Kick In The Booty!

I logged into my 3 Day participant center to read…

“95 days until the event!”

What?! That is just 3 short months away!  And then I found this…

“On July 28, a link will appear below to enter online check-in. Online check-in will be open from July 28 to October 24.”

Yikes!  When online check in opens it’s business time!  When you check in, you have to have your fundraising minimum raised or put up your own personal credit card for the remaining amount.  The 3 Day takes serious commitment to not only training but also to fundraising.

I am currently just $950 short of my fundraising minimum which may sound like a lot, but I've already raised $1350 toward the $2300 goal!  I know I can reach that goal but I just need to get focused. 

So this is me… focusing…

I’m asking your help to get me there!  Consider sponsoring me $1 per mile for a total donation of $60 or... If you can’t spare $60, please consider a donation in an amount you can give. To donate by credit or debit card, just visit www.the3day.org/goto/christina2011 there you have the option to split your donation into 4 easy, tax-deductible, payments.

Each year the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure events raise $50+ million for cancer research. Cancer research is expensive, the current treatments are expensive, the screening tests to catch the disease early are expensive... but if the money donated leads to just ONE life saved, that is priceless.

In honor of…

In honor of…

In memory of…

SOCS: A Weighty Issue

I’ve noticed around the blogosphere that everyone seems to be talking about their weight these days.  Perhaps it’s because the extreme heat around the nation has us all reaching for body revealing shorts, tanks, and swimsuits on a daily basis?  It’s definitely hard to ignore a few extra pounds with so little fabric.

Even though I haven’t been writing about it, weight has been on my mind as well.  I’ve gained weight since I took the job here in Tennessee because of a whole lot of stress and bad eating habits.  There have been many, many days where I haven’t had any food until heading home after a 12 hour day… this excludes coffee of course.  And if I did get a chance to grab some food it was quick junk in a drive through on my way to/from meetings.  It has been horrible for my body and I feel horrible as a result.  It isn’t that I’m feeling down about how I look but more that I am feeling in my health.  My energy levels are down and I just feel blah. 

Now that I have left job, I want to refocus on getting back to feeling well.  With the new job there are new twists… I will be traveling 16-18 days out of every month and we all know eating out that much has it’s challenges.  I just need to make better choices when on the days I am home I need to spend some time cooking at home.  It might be a good time to knock off some of my 101 in 1001 physical health goals?  Of course the 3 Day training focus should help some too!

To all of you out there who are going through the some weight struggles, I wish you good luck and happy losing!

….

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Link up by clicking on the button below!

Blisters for Boobies!

Have you noticed the little mileage tracker creeping up over there on the sidebar?  That means I am *officially* in Susan G Komen 3 Day training mode!  I am finishing the 2nd week of a 16 week training plan with 10 miles tomorrow. 

Yes, I said 10 miles tomorrow.

I will be walking with my team for approximately 3 hours starting at the lovely hour of 6am on a Saturday to beat this crazy heat.  All in the name of boobies everywhere.

I am no stranger to this event.  This will be my 4th year walking the 60 mile journey. I’m no stranger to walking in heat indexes of 100+ degrees or temps that dip into the 30’s. I’ve seen team members go down with mild dehydration and I’ve seen them spend hours in the med tent being taped up.  The 3 Day is no joke and the 500 miles of training prepares you for that.

But one little problem has plagued me every year.  Blisters.  And I’m not talking a little tiny bump on the side of my toe. I’m talking heel encompassing, foot swallowing, toe engulfing blisters.  By the end of each event, my feet are so sore I hobble around like I’m 100 years old. 

I have tried everything… band aids, blister bandages, Moleskin, Duct tape, Body Glide, powder, Vaseline, soaking my feet in Epsom salts, socks, different socks, and then two pairs of socks at the same time, new shoes, more new shoes…  It doesn’t

matter.  My feet just blister.

I have learned a few tricks along the way… like wrapping my 2 last toes on each foot with Meijer fabric bandages to prevent little tiny blisters on the pads of those toes.  And that moleskin just refuses to stay put on my heels unless I use fabric {not paper} medical tape to encase the moleskin.

So far this year… {knock on wood}… I haven’t gotten any blisters from training.  It is too early to declare victory just yet, but I have to admit I am pretty excited by this lack of development!  Tomorrow’s 10-miler {the first of the season} should be a pretty good test.

But even if they do pop up again this year I will cheerfully wrap them up and remind myself…

Women of Faith

Imagine my delight when I opened up my email this morning to read this…

“Hello Book Sneeze Friend!

We have good news! You have been selected as a blogger for the Women of Faith event. Details on receiving your registrations, attending the event, and posting your blog posts are below…”

That’s right my dears, yours truly will be headed to the Women of Faith conference in Charlotte, NC in September and I will be blogging and tweeting all the lovely details right here!

Why is this so exciting you ask?  Because as their website says, it’s a place to “Escape from the everyday… and be refreshed, encouraged and inspired. Because the God who loves you can do far more than you can ever Imagine.”  I’ve been needing that in my life as I’ve found myself stumbling and bumbling around lately.  What’s even better is Mom will be joining me as we gain inspiration and encouragement from the likes of Natalie Grant {love!}, Mary Mary, Karen Kingsbury, Luci Swindoll and so many others! 

Interested?  Then check out the website and register to attend the event nearest you.  With 28 different events around the country there is bound to be one nearby!  Or… come join me at the Charlotte event!  I’d love to meet you!

A huge THANK YOU to the organizers of the Women Of Faith conferences and the Booksneeze blogger program!

Michigan Monday

A picture tribute to my recent trip back to the Mitten over 4th of July…

4th of July Oooohs and Ahhhhs!

	Grand Haven, MI

“The longest road out is the shortest road home”
Irish Proverb

SOCS: I Suck At Blogging

The timer is set and I am here to admit to you all that I have been neglecting this little blog o’ mine!  See I went back home to visit my family and then have had a completely hellish week and… well I’ve been too wrapped up in my own self to share anything with you all!  I’ve thought about some posts but haven’t actually done them… but hey, it’s the thought that counts right?

So to do some very quick updates for you all…

I finally went to my Endo for my 2 year check-in.  I was nervous as h-e-double- hockey-sticks.  But turns out I had no need to be. My tumor marker came back in negatory glory and my neck ultrasound turned up nothing suspicious except a missing lymph node. {note: I am in fact missing a cervical node as a result of checking for mets during surgery so that is normal for me.}  So I got a pass for no doctor visits for 8 months although I do have to visit the lab vampires twice between now and then and they changed my meds…again… because now I am to hyper which could explain some anxiety, sleeplessness, and hair loss I’ve been experiencing.

The visit back to G. Rap was fantabulous… I will be blogging about that in all it’s glory in another completely separate post.

I have just 5… count ‘em 5… days left at my current job.  I am very happy with my decision to move on even after just 6 short months of being there.  It is not a healthy environment for me.  So where am I going and what am I going to do?  I am NOT moving back to Michigan at this time.  I like it here in East TN.  I AM all set with a new gig.  One that involves consulting. And travel. And I am super excited about it!  The job may also require a completely separate post coming up!

And there is another exciting development going on in my life…

Annnnnd there is the buzzer… no I’m completely serious… I did not mean to have that last sentence be a cliffhanger! I  guess if you all want to know what the end of that sentence will bring, you will just have to stay tuned?
…

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Link up by clicking on the button below!

Better Than I

Better Than I by Joy Williams

I thought I did what's right
I thought I had the answer
I thought I chose the surest road
But that road brought me here
So I put up a fight
And told You how to help me
And just when I had given up
The truth is coming clear, for...

You know...Better Than I
You know...the way
I've let go...the need to know why
'Cause You know Better Than I

If this has been a test
I cannot see the reason
But maybe knowing, I don't know
Is part of getting thru
I try to do what's best
Find faith has made it easy
To see the best thing I can do
Is put my faith in You, for...

I saw one cloud, and thought it was the sky
I saw a bird and thought that I could follow
But it was You who taught them to fly
If I let You reach me...
Will You teach me? For...

You know...Better Than I
You know...the way
I've let go...the need to know why
I'll take what answers You supply
'Cause You know Better Than I

Happy 4th!

Ok I know it’s not the 4th yet but I am about 4 hours into my 12 hour drive home – that puts me in Eastern Kentucky currently – and I don’t know when I will be blogging again!  I’m heading back to Michigan to visit friends and family for the 4th aaand I get to visit the lab vampires my Endo friend. Yup that is super exciting.

What is exciting is that this is on my hotel room number plate:

Oh if you only knew how much I looove fireworks! Here is some evidence… notice the supremely goofy face as I go to light the little fountain…

But first there are the 12 loooooong hours of travel in front of me. Sigh… can someone please invent that teleportation device soon?  I guess if I could teleport I would miss out on cool scenery like this…

Oh well.. I need to wrap this up and get some rest for the road in front of me!  Have a safe and happy 4th everyone!

Happy 4th of July!