A Week By the Sea

Sorry for the lapse in writing; I have a good excuse - Jason and I have recently returned from a week-long trip to Mexico (Puerto Morelos to be exact)! We slept in, relaxed, read, drank margaritas and other exciting drinks, kayaked, soaked up sunshine, ate fish tacos, walked the beach, learned about the ancient Mayan culture, swam, and overall had an amazing time! We needed the break more than I'd expected!

Right to left, top to bottom: Our first drinks (at the airport - c'mon give us a break, it'd snowed 6" in MN while we were leaving that morning!), my first glimpse of the ocean, the first meat I'd eaten in over 2 months, a jellyfish shot.

View from the pool and the beautiful beach in front of our resort.

Ruins, and the most beautiful beach I've ever seen!

Obsessed

The sunrise on the day we left. I may have teared up a little (no judging).

Run Run Run

Well I'm officially cancer-free... again, says Dr. Howe. I completely believe him, but that doesn't solve my pain problem! I'm listening to the advice from many people I love and taking a week off from running. Just one week. It's going to drive me nuts, and I might sneak in to do some time on a stationary bike, but no one has to know. I have another quick massage tomorrow after work; hopefully Maggie will tell me things feel looser/less inflamed (they don't to me).

I just signed up for our annual Race for the Cure team. I've participated (as a walker/runner) for the past 4-5 years, always just to support the cause and raise money for a disease I wanted gone. This year, I'm running (no walking) and I'm running for me. I'm going to run this year to show cancer that it can take away my boobs (and in the process, replacing them with much perkier ones) but it can't keep me down. Race for the Cure is my third official 5k I've committed to this spring, and I fully intend to run (and maybe even enjoy running) all of them. I have some running to do, and this back pain better get outta town so I can do it. Pronto!

Could it Be?

I think my back pain is a degree less intense today, maybe... it is early in the day and I haven't done much that would aggravate it, but just maybe. Or maybe it's the fact that we had temps in the 40s yesterday and I swear the sun is getting up earlier and earlier (finally!), maybe my brain has moved on to concentrating on bigger and better things? Maybe it's my cold finally releasing the grip it has held on my sinuses the last 7 days?

I don't care what it is, but it should keep happening - I was starting to forget what it feels like to feel somewhat healthy!

Sneak Peek

I know it's terrible to wish for the future (always be living in the present yada yada yada) but with the freezing winter we're having, the idea of being half-way through February right now is just magical. Spring is on its way and I cannot wait to open the windows in our house and get outside (which reminds me, I should spend some time researching flowers to plant out front). I saw a little sunshine this weekend and it instantly put me in a good mood - more please!

I haven't mentioned it here yet, but I've been working hard at getting an online portfolio/website up to showcase my stationery designs. This weekend I gathered up all of the proofs I've kept terribly disorganized and had a little photo shoot with them. I'm almost through with the stack and once I'm finished doing a little cleanup on the photos, I'll post them online to my new site (I'm keeping the URL secret until I can get them up; for now there's just a boring placeholder image). It's a lot of fun to see how my style has evolved over the last six years - I've worked with a wide range of people and I love to see my skills meshed with their personalities. Stay tuned, my goal is to have the site live by the end of the month!

A peek at my new cards - the site may carry a similar theme :)

Everything is still going great on the veggie-front; I'm happy to say that this first week without meat was successful! The Schober's are coming to town this weekend so I've been collecting recipes to try with them. Our typical biscuits and gravy breakfast will be replaced with crock pot apple cinnamon oatmeal - I'll start it before going to bed Thursday night and then we'll wake up to the delicious sweet aroma of baked apples on Friday morning (I'll post the recipe once I've done an official taste test)!

Happy Monday!

Forward Thinking

It's finally here! I said goodbye to 2013 with a quick tear and welcomed 2014 last night surrounded by people I love (and then strangers in a conga line). I started this year already breaking one of my resolutions (to swear less; I lasted until about 10:30 this morning...), but it's ok. The beauty about resolutions are that if you mess up, you can start over again right away.

This past year has certainly put things into perspective for me. We said goodbye to Jason's sweet grandpa George, to my beautiful stepsister Margie and her daughter-to-be Olivia, and to Jerry, a long-time friend of Jason's family. My mom and stepdad sold the house I grew up in and moved to Texas. Breast cancer happened. We had to sit through a very painful two weeks in a courtroom. It was the longest 365 days I've ever known. Definitely challenging by comparison to the years I've had before it.

So, where there are valleys, there are hills, and I truly believe that 2014 will be the hill (a steep one so I'll get in shape along the way) that I'll use to climb out of this valley of sadness. How's that for a metaphor? There are so many things to look forward to this year. Weddings, babies, new challenges in my fitness, career and personal life. All of it will slowly remind me of what the "easy" years feel like, and I'll appreciate each day more because of what 2013 showed me.

I hope to end this upcoming year in a better place than I am today, even if today I'm better than I was on this day last year. It's all about evolving to become me at my best. Hello 2014, let's see what you have in store.

Better Things

Well it's been just over two weeks since I had my tissue expanders replaced and now it's time for me to really help people.  A few months ago I was asked to be on a Breast Cancer Patient Advisory Counsel (PAC), and I said "yes" because in the beginning, my Care Coordinators Lynnae and Carrie (who I attribute much of my sanity during that time to) set me up with a girl in Boston, who had also been diagnosed at 28.  She was finishing up her 5 years as I was starting mine, but it was beyond comforting to talk with someone who knew exactly how I was feeling (each woman who goes through breast cancer has their own, unique story, but I was able to relate to her better than the women I spoke with who were in their 50's and 60's when they were diagnosed).  As soon as I hung up the phone with her, I knew I wanted to be that someone on the other line offering comfort.  Being a part of this PAC is my way to improve the care that newly-diagnosed women are receiving. 

My first meeting was last night, and it was kind of a "passing of the baton" meeting.  Each year in the fall, a few new women join the PAC and the women who have already served their two years leave.  We went over a summary of everything they accomplished over the past two years (The biggest and most important, in my opinion, was creating the Care Coordinator position. I cannot imagine not having Lynnae/Carrie to go to!) and I'm so excited to see what my group comes up with!

Weekend Update

I had a post-op appointment on Thursday with Dr. Heinrich, who was pleased with how my healing is coming along. The swelling I saw just a few days after surgery is almost completely gone (as is the bruising), and the best part of all: I can sleep on my side again! After 4.5 months of sleeping on my back, I've finally made it through a few nights of not waking up at once or twice during my (when I'm lucky) 7 hours. Also, Jason can finally spoon me again! It's glorious :)

Dr. Heinrich also cleared me for physical activity so my sister Rachel and I took a lap around Lake Como to celebrate (I was allowed to walk before, but we were short on time).

Teaser for later in the week: Patient Advisory Committee

New Boobs Day

It's like waking up on Christmas morning (literally, it even snowed last night) - excitement has now beat out nerves in a 97% to 3% landslide.  1-2-3-GO!