My Swiss Experience

 It will be exactly one and a half years that I lived in Switzerland on the day that I depart this incredible country. I arrived here to be with my boyfriend whom I had met just a few months before while I was living in Hawaii. Knowing we were meant to be, we immediately decided to marry so that we could continue to be together. 

I had no idea what to expect living abroad and I naively thought we would be back to America in no time. Neither of us could comprehend what the green card process would entail. It would take exactly one year from obtaining a lawyer and hundreds of papers before picking up his visa at the post.

During this time, which I can now say I am extremely grateful for, I had to learn a few things. I was part of new family. I had lived the last few years before on my own in Hawaii going from place to place. I haven't seen my own family since I left and am long over due for. Now I am surrounded by my husband's close and loving Swiss family. At a glance I look like I fit right in, in fact, I could pass for my Mother in-law's actual daughter, but when I speak I am easily recognized as a foreigner.

Switzerland is a German, French, and an Italian speaking country and each region has its own dialect of the German language. I didn't anticipate the language difference before I arrived and I have to say it has been the most challenging lesson thus far. Everyone in my Swiss family can speak English, but in the beginning it was not uncommon that they would get caught up in a conversation and speak their natural language. Many times I sat at the dinner table or with a group of people feeling really out of place as I could not make sense of the impossible sounds coming out of their mouths. I was in a foreign country and everything was different, the money, the food, the language, the style, and sometimes all I wanted was to go back home. I knew going home was not an option, all I had to do was look at my husband and be reminded why I am here and why this is all worth it.

After about ten months in the country, I decided to take a German course. I learned a good amount of the basic language during that 18 week course, but most importantly I made an English speaking friend. Even though I was learning German, Swiss German still sounded extremely foreign. It is as if they are two different languages and I still wasn't feeling comfortable. Having my new friend really helped me feel at home here. I missed going out to the city and shopping or making small talk with people and she made this possible. Being around another person going through the same language experience as me, is what really helped me ground in and be comfortable.

Just as I am feeling comfortable in Switzerland and can really call it home, our green card process has come to a finish. We are now able to return to the States and couldn't be more thankful and happy for our time together here. I will leave Switzerland feeling whole and complete and most importantly very loved.



Everywhere I travel I tune in to the surrounding land. I feel the vibration of the mountains because they can tell me a lot about what I can expect during my stay. Hawaii is a very quick and active energy where your manifestations are almost immediate. I knew when I arrived in the Swiss Alps that these mountains would teach me patience. I could feel it in the stone that surrounded me that whatever it is that I wanted I would have to work hard and wait for it, it wouldn't come as easy as it does when I am on the islands. The people of the area reflect that of which the mountains speak. In Hawaii, you will see a rainbow everyday, sometimes multiple times a day. Every time I have begun a new journey I have seen a rainbow and I have taken this as my sign that I am on the right path. Switzerland is not as generous with rainbows and I have experienced only three. Two were last year on the one weekend my father was visiting for our wedding reception and the third just happened this morning after we received news of our next journey. I knew that the rainbow would come, I wasn't sure exactly when, but I knew it would be when I didn't expect it. Last week we had our interview for the green card and I thought that would be the day. I didn't suspect that once we picked up the visa from the post that it would happen, but it did, just moments later.

I live my life very connected to the unseen possibilities and aim to further my growth and wisdom. Every encounter and experience is a chance for me to become a better person and I feel that is what life here on earth is all about. I have experienced magic too many times to deny its existence.

My Fitness Journey

The world around us is ever changing and we ourselves are not exempt. Like the waning and waxing  of the moon and the rising of the tide, we go through cycles and phases. Our fitness regimens, dietary preferences, and even emotional well being can all be a part of this change.

Three years ago I was in the best shape of my life. I had discovered a new dietary lifestyle that I thought would exempt me from ever gaining weight again. Along with eating a healthier diet, I would go to the gym a minimum of 5 days a week and partake in many fitness classes. At 26 years old I had worked my body to look the way I always wanted. Parallel to this time of great fitness, I was also discovering my true passions which all circulated around wellness. I had diet and wellness down, what else was there for me to accomplish?

I followed my love of fitness and healthy food and moved to Hawaii. I was in one of the most physically active places on the planet surrounded by a large amount of people all interested in health and wellness. I moved there with the plan to start a personal training career and possibly doing some healthy cooking, I was more than ready to inspire.

Two years later I find myself heavier than I had ever been in my life. Out of shape I asked myself, ¨How could I let myself be out of shape living in a place where I wore a bathing suit everyday?¨ What had gone wrong? The obvious answers are that I didn't have my comfortable work out routine, my gym classes, and that my diet was no longer consistent. These answers were all true. I experienced a lot in these two years on the islands. A lot of scenarios that left me needing comfort food, not finding my balance or motivation to work out, and working a lot on an internal level.

After these two years in Hawaii and gaining over 30 lbs, I moved abroad to Switzerland where I have been living for the last 11 months. Working out here and there I knew that I wanted to lose weight but I wasn't finding the right motivation. I tried fitness classes which only frustrated me because of my difference in language. Every day I looked in my mirror and would become a little upset at myself for letting this happen. I thought I had control. I had some work to do emotionally before I could get back on the fitness train. First I had to let go of the past. Let go of who I was, how I looked, how I ate, and any stored emotions I have been hanging on to. These things do not disappear in one day but with positive thoughts and morning affirmations, they can start to diminish. Once I become more emotionally sound and comfortable in my surroundings I began to bring in exercise and a better diet for myself. I had to be ready, and I was, to start a solid routine that would bring me results that I desired.

I have already lost 17lbs and am going for the full 30. I know I can do it, in fact I've done it twice before. As I said with the cycles I have found myself getting fit and then letting go, only to find myself on the path to losing weight again. This process has been a great teacher for me as I not only understand the diet and exercise portion of reaching fitness goals, I also understand that emotional circumstance can affect the outcome.
 
We all know that we are supposed to eat healthy. I believe that this means different foods for different people. I've lost weight on  different diets before, but I know now the best way is diet rich in whole unprocessed plant based foods. I am currently getting a Wellness Coach certification where I can implement all of the knowledge I've gained and the wisdom I've earned. I understand that to be successful as a Wellness Coach, I have to have gone through many ups and downs as well. 

Just a few healthy tips:

1. Eat whole grains
2. Eat your veggies
3. Drink required amount of water
4. Do physical activity at least 30 min a day 3x a week

These are just 4 of the many tips that everyone already knows. The rest is for you to find out. What is it that works for you? Which foods are supporting your fitness journey and lifestyle? What exercises do you enjoy doing?

I could give you a detailed description of how I get into shape, but I don't believe one way fits all. I wish to motivate you to find your own goals, foods, daily practices that compliment a healthy body, mind, and soul. If one element is out of balance, then everything is out of balance.

The picture below is from when arrived to Switzerland to now.

In a Year's Time

If you closed your eyes and imagined yourself in a year from now, what would that look like? What about two or three years, where would you be living? What would you see? What would be different? I am not asking you to think about what you think it would be like based on your current situation, but how it looks when you dream it. What if I told you anything was possible, would you believe me? Would you dream bigger? Would you imagine more detail? If I told you that you were in control of how your life manifests, would you be more optimistic and grab the reigns?

Almost three years ago I took control of my life and realized that my thoughts were 100% responsible for my life around me. I was able to create and shift my path in the direction I desired. I moved away from my small town life and started a solo journey to the most isolated place on the planet, the Hawaiian Islands. After one year of living on two of the islands I was about to embark on the most important part of my journey thus far, the part that would make my biggest dream come true, meeting my soul mate.

Two years ago today I moved to the island of Maui.  I spent the first year doing what I had to do to survive. Some of the jobs I worked left me miserable but I knew everything I went through was bringing me closer to something better. I believe in a higher plan, that I of course have free will but also a destiny. If I follow the call of my intuitions I will be met with a reward and confirmation. My combined experiences in Hawaii have left me nothing less than certain of this.

Each day I spent on Maui, I searched for my other half. I began to doubt myself as a woman and constantly wondered why I hadn't met him. A few months prior to moving here, I suffered an accident which left me permanently scarred on my chest. Along with being scarred on the outside, my confidence also took a hit. I spent this year on Maui really learning to love myself without the affection of anyone else; not from close friends, family, or a man, and I became completely independent. Everyday I took a little time to envision my future. I made a vision board and on it I listed things like meet my soul mate, travel to Europe, and have a wellness center.

                                  (This is my vision board. He has been through some travel)
One year later on Valentine's Day, I didn't know it but I would be going to masquerade ball that my now husband would also be attending. Though both dateless and searching in a couples packed bar, we didn't see each other that night. The following week is when fate would make it's mark and have us be at the right place and right time. From that moment on we have been together. This weekend not only marks two years since I moved to Maui but one year since I met my husband Beni. We are now living in Switzerland and I am working towards getting my wellness coaching certificate. Beni and I are working towards our dreams together and I know they will all come true because everything I have dreamed thus far has.

In the last year I have gone from living in Maui to moving to Switzerland where I was proposed to by my husband in Paris, married in a Swiss vineyard, and honeymooned in Thailand. Sometimes it's hard for me to acknowledge all of the crazy goodness that has happened but I know that I am blessed. I have the most caring and incredible husband, a new loving Swiss family, and I get to learn German while living abroad. If you told me three years ago that this would happen while I was a waitress in a Janesville Wisconsin, I would have laughed and said yeah right. But if you believe in your dream, absolutely anything is possible.

I share this story because I know everyone has dreams, passions, desires, and a purpose. I have listened to the call of my soul and have been greatly rewarded. I wouldn't say that anything comes easy or for free because in trade for what you desire, you must learn a lesson. Going after your dreams and believing in yourself will possibly be the scariest of your experiences. I say go for it. I believe I have lived the path that I have so that I can be the anchor that other people need to feel safe while they fly after their own dreams.

To read how my husband and I met click here.

Becoming a Wellness Coach

I believe that at a young age, we all know what we want to be when we grow up. We are born with a passion and a purpose, and the more we interact with the world, the more we know our truth. Some of us are even fortunate enough to enjoy the fulfillment of combining our passions withour career. Whether or not this has been possible in our lives so far, it is important to nurture this part of ourselves.

When I was beginning high school I took the standard career assessment test that would help me prepare for the college I should enroll in after graduation. This test concluded that I should be a counselor. In my life I have found that I was the older one of all my peers and friends. No matter the age I had a wisdom that would assign me as the advice giver. I remember holding back a lot of what I really wanted to say in my younger years because most people my age didn't speak with such meaning, it wasn't what they wanted to hear, and wouldn't be ¨cool.¨

I find myself now counselling people of different ages. Recently I was told by a group of women a few decades older than me that the wisdom I possess renders me timeless. Currently my ¨counselling¨is done not for profit but because I genuinely like to help people find their purpose. I've recently started an online program to become a Wellness Coach which is essentially a Wellness Counselor but for legal reasons we cannot call ourselves that. All in the same I will be aligning my passion with my career, combining everything I know with nutrition, and helping people towards the health and wellness they desire and deserve.

As I participate in this online program it is important that I heal myself and create the life that I desire. I have to be a walking testimonial of health and wellness, which will be a continued process and is not something you ever stop perfecting.

Over the last three years I have been working towards finding what it is I want to be, what kind of diet I should eat, what is my spiritual practice, and really becoming more self-aware. I started out the first of the three years as a strict vegan. I was completely passionate about plant-based diets that I became a vegan chef for a time. Over these short years I moved every few months, worked different jobs, and with all the change came changes to my diet. I let myself eat a little dairy, even had meat a handful of times. Every time I did I felt guilty. It has taken me this entire three years to allow myself to have a balance. It's not that one day you can wake up and say I am only eating this way and it's going to work out and be the perfect diet for you. This takes time, trial, and error.

This school is teaching me many things I already know. Wellness isn't just what we eat, but what we think, feel, do, and allow in our lives. Ironically I asked the Universe for a school that would combine and teach all of my beliefs over one year ago and this school was mentioned to me but I didn't take the call, and when it came around again I knew it was what I am meant to do.

My dream is to have  Emilee's Wellness Hut in Hawaii. In this hut I will prepare healing whole food dishes people can purchase after they have had their wellness sessions with me. I will also travel around the world giving lectures on wellness and maybe food demonstrations. I will publish at least one book. I will have at least two children and live with my husband in Hawaii. Of course I want all of these things this minute but it has become apparent to me that I have to take the stairs one step at a time like everybody else. I know all of my dreams will come true probably even better than imagined because I believe it so. 

When you answer the calling of your purpose and dream to the rhythm of your heart, all you desire will be yours.