About Karly Beth

 

 

WA Iron Man 2010

Karly WA Emerald Cup April 2011

 

Despite some of the challenges that I have had throughout my life, I can honestly say that I have had a near perfect experience so far. I grew up in Ephrata, WA, and was raised by my parents, James and Kathy. I also have a sister, Kasey, who is 3 ½ years older than I. My grandparents, James and Joan, have also been very active in my life. My family has always been very important to me.I met my husband, Manuel, my sophomore year in high school and instantly fell in love. We continued to date long distance after Manuel graduated from high school (he is two years older than me) and then I made the move over to Seattle to live with him after I graduated from high school. We dated for 7 years and then we married in November of 2002. Shortly after, we started our family. I had two very stressful pregnancies due to lots of complications but I made it through and we now have 2 beautiful boys. Felix is now 8 and Fabian is 4. I love my husband and boys with all my heart and I feel blessed to have such a special family.

Manuel-The Love of My Life

In 2005, Manuel and I relocated to the Pullman area so that Manuel could go to school at WSU. I work at Washington State University, full-time but I am also busy with other part-time work such as cleaning 2 local offices on the weekends, doing the books on a monthly basis for the local music store, Atom Heart Music, and selling Avon. I am also studying for my ACE and hope to be certified soon. I am a busy gal but staying busy keeps me feeling balanced and accomplished.

Andrea and I have been best friends since the 6^th grade. We have gone through the braces, the boys, the crazy hair and clothes. We have grown up together and have never grown apart. Even better is that though our lives lead us down different paths after we graduated from high school, we still ended up both living in the Palouse area and remain the best of friends.

FitBody Contest May 2010

My personality is quite unique. Growing up with hearing aids in both ears, I was particularly quiet and relied on my sister to talk and answer people for me when asked questions or spoken too. As I got older, many kids thought I was stuck up because I didn’t talk much or I would walk away when they were speaking to me, but actually, I just didn’t hear them. Once people get to know me, they realize that I am a very compassionate and loving person. Over the years, my confidence has increased and I am not so shy and withdrawn. I still don’t like to be in large groups because it is hard to hear or follow several conversations but I enjoy the company of my family and friends and I can get very loud and silly when I am comfortable in my surroundings. I am open-minded and accepting to everyone I meet and different ideas that I hear, and to this day, not one person can tell which political side I am on. I am deep in my Christian faith and I take each day as a gift. I have a “can-do” attitude and when I set goals and say I am going to do something, I do it. I am also a perfectionist but I think it has served me well and I have been able to accomplish a lot because of the attention to detail I have. The other thing about me is that I am very clumsy! What can I say? I am an Archer (sorry, inside joke!)

As far as my hobbies and things that I love…I love pink and I love anything sparkly! I love lifting weights, cooking, reading of any kind, watching movies (not T.V.), competing in figure competitions, making jewelry, being girlie and putting on make-up and doing my hair, nails and toes. I also enjoy working in the yard and on my house and driving our pick-up truck. I enjoy taking old things and making them new again. I have always been active in sports and outdoor activities however, fitness has become such an important part of my life now that I find myself day dreaming about being in the gym. It makes me REALLY HAPPY!!!!

Why do I think fitness is so important? Besides the obvious health benefits, being healthy is something that every single person can do. I have every excuse in the world to not work out. I could say that I am too busy, or that I am a mom and I don’t need to worry about taking care of myself. I could use the excuse that I am sick and I have an injury. Just over 2 years ago, I fell and strained a muscle and bruised my sciatic nerve in my right leg and tore my labrum and I have Systemic Lupus which is an autoimmune disease that causes a ton of problems with my immune system and my joints. I have constant inflammation and fatigue and I get sick very easily.

In 2001, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and really had to educate myself about what I can and can’t eat. I have found though that with eating 6 clean meals a day, making sure I get the rest I need, drinking plenty of water, and lifting weights religiously, that my symptoms have

Karly- USA's July 2011

 improved tremendously. I am still tired but not as much as before and I seem to not get sick as often either. My joints are better or perhaps I am just so used to feeling pain that when my muscles are sore, I don’t notice the other stuff. As far as my injury, I still have a lot of problems with it and it often hinders me from doing certain exercises because of the pain, but I continue to push through and on December 14th I go in to have a hip arthroscopy. With this I should recover nicely and come back stronger than ever! Never give up hope! The only person standing in your way of accomplishing your fitness goals is YOU. You are the one that has the control to change yourself, to exercise, to eat clean, and make healthy choices. You are the only one that will tell you that “Yes, I can, or No, I can’t”. I personally like to be in the “I can” mentality.