My grandma got breast cancer when she was in her 40s. Her sister died of the disease and later, other kinds of cancer killed my Grandma. Thankfully, it was much later and we got an extra 30 years with her that we thought we might not have. But it was clear breast cancer ran in our family. That's what everyone dreads, right? Somewhat recently, there became a way to test and see if you had the BRCA gene mutation that makes you much more likely to develop breast or ovarian cancer. Getting the BRCA Gene Test My family members and I all got the test. Some people say they don't want to know things like this, but with BRCA, there is an 85% chance you may develop breast cancer and so, we wanted to know. We were all committed to the most … [Read more...]

The news of her post flashed up on the screen. Tennis super star Serena Williams published a photo describing her battle with "post-partum emotions." She wrote on Instagram that she was in a "funk" when she lost the Silicon Valley Classic tennis match last week. At five months in with my second baby, “funk” is exactly that word I used just last week to describe how I feel most of the time. Not depressed. Not anxious. But emotional, overwhelmed and out-of-sorts. "Funk" is the word I threw at my husband when I had a complete meltdown last Wednesday, unable to stop crying for 2 hours without being able to pinpoint exactly why. I was overwhelmed by nothing and everything at the same time. I imagined that my husband was getting sick of me and … [Read more...]

When I met started attending Pastor Mark Batterson's church in 2006, it had two locations and I don't believe he had yet written a single book. Fast forward to 2018 and he is an accomplished author of many popular books, a sought after speaker and incredible Christian leader across the country. Many readers are already aware of why I prayed for the pastor of National Community Church -- my home church for nearly 10 years when I lived in Washington, DC -- to write the foreword for my book, "Leaving Cloud 9." The moment I was asked to think about who might be a good person to write the foreword, his name was the one and only that came to mind. NCC and Mark's leadership played an invaluable and divine role in our lives -- and … [Read more...]

I started my blog, The Sweet Life, in 2011 after becoming a big fan of other people's blogs. The first one I loved was Eat, Live, Run -- and I actually still love watching Jenna on Instagram stories today. Reading her blog made me realize I could write one too and so it began. It has been a lot of fun over the years. I've made some really cool friends -- like Ashley and Theodora -- and worked with some awesome brands. My favorite opportunity the blog brought me was a 2-year relationship with Reebok where I was able to attend the CrossFit Games as media via Fitfluential. To be honest, blogging is really what drew me to CrossFit after reading on other people's blogs -- namely Tina's -- how much people loved it. Going to the CrossFit … [Read more...]