Category Archives: Celebrations

How I Spent My Actual Birthday (or Friends, Friends, and More Friends)

Posted on August 13, 2014 | 1 comment

Originally, my plans for my actual birthday were pretty up in the air. I had no idea what I was going to do, and there was a good chance that I would just spend the day hanging around my house reading and watching movies (which would have been awesome).

Instead, I got to spend a lot of time with lots of awesome people!

It started at brunch. My friend Kate and her boyfriend Nick just happened to be in LA that weekend (they had a wedding to go to the evening of my birthday). So Kate and Nick took me out to brunch that morning! They asked me ahead of time where my favorite brunch spot was, so they made reservations at Rush St. Rush St. is just down the street from my house and I’ve always thought that they have had one of the best brunches in LA (and they don’t have crazy lines out the door like some places).

I was trying to be good with my food choices (even though brunch was going to be my main meal of the day), so I got an omelet with tater tots on the side (I have to be able to splurge a little on my birthday!).

It was a nice casual brunch and I got to catch up with Kate and Nick which is always nice. Plus, Kate got me a super awesome birthday card so that made me happy!

After brunch, I just hung around my house for a little while. While hanging out and being lazy at home, I did get an awesome flower delivery from my parents.

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And before I knew it, it was time to head out again.

About 2 weeks before my birthday, my friends Marie and Chris put out an invitation on Facebook about another one of their awesome house parties. At first, I thought that maybe I’d end up making other plans for my birthday evening, but since I already had my outing to Bodega the night before, I figured why not go and hang out with a ton of my friends!

Of course, I wore the sparkly headband again.

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It really was the perfect way to spend my birthday evening. Lots of good friends, good food, and just a good time. There wasn’t anything special, but that’s ok with me.

And when I was heading out to leave at about 11pm (I was trying to leave at a responsible time), Marie and Chris led everyone in singing “Happy Birthday” to me.

That was pretty awesome.

I got home just before midnight and enjoyed the last few minutes of my birthday catching up on all the awesome Facebook messages I got during the day.

Even though it might seem like I didn’t do much for my birthday, honestly it was the perfect way to celebrate for me. Big parties and events stress me out and that’s not what I want to have for my birthday. Casual get-togethers where everyone is having fun is the best option for me.

And I’ve still got a few more birthday celebrations to go. Coming up next (most likely) will be my birthday meal with my birthday twin. And that’s one of my favorite traditions!

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Default ThumbnailBirthday Twin Dinner (or Zero Dollar Bill) Default ThumbnailYet Another Birthday Outing (or Enjoying Benihana!) Default ThumbnailAlmost The End Of A Decade For Me (or The Birthday Countdown Has Begun) Default ThumbnailMaybe I Should Be A Wine Drinker (or How We Spent My Grandma’s Birthday Dinner) Default ThumbnailAlmost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailContinuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure)

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Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

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Celebration Time! (or Ending My Dirty 30 Year)

Posted on August 12, 2014 | 1 comment

I had decided to have my birthday party on the day before my birthday.

This was for a couple of reasons. First of all, at Bodega, they require a minimum tab for parties on Saturdays. I didn’t want to have to deal with that (everyone has to pay on 1 credit card so that’s annoying). Also, there were a few friends who didn’t know if they could make it at all, but if they could it would only be on Friday. Also, I wasn’t quite sure what I really wanted to do on my birthday day, so I wanted to leave that evening open.

My day started with my workout at Orangetheory. After doing that, I knew that I had burned off enough calories to enjoy a few drinks while I was out.

I had a little bit of time at home to get showered and dressed before I headed out to DryBar. I went to the same one I went to last year for my birthday, and it was a better experience than the year before. But I have to say that the DryBar in NYC was still way better!

I decided that I wanted to have curls in my hair for the evening. That seems festive to me and it’s something that I can’t really do on my own. While it was getting done, it looked pretty great and I was happy while I walked out the door.

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Sadly, the curls didn’t last even though the hair stylist used 2 rounds of hairspray (which I later hated because it made my hair impossible to brush). But my hair still looked better than anything that I could do on my own.

Next it was time to head over to Bodega. I was a little worried that not a lot of people would show up, but I went with the mindset that I would have a great time with whoever was there.

And I’m glad I went in with that mindset because only 3 people could make it. Lots of other people wanted to come but had work/traffic/lack of money/lack of time issues.

But the 3 who were there (Rayshell, Rayshell’s boyfriend Paul, and Sarah) were awesome and I had the best time with all of them!

We ordered food and drinks and just chatted about whatever. It was so low key and chill and it was exactly what I wanted. I don’t know if it could have been the same vibe if more people attended.

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Rayshell and Paul had to leave around 10 but Sarah and I stuck around until about 11. It was the perfect hangout with friends.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to drive home. And yes, I did stay up until midnight so I could enjoy the first minutes of my actual birthday.

And there were fun things ahead for me on my birthday and I’ll share that with you all tomorrow!

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Posted in Beauty, Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

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My Last 3 Workouts Of Being 30 (Realizing I’m Stronger Than I Thought)

Posted on August 11, 2014 | Comments Off on My Last 3 Workouts Of Being 30 (Realizing I’m Stronger Than I Thought)

This past week was a week of celebrations for me at Orangetheory.

First of all, it marked the end of me being 30 years old! This past year has been one of the healthier years for me, but I know that this next year will be even better!

The second celebration I had at Orangetheory was related to my classes on Monday and Wednesday.

Both of those days were pretty tough workouts. They aren’t getting easier for me because I am continuing to push myself every time I’m there. I’m using heavier weights, trying to get more sets in, and making sure my form is improving every time.

One of the things that I haven’t been pushing myself on is the high-impact activities. Some of them, like jumping jacks, aren’t worth pushing myself on yet. They hurt so bad while I’m doing them and I can feel my hips getting worse as I try to do them. But there are some other higher impact things that I have started to push myself on.

For example, this week on Monday, I was able to properly do mountain climbers. Before this workout, I would step slowly with one leg and then the other while doing the mountain climbers. But on Monday, I pushed myself and realized that I could “run” while doing them. They were hard and I was totally out of breath after doing my set, but I did it!

I was pretty darn proud of myself after that class!

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On Wednesday, I got another chance to push myself again when we had to do plank jumps (or plank hops). Again, I decided to do the move full-out (instead of stepping to do the hops) and I was able to do it! Even JZ, the trainer for Wednesdays class, noticed that I was able to do that and she acknowledged my accomplishment when we chatted quickly after class.

Since I’m running low on ideas for photos after my workouts (only 6 more to go until I’m not required to do them), JZ and I decided to take a silly selfie since all my other photos were pretty normal.

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On Friday, I went to the 12:15 class for the first time. I had an appointment to get my hair done at 4pm so I couldn’t make my usual 4:15 class (more on my fun on Friday in another post). This class was taught by Bruce, who I’ve had in classes with me before but I had never taken one of his classes (he’s also made appearances in several of my post-workout photos including the one from this past Monday).

Since this was the workout closest to my birthday, I declared it my birthday class. I wanted to wear a tiara, but no matter how many pins I put in it, I couldn’t get it to stay in my hair. So I settled for a sparkly headband.

Bruce really helped to make the class awesome and special for me. When we were warming up, he pointed me out and let everyone know that I was celebrating my birthday class. He said it again during the cool down. And Bruce was so positive and encouraging during the entire workout.

It was a run/row day so I was sweating like crazy. But I loved that that is how I started my last day of being 30!

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I’ve got 2 more weeks of my initial challenge with Orangetheory. But this week I will be getting my membership paperwork done because I have no plans on stopping my workouts. I’m in such a good place with my 3 workouts a week (and to think that in the beginning I thought I couldn’t do 3 workouts a week) and the 4:15 class time will work for me even when I start my new job in a few weeks (it might affect me working in the box office, but I’m not going to worry about that yet since they won’t need me until maybe September).

I’ve also got some more exciting news about my journey with Orangetheory. Some of you who follow me on social media might have seen something about it. But I’m going to save that information until later this week!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Birthday Beauty Discounts (or Making My Birthday Last The Entire Month)

Posted on August 8, 2014 | 2 comments

I’ve talked about birthday deals in the past and there are some that I enjoy every single year. And I’m learning to start asking stores that I frequent if they have any birthday deals.

And this year, even though my birthday isn’t until tomorrow, I’ve already enjoyed 2 birthday deals related to beauty!

The only birthday beauty deal I knew about in the past was at Sephora where you get something for free on your birthday (I haven’t gotten my postcard yet so I don’t know what I can get for free this year). I do take advantage of the Sephora deal, but I try not to spend too much on other things while I’m there (and I know that’s the reason for the freebie!).

Something that is a total freebie is at Benefit’s Brow Bars. I go to the one near Santa Monica to get my eyebrows done. It’s more expensive than the cheapie nail salon that I used to go to, but I think they do a way better job at waxing and shaping my brows and you even get a free makeup touch-up when they are done!

Around your birthday (I’m not sure if it has to be your birthday week or month), you get a free brow wax! And since I go there anyway, of course I scheduled a wax over the weekend to take advantage of that!

The brow wax is usually $20 (the cheapie nail salon was $10), so when I get my free wax, I am able to leave a big tip since I’m saving so much! This time, I left a $15 tip (I usually do $5).

Not only did a get a free brow wax, my eyebrows are going to look amazing for my birthday party (which is tonight!).

Another beauty birthday discount is at Queen Bee Salon and Spa. Sorry for my readers who aren’t in LA, but this is a salon that has one location in Culver City and another in Brentwood (I go to the Culver City one). I go here for bikini waxes and have been going for a little over a year now. Bikini waxes are never fun and they aren’t painless, but Queen Bee makes them more bearable. Plus, the waxer I go to, Jenn V., is super awesome and friendly. So we are normally chatting and gossiping while she works and it helps to distract me from the pain (taking a painkiller about an hour before I go helps too).

When I went in for my bikini wax last month I realized that my next wax would be around my birthday. So I asked if they had any birthday deals even though I had never heard of one there before. It turns out, they just created a birthday discount! If you get a service done either 4 days before or 4 days after your birthday you get 10% off!

So I scheduled my wax to be yesterday and I got a nice little discount on something that I would have done anyway!

I am going to DryBar today to get my hair done before my party, but when I looked at their deals, only people with memberships to DryBar get free blowouts on their birthdays. I definitely don’t get enough blowouts to make a membership worth it (nor do I have the money for something like that).

I’d love to find some more beauty birthday deals while it’s my birthday month! Those are so much better for my weight loss goals than all the food freebies (although I will be going to at least one of my free meals this month).

If anyone knows of a pedicure birthday deal, you would become one of my favorite people ever!

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Posted in Beauty, Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Saving

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Happy Anniversary Mom And Dad (or Celebrating 32 Years Of Awesomeness)

Posted on August 7, 2014 | 1 comment

Today is my parents 32nd anniversary. It’s also my cousin Adam’s 32nd birthday (yes, he was born on my parents’ wedding day). But sorry Adam, the focus on today’s post will be on my parents (but I’ve included you a bit at the end!).

For my entire life and in all my memories, my parents have been happy. Of course, there have been some sad and stressful times, but those have always been from outside circumstances and not from issues between my parents.

The fact that my parents have always been happy is probably why I’m so picky when it comes to dating. I’ve seen what a successful relationship is like and I don’t want to settle for anything less.

So in honor of my parents’ anniversary, I went through the photos I have and found some of my favorite ones. Mom and Dad, I want you to understand the effort it took for me to find photos of just the two of you and not with other people or with a dog (seriously almost every photo I have of you both is with a dog!).

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This picture is obviously from my parents’ wedding. I happen to have this one in my computer because I needed it for an anniversary present I made for my parents on their 25th anniversary (Mom and Dad, this blog post is your present this year. You know all about my lack of funds right now). I will never fit into my mom’s wedding dress (not only do I weigh more, I’m too tall), but my mom and I discussed randomly one time about me using parts of her wedding dress to incorporate into whatever wedding dress I buy when I eventually get married. So maybe one day, that dress will be part of my something old.

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This photo is one that I took when my parents were about to go to the prom that my dad’s hospital throws every year. The background behind them is a fountain at my parents’ house, and I remember insisting on taking a photo of them before they left for the prom. Plus, there are very few times that my dad wears a tux, so I wanted photo evidence of it.

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This photo is from my brother’s college graduation at USC. I used this photo along with their wedding photo in the anniversary present I made years ago. I just think it’s a nice photo of my parents.

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Of the photos I was able to find of my parents by themselves and without a dog, a majority of them came from my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding (and our week in Maui). This photo was taken on our first day in Maui right after we got to our rental house. Of course after traveling, the first thing we wanted to do is relax by the pool.

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This was from one of our neighborhood walks in Maui. I think it was a retaining wall from a house on the same street as our rental house. My parents have a friend who enjoys seeing hearts in nature, so my parents made me take this photo so they could share it with their friend. I also like how my mom is standing on a step so she looks the same height as my dad.

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This might be my absolute favorite photo of my parents. This was from the wedding (and possibly after a few drinks). I don’t remember ever seeing my parents dance before (I don’t know where I would have). And they were being so silly and fun. And considering that this was taken right before my mom had to start chemo, it reminds me that even when things are going to be stormy ahead, there’s no reason not to fully enjoy life every second.

I hope you all enjoyed seeing these photos of my parents.

And just so my cousin Adam isn’t completely left out, this is my favorite photo of Adam with our cousin Stephanie’s son Dalton. This was at Thanksgiving in 2007.

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So happy birthday Adam and happy anniversary Mom and Dad! I hope all of you have awesome and amazing days today!

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An Elopement Reception (or Enjoying The Sunset And Gluten-Free Vegan Cake)

Posted on August 5, 2014 | Comments Off on An Elopement Reception (or Enjoying The Sunset And Gluten-Free Vegan Cake)

A friend of mine, Sarah, got married last week. She and her now husband decided that they didn’t want a big wedding and eloped. I think the only people in attendance at the wedding were her parents, the officiant, and the photographer.

Even though they didn’t want a big wedding, they did have a small party celebrating their marriage this past weekend. And I was honored that I got an invite to the party!

I had some fun picking out a present for the bride and groom. I got them a photo farm to use for one of their wedding photos (they already opened the gift so I’m not spoiling the surprise). And I do work hard on wrapping gifts as nicely as possible.

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That is all my handiwork. Even the flower which I made from tissue paper. And yes, I’ll do a blog post soon about how to do the flower (I’ve already gotten requests to do that and I just need to get more supplies before doing it).

The party was held in a house in the hills near Silverlake where the bride’s parents were renting a house while on vacation here in LA. Sarah and her husband actually got married in the backyard of the house.

And as soon as I got there, I was blown away by how gorgeous the view was from the backyard.

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It was a pretty casual party, so that was really nice. There was Mexican food brought in from a restaurant (whose name is escaping my memory). It was really yummy food and we all ate in the backyard. There were different decks and seating areas to be in, so I was in a small group sitting in this little covered deck area and we all had fun chatting and goofing off while eating.

Before we knew it, the sun was setting and the view got so much better!

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After dinner, we headed back into the house for some dessert. There was vegan and non-vegan ice cream and a gluten-free vegan cake. I’ve had some bad experiences with gluten-free vegan cakes, but I have to say that this one was actually really good. I might not have known it was gluten-free or vegan if people didn’t tell me.

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I enjoyed a small scoop of non-vegan Oreo ice cream as well!

Before I knew it, it was getting pretty late and I needed to head home (I had some things I had to do early on Sunday morning). Before I left, Sarah made sure I took a favor from the wedding.

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Everyone at the wedding got to take a little pot of flowers home with them. Mine is sitting in my living room until my parents are here to visit me later this month. Since my dad is the one with the green thumb, I’m going to let him tell me what I should do with the flowers.

I’ve been to many different types of wedding over the years, and I have to say that every wedding I’ve attended really fit the people involved so perfectly. While eloping and having a very small reception a few days later might not be for everyone, I think it was so perfect for Sarah and her husband and I had the best time at their party.

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Checking In With My Progress (or Past The Half Way Mark)

Posted on August 4, 2014 | 3 comments

Last week marked the beginning of the second half of my Orangetheory challenge. I’ve talked about my frustration with my weight loss in the past, and it still bugs me that the weight is coming off slowly (although I know that that is much better than how I did things in the past).

Of course, after being half way done, I had to do a new set of photos to compare them to how I looked when I started.

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The top photos are from when I started and the bottom ones were from the beginning of last week.

I don’t really see a difference, but I know that I am my harshest critic. Several of my friends did tell me that they do see a changes, especially in the middle photo.

I’m trying to focus on the non-scale victories right now, because if I just rely on my scale I will be mad at myself.

As much as I would like to say that I’m in less pain now, but that’s actually the opposite. I’m in a lot of pain every day now. But that might actually be a good thing. My hip surgeon told me that the less I use my body/hips, the longer I will be able to go without needing my next surgery. So by being in more pain now, that is showing that I am working out hard and using my body way more than I used to. All 3 surgeries that I still have ahead will happen no matter what and while I do want to put them off as long as possible, I can’t avoid moving just to put off my surgeries a little longer.

Another non-scale victory comes from the people who work and train at Orangetheory. Last week, I was told how I’m looking more nimble, agile, and how all my movements are getting smoother and look easier. This proves that while my scale might not be changing my body is.

I’m still struggling with the run/row segments because the transitions are tough for me (and the step down from the treadmill is a big step), but it’s getting better. I was able to do more run/row transitions this week than last week.

I’m also getting so much better at rowing, which is something I never did before Orangetheory. I was able to row for 600 meters without stopping several times last week. That’s a lot!

My parents will be in town in a few weeks and I can’t wait to share this workout with my dad (and hopefully my mom will decide to join us too). While I know that my dad will be better at most of the workouts than I am, I still am so happy with my progress.

And being happy with my progress is one of the biggest accomplishments so far. I’m so used to feeling like the weakest and slowest in any workout scenario. And while that might still be true, I don’t care anymore. I’ve made a lot of progress and that is awesome. And while people who are new to class might not see it, there are plenty of people who are at every class with me and they see it and they have told me how awesome it is.

I am slowly no longer comparing myself to others. It still happens, but it’s way less often than even 2 weeks ago.

I’ve got 3 more weeks left in my challenge, but I already know that I will be signing up for a membership the day that my challenge is over. This is something that I’m really loving every time I’m there and I can’t image not having my 3 workouts a week at Orangetheory (maybe I can bump that up to 4 soon).

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Goodbye To July (or Looking Forward To Having Steady Work In August)

Posted on August 1, 2014 | Comments Off on Goodbye To July (or Looking Forward To Having Steady Work In August)

July wasn’t my best month for work. I lost a job and the only decent job I had been sporadic hours and during the graveyard shift.

Well, things should be changing quite a bit for me in August.

First of all, I might be done with graveyard shifts. This is still up in the air, but I was told at that job this week that this week should be my final week of nighttime training. From now on, I’ll be training on online data entry (which is what I was hired to do) and the training will be from home and during whatever hours I choose.

Next, some of my day jobs will be coming back in August. The box office job should be needing me again in August (or early September). That will be for evenings and weekends working during the shows. There are too many staff members in the box office who can work the day shifts, so I won’t be brought in for those (that’s ok).

Also, substitute teaching will be starting up again in August. I actually just got a letter from the school district that I work for saying that there will be a substitute teacher training half day (they’ve never done this before). So in the middle of August I’ll get paid a half day to get up to date on everything with the district.

But I won’t be able to sub teach too often because I finally got another day job with regular hours!

Starting in the end of August, I’ll be working Tuesday-Saturday doing customer service for a dinner theater company! The job seems very similar to the box office job that I already have. But this will be for a national chain of theaters. And I’ll be working from home!

I had a phone training this past week for the job and I’ll have another one next week. But I’ll have plenty of time to get myself ready before the job starts.

I’m so incredibly lucky that I got this job. A friend of mine, Robert, has worked with this company for years and he knew that they needed someone. So he gave the boss my information and recommended me for the job. And I know the main reason I got the job was because of Robert’s amazing recommendation. I’m so lucky to have a great friend who really was looking out for me.

While July was a real struggle financially, it looks like things will be looking up for me soon. I just have to make it through August, but since I have some fun things planned (like my birthday!!), hopefully this month will fly by and I’ll be making decent money again before I know it.

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Orangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!)

Posted on July 28, 2014 | Comments Off on Orangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!)

I’ve completed half of my Orangetheory challenge! I can’t believe it! I remember before I started the challenge I wondered how I could manage to do this. Now, I’m to the point where I’m starting to miss my workouts on days I’m not there (but I know my body probably can’t handle more than 3 Orangetheory workouts a week yet). I’m also starting to think long-term about this. Right now, I’m thinking about getting the top-level of membership at Orangetheory after my challenge is done so I can continue my Monday, Wednesday, Friday workouts.

I’m starting to feel much stronger and powerful and even one of the managers at Orangetheory said that he’s noticed me looking more agile. While my weight loss is slow, it’s going the direction it needs to go. And I know that muscle weighs more than fat, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. But losing 2 pounds a week is good and maintainable.

Last Monday, I had a friend join me for my class. It was the first time I had a friend there, and it was pretty awesome! I’m still hoping that more people will join me (if you are in LA and want to come please let me know!), but having a friend there this past week really helped give me a boost after feeling a little frustrated.

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On Wednesday, I was having a bad hip day (technically all week last week was a bad hip week). I wasn’t too happy to be on the treadmill, but I pushed through it the best I could. I had to take a lot of breaks, but I always got back on the treadmill.

I think the highlight for me on that workout was that we did a little rowing race. The group that started on the rowers (I started on the treadmills) did a race and the person who rowed the farthest in 1 minute rowed about 330 meters. So the challenge was set for my group to have someone beat that. Prior to Friday, I was averaging 250 meters in about 75 seconds. But I wanted to see how hard I could push myself.

I didn’t win the challenge, but I did manage to row 313 meters in 1 minute! It was really hard and I thought I might pass out for a second, but I did it! I did have some time before we starting rowing to rest, so that helped. But I now have a new benchmark for the next rowing challenge.

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Friday marked the end of my first month of my challenge. It was an exceptionally bad hip day and I had also worked the graveyard shift the night before. It was a recipe for disaster and in the past, I would have tried to find a way to get out of the workout.

But I still showed up and I did as much as I could. It wasn’t my best workout and it wasn’t pretty, but I was there. And that’s what counts.

To celebrate the end of my first month of my challenge, my trainer for that day Ashley wanted to take a photo that proves how tough I’m getting. So she decided to have me plank and then she would balance her plank on me (so I was supporting her as well). I used to be great at planks when I was skinny, but I’ve lost a lot of core strength and I’m working on getting it back. And I think this picture proves that I’m getting my core strength back.

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My hip issues are still bothering me now and I’m taking more painkillers than I used to. I’m not doing anything bad for my hips, but technically almost anything I do is potentially bad for me. Part of the annoying part of my problem is I have to allow things to get back so they can be fixed (there’s no reason to fix things before they hurt).

I’m trying to remember that fact and I’m going to do the best I can in week 5. Even if that means taking breaks on the treadmill again.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Another Mom Update (or Almost All Done)

Posted on July 25, 2014 | 1 comment

While my mom has already finished all of her prescribed treatments for breast cancer, there are still a few things that still need to be done.

First of all, my mom is still getting chemo every 3 weeks. This is not something that was part of her original treatment plan. But once my mom was diagnosed, she applied for a drug trial and got accepted. The drug trial is for this other chemo. She has 3 more treatments of it, so it feels like it’s almost done.

Since my mom tested negative for the BRCA mutation, that also eliminates a lot of things that we were prepared to have to go through. My mom is done working with the geneticist now and I only have a few things that the geneticist recommended for me to do. Mainly, I need to go get a mammogram this year, which I will do in the next month or two (I was waiting to see what potential job schedules could be like before scheduling a doctor’s appointment). But that’s pretty minimal. The reason for me to get a mammogram is to have a baseline one to compare future mammograms to, not to necessarily look for cancer (although I’m sure they will do that too).

Finally, my mom had to go through some medical tests to make sure that her body is free of cancer (or at least as far as they can tell it’s free of cancer).

First, a few weeks ago she had a CT where they checked her pelvis, chest, and abdomen. My mom told me that it might take a day or two to get the results from the test, but about an hour after the test my mom got a phone call saying that there are no signs of cancer in any area that they looked in. So that’s pretty awesome news!

And then last week my mom had a mammogram and MRI and both of those came back clean as well!

So besides the 3 remaining chemo treatments (and me getting a mammogram), the cancer journey is almost over. It’s been over a year since my mom was diagnosed and it feels like it flew by in an instant and has been going on for years at the same time.

I’m excited for my mom to be done with everything. For almost the entire time during this journey my mom has pretty much been able to do everything that she has always been able to do (she’s a rockstar that way). One of the last things to get her back to her “old” self is that she will be dyeing her hair back to blonde next week (when it grew back it came in brown). Once that’s done, even when she choses not to wear the wig, people who didn’t know what had happened will have no idea.

I’ll still blog occasional updates on things (and you all know that I’ll totally be blogging about my first mammogram), but it really feels like the journey is coming to an end. I’m so grateful that my mom has really kicked butt through all of this and that it looks like the end of this journey will really be the end.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Health, Tough Stuff

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