I’ve made so many bucket lists before… but they’ve always gotten deleted… mainly because I keep them on my phone for some reason. I thought it might be about that time that I post it online so I can keep better track of it… there’s still so much left to do!

I fell in love with a show on MTV called The Burried Life that used a bucket list for the basis of their show. It was really great to get to watch other people check things off of their bucket list—even tho I believe some of theirs were a little bit more creative and out there than mine. 

1. Tour

2. Own a platinum record.

3. Own a gold record.

4. Marry my best friend.

5. Be in a movie.

6. Have a Mary Jane/Spiderman moment.

7. Have a photo that I take published in a national publication.

8. Be fit enough to be a swimsuit model for ONE photoshoot.

9. Kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland.

10. See the Sydney Opera House.

11. See a Cactus League game.

12. Attend a Super Bowl.

13. Present an award to someone.

14. Change someones life for the better.

15. Attend the World Series.

16. Be in New York City for New Years Eve

17. Meet my favorite band

18. Write and publish a book

19. Make a pageant dress

20. Win a pageant

21. Inspire someone to follow their dreams

22. See Niagara Falls

23. Hold a penguin

24. Hug a koala bear

25. Be on my favorite reality TV show

26. Attend an Olympic Games

27. Learn to Snowboard

28. Wrestle a match

29. Work for a record label

30. Learn to wrestle

31. See the Golden Gate Bridge

32. See the Grand Canyon

33. Own a new car

34. Graduate college

35. Watch an epic concert form the side of the stage

36. Film a documentary

37. Write and film a rocumentary

38. Record a song professionally

39. Attend the Grammys

40. Be in a music video (the one I filmed before doesn’t count because my scene didn’t make it!)

… I’ll be adding more. 

As the submission process comes to an end for the 2013 MLB Fan Cave… I just want to take the time to thank EVERYONE who did ANYTHING to promote my candidacy this year. Last year I had one of the best experiences in my life getting to represent TB baseball, baseball fans, and the hard work of all of my friends and supporters. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have all of you supporting me AGAIN for my 2013 effort. I had both t-shirts and stickers printed and sent them out to anyone who wanted one…. and to my surprise… more of you wanted them than I could ever have possibly imagined! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I know I ran out of shirts… and I hope that I am able to crack the top 50 so I can send you all one who asked. 

As I have learned… getting into the MLB Fan Cave is not something that you can do yourself. You need support. I want to make sure every single one of you know how much your support means to me. Even if you just spent a split second retweeting something I said about baseball or about the Cave—thank you. 

No matter what happens in the next few days… I will always be grateful for this and for all of you.

#MLBFC31in13

Last night I had such an awesome time. My friend’s friend told me about an app for my phone to make it strobe…. so I downloaded it and during one of Enter Shikari’s breakdowns, we just started dancing around with the strobe lights on our phones. Sometimes it’s silly moments like that, that make your heart smile.

When I went to the Public Relations Conference the other day…. it got kind of weird for me for a moment.

I’ve shared with everyone how I had a heart complication, how I had corrective surgery, and how I developed PTSD and anxiety over it. The other day was a reminder to me that no matter how long it’s been… you always have to concentrate on where you’re going and not where you’ve been.

There was a speaker who was talking about marathons and triathalons and how several people have died during them—which he’s witnessed—all due to undiagnosed heart conditions.

I had to stop paying attention to him during that time. It can be hard to listen to things like that because I know how lucky I am, and it makes me feel really sad for the people who weren’t as lucky. Moral of the story is that we can’t and shouldn’t take anything for granted.

In today’s paper, my horoscrope told me: “Don’t make the mistake of thinking the only reason people like you is that you contribute to making their lives better.”

Noted.

But, I don’t think it hurts to try to make others smile :o)

Guess who finally purchased a new car?! That would be me!

I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am. I know there are people out there who probably don’t understand my excitement because they’ve had a new car already.

With the economy making it so difficult to find a job right now, I feel beyond blessed to have three jobs, and then anything I pick up in the promotinal marketing realm. I’ve been saving for awhile so it’s nice to see that all of the hours I have put in and the sleepless nights have rewarded me for my contributions and patience. It’s not only that, but also the fact that I was able to behave myself with credit cards, because we ALL know how much I enjoy shopping, and establish good credit for myself. I didn’t need a co-signer. 

Maybe it’s kinda silly, but I’m super proud of myself. It’s a nice feeling to have something tangible infront of you that represents your work ethic and persistence.

I found a way to relate something to music… are you shocked? haha. Remember TLC’s song, “Unpretty?” It was awhile ago…. think hard….. got it? Okay…. Keep that song in mind when you read this.

The moral: Just because you LOOK like a big fan, doesn’t mean that you are. Your actions reveal what kind of fan you really are.

I don’t, by any means, want to call anyone a ‘bandwagon’ fan. I don’t like that term, and I think it’s GREAT that fans take the time to support their favorite sports teams. However, what I do have a concern over is this: Those who go out of their way to adorn themselves with apparel from their favorite teams and create signs in support… just for show. I can’t believe the things that I have noticed lately. Some of these people that do this have turned around and started trash talking their favorite team(s) because of a bad game, or because they think the team won’t make the playoffs.

We ALL want our favorite teams to go the distance and to win a championship…. but that’s not realistic; every team can’t win. Because a team doesn’t do as well as you had hoped does not give you the right to say anything rude TO a player through social media. Social networking has made it really easy for fans to connect with their favorite athletes and entertainers, but that doesn’t mean that you should take out your frustrations on them. Be respectful.

In a few more months…. a new season will start and every team will have a clean slate once again. Throw on your favorite team branded outfits, go to the field, cheer on your team and have FUN. Leave the disrespectful comments elsewhere. Believe in your team. Be the same fan for your team whether they finish first, or they finish last.

Okay, I lied. I said that I would stop writing blogs about this, but people still ask me questions about what I went through and what exactly I had and what it does. I don’t think it would be fair of me to stop educating people who are curious….. or to stop warning people to get themselves checked so they too can lead a healthy life. Today is the sixth anniversary of the start of all of this for me, so I’m celebrating with this blog.

THE PROBLEM

When I was born, I had an issue with my heart. The doctors never detected it. Fast forward twenty-one years of my life to July 26, 2006. It was just like any other day. I felt great, I was surrounded by my friends, and I was happy. We had training at our wrestling school that evening. After our run, my body started feeling shaky and I was having a bit of trouble regulating my breathing. So, I sat down. I blacked out. I don’t remember at least fifteen minutes worth of time. After all of that time had passed, I made the decision that I needed to go to the emergency room. I thought maybe I was having some kind of asthma attack. I had experienced the symptoms earlier in the week but dismissed it after they went away. This time they weren’t going away and it had me worried. My friend Riley had driven to practice that night (we took turns), so she took me to the ER. I couldn’t even stand up when we walked into the ER. I had to sit on the ground in the line to wait to check in. I didn’t have the strength to stand anymore. That’s scary. I knew I made the right decision with seeking medical attention. The ER nurse took my pulse and oxidation level. My heart rate was 117 a half hour after I finished working out, and my oxidation level was in the very high 90’s. They thought I was fine. We waited in the emergency room for over five hours before I was taken back to wait to see the doctor. The doctor that saw me told me it sounded cardiac related and wanted to run a really quick test on me called an EKG which records the electrical activity of your heart. The doctor left the room and had a nurse put the sticky patches on me and run the test for a few seconds. It was painless. She told me they would be back with the results shortly. A few minutes later the doctor burst through the door and told me that if they let me leave the hospital that I could potentially die by just walking up a flight of stairs. Your ears hear it, but it’s something that your mind can’t comprehend. I had all kinds of other painless tests done to determine where my problem exactly was and to confirm the results of the prior tests.

What I was diagnosed with is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). While many people can live their entire lives with this problem and never suffer a single symptom, others can suffer a sudden cardiac death. WPW is the presence of an abnormal electrical pathway in your heart. My doctor explained it to me as part of your heart thinks that it should be passing activity through a certain area and it shouldn’t be because the pathway is not supposed to be there. It causes a rapid heart rate which is very dangerous. WPW is only found in roughly 0.1% and 0.3% of the population. After being diagnosed, there are a few options a patient and their doctor can talk about such as medication and a surgical procedure called Radiofrequency Ablation. The procedure is the only definitive way to get rid of WPW. 

The ER doctor asked if they could use me as a case study for students who are studying to be involved in the medical field. I said yes, signed a bunch of papers and they took a photo of me. He said it was pretty rare to have someone like me be diagnosed with WPW and he felt that it could really help with their understanding and education. 

THE CURE

On August 31, 2006 I underwent the Radiofrequency Ablation after careful consideration and discussions with my doctor. I was told that the procedure takes about two hours. However, mine took about four. There are certain areas of the heart that are harder to access and more tricky to work with. For my case, my doctor had to work with a tricky area on the left side. They don’t completely knock you out for this procedure and give you a ‘cocktail’ of medication to make you drowsy and help with pain. The objective of going through this is to have the extra electrical pathway destroyed and burned out. I remember waking up at the end of the ablation because my heart was racing so fast. I felt like I was going to throw up and my chest was feeling like it was going to explode. The doctor called out that my heart was beating at well over 200 bpm. They do this to make sure the extra electrical occurrences that you once had aren’t still present. They were controlling my heart rate with their tools. That’s crazy to think about. Shortly after that, he told me I was finished and that everything went according to plan. They kept me over night at the hospital to monitor me. They ran a bunch of tests and told me that I was officially cured of WPW before I left. 

THE AFTERMATH

My battle with WPW seemed to have come and gone so quickly. It was the end of my physical worries with my heart, but just the beginning of my issues with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety. In my mind I constantly replayed the doctor running into the room telling me that I could die if they let me leave the hospital. I also replayed the doctor coming into my room and telling me that I was going to need surgery to correct my problem. Did any of this really happen?! My mind was just having a really hard time coming to understand everything that I had gone through. I’m not embarrassed to say that I saw a therapist for help, because it was what I needed to do to feel better. There’s nothing embarrassing about going through something difficult. You have to learn as you go. We aren’t born with the answers to every question that we have. Sometimes, you just need to ask those questions to someone who can help you find the answers. That’s what I did. I learned to control all of the anxiety and to put everything behind me.

Looking back at everything, I still feel really emotional at times. I can’t help but to be overwhelmed by happiness. I was lucky to have my problem found. I was fortunate to be cured. I’m happy to be alive and to be healthy. I have my life and an amazing future ahead of me. I have so much to be thankful for. I’m more than willing to share my story and experiences if that means encouraging someone to get an EKG or giving someone else assurance that things will be okay if they have been diagnosed with WPW or PTSD. 

I want to thank everyone who took the time to allow me to ask them questions to build this article/blog :o).

Since the early 1900’s, baseball has been an important make-up of the Tampa Bay area. From being the spring training home to a long list of organizations throughout the years to finally seeing the inception of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays to Major League Baseball, the territory has witnessed it all. The region has also seen many local boys mature in to gifted athletes, such as Wade Boggs, Tony LaRussa, Dwight Gooden and Tino Martinez, that have left their mark on the game and in the history books. Behind all of the milestones, championships, hoopla and pageantry, there stands a solid backbone that has helped breathe life in to the quiet beast—the fans. 

At a time when the country is giving thanks for independence by barbecuing with the family and watching fireworks, baseball fans—and more specifically—Rays fans, are celebrating the game they so passionately lose their voices over and name their children and pets after by fashioning rayhawks and ringing cowbells. For some, the lure of a hometown team is what has drawn them to Tropicana Field, while the others have relocated to the area for scholastic endeavors only to end up trading in old team allegiances in order to adopt the fiery Tampa bunch. 

Among the fan favorites is Matt Joyce—a 2011 American League All-Star who like Boggs, LaRussa and company, is a hometown hero. Joyce went from playing ball at Armwood High School in Seffner to attending Florida Southern College before getting drafted in the 12th round of the 2005 amateur draft. The Rays made a trade with the Detroit Tigers that sent Edwin Jackson north to acquire Joyce in December 2008. “Matt Joyce is my favorite because who doesn’t love the local guy who came to see games here himself, as a kid!” Jason Rhodes, a former University of South Florida student interjected. “It’s really cool to see someone from this area be that good and be where he is.”

Of coarse, behind every great player stands a phenomenal, and maybe sometimes un-bromidic, coaching figure. Being a fan of the Rays means throwing out the traditional composition and dynamic of a team and accepting the sometimes unorthodox ideas of the two time American League Manager of the year, Joe Maddon. Will Smith, a Valrico resident and recent college graduate admitted that he was initially drawn to the team by Maddon’s “unique management style.” Under Maddon’s reign, the Rays have become a team that sports writers and broadcasting personalities cannot stop talking about; the gladiator masks and themed trips also help. “You don’t need a lot of money, just good management and innovation,” Smith added.

As the story in Tampa Bay continues to write itself, no other chapter is more prevalent than that of game 162. As close to unanimous as a percentage can possibly be, Rays fans rank September 28, 2011 as the best day in team history based on pure excitement. In the last regular game of the 2011 season, the Tampa Bay Rays squared off against the New York Yankees in what is now chronicled as one of the most epic games in baseball history. The team’s post season fate relied heavily on beating the Bronx Bombers and having the Baltimore Orioles overtake the Boston Red Sox in order to secure the American League Wildcard. Early on in the game, the Yankees looked like they were going to snag the win and force the Rays to have a Wildcard showdown with Boston; Dan Johnson didn’t like the sound of that. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs, Johnson lined a solo home run over the wall in right field to not only tie the game, but send it into extra innings. Katiecake, a native Californian who now resides in Brandon recalled, “I remember us all standing and being on the edge of our seats glancing [at the screen] every time there was a break in play to see the Red Sox score. Then my Mom calls me and I am screaming at her about Dan Johnson and the whole time she was trying to tell me that the Red Sox lost because there was a delay in the posting of scores so I am jumping up and down screaming the Red Sox lost and everyone was staring at me.” For the next few innings, fans sat on eggshells as they desperately pleaded with the baseball gods for a win. Like the ending to any good fairytale, there’s one miraculous moment that stands out above all else. For the Rays, this magic moment belonged to the face of the franchise—Evan Longoria. In the bottom of the twelfth inning Longoria slammed a ball over the left field wall off of Scott Proctor and just like that, the Tampa Bay Rays were headed to the post-season to face the Texas Rangers. “After Longo hit the walk off home run I was hugging people I didn’t even know. It was truly magical. Being there was the most amazing experience of my life,” said Will Eveland, a diehard fan who has followed the team since it’s first season in 1998.

Fans of opposing teams may not understand the bond Tampa Bay fans have with the game because of the team’s lack of history. “People try to play the history card all of the time, and I tell them they can just stop right there. If their argument as to why their team is better is because they have X years of history compared to the 14 that the Rays have, then I concede the argument. The Rays can’t compete on history; they compete on the field where it is much more important.” Scott Caruso, now a Boston, MA resident explained. The late nineties may be where the Rays started, and they may not have several retired numbers decorating the walls of the Trop, nor have they had the honor of hoisting a World Series championship pennant in the outfield, but what they do have is an immeasurable foundation that grows larger and stronger every season; they have great fans. “It is hard not to become a fan. The Rays are a truly amazing team to watch.  They have fun and it’s apparent which makes you want to be a part of it.” Katiecake concluded.

As the smell of smoke escapes the summer air, the road to the 2012 MLB All Star Game becomes more clear. Tune in July 10th to watch and support Fernando Rodney and David Price as they compete in Kansas City for the right of home-field advantage for the American League in the World Series. 

“Growing up” in today’s society has got to be one of the hardest things that my generation will come face-to-face with. There’s lack of jobs which leads to lack of income. In turn, this results in lack of opportunity to pay our debts to the financial institutions who helped us make it through college. Then we have the news telling us that the economy is not projected to grow very much while additional students graduate college with a degree…. making it harder to get a job. 

People have accused me of being too picky when it comes to the job front. I, however, disagree. Job boards and career websites seem great if you are a hairstylist looking to rent a booth in some salon, someone in the medical field seeking a new assignment, or someone who has the ability to sell anything—for commissioned sales. Personally, I have a Communication degree. I have a wide variety of experiences and by all standards, I shouldn’t have a hard time finding any type of a job—but I do. I had a part time job that I snagged before I graduated college that was with a company I had spent a great deal of time interning at. I was laid off in 2010. Since that time, I have been unable to find a full time job and have struggled with finding part time work. I have even talked to several career consultants and advisors! I have more than a handful of friends who are in the same position that I am; we’ve all gone to college and received our degrees—now what? There’s no work for us. 

There’s too much, “Now what?” I, like so many others, am very excited to find my future job and I guarantee that I’m going to be an all-star at it. To those of you who may be hiring managers: don’t over-look someone’s resume whom you think may be over-qualified for your open position. We might just be the best worker you’ve ever seen. Let us decide if we want to work for you or not. I believe any type of motivation you have to apply for a job and your willingness to work for a company should far outweigh any idea someone has of being ‘over qualified.’ We also just might be the key to helping your company grow and increase the number of new jobs for bright, young individuals.