Most of you know (but some of you may not) that I grew up in a gym. I started gymnastics at the age of three and it quickly became my “thing.” When I was younger I switched to club gymnastics and spent four nights a week there, eating dinner, doing homework, working out, and building some of the best friends of my life. The life of a club gymnast is a lot different than “normal” children. We trained for almost 5 hours a day during the school year and 8 hours a day during the summer. A lot of my school friends didn’t understand my life and my training took up most of my “free” time. I loved the chalky gym, it was my heaven, and I never, ever missed a day. Looking back I see a ton of sacrifices my parents and family had to make in order for me to do the thing I loved from driving to the gym every night at 8:45 to pick me up or paying for expensive nights in hotels while we travelled to compete. My parents couldn’t afford to pay the tuition and so they (along with my grandparents) would work at the gym each year in order to help pay my coaching fees and help cover the costs of my training. What a living sacrifice they made, I don’t think I fully understood it until I grew up and saw the work they did to let me live doing what I loved. Don’t even get my started on the sparkly leotards or the leather grips, it was a huge commitment and I am so thankful my parents allowed me to fulfill my dreams of chasing it as far as I could.
When I was in 10th grade I broke my foot and in the time I had to take off, I grew about six inches and finally became “a woman.” I returned to the gym and realized that my toes could touch the floor when I sat on the beam and I sadly had to make the decision to leave the sport I loved to pursue something new. Being tall isn’t the best as a gymnast and so I took my flipping into a new realm and hit the water. My gymnastics followed me into my diving career that took me through a successful high school career with pool and meet records and then ultimately led me into my four years of collegiate diving! I am so thankful for diving because it ultimately helped me meet my husband but at the core of my being I have always and will always be a gymnast. Why am I telling you this? Because it will make last week that much better!
Last week I got to fly into NYC, rent a studio, stay in a beautiful hotel, and spend an entire day with one of my heroes (who is now just a dear friend who I text a lot.) Nastia started following me on Instagram a year or two and and slowly she started to take notice. We messaged when she was on Dancing With The Stars and I always encouraged her because dang, that girl can dance. I always laugh and am thankful for the silly app and how it connects us humans to one another but when she asked if I would be willing to fly in to take some photos for a super secret project she’s working on, I said “yes” without hesitation. It’s funny because of course I was excited to see her, but I knew that it would just be natural and an easy friendship. At the end of the night after we had shot all day, hung out on her couch and drank wine, and ended the night with a delicious sushi sate, I felt so full, so blessed, so incredibly happy that God connects me to such incredible, inspiring, and down to earth women. I walked back to my hotel room and really just said a prayer of thanks because this life has been filled with things I had never even dreamed possible. Truly, Nastia is top notch and just one heck of a human. She is as kind as she is beautiful, as down to earth as she is talented, and just the kind of girl you want in your life. I’ll fill you in more on her super secret project as the announcements unfold but for now, make sure you are following her and here’s a little peek of the magic that happened in our Brooklyn studio! The best part? I’ll be seeing a lot of this beauty over the next two years as she plans her wedding to the love of her life, Matt! (Rumor has it, I’ll get to photographer her wedding day, now that is amazing!)
