Living with Grit and Grace

Living with Grit and Grace Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Living with Grit and Grace, Personal coach, Vienna, IL.

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05/12/2025

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Christmas Vibes 2024
12/17/2024

Christmas Vibes 2024

Loving the šŸ’™
08/16/2022

Loving the šŸ’™

The irony of this photo. My smile was fake. My legs were barely working. My body was cramping up from climbing a waterfa...
06/27/2022

The irony of this photo.
My smile was fake.
My legs were barely working.
My body was cramping up from climbing a waterfall followed by a long road trip.
I was over everything and desperately wanting to be in my safe space. When the pain levels rise, I choose to hide.

While on a recent road trip, we stumbled across this painted mural a few hours from home. Iā€™m slightly obsessed with painted wall murals and decided I needed my photo in front of it. We had parked in front of the local police station and I needed to walk about two blocks to get to this photo spot. I was barely able to make it, but I did and I got my photo.

By the time we arrived home, I was in tears, my legs no longer worked and I needed to be helped inside the house. While most days I appear to be normal (whatever that is) and am able to function like normal, my illness still lingers in the background and will come out full force if I do not listen to the signals from my body. Stress, physical over exertion and a long road trip were the perfect trio to knock me off my feet. Literally. When I push past my limits, I have to pay the price.

This update is being written from a chair as Iā€™m hooked up to an IV. My body was done.
I am grateful for the huge strides I have made on the road to recovery, although my chronic illness will never go away. This past week was a reminder that if I choose to ignore my limits, my body will shut itself down.
I will bounce back. Thankfully, I bounce back much quicker than when I was so sick. Until then, I will sit here and watch the healing drips fall through the IV tubing.
Be kind to everyone you meet. You never know what battles they may be fighting.

To some it might just be a handstand on the beach, but to me it is a sign of years of hard work and determination to ove...
02/25/2022

To some it might just be a handstand on the beach, but to me it is a sign of years of hard work and determination to overcome chronic pain, fatigue, weakness and illness. Iā€™ve fallen more times than I can count, but I always got back up. Learning to flip upside down was not easy. It took me years to even attempt a handstand in public. I am proof that with a massive amount of determination, anything is possible. Cheers to living life upside down. šŸ¤øšŸ½

A picture is worth a thousand wordsā€¦or is it? As I was pulling out pictures for Jordanā€™s 16th birthday, I stumbled acros...
08/26/2021

A picture is worth a thousand wordsā€¦or is it? As I was pulling out pictures for Jordanā€™s 16th birthday, I stumbled across a picture from 2014. The photo was snapped about two weeks after my battle with Lyme disease began. At the time, we didnā€™t know what was wrong with me. All the doctors would say was something was wrong with my heart but they couldnā€™t pinpoint it. I kept telling my doctors that my head felt like it was in a cloud. My head was so heavy. I could barely get myself off the couch because of the weight of my head. I couldnā€™t explain it. Shortly after this photo was snapped, I ended up at a cardiologists office in St Louis. He ran every test on my head and heart he could think of. Everything was ā€œnormalā€. He sent me home wearing a heart monitor for two weeks. I was told to elevate my heart rate and ā€œwe will see what happensā€. šŸ˜³
It is weird for me to look back on photos from the past 7 years. I can look at a photo of me smiling yet my heart will sink as I remember fighting so hard to make the smile even happen. In some of the photos I look at, the first thought that comes to mind was I felt so sick in that moment. Lyme Disease is brutal. A picture shown on social media is only part of the story. While we are all smiles in this photo, I was fighting to survive. This is your gentle reminder to be kind to everyone you meet. You never know what battles they may be facing. Iā€™m glad I lived to tell about mine.

Managed to meet .ball pilot of the MiG-17. Such an amazing story. Follow his page to be able to see video footage from t...
08/15/2021

Managed to meet .ball pilot of the MiG-17. Such an amazing story. Follow his page to be able to see video footage from the cockpit of his demonstration at Decatur Airport 75th Anniversary Airshow 2021.

People are often quick to jump to conclusions and so quick to judge. This is your gentle reminder that a little bit of ...
08/12/2021

People are often quick to jump to conclusions and so quick to judge. This is your gentle reminder that a little bit of kindness goes a long way. Itā€™s not hard to offer up a listening ear. Perhaps you will learn something from the person who is talking.

Playing with lines šŸ¤øšŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø
05/27/2021

Playing with lines šŸ¤øšŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø

A small effort could change someoneā€™s entire day.
05/27/2021

A small effort could change someoneā€™s entire day.

It only took 3 years, one ambulance ride, multiple ER visits, cardiac specialists, multiple doctors, a ridiculous diagn...
05/21/2021

It only took 3 years, one ambulance ride, multiple ER visits, cardiac specialists, multiple doctors, a ridiculous diagnosis of PTSD and being labeled as a mental case to receive a proper diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease. Iā€™m one of the lucky ones. Most patients see many more specialists over the course of more than 10 years to be diagnosed. My medical file is thick. I lost count of the number of tests run on my heart, my head, and my body. Everything was always ā€œnormalā€. My crazy symptoms must have been in my head because doctors claimed I was normal.
Lyme disease is called the great imitator. It can be mistaken for ALS, MS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimerā€™s, Chorons, Parkinsonā€™s, and other illnesses. Throughout the years, I had symptoms of many of these illnesses. Muscle weakness, pain, fatigue, cardiac issues, memory loss, hair loss, rashes...the list goes on. Healing has not been a cake walk. It required a couple of doctors who knew this illness inside and out, but also took the time to look at me and help me heal from the inside out. My treatment was filled with unconventional methods to hack my immune system.
It has also required me to overcome the trauma from more that 7 years of being sick. Iā€™m still working on that piece of the puzzle. Healing does not happen overnight. If trauma is not addressed, a person can not find healing. While my life is mostly ā€œnormalā€, I have my moments of panic, pain, anxiety, cold hands, and fatigue. The trauma of living with years of fatigue, pain, being defeated the moment my eyes opened, and feeling like I would never find healing was overwhelming. Pushing beyond my physical limits will still knock me down. Iā€™ve learned to listen to my body. Iā€™ve learned to back off when my body is done. I also work crazy hard to build up my own strength and stamina. Today, my kids and I had an adventure on the lake with our new stand up paddle boards. Goal by the end of summer...handstands on the board. Cheers to healing and coming back stronger. Be kind to everyone you meet...you never know what battles they may be fighting.

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Vienna, IL
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