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Santa Lourdes

@lifewithsanta

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Making a life out of living ✨ Ph.D Candidate • Corporate girly, publishing cool stuff 🤓 Cyclist 🚴🏽‍♀️ • Dog mama x3 + mama to one perfect human 🇵🇷

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38 feels like freedom.

I’ve always had an anxious, overthinking mind - living ten steps ahead or replaying ten steps behind. But 38 is teaching me that time is a concept; presence is where life actually exists. Anxiety lives in a future that hasn’t happened. Regret lives in a past we can’t change. Peace is right here.

I’ve released friendships that no longer served me, walked away from a relationship I stayed in far too long, and stopped carrying things simply because they had history.

And somehow, with less, I feel more like myself than ever.

I feel free. Confident. Peaceful. Grounded in God. And genuinely excited about getting older. I don’t want 28 back. Give me 38, 48, 58, 68 - all of it.

I promised Gabriel I’d make it to 108, so I have 70 more years of becoming. 🤍

Here’s to 38 and being fully present for every version of me still to come. #spirituality #growth #selflove #love #gratitude taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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7 hours ago

She is many things but first and foremost, she’s a #cyclist #living her #best #life and having so much #fun by @lifewithsanta

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a day ago

One thing about me: I’m probably with my family. And if I’m not with my son, there’s a good chance I’ve got a niece or nephew with me. 🥹❤️

Being an auntie is one of the biggest, sweetest parts of my life. There are a lot of them, and I love that I get to be part of each of their lives. The fact that they still want to hang out with me? I must be doing something right 🥰

Last night I took my son and two of his cousins to the @nationals v @mets game. I’ve always loved baseball games because of the atmosphere and my oldest nephew said it was such a vibe and honestly, that was the word. We had the best time. ⚾️✨

Then, because it wasn’t yet a complete night, we headed to the waterfront for ramen 🍜 Good food, good energy, and another memory with my favorite people. Just another night in the life with Santa. 🤍

And big thanks to my company for the club tickets and VIP parking 💙

#memories #Family #Baseball #ramen #Life taken in Washington Nationals Stadium by @lifewithsanta

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6 days ago

Nothing profound today. Just grateful.

Grateful I get to work from home. Grateful for a career that challenges me. Grateful for a quiet morning, a peaceful home, and a life I once prayed for.

Sometimes the blessing isn’t something new happening. Sometimes it’s realizing how good the ordinary parts of your life already are. ☕️✨

#WorkFromHome #Corporate #writer #Coffee #Morning taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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7 days ago

Sunshine, rain, and everything in between… it all has a purpose.

A reminder for the girl having a heavy day: you do not need to turn every hard moment into a breakthrough immediately.

Some days are for feeling it. Some days are for releasing it. Some days are simply for letting the rain do what it came to do.

You are still growing, even when it doesn’t feel pretty. 🤍

#loveyourlife #SelfWorth #Becoming #MindsetShift #WomenSupportingWomen taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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9 days ago

Your frequency isn’t what you say you want. It’s the emotional state you keep returning to.

Think of it as your emotional home.

You can say you want love, abundance, peace, confidence, success — all of it. But what do you actually spend most of your time feeling?

Secure or anxious?
Abundant or lacking?
Chosen or rejected?
Trusting or controlling?
At peace or constantly waiting for something to go wrong?

That’s the frequency worth paying attention to.

And no, this doesn’t mean you have to be happy every second of every day. You’re human. Feel the grief. Have the bad day. Cry. Be angry. Miss them.

The question is: where do you live emotionally?

Because once you become aware of your emotional home, you can start choosing differently. You can stop asking, “Why does this keep happening to me?” and start asking, “What version of me keeps accepting this as familiar?”

That’s where the shift begins.

Not pretending. Not forcing positivity. Not convincing yourself you’re already healed.

Just noticing your patterns, regulating your energy, and intentionally practicing the emotions that belong to the life you’re trying to create.

You don’t have to wait for your life to change before you feel different.

Sometimes you feel different first and then you start making completely different choices. ✨

Raise the frequency. Change the choices. Watch what changes with you.

I believe in you. Now go believe in yourself. 🤍

#selflove #growth #mindset #life #manifestation taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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10 days ago

Saturday afternoon: a glass of wine, my two doodles and golden, a clean house, a tired body from my morning ride, and a whole lot of peace. 🤍

I love my dogs. I love my life. I love my aloneness.

Being alone isn’t the same thing as being lonely. Sometimes it’s the season where you get to build, think, heal, and become - right in the home and life you created for yourself.

No chaos. No stress. Just me, in control of my body, my space, my time, and my peace.

And honestly? I’m enjoying her.

#becoming #healing #selflove #home #peace by @lifewithsanta

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12 days ago

There isn’t some “better” version of you waiting on the other side because who you are today isn’t good enough.

She’s there because you get to grow. And how beautiful is that?

You get to meet yourself over and over in this lifetime. Love. Lose. Take risks. Change your mind. Get your heart broken. Get disappointed. Begin again. And sometimes the things that feel like they’re breaking your life apart are actually making room for the biggest becoming of your life.

I don’t even want to call it a comeback. You were never down and out. You were in process.

Maybe the heartbreak taught you what love can no longer cost you. Maybe the disappointment redirected you. Maybe the ending created space for a life you couldn’t see yet.

That woman you keep imagining — peaceful, confident, deeply in love with her life, no longer chasing or begging for reassurance — she isn’t somebody else. She’s you asking you to come meet her.

That’s embodiment.

Listen to yourself more. Trust yourself more. Take the chance. Change directions when you need to. Love deeply. Adventure. Play. This life is your playground — go live the hell out of it. ✨

I’m proud of you. I believe in you. And I hope you’re excited to meet every version of yourself you haven’t met yet.

She’s not waiting because you aren’t enough.

She’s waiting because you’re not finished becoming. 🤍✨

#Manifest #goodlife #love #growth #live taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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14 days ago

Don’t get so busy building your next dream that you forget - you’re already living inside of dreams you once prayed for. 🤍

Life moves so fast. One goal becomes another goal. One accomplishment becomes the new baseline. And somehow, the things you once couldn’t wait to have become the things you barely stop to notice.
So lately, I’m trying to notice.

To look around and say, girl… you did that. 🥹

You made it through things you weren’t sure you would. You built a life. You worked hard. You kept becoming. And somewhere in all that becoming, you deserve to actually enjoy yourself.

Love your people. Take the trip. Sit by the water. Ride your bike. Find something that makes you lose track of time and reminds you that you are a person before you are a list of accomplishments.

And find a hobby that gives your soul a kind of joy that doesn’t need to be productive, impressive, or turned into anything else. Something you do simply because being alive feels better while you’re doing it.

There will always be another dream to chase.

But before you ask life for more, look around and love the life that already answered so many of your prayers.
And maybe thank yourself, too.

You’ve carried you all the way here. 🤍

#becoming #cycling #grateful #dream #life by @lifewithsanta

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15 days ago

38 💕

This birthday, I’m simply grateful - for my health, my family, the people who love me and a body strong enough to carry me through 80 beautiful miles.

This season is reminding me that life doesn’t have to feel perfect to still be full of beauty. There is so much to appreciate, even in the tender moments, and I’m thankful for all of it.

Thank you, God, for every lesson, every blessing and another year to live, love, grow and become. Here’s to 38 and to making every mile count. 🥰🚴🏽‍♀️

#life #birthday #growth #cycling #love taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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16 days ago

Between yesterday and today, I put about 80 miles on my bike, but today wasn’t one of those days where everything felt magical.

I wasn’t particularly focused. I didn’t have some huge breakthrough. I was just riding, talking, thinking, feeling a little off — and still somehow feeling incredibly grateful to be there.

Then I lost my route.

And strangely, I loved it. There was no panic in not knowing exactly where I was. It just became another road to experience. Another part of the story I wouldn’t have chosen if everything had gone according to plan.

Maybe that’s what I’m learning about life.

We’re so quick to label the unexpected parts as detours. The heartbreak. The uncertainty. The seasons when we don’t recognize ourselves. The days that don’t feel particularly beautiful. We’re always trying to get through them so we can get back to the life we think we’re supposed to be living.

But this is the life.

The getting lost is part of it.
The finding your way is part of it.
The loving, losing, changing, becoming — all of it counts.

I don’t want to spend my life waiting for everything to align before I decide it’s beautiful. I want to be present enough to experience the road I’m actually on, even when it isn’t the one I planned.

Maybe a beautiful life isn’t one where you never lose your way.

Maybe it’s one you learn to love so completely that even getting lost feels like an adventure.

Imperfect. Unfinished. Entirely mine.

And what a privilege it is to be here for all of it. 🤍

#cycling #adventure #grateful #cyclist #inspiration taken in Northern Virginia by @lifewithsanta

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17 days ago

People always say, “You need to do something for yourself.” The funny thing is... I genuinely love doing life with this kid. Until he decides hanging out with Mom isn’t cool anymore, you’ll probably find us together.

We’ve built a life I wouldn’t trade for anything. Movie nights, bookstore dates, long walks with our dogs, backyard dinners, soccer fields... and now, road bikes and weekend adventures.

Being a single mom didn’t teach me to spend less time with my son - it taught me to become the healthiest, happiest, strongest version of myself *for* him. I learned that taking care of myself wasn’t about getting away from him. It was about making sure the version of me he got every day was one filled with peace, patience, joy, and love.

People say parents shape their children, but if I’m honest... I think Gabriel has shaped me even more. He’s made me softer where I needed softness, stronger where I needed strength, and more intentional with the life I’m building.

I may be raising an incredible young man, but somehow, he’s been raising me too.

I love you, buddy. Thanks for making me so proud to be your mom 💙

#CyclingLife
#BoyMom
#SingleMom
#MomLife
#Mom taken in Trek Bicycle Alexandria North by @lifewithsanta

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2 months ago