Just keep swimming: my life in a nutshell

"Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall."
- Ray Bradbury

Wow, where should I start? Every time I write on my blog, I spill out all my guts (Maybe, not literally, but you get the picture). As I have said time and again, I grew up in a musical family. We are just as excited about music as we are about swimming.

 I've been swimming since I could crawl! Luckily, I was homeschooled so I was free to swim as much as I wanted. My parents decided early on to put all of us kids in a swim club called NOVA. Back then, swimming was all I knew because I was there every day from 3pm to 8pm monday through friday! Crazy, huh? Now that I look back, I didn't really care too much about competition. I distinctly remember playing cards with my friends at Junior Olympics before my heat was up. Unfortunately, I totally missed my heat and my coach was mad! I was having so much fun already that I forgot about my race and I wasn't even worried about it at all. Swimming is and always will be my favorite sport! I am not sure I'll ever go to competitive swimming again myself, but I'll cherish those moments forever. 

Butterfly is my best stroke. This might explain why I have gnarly muscular legs on my tiny body. If you've ever met me, you already know! I'm definitely not ashamed of my muscular legs, and I'd go as far to say that I'm proud of them even if that makes me cocky. God gave me a height of 5 ft 1.5 in and it's amazing how much I can do with all he has given me. I used to think of my short height as a bad thing and wanted to be taller. Then I realized there's no greater gift than the body God gave you and he has such an amazing plan that you cannot even fathom.

To all the athletes like me, remember that you are blessed to have a sport that you played and your parents were probably the reason you were able to become an athlete in the first place. Thank God I was given the amazing opportunity to be a part of a swim club team like NOVA with my siblings. I'll always remember the early mornings as a blessing because I wake up at 5:30 am automatically now.

Once a swimmer, always a swimmer

Rachel

White knights, first they stomp, then they stand still

Ever thought "Wow, they have beautiful teeth, why?"

For me, I sucked my thumb until I was 8 years old. No joke! My grandpa was scheming ways to get rid of that habit. Hot sauce, Tabasco of course, paint thinner... Then I bought the clear acidic nail polish because I don't particularly like wearing nail polish! Sure enough, yuck fest worked beautifully! (: 

I had every type of retainer you could think of. Minus headgear, so Darla's vision never came true for me. At least, not entirely, I am a goofball and get crazy eyes sometimes! Fact: I went to the dentist after 13 months of no dental work and I had no cavities! I guess my consistent brushing works even if I barely ever floss. I'll admit to the struggle! -Rachel