work. I will continue to love my job and let that love for my job do the work.

If you have facebook please like my photography page; it would be a huge help. 

www.facebook.com/SarahBeauPhotography

You can also visit my website; check the blog for recent photo shoots!

www.sarahbeauphotography.com

Thank you so much! 

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Book Review: Wide Awake And Dreaming

Merry Christmas!

It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to read a book that so much heart and passion was put into. Wide Awake and Dreaming was a trouble-free read that left me consuming the novel all in one day.

Julie Flygare has been an inspiration to me since day one of my diagnosis of both Narcolepsy and Cataplexy. Ever since finding her REMrunner blog I have had a constant positive role model who made a choice to overcome Narcolepsy, not suffer from it. Three years have passed and her writing has been an endless source of positive energy and has contributed to creating my own positive future.

In the beginnings of her book I found myself relating to every single question she raised on her pursuit to a diagnosis. The detail and the description Julie writes with had me questioning if in fact I wasn’t reading my own memoir. Whether she was sleeping in class or thinking up absurd ways to stay awake I was right there reminiscing my High School days. Julie sent me on a roller coaster of emotions; her words brought laughter, but they also brought tears as I was reminded of some of my own darkest day. It’s a book of struggles, lost dreams, uncertainty, but most of all it’s a book about rising above an illness and achieving what once was the unthinkable.

            The community of narcoleptics or PWN (person with narcolepsy) owes a huge thank you and a huge round of applause to Julie for not only writing a book, but for writing a memoir we all can relate to. Flygare’s writing goes into detail about the challenges we face not just with the sleepiness but the emotional and physical battles we constantly endure. Julie continues to be a upbeat advocate for people living with Narcolepsy with contagious optimism. I thank her for having the courage to talk about her narcolepsy/cataplexy in such a raw way but also for being brave enough to let it hit the shelves.

            I strongly recommend and encourage Wide Awake and Dreaming. It’s a must read for anyone who has encountered Narcolepsy and or Cataplexy, whether you are a family member, a friend, or the person who is confronting it first hand you will find inspiration and endless knowledge in all 213 pages! 

The Memoir can be found and purchased below:

Wide Awake and Dreaming

Jumble of Irrelevant Thoughts;

Six Meaningless Meanderings

• Exams and studying sucks therefore I have managed to procrastinate and find myself on blogger rather than buried in my text book.
• This morning during my last lecture for Financial Accounting I came to the realization that there are three days left of school and I have yet to even comprehend what happened in the first three weeks of my Accounting class.
• I have acquired a lot of stuff in just two years, I have a lot of clothes, a lot of shoes and by a lot I actually mean I have too many to fit in three bags.
• I am super excited for Thursday because Thursday is when school is over, and Thursday is when I get to go to the cities to spend my last night with my best friend. We will be eating junk food and drinking wine, and celebrating the end of both our times here at this particular college.
• Not only do I get to see my family on Friday but I get to see my favourite thing in the entire world, my dog Puma. I love the excitement she feels when I come home, seriously everyone should own a dog at least once in there life so they know how awesome it is to come home to one.
• Tomorrow I am suppose to receive my copy of Julie Flygare's first book "Wide Awake and Dreaming". I am beyond excited to read it on my flight home! Everyone I know, everyone who knows me or anyone with narcolepsy needs to read it. I haven't even read it yet but I know she's a phenomenal writer based off reading her blog the past three years! 

Five Things I Will Miss

• College soccer, a few of my teammates and the structured daily workouts that have kept me motivated and in shape up until now
• The fact that I could basically walk anywhere and everywhere and a car payment and gas money were irrelevant
• Photography Class & Art Students, being surrounded by art students and other photo students totally inspires you to try new things, explore new medias and all around just sparks your creativity. I will miss walking through those halls and seeing what everyone is up to these days!
• The Independence and ability to literally do whatever I want, whenever I want and having no one around to judge me for staying in my pajamas all Sunday
• I babysat a little girl named Abbey for the past year and a half, she is Four and really was a fun kid to be around. I will miss her and her awesome jokes. :)

Four Things I Look Forward Too

• Free Food, Free Laundry, and the occasional home cooked meal.
• Cable, It will be so nice to have a television again and being able to watch Ellen Degeneres and to watch Criminal Minds. 
• My family obviously, and my friends too. I will be able to see them when I want and catching up will no longer rely on a good internet connection for skype.
• Making money rather than spending money, it will be so nice to work again, I cannot wait to work my way out of this debt!

Three Things I Learned

• My dad was always a hard ass, my rules were sometimes strict but damn while moving out was a fun experience it definitely made me realize why my parents had rules. I may live in an apartment with "no rules" but some of these kids here have no morals and no conscience...So I suppose I learned to appreciate my parents a little bit of a lot more.
• Balance is key, my health comes first and a healthy balance is sometimes hard to maintain when there are one too many things I need to do and ten too many things I want to do. Narcolepsy can become ten times worse in just 24 hours of neglect, and it can take a lot longer than 24 hours to get it back on track.
• Just because you are good at something does not mean you have a responsibility to pursue it; Two All American Awards does not mean I need to go to any school to play soccer, it simply means I worked hard to get where I am and I am happy with where I am. If I wanted to be somewhere or if I wanted to do something, I would be there doing it. So to all the football boys and to the few soccer girl: I am happy not playing in the states anymore, I am happy pursuing my passions of traveling and photography.

Two Things I Highly Recommend You Do Over The Holidays

• Purchase this book to not only support and help a fellow narcoleptic but to also read it and learn something. Amazon: Author Julie Flygare Wide Awake & Dreaming
• Add Julie's REM Runner blog to your regular readings REM Runner Blog

One Thing I Will Do Today

• Ace my final exam in my Business Retailing Class.

Happy Holidays!

Sarah Beaulieu

You Might Want to Take Notes;

The thing I remember most about my narcolepsy when I was undiagnosed was school. Well that might be an ironic statement, I don’t remember much of school, I remember the struggle of school. I recall going to class and leaving class but never recall being in class. I would go home for the evening open up my notebook and see scribbles of notes I attempted to take. I would see the homework assignment, my notes, and realize I really don’t know how to do any of this. I am the type of person who hates asking for help, therefore I simply would just not do my homework, the vicious circle formed and soon I was slipping in class.

Now in college and having been diagnosed I am able to keep it together enough for classes...most of the time. This past week however I have had my fair share of micro sleeps and naps in class. While asleep I somehow always manage to still take notes…they never really make sense though…

What my writing usually looks like

Some Scribbles I apparently did...

What my writing turned into...really helpful notes ;)

Anyways haha, thought I would share my very informative notes I managed to make this week while sleeping in class.
Cheers

Sarah

worst kind of heartbreak;

Nothing says heartbreak like playing your last college game in America. Today was the end of it all, I knew going into the game that it could be my last game, but I never figured it would legitimately be my last. I pictured placing the ball in the back of the net a thousand times, got a good nights rest, stayed hydrated, iced, did everything in my own power I could to be prepared for today’s game. We all know that one person can’t win the game. It takes a team to win, and that’s something that this years group lacked. We weren’t ever a team, we faked it, and there was always drama between two or more people. It was just not our year, too bad for us sophomores because it was pretty apparent out there that we wanted it.

We had a brilliant first half, never gave up, and had great shots against our opponent. Sadly out of the 14 on net we came up with zero goals. The opponents well they had a total of 4 shots and 1 goal. Second half I felt like we put up a fight, we didn’t fight to win we fought to stay alive. I don’t think all of us can say we played our hearts out, I know we all didn’t leave everything we had in us on the field. That is what really gets to me. When I look at the clock, I am telling myself, 45 minutes left and you get that break, 30 minutes left, 10 left leave it all on the field, I even say it to my teammates…yet it didn’t get through. I don’t know if they just aren’t mentally strong or if they just don’t give a shit. Either way, I can’t change the outcome. I’m not happy with the end result, but I am certainly not disappointed with my own performance. Yes I could have better finished my shots, but I got shots away and I gave amazing passes to my teammates. I gave it my all, and although it wasn’t enough, I can’t be upset with myself. It was a great experience playing here in the states; it allowed me to do a lot of growing up. This won’t be the last game I play but it is the last game I will be playing here in the states. It’s a saddening way to go out, but it is what it is and I can only grow from it.

Now for the nine-hour bus ride home with a team that hates themselves and hates each other…oh joy.