Everything And What That Entails.

This post is hard to write...

I alluded to some trouble in my Thankful Things posts that all came about on Thanksgiving Day. That trouble was finding out my 12 year old cousin Chris has bone cancer.

Around Halloween, Chris was out rollerblading and came back mentioning some knee pain. My mother (a nurse) looked at his knee and noticed some swelling. Chris hadn't fallen or twisted it, but said it hurt. My mom told him to ice and wrap it, so he did. It was still swollen a few days later so the athletic trainer at my uncle's school (he's a teacher) looked at his knee. Again, he was given the same advice to wrap and ice it. However, Chris continued to have the pain and swelling so a few days before Thanksgiving he went in for an X-Ray and to have some blood work done.

We found out on Thanksgiving Day that it was most likely cancer. It was confirmed a few days later when he went for a full body MRI. He started chemotherapy a few days after that. One phone call changed our whole world.

It has been a rough journey already for Chris, his parents, and our family, and it has only just begun. Chris is/will be going through about a month and a half of chemo. He'll then have surgery to remove what is left of the cancer. Chris will then have another round of chemo to rid him of anything that is still remaining. If this all works out the way it is planned, he should be cancer free.

Please pray for healing, peace and comfort for both Chris and our family!

Chris came up with the motto "Fight like a Knight" as he battles this ugly disease, and he is doing just that!

Thankful Things - Day 18 - The End!

Thankful Thing - Day 18

Today I am STILL thankful for Friendsgiving! Seriously had the best time with everyone!

However, if it's cheating doing the same thankful thing twice, I'll say I am also thankful for getting to spend the day in CT with both new and old friends celebrating A Very Andy Thanksgiving!

Post Edit: As I said, Friendsgiving rocked! Anyways, the handsome friend always goes to Connecticut for A Very Andy Thanksgiving. This tradition was started years ago when our friend Andy (who was not my friend at the time) had a few friends over for Thanksgiving because he was not going home. The tradition has continued and this year I was invited to join the festivities. The day was packed full of hanging out with friends, relaxing, and exploring! All in all, it was an exhausting but fantastic way to spend the day after Friendsgiving!


Thankful Thing - Day 19

Today I am thankful for a restful, yet productive Sunday.


Thankful Thing - Day 20

Today I am thankful for my little sister Kinsey Rae. Growing up I was always the youngest and she finally gave me the opportunity to be the big sister! Plus she's an amazing athlete, star student, and all around great person.

I am also thankful for my (not so) little brother Aidan. He makes me a proud big sister every day as he serves our country in the Army.

Love them both!


Thankful Thing - Day 21
Today I'm thankful for my big sister Megan Ann. While we may have fought our way through the first 22 years of my life, she is truly my best friend. She has been my role model and the person I strive to be like every day. She is the quintessential picture of what dedication and hard work will get you. I love you, Megan ♥

Thankful Thing - Day 22

Today I'm thankful for my sweet students who wrote me thank you notes. They had the assignment in computer class to write a thank you note to someone they were thankful for, and 4 of my kiddos from last year chose me. Thank you Nikola for creating this assignment too! Absolutely made my day!

Thankful Thing - Day 23

Today I'm thankful for my amazing family!

Post Edit: This is meant to include all of my wonderful aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and extended family! I really do have the best family ever!


Thankful Thing - Day 24

Today I am thankful for the best parents around!

My dad and (step)mom, Dana, are two of the funniest, most endearing people around! Their personalities are addicting and I can honestly say I would not be the person I am today without them in my life!

My mom, Monica, and (step)dad, Keith, are two of the hardest working people I know. They have both sacrificed more than I could imagine. I would not be where I am today without them in my life!

Picture Circa 2008

I love you all more than I can say!


Thankful Thing - Day 25

Today I am thankful for my best friend Danielle! In the past twelve years, we've had more long talks, inside jokes and laughs then I can count. There is no one else I'd rather have as my best friend. She truely is one of a kind and I am so blessed to have her in my life.

I love you Georgeous ♥

Post Edit: So apparently I am bad at math, because it has actually been only about 10 years, but whatev. The message is still the same - my best friend is amazing. We seriously have the best time when we are together and I don't know what I'd do without her. She is that one person that I know will always be in my life. Also, I am not that bad at spelling. Georgeous = an inside joke no one but the two of us will ever understand!


Thankful Thing - Day 26

Today I thankful for a special friend that I know I can always count on.

Post Edit: This "special friend" would also be the handsome friend I have mentioned before. However, we were still newly dating at this point, and my handsome friend did not want to be named on Facebook in a post dedicated solely to him (so humble). However, he truly is amazing and deserves recognition because he has been so wonderful these past few weeks with everything (a post on what everything entails in the coming weeks) that has been going on lately. I am one lucky girl to have him.


Thankful Thing - Day 27

Today I am thankful for my wonderful and supportive colleagues, friends, and family. You guys are seriously the best!

Post Edit: Again, this goes into all that junk (i.e. the upcoming everything post) that will be discussed in the near future.


Thankful Thing - Day 28

Today I am thankful for modern medicine.


Thankful Thing - Day 29

Today I am thankful for having so much to be thankful for!


Thankful Thing - Day 30-31

These did not appear on facebook - although I could have sworn I did a thankful thing for every day of the month. Either way, that was not the point of the thankful things. The purpose was so I could recognize how much I had to be thankful for. And let me tell you, it did its job!

The beginning of the month was amazing and was quickly getting better by the day. I remember driving home the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and literally crying tears of joy because things were going so well! Things quickly took a turn for the worse on Thanksgiving Day, but I still had (and do have) SO MUCH to be thankful for!

I plan to do this every year, whether I make it public or not, because it really did help me to recognize just how lucky I am!

A Marathon That Wasn't Meant To Be

So the last time I posted, I talked about signing up for a marathon. Obviously, that has come and gone, and I did a phenomenal job of keeping up with documenting that.

I trained, got injured, and then had A LOT of not so wonderful things happen the week before the race. I knew it was a long shot that I could finish the whole 26.2 but I wasn't about to let my best friend, who was training over 300 miles away from me this entire time, down. So on Sunday morning, I toed the line with her.

The first 6 miles felt good - minus the fact that I could not keep ANY liquids down. As soon as they went in, they came right back out. Also, my hands and feet were numb. No blood flowing to them. Definitely made for an interesting first 6 miles. Around mile 7, the GU I took at mile 5 decided it didn't want to stay down either.

Needless to say, I knew this was not going to be my race. Slowly the pain in my leg that had plagued me from halfway through my training cycle kicked in and I had to stop to walk. Lydia went on without me. I hated that I wasn't going to be crossing the finish line with her but I wasn't about to hold her back.

P.S. That's my awesome mama who rode her bike next to me the entire race, and then rode ahead and found Lyd and rode her all the way to the finish! Talk about a rockstar!

I thought I'd be able to run/walk the rest of the race, but as the race progressed it began to heat up. Not being able to keep any fluids or gels down, I quickly realized that even with walk breaks, finishing might not happen. To make matters worse, that old injury (that I had never let properly heal) was REALLY bothering me. Around mile 12, after much discussion with my mom, we decided it did not seem smart to push my body. After crossing the 14 mile mark, I finally saw my amazing cheering section comprised of my dad and (step)mom. I sadly walked off the course and hopped in their car, determined to see Lydia along the course and cross the finish line.

We got a little lost but headed to mile 18 in hopes of seeing her before the finish. We thought we had missed her but before long, she came out of nowhere looking great! She yelled to me that she missed me. While it broke my heart that I wasn't there running along side of her, I knew it wasn't my day. We cheered her on and then headed to the finish, as there wasn't anywhere else to spectate until the end.

As we waited, it was hard seeing everyone crossing the finish line, knowing that should have been me. But I pushed those thoughts aside and cheered my little heart out knowing that one day that WILL be me.

Before long, Lydia came around the corner and flew across the finish line! She had done it! She had completed her first marathon! She had run 26.2 miles! To say I was proud would be an understatement!

The next few days were rough as I had an wondered if I should have kept pushing. If I should have pushed through the pain. However, I know that if I had, I probably would have done more damage than good. While it was hard to pull out after only 14 miles, I still ran 14 miles!

And this isn't the end for me and the marathon. I WILL get that 26.2. October 9th just wasn't that day.