A Special Request...

I have a problem and I'm coming to my "extended family" for help. ;(

In just 30 days, December 16th "My Marine" will be graduating from Marine bootcamp in San Diego, Camp Pendleton, CA. It is one of those events in life that can never be duplicated. We want to go celebrate this wonderful accomplishment in his life. We want to support him and cheer him on. That Other Kid and I are looking forward to attending the graduation celebration. We want to attend BUT plane tickets are so expensive right now from Dallas to San Diego.

Here's my request -- does anyone have "buddy passes" or "miles" that we can use? We need 2 plane tickets, round trip from Dallas to San Diego sometime in the area of December 14 - December 16/17th. We are flexible with travel times but definitely need to be there on December 15th and 16th.

I know this is a big request but I desperately want to celebrate this accomplishment in My Marine's life!!

Thanks so much for your help....

Thankfulness - Day 16 (with weigh in)

Today I am thankful that it is November 16th! That means in just 1 month "My Marine" will graduate from boot camp! Sometimes it seems like just yesterday he left and other times it seems like he has been gone FOREVER!! It was one year ago Thanksgiving he told us that he was "done" with college and was going to join the Marines. I will never forget that shock! And here we are almost a year later and he is nearly done with the most rewarding, challenging thing he has ever done....BOOT CAMP!

Today is also Wednesday which means it is weigh in day at Shrinking Jeans. It is the final day of Shrinkvivor and although I was sent to Exile Island a few weeks I still need to weigh in.

My starting weight for this challenge: 200.8
Today's weight: 202.6

So...instead of losing weight this challenge I gained. I'm upset with myself but I know that during distance training it is difficult to lose weight and I definitely was training and walking long distances!! I am now done with that training for a while and now I've got to find my fitness/weight loss/healthy living mojo back! This week I have improved but haven't exercised much still. I went for a 30 minute walk with a friend and That Other Kid yesterday and that was really the first time I have done anything since the 3 Day. That must change!!

I changed the way I am approaching school, chores and many other things around here this week and now it is time to start meal planning, exercising etc to make better use of my time! If you have suggestions on "organizing" my life I am open to them! I need some structure so I can accomplish all that needs to be done!

Ok...so there's a new challenge coming up at the 'hood next week and I'm planning to make that one shine for me! Are you in???

Thankfulness - Day 15

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to be flexible with the new schedule I created for That Other Kid in our homeschooling journey. He decided he wanted to do spelling today even though it wasn't on our schedule! Because we have the freedom to create our own schedule I was able to forego history today and we did spelling instead! I love that he wanted to do spelling - All About Spelling is a great program!

I am also thankful for my friends who told me about All About Spelling! I had never heard of this program; even though I have been homeschooling FOREVER!! Whooohooo for friends who try new programs and aren't afraid to recommend them even to a veteran homeschooler!

Thankful for Friends!!

6 months ago I didn't know a single one of these wonderful Angels! Today I call them my friends and I am truly thankful that I can! Without these wonderful men and women (some of which have fought the breast cancer fight) I would never have had the opportunity to say, "I just finished walking 60 miles in 3 Days!"

I will never forget them and I can hardly wait to start training walks again for next year's 3 Day!

Doing the Impossible...

This past weekend I walked the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. I can honestly say it ranks as one of best 5 things I have ever done! This was truly an experience that made me feel like I was more than a wife and mother. It gave me a purpose other than preparing meals, doing laundry and teaching That Other Kid (all worthwhile for our family but very mundane!)

This is Glenna...the reason I decided this was the year to "put your words into action" and walk the 3 Day for the Cure that I have been wanting to do for years! My grandmother died of breast cancer more than 10 years ago and I had always thought I wanted to do something grand like the 3 Day but once Glenna got breast cancer I knew it had to happen now!! She came down to join me for lunch on Saturday - the roughest day of the weekend for me! I'm so blessed to have her in my life and I'm so glad she didn't let cancer beat her!

As a wife and mother I usually devote my attention to caring for my family. Rarely do I do something just because I want to make a difference in someone else's life, but this weekend that's what I did. Rarely do I do something purely for me. This weekend I did. Rarely do I do something that I have such a strong commitment to that I feel good about when I'm done. This weekend I did.

Like most Americans I usually don't follow through on things that I start doing. This weekend I followed through on the commitment that I made in July to walk the Komen 3 Day. Not only did I train for this event, but I raised more than $2300 to help find a cure for breast cancer. Then I followed up by walking 60 miles in 3 days!

Now that the Komen 3 Day is over for the year, I'm experiencing many emotions that I wasn't prepared for. I was so exhilarated while I was walking. I felt on top of the world; like I could do anything I set my mind (and feet to). I felt as if I couldn't be stopped.

I saw so many people this weekend with the same goal in mind - finding a cure for breast cancer. I walked with a woman on my team who was diagnosed with breast cancer last October and has gone through chemo, radiation, surgery, etc ALL while training TO WALK THE 3 DAY! She walked all 60 miles and was smiling, laughing and SERVING several other women on my team along the way!

Definitely applies here!

The lady on the far left is Yvette! She's one of my heros..the lady on my team I just mentioned!

All along the route people came out to cheer us on throughout our 60 miles. Many of these people spent the whole weekend following our route and setting up cheering stations and supporting us. Many of these people have a very personal reason for supporting us.

In case you can't tell the top of her head says thank you! This one brought me to instant tears!

Some just wanted to say thank you for making a difference.

There were times when I cried because there were so many people at a cheering station. There were times when we were walking that I was so physically and mentally exhausted I cried. There were times when I was in pain and wanted to cry, but I knew the discomfort I was in was NOTHING compared to the pain of breast cancer and all that goes with it. There were a few times I thought I could go on forever and there were times I didn't think I could take another step!

There were times when the signs I saw posted along the route kept me going - "It's kind of fun to do the impossible" really spoke to me!

I managed to walk all 60 miles and was encouraged to keep going by my wonderful friends who sent tweets, emails, letters and texts throughout the weekend.

Through this experience I have gained more than I could have ever imagined possible. I have gained lifetime friendships and a feeling of "I can do anything"! and I'm already planning to do it again next year!

The entire weekend was an experience I will never forget and I owe a huge thank you to many of my friends who donated money to help me raise the $2300 necessary to walk this event. Without your financial support and constant motivation I would not have been able to do this.

Now that the walk for this year is over I am going to apply what I have learned to my weight loss journey. If I can train in the heat of summer and get up at 4 a.m. on the weekends to do so, raise money, and walk 60 miles in 3 days I can do what most people consider the impossible - lose 40 or 50 more pounds! I have learned that I can do anything I set out to do! All I have to do is put my whole self into it! And I intend to do just that - the impossible really is possible when you want it bad enough!

Thankful for Homeschooling...

Today I am thankful for the privilege of homeschooling! I spent time this afternoon working on some lesson plans which for some strange reason excited me and made me think of how thankful I am for this opportunity.

I was also at the library gathering books for the next couple of weeks. I found this to be both exciting and frustrating! There are so many great books I want to read with That Other Kid but I just don't have the time to do it all. Our library has a decent number of classics and books off my list but there were some they didn't have! Ugh! That means I forgo reading those or I look elsewhere!

While I was working on the lesson plans and looking over my stack of books I realized how blessed I am to have a husband who works so much so I don't have to. I would hate to miss this opportunity to homeschool That Other Kid!

Thankful for our Veterans! 11/11/11

I grew up in a family with many veterans - my Dad, my uncles, my grandfather...all served in our military and fought for our freedoms! I have cousins that served as well! My brother also joined the Marines while he was in his early 20's and when I received the phone call saying he was joining the Marines I freaked out thinking it was the worst decision of his life I now openly say it was the best thing he has ever done!

Sooooo why was I surprised when my oldest son came home last Thanksgiving and announced he was joining the Marines? I don't know but now I realize it should have been one of those 'duh' moments! In just 5 weeks my son will graduate from Marine bootcamp and I couldn't be prouder to add just one more member of my family to my military family!

So THANK YOU VETERANS FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY AND BEING A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE TO MEN AND WOMEN OF TODAY WHO DESIRE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY!