Way to Wellness

No place like home! Enjoyed our short trip to Tahoe to see old friends. Watching the sunset over the lake never gets old.
📸credit: Chelsea Miller

I’m Crystal Ricciardi and I’m 50 years old!! What a milestone and what a year!! I am so blessed and have the best family and friends. Thank you for all the birthday messages, words of encouragement and love. I got to spend the day teaching my awesome students and just finished a 50 birthday WOD!! It’s going to be a good year!!

He is risen! Happy Easter from the Ricciardi family minus one. Missing Evan this year, but he’s living his best life in New Zealand. We are loving our new church family and missing our family . Nothing like that ☀️as we celebrate the resurrection. Thankful!

Thirty-two years ago I made the decision to go to knowing I was giving up a full ride to the local university. The Lord had big plans for me…He blessed me with deep friendships, community and a time to build a foundation on Him that has carried me through many seasons. These women (and those who aren’t pictured) taught me how to be a friend, be present and live in community. Thankful that 30+ years later we can still get together, pick up where we left off and continue to encourage one another. Now that I am back on campus as a professor, I am constantly reminded of this gift.

Merry Christmas from the Ricciardi Family! It’s been quite the year…we are grieving the move from our WA community and celebrating God’s provision in CA. I never thought we would love it here as much as we have. We bask in the sunshine, walk most places and enjoy all of the beautiful beaches around us. God has blessed us with a loving church family , an awesome job teaching and constant reminders of how far he has carried us since our college years. We are thankful and looking forward to this next season.

It’s been a whirlwind moving from our home in Washington to sunny So. Cal. Will be grieving the loss of our amazing community and comfort for a long time, but continue to feel at peace about what’s ahead. This tree in our new neighborhood reminds me of my true roots and the life that I have been given. Constantly growing! Excited about this adventure, thankful for the people God has put in our lives and the reminder of all that has happened and how much we have grown since we were students at Biola. Learning to be still.

Love this team that we get to serve on church. These are friends that have become family to us! Every year we get to spend a week together to rest, have fun, review the last year and look ahead. This year was so sweet, but so hard since it is our last retreat with them. Goodbyes are so hard and my heart hurts. We hope to take what we have learned from all of these awesome people in the past 10 years of ministry to our next community in So. Cal. Thankful for this last week and all the years! Love you all!

Big news!! We are moving to Southern California! I have accepted a full-time faculty position in the Master of Occupational Therapy program at Biola University! I’m so excited to go back to my Alma mater and be a part of training up compassionate and competent occupational therapists while integrating faith and functional medicine into practice! So sad to leave our friends who have become family here in the PNW. Excited for this season! Go Eagles!

I love empowering my clients and women to make connections between their story and physical health. Gaining knowledge about the interconnectedness of not only the systems of our body but the emotional, physical and spiritual components of health moves us toward whole health. Identifying root causes through the functional medicine framework and recognizing that each person is unique and intricately made helps me develop an individualized plan. I’m also thankful that I get to use this framework and my passion for whole health as I work with kids and adults in occupational therapy. Feeling blessed that I love what I do!

I love my job! I love that part of my work includes walking with amazing women who have the desire to work toward emotional, spiritual and physical health. I also love that I get to serve with such gifted women and to lead these retreats twice a year! Feeling encouraged!