A Different Career Path...

It's been over 9 years since my Layne has been in the Optical industry, however a lot of you don't realize this is what he was in when we were dating and the first 5 years of our Marriage. 

He Really enjoys it, he loves helping people and working in this type of environment. The only reason he ever left is was that it didn't PAY enough when we lived in Florida to make it sustainable for our Family to survive or let alone LIVE Life enjoyably. 

After we found out the job that we Thought was going to be Wonderful for our family that he got in April, didn't Pan out and he found himself searching for something else on June 1st our World kinda fell apart. 

I got super ill with some kinda of Face virus, infection, bacteria, and then my son had to go away (i will be making a full post with details about this later) for 12 days, Talk about Stressful, Depressing time. ( http://sherinstark.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-week-i-crawled-through-hell.html )

To my amazement though, my hubby kept making the job search a Priority among all the rest of life he was having to do. He totally picked up the slack when I was literally in TOO much Pain to do anything other than lie in bed. I was finding myself depressed, anxious, and feeling Totally Defeated. 

I would say as Much as I Hated that 2 weeks of my life, it taught me a lot, and I have so much more gratitude for my life Now. 

~I feel healthy (and can really appreciate that after being hit so hard from so many angles) 

*I feel loved (as my husband really served and loved me through it all) 

~I feel Stronger than before (totally impressed that I was able to come out of all that NOT Bitter or Angry, but rather Grateful for the experience the Lord saw fit to put me through.)

*I feel Blessed to be a Mommy (so much more appreciative of my Children after these experiences.)

~I feel grateful to be a Christian/Disciple of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

*I have build/strengthened Friendships through this time and bonded with people I wouldn't have otherwise.

I KNOW God guides me (if I allow it) and blesses us with ALL that we Need and often times even just things we want, when we ask. 

THANK YOU to the many hundreds of you who sent prayers up for me and my family we Felt them and are forever grateful you took a few minutes to stop your busy lives and offer them to our Lord. 

So back to the new Career, Layne will be Starting work Tomorrow Morning at Artisan Optics and we are all eager for him to begin Enjoying his job again and to be able to Provide for our Family :)

Good Luck Tomorrow Babe!!!

www.SherinStark.com

How Beachbody Has SAVED My Sanity!

Friends/Family my SON is HOME!!!

 I am so so so happy to have him back with us, I hope you read my previous Post to understand a bit more of why he was away (click here if you didn't - http://sherinstark.blogspot.com/2017/06/being-molded-shaped-hurts-worse.html ) He needed to be in beavioral therapy for 10 days and his meds were adjusted to help him cope better with LIFE. 

We all missed him Fiercely, and I cried when we were able to finally go in for our evening visit and walk out with HIM with us. I felt our Family was finally Complete again. 
Since he has been home he has been doing pretty well, still struggling with behavior but we certainly see improvements, and we are working to be more united as parents and follow the counsel we got from the behavior specialist at the center he was at. 


Our family is treating each other with more kindness and being more patient and loving which Feels so good to have in our home, when before it was so much chaos I Wanted to RUN Away Myself. I just didn't know how to Change it, cause everything we kept trying would Come back at us, and NOT work. or Make things Worse. 

So although these past 10 days were some of the Hardest days of my life, I have LEARNED so SO Much through it all and would NOT change that for the World. 

Well then How has being a part of Beachbody SAVED my Sanity through these trials, well here are just a few of the things that I have learned thanks to Bb:

~BE patient, and Forgiving of MYSELF, I am not expected to be Perfect, even though I personally hold myself to a VERY High standard, I learned that I am Human & NEED to Rely on my Savior, my Team, my Husband, my Family & Friends WAY more than I do currently. Some days it was all I could do to JUST breath & keep alive. 

 ~Through Personal Development I have learned that I Create my Life and I am the ONLY one that can make it or break it, so rather than BE mad at the circumstances that came my way, I chose to Utilize them to Learn and Grow Make them into tools in my Box rather than allow them to Tear me down and Destroy my Life. 

~Exercise and healthful eating Helps me to release the stress, anger, frustration, depression, hurt, anxiety that keeps trying to Creep in, I seriously can't imagine not having those outlets in my life. 

~The Friendships that I have created through my 2 years of Coaching, it may seem silly to some of you, but Having Friends that YOU know have your back and Support you, Help you, and Jump in to sustain you in your choices, actions and LIFE are HARD to Find, and through this business I have created more than a dozen of those relationships that I consider LIFERS. I see different fb friends of mine post daily that they need friends, or the friends they have keep hurting them, so they are going to just hermit themselves, cause they are DONE being hurt over and over. I so understand that, because I used to be there but NOT anymore, I have friends that I could call at any time and they would laugh, cry, sympathize with me. I LOVE YOU my Team, THANK YOU for being a part of my Life and trusting me to Lead YOU!

~We have a weekly team training calls and various leaders in our team do the training, Those trainings have SAVED me more than once, when I could feel myself going into depression. (my coach told me 2 years ago that a LEADER Always Shows UP, so never to miss a training) even when everything in me didn't want to show up and I have a million Valid reasons for not participating, I go away Blessed, Renewed and Grateful to be a part of a company with such Integrity, Love, Strength and JOY. 

These are some of the Wonderful Women on our Team

~Being able to connect with my friends via social media, we are taught to Connect and Build friendships with everyone we can, and I have met some awesome friends because of this, friends who I know do not need/want Beachbody in their lives, yet we have still connected and bonded over similarities or mutual friends, etc... So when I was able to start reaching out and connecting with others again (after 10 days of very little social media), it helped me to Forget about my wows and listen to theirs, cheer them along, encourage them to get back up and keep going. and Letting them know they are LOVED and I appreciate them being a part of my LIFE!!! I never would have done that before BB, the other companies I was a part of trained us to Make the sale or MOVE On. It was all about SELLING to Make MORE money. We do NOT follow that philosophy, but rather we Create friendships so that we can all benefit from one another (sharing parenting advice, how to get over an illness, where to go or what to do on a date night, how to make something, or share things that have worked for us, and I LOVE that about my network of friends) no matter if a sale ever happens or not. If I do not KNOW that coaching, or bb can better their life in someway then I don't even share it. Cause I am NOT about Pushing Product just to make a Buck. 

~ My Shakeology, YEP it's been a life saver it has all kinds of whole food goodness in it to help my body handle stress, and stay strong through tough times, plus I know even when I lost my appetite and couldn't eat much I was still getting at least one Nutritionally pack Meal a Day. Plus being able to drink a CHOCOLATE shake every Day without feeling guilty does wonders for my anxiety/ stress. 


~Having something to LOOK forward to getting back to that I LOVE So Much, was HUGE for not allowing me to Sink into Deep Depression as I have found myself in before in life. I am so Happy to be BACK, to Connect, Cheer on, and LOVE on Y'all, SO THANK YOU for Being a Part of my LIFE I appreciate it more than you May ever KNOW. 

Wanna know more about Coaching or Beachbody: SherinStark.com

Wondrous Woman Wednesday - Erin Casper

This WOMAN has been in my life since she was three (I was 5) and used to Run around on her tippy toes. And I have watched as she has been Knocked Down, time and time again only to RISE up and Use those trials to Propel her Forward and Empower her to be a better Human. Erin I LOVE you my Friend and am So So SO honored to Recognize you tonight. 

-Erin has completed at least 7 half marathons (she's lost count), several 5k & 6k races, a sprint triathlon, and she is currently training for her 2nd Olympic triathlon. She didn't even start racing until she was 26 and already had 2 children. She wasn't really athletic growing up or in high school so to start this in 2010 and Realize she was so good at it changed her whole perspective of who She thought She was.

-She is Mommy to 3 beautiful children 10, 8, and 4. She is an Incredible mom, she works full time yet still makes time for Each of her kiddos, letting them feel Loved individually. They are super awesome kids and She feel honored to be their mom.

- She dons't allow the many trials she has endured to define her but rather allowed it to grow her faith in God and Experience how faith has made her feel whole through her trials. For Realz my Friends I have watched as she has conquered trial after trial and comes out on TOP.

- This Incredible woman was awarded a corporate wide title of Live Well champion. An award to someone who exemplifies a balanced life in physical health, financial health, work place health, and social/ family health. She works for the largest health care company in Utah and they have millions of employees.

- In Erin's words "I married to the most wonderful man who has taken me and my children on and loves us deeply. We have been married 6 months this month after both of us went through very painful divorces. He loves my children as his own and I am so grateful I have found him. He is definitely not an accomplishment in my life because I did nothing to deserve him, but I'm fiercely proud of him!" Even through the time she was a single mom, probably feeling like she was just barely surviving, she had HOPE and a Positive outlook on life that MOST do NOT have when they go through similar experiences and I admire her for that. 

Erin YOU are a WOMAN of GOD, a Fierce Example of HOW a Wife, Mother, Friend, Sister, and Daughter SHOULD live her life, YOU Emulate our Savior in your life and LOVE being blessed to Call you my Friend. 

Being Molded & Shaped HURTS Worse...

Wow, I am sitting here with so MUCH weighing on my heart and yet, I feel i must have writers block cause I just don't know how to get it all out.

It's most likely going to be LONG and I am sorry but I just can't give all the details so it may not fully make sense. But bare with me, be Kind in your responses and KNOW that I share for two Reasons:
1) I need to get it out of my brain and write it out 2) I hope that in some way it will bless one of you in your own life.

So Last Thursday my husband lost the JOB that he just got 30 day prior that we thought was going to be the Relief that we had been pleading with the Lord for, for many months. But all though that was tough, we both FELT there was something better around the corner and we kept a fairly positive attitude about it.

Then Friday something bad happened with our Oldest son and we have not been able to be with him for a week. (that's the really Short, version) we can visit him and call and talk with him. BUT let me tell you this MY Heart didn't know it could HURT the way it has until this all came crashing down.

Then of course my mouth issue has been here through this all and my back has been hurting a lot, so trying to be strong and PUSH through with constant pain, I Realized I couldn't and I BROKE on Tuesday. I had never been to my Breaking point before, CLOSE for sure a few times but never to where I literally SHUT down and couldn't even FUNCTION. I was a MESS and I Realized I could NOT keep going the way I was, I Had to Step Back and focus solely on me and my family for a few days.

BUT one of the Neatest things through all of these Awful Overwhelming feelings, is that I know I have been prepared for this TIME, GOD knew this was going to take place and he has helped place things into my life to be my safety net, my support system and my friends.

So first off, when all this went down I was able to reach out to 3 of my Team members and talk openly with them about details and they never once JUDGED me harshly or tried to fix the situation instead they were SO understanding, cried with me, Loved me, and Helped me through. They jumped right in and took over helping my customers so that they wouldn't feel abandoned and I could step away Confidant they THEY would care for them and keep them going on their healthy Journey's while I couldn't.

Second of all, I have friends in my life that have been through SO much crap and still come out strong and I was able to call and talk with a couple of them, and they were wonderful, calming me and helping me to heal, and think rationally. THANK YOU for that (you know who you are)

and Third I have an incredible group of Church friends who stepped right up and help bring in meals baby sit our other two kiddos when necessary and just let me know they care and are praying for our family.

and Forth My Husband has been my Hero, OMG I wouldn't even be able to be sharing this with you all if it wasn't for HIM being my ROCK, holding me and allowing me to Sob in his arms, listening to me cry about the pain in my face, making meals, helping put the kids to bed, all while spending hours each day working diligently to find a new job. HE truly has been a MIRACLE and What I have NEEDED through this Dark, Sorrowful experience.

Today is the first day that I feel like I am getting back to myself, first time I have even sat down at the computer or reached out to friends to check on them. usually I do that daily and I did miss hearing how they were doing but i felt so Broken that I didn't feel I would be able to Listen to what y'all had to say or that I could sympathize with you when I felt the MOUNTAIN that was crushing me seemed impossible to LIFT from my chest.

But I wanted you to KNOW I have appreciate your prayers, your love, the meals I have been fed, the Help, the healing, the Friendships. I KNOW I could NOT have been able to pull through this with out all those Safety NETS God placed into my life, without the personal Development that I have been reading for years to help me understand how to KEEP myself from falling into Deep Depression.

I have Really focused on strengthening my spirit this week and that has been so Refreshing, I have been reading the Infinite Atonement, reading scriptures, praying, I was able to attend the Temple with my hubby on Tuesday. My Spirit has been so fuel and filled and I am forever Grateful to have a savior who not only paid for my sins but suffered through every pain physically or emotionally that I have ever or will ever feel, so I can turn to him, Plead with him, to allow me the Strength to get through and carry my burden with me so I am not doing it alone. and I have FELT that Strength.

Right now I would rather NOT have you send me messages or try to ask more questions I shared what I shared and unless I have already personally told you more detail then that's because I don't want you to know. My family deserves privacy and I shared what I felt I could with out sharing too much. Maybe someday I will feel I can share more but for now that is simply NOT the case.

Thank YOU for reading and Loving us, We Need it and thank you for your Prayers and Pleadings on our Behalf they have been so appreciated as well.

I am picking up the pieces and Climbing back up to once again be STRONG and Fully Feel Empowered, but I have learned that being MOLDED after being in the Refiners FIRE can HURT so MUCH Worse than the Heat from the Fire itself. I love my GOD, I Trust my GOD and I Thank my God for TRUSTING me and Giving me this Opportunity to be MOLDED by HIM!