FAB Friday - Born to Dance

Today I wanted to feature one of the most amazing women I have ever known in my life!  My 2 years older than me sis,

Trista Kite-Federspiel.

She is the epitome of passion, creativity and courage.  She was born to dance and has never let anything stop her, not ANYTHING!  It truly is rare to find a person who is so determined and passionate.  When she was 9 she was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, and quickly became the star patient of every doctor because she didn't let her diabetes become an excuse not to live her life.  She continued to work hard in competitive gymnastics and dance until she was able to attend a professional dance school.  When our family had to move to a new city 8 hours away, her drive and desire to dance at that high level wouldn't let up and so at age 15, she moved back to our hometown on her own to complete her professional dance training at the Edmonton School of Ballet where she knew the choreographer Stacy Tookey from SYTYCD "she's from Edmonton too, her mom own's Shelly's Dance Studio and Stacy took some classes at Edmonton School of Ballet when I was there, she's a little bit older then me though."

When she was 18 she became a licensed massage therapist and then moved away again on her own to be able to pursue dance and support herself working in a dance shop and at a spa. 

A year or 2 later while she was attending college on a dance scholarship (where she danced with Thayne Jasperson, one of the contestants from SYTYCD) she became extremely ill, so ill that she had to leave school and when she come home, was diagnosed with Graves Disease.  During that time, she couldn't dance but her creativity and well of inspiration would not be contained, she picked up a guitar, taught herself to play and wrote a bunch of amazing songs which she performed at our city folk festival. That was also the time that she met her super awesome, and also talented artist husband, Kirill.  He is a level designer for a popular computer game, a talented photographer and the most adoring supportive husband.  Those two are going to have some super talented kids! 

Around that same time, she found out she had Celiac Disease,  which was such a blessing to figure out because once she got completely off gluten, her Graves Disease went into remission and she was able to avoid the invasive treatments that had been proposed.  Since that time, her health, dance and fitness career has really taken off.
She is an in demand dance instructor and choreographer who guest teaches all over the place, including dance intensive workshops, her most recent guest teaching job being in Boston.  She has spent the past 2 summers in New York attaining honors in the ABT Ballet curriculum and has won many awards for her choreography with competition teams and many of her students go on to receive full dance scholarships to college after training with her.  Trista likes to keep busy with her passions, so whenever she isn't dancing, teaching, choreographing, designing costumes, editing music (oh and modeling), she teaches yoga, pilates and is a certified Turbo Kick and Piyo instructor.  She recently became a Beachbody Coach and she's a member of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).
AND not only does she do so many amazing things, she is also the best listener and big sister anyone could ask for.  All my life she always took me under her wing, been my best friend and supporter.  She has held my hand through so many things.  Whenever people talk about soul mates, I always thought of my sister and I.  When she moved away at age 15, it was like half of me was missing!  Thank God for technology now that makes it SO much easier and affordable to stay connected and close since we can't always live near the people we love.

Trista has always been an inspiration to me and I've only scratched the surface on her awesomeness :)  Through all her trials, she never complains or whines, she just does what she needs to do so she can live her life to the fullest.  I remember feeling so bad everyday when my parents had to give her injections but she never felt sorry for herself.  Most of us did something when we were younger like dancing, gymnastics, piano, soccer...whatever...but we get older and give it up.  Trista will never lose touch with her dancing roots.  Dancing will always be a major part of her life and I love and admire that passion that is always there. Nothing has stopped her and nothing will stop her.  She is the most beautiful person inside and out.  And the hilarity that ensues when we get to stay up late together is priceless.

Visit her Beachbody Coach website Here and her personal site Here and her Work It Facebook Page Here.

A Trista and Candace original hillbilly song we wrote when we her like 7 and 9....

I don't care if you got those fancy clothes

I don't care if you got a limo or a mansion..

cuz I just wanna love a for a who i wanna love a love love love love love love love

ya I just wanna love a for a who i wanna love a love love love love love love love

I want a guy whose got those ugly clothes

I want a guy who even picks his nose

cuz I just wanna love a for a who i wanna love a love love love love love love love

ya I just wanna love a for a who i wanna love a love love love love love love love

ya I don't remember the rest...........but we made up lots of dorky songs back in the day.

And now I leave you with this awesome video of a very small person who must also be born to dance!

FAB Friday - Mom Model

What's a Mom model?  A mom role model,  another mom who just does such a great job while at the same time is not an alpha mom trying to prove she's the best mom.  She's the kind of mom you really want to be like... smart, loving to her kids, down to earth, fun, patient, cool, creative, resourceful, hospitable, charitable, dedicated to her family, she's got her priorities in order, friendly and easy to talk to, full of great ideas (although she doesn't admit it)...you know...the works!  Well I have one mom model that I'd like to introduce you to today who I just think the world of.  She is always thinking about others and wanting to help.  She loves her family and is so creative in planning fun learning activities for her boys and is very resourceful, witty, down to earth and just a great person who can probably get along with anyone.  I've mentioned her on my blog before but I want to formally introduce you all to Codi from Melonbelly!

She has the most adorable, fun loving family, married to her college sweetheart with 2 cute little boys that my daughter wishes she could play with EVERYDAY!  I think if we moved in next door, my daughter would think that was the best thing to ever happen in her life! lol.  Codi has a great mom blog that is full of great stuff from frugal ideas for family fun, parenting articles, tips and fun stories, food and health, saving money and of course funny stories and thoughts that will make you laugh out loud.  She has a way of being so relatable (is that a word?) and you will love the cute pictures and stories of her 2 close in age boys! (oh and she was a school teacher before she started her family, no wonder she is so great with kids).

She is such a sweet gal, I met her when I was pregnant and we were both pretty new to the area and I have no family within 1500 miles.  She immediately came to my aide and totally surprised me with her generosity and thoughtfulness.  She gave me a baby shower/girls night  (when she barely knew me) and made me this awesome diaper cake and treated me to cheesecake factory.  When I went into labor in the middle of the night, she came to the rescue and took care of my 3 year old daughter....which I seriously can not be more grateful for because it was so stressful not having any family near by or knowing many people that I felt comfortable with taking care of Jordan or that Jordan would feel comfortable with.  I went into labor on Good Friday and was in the hospital during Easter, and she was thoughtful enough she made up Easter Eggs with surprises in them for my daughter and she arranged for me to have meals delivered daily for almost 2 weeks through our playgroup as soon as we got home so even though I had no family near by, she really made sure we were taken care of, that's the kind of person she is.  She's done many other things as well, and just amazes me at what an awesome person she is, truly a godsend.  She is a gem and so is her blog, so go on over and check her out!  And follow, you'll be glad you did!  I think she has some good stuff up her sleeve to come in the near future!

Friday Blog Hops

Enter my current giveaway!

Feature Friday!

TGIF!!!!  I'm excited about the gal I'm featuring today.  I met her through blogging awhile back and have been hooked on her blog.  She posts about pretty much anything that might be important to us moms in the quest to find balance...from beauty, fashion, health, homemaking, motherhood, spirituality and much more...hence the name of her blog Wanna be Balanced Mom.  Crystal comes across as a sweet, thoughtful person who seems to be succeeding at her goal to balance it all!  From her cute blog design to her pictures, videos and fun personal stories, you are sure to be hooked too!  And don't forget to check out her inspiring weight loss before and after pics!  I so want to try her program when I'm done nursing.  This is a blog worth following!

Meet Crystal Escobar

My name is Crystal, I'm a wife of 6 years and a mother of two, one boy, one girl.

I'm really just a Wannabe... a Wanna Be Balanced Mom.

I'm very passionate about having BALANCE, and I know this is probably something we will strive to master our entire lives. I want to be able to set aside time for family and friends, spiritual, and personal growth, and of course physical and mental health. The key, I think, is being organized and learning to balance our lives well.  

I LOVE being organized, having schedules and "to do" lists. Ever since I can remember I've had this "passion" for it. I like to say, "passion", and not "obsession":). I really think that being organized and finding balance, are the key factors to fulfilling all your goals and dreams in life.

There's nothing like the feeling of accomplishment!

I created this blog to log my personal progression in finding balance, and to share my own life experiences. When I ponder topics I'd like to write about, I ask myself, " does this have anything to do with BALANCE"? And I think, SURE IT DOES!  I like to cover a wide range of topics, beauty, parenting, weight loss, lists and schedules, making healthy meals, budgeting, and of course how I TRY to balance it all. Isn't that what it's all about?

Here is a post I did when I found myself completely OFF balance. I called it, CAUGHT OFF BALANCE.

Thanks Crystal!


On a separate note, don't forget to enter my giveaway! 10 winners will receive 5 free samples of some great products! Enter HERE to WIN!

FAB Friday! - Sunny Choi

FAB Friday was started by my friend Crystal Escobar from Wanna Be Balanced, a super awesome blog!  I was so excited and honored when she featured me on one of her FAB. Fridays and I've been wanting to jump on the wagon and start participating in FAB Friday's too!  You can read about how FAB Fridays started on her blog HERE.
I'm super excited to do this because there are so many great women out there who inspire me and or are just down right FABULOUSLY AWESOME!

The first lady I wanted to share with you is not someone I know personally, but I just discovered her and wanted to share.  I used to spend hours in front of the piano every day up until I moved away for college and then I'd make the effort to go spend hours in the piano practice rooms in the music department as much as possible.  But the past three years since having my two wonderful children, I've really gotten out of it.  I used to sit down and compose songs or improvise and enjoy it so much!  I know I have DEFINITELY lost a lot of the talent I used to have...that's why they say "practice practice practice!"  Anyways, I came across this girl who plays the piano and has a bunch of videos on You Tube and it just really inspired me because she is playing like the way I USED to play and really inspired me to MAKE time to practice and get comfortable at the piano again.  Watching her videos reminded me of how much I love to play and realize how much I miss it.  So, piano practice time is going into my schedule, if I keep waiting for a good time to practice...it'll never come so I have to make it happen.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Sunny Choi

Not only is she a gorgeous young woman, She is a Canadian (as am I - until my citizenship goes through soon, then I guess I'll be considered dual!).  She has the gift of playing by ear, meaning she can play any song she hears without needing the music and has played for audiences of thousands.  Her musical resume/biography is extensive, but she also has big ambitions..."While I am young, I want to be able to try a lot of different things and I still think there will be time to achieve my goal of becoming a physician.”

Sunny immigrated to Canada in 1999 with her family. Sunny started piano since she was 5 years old and she made use of her talent starting in high school by performing for weddings and other events to earn her allowance. Sunny has a unique ability to play piano music by listening to music only, rather than learning and reading from the actual music score. She launched her website www.sunnychoi.ca to start marketing her talent and performs for weddings, corporate events and other private events to show off her skills. Earlier this year, Sunny performed for a government-funded Tibet Cultural Event by performing Tibetan music that was never written for piano. Sunny plays other instruments such as flute.

Sunny has won numerous awards for piano including a big win in 2001 when she was recognized as a provincial final competition winner. Sunny is currently studying human biology. When she was asked the reason for choosing her major, she replied “There are too many other things that I want to study and achieve in life that is beyond just music”.

Since starting her university education, Sunny has come to realize that her main interest is in senior citizens’ health. Sunny volunteers weekly at Toronto Rehab as a social support to elderly patrons. Sunny stated that she feels easily connected and comfortable around seniors rather than doing the same with children. Her ultimate goal in life is to run her own senior care home and to work in this home as a geriatric physician.

Despite Sunny’s busy schedule, she somehow squeezed in extra time during the last summer to volunteer at a HIV/AIDS hospice in Malaysia for a month. Sunny is a rare individual for efficiently spending her time for being able to do three completely different activities all at once.

“While I am caught up with work, I often miss spending time with many friends, but while I am younger, I want to take advantage of every opportunity and experiment through different kinds of experiences in order to become a not-so-ordinary physician one day”.

-A Pianist Reaching to Become a Doctore, Korean Times, 2008

VISIT HER YOUTUBE CHANEL HERE!

Here she performs Christina Perry's Jar of Hearts

Performing "What If"by Jason Derülo