WOW!!!!

I have been working on another blog since I started this one. It is the story of living with my disease for the past twelve years. I started it because with the walk I am doing for crohn's and colitis they keep saying to share my story and help people become more aware of what life is like with these diseases. I was a little nervous at first, because this is a really personal story to me. I have been scared to share it, thinking that I would sound like I was complaining or look weak and I didn't want anyone to think less of me. I know that sounds silly but it is true. There are days where I have written for hours, then gotten to a especially emotional part, and not been able to return to writing for days. I didn't expect the journey of writing this to be so emotional, but it really has been. I still have a little more to write, and I have decided to add pictures. Not all of these pictures will be pretty, but this hasn't been a pretty disease. I hope you will all read my blog when I post it, which will probably next week.

 The point of this is that as I have been writing this other blog, I have realized that it has been a REALLY long time since I have felt as healthy as I do now. I had thought that these past three years had been rough because of all of my surgeries. Now as I look back, I see that it has been much longer than that. I am so thankful to be where I am today. I am thankful I can run after my children and actually keep up with them. I can park far away and not feel too weak to walk all the way into the store. I don't take for granted each day of life that I have and I feel so blessed to be where I am. I wouldn't change my journey, it has helped me to cherish each day. Every day of life that I have is a gift. Every day that I am able to get out and exercise is a huge accomplishment. I know that there have been times that I have felt frustrated that I haven't made more progress faster. I have been discouraged. But I have come to appreciate where I have come from, where I am now, and where I want to be in the future. These past few months have helped to boost my self esteem. I feel stronger, healthier, and more capable. I know this probably sounds super cheesy, but I really wanted to express how grateful I am for where I am today. I appreciate all the love and support I get from all of you.

Yesterday David and I decided to go on a nice Sunday walk as a family. I told David I would really like to show him where Ginny and I walk. We decided that we would go as far as the children could and then return home. I was so impressed with my cute children. They certianly got tired at different points in the walk, but they all went the whole way. We clocked it at and was 5.3 miles!!! It was very fun and leisurly.

Today I felt whimpy. As Ginny and I started our walk/jog I was having a hard time with my breathing. I felt weak. We walk/jogged for 2.5 miles then I needed to walk. I am not sure why I felt so worn out. We decided to just finish walking. We are pretty fast walkers, and it felt really good to be out. As we were approching my house, we were almost at 5.5 miles. We decided to continue on a little longer. We went until we had gone 6 miles and thought it was really funny that in walking most of the time we went a mile farther, and finished in 5 minutes less time!!!

Time out: 1hr. 24 min.
Distance covered: 6 miles