Day 26: Sunday recap

So it turns out I missed last week completely! Not entirely surprised given my travels, studying, fundraising and costuming! For those of you who care, I had a beautiful time in Atlanta and made friends I know I'll have for life. I've never known a group of people to touch my heart so quickly, especially my hosts. By the end of my trip I was ready to come home but definitely not ready to leave them behind. I'm sure I'll be back, hopefully soon and with Jeff in tow. I don't think we're built for entire weeks apart, we were both quite pathetic by day 4 of 6!

I took quite a few photos but haven't uploaded them yet -- this first one was taken by my friend Jay on lunch day 1 (yes my hair is that pink). The girls I worked with on lunch were AMAZING. By the end of day 1 we were laughing like old friends, and dancing to entertain the walkers for the rest of the weekend. Crewing a 3-day was completely different than walking one, but just as rewarding. I loved every minute of it.

I snapped this picture during the closing ceremony. I've always gotten emotional during closing. But this year, knowing and loving two of the women in the survivor's circle REALLY got to me. I am so glad I was in the perfect position to snap this picture. Allie and Casondra started out just being my teammates and by the end of the weekend became part of my family. Neither of them carried the LOVE flag (Allie carried COURAGE while Sandy was responsible for HOPE) but I am so glad it was behind them. This will be framed in my home for a long long time.

I can't wait for San Diego in a few weeks to get back into that world. I hope that one day I can work for Susan G. Komen, or find something else that brings me half the joy that this does. I'm still $860 short of the minimum to walk in San Diego, by the way. If any of you would like to contribute please feel free to make your donations here. Every donation counts, no matter how small. It will all be a part of one creating a world without breast cancer.

Now, onto me talking about food and working out for a few paragraphs. Like I said, the week I left was busy and not in the working out way. I can't even remember what I ate before leaving, and I do know that while I was in Atlanta I didn't actually eat that well, lol. Tommy and Pam (my gracious hosts) wanted to make sure I got a taste of the south before heading back to California and BOY did I. Cracker Barrel, Chick-fil-A, Waffle House and general deliciousness. I will say in my defense that traveling is TIRING and the whole time I was on the actual event was filled with a lot of physical labor. When I pulled on my jeans Monday morning they felt looser (I'd been wearing yoga pants during the event. Walker or not I wasn't going to spend all day in jeans there), so I felt better about that!

This week I was crazy busy, but part of that was going to Zumba not once or twice this week but FIVE times. I went to every class to promote a fundraiser I had on Saturday. My Zumba instructor graciously co-hosted Zumba for Bazoombas, which went well considering it was put together very quickly. I wish there were more people there, but I understand that couldn't always be the case. I won't lie, sometimes it's discouraging to put your heart and soul into something and want it to be HUGE and it's just not. I emailed my local paper and they did a small piece and advertised it in all the Zumba classes for a week, plus Facebook, and it just didn't get the reception I wanted. However I got in five quality Zumba classes when I normally only get one or two, so I guess it's all the same.

This week also brought a couple of non-scale victories - Wednesday night I was driving home from working out and realized that OMG I HAVE AN AB. Just the one, and still buried under some chub but whatever, I have an ab. Then last night before Jeff and I went to bed he said he could really tell that I looked and felt different, especially when he was hugging up on me. Arguably he would be a better judge than anyone since he both sees and touches me more than anyone else. I went to a good friend's baby shower Saturday and thanks to the magic of Facebook the pictures are already up and I am happy to report that my face looks thinner. Thank goodness, I was starting to feel like a basketball head.

The week ahead:

It's the big week! 45 miles total this week including the elusive 18-15! Then after that it's time to taper for San Diego. I am really hoping to hit all of them, especially the 18-15 turn around. I know I'll be tired but I need to do it. I'm supposed to move ahead to No More Trouble Zones this week, but will probably only get there on Friday. I need to double up on the 30-Day Shred a few more times before moving on (I really want to complete the program and I missed quite a few days with my trip). I think I might also throw another Zumba class every week into the mix. It's really changing my entire body, especially my core. My Zumba instructor also does bootcamps, so it's thinking way ahead but I might sign up for one after my feet heal from San Diego. It's worth 4 weeks of hell to see big changes, and I have a dress in mind for New Years Eve that I'd LOVE to make two sizes smaller than I am right now.

I'm HOPING to post mid-week with some goals, but this is also my last extremely hectic week (then I go down to slightly less hectic, then after San Diego I have a degree of calm to look forward to!), so no promises. ;)

Have a great week, readers!