Hello Everyone! I know it's been a long while...again....since I have written in my blog. Been a little busy.

My wonderful son, Charles, has been helping me work out on a daily basis. I do not know if you've heard of it, but it's called P90X. X is for EXTREME! And the guy means it! We do a different workout everyday. One day will be Plyometrics, which is jump training, one day we do an hour and a half of yoga, one day we concentrate on working our shoulders and backs....you get the idea. You have to keep your body guessing at what your making it do. Everyday I do it, the next day, I am sore. But its all good, right? I cannot say, however, that my body has changed. I know my muscles are stronger, but I don't notice any wieght loss or definition. We've been at it for about 8 weeks now and Charles has seen some definite body changes. He actually has "six-pack" abs, no kidding! His shoulders and chest have blown up! he works at it really hard and gives me just the right amount of grief to keep me moving.

I will admit, though, that I tend not to follow the diet plan. I eat healthy, no doubt about that, but I have not followed the programs suggested meal plan. This is my problem, I suppose.

I like to eat! I plan on keeping the workout in my daily routine, no doubt.

On another front, to let you in on what else has been going on, we went on our elk hunt a couple of weeks ago. There were four of us on the tag and we scored 3 out of 4! Woo hoo! We each have a story about it but I am not so sure anyone wants to hear the gory details here. Suffice it to say, Charles scored his first big game on American soil and we are happy to once again have our freezer full of our favorite meat!

The hunt was an experience. I didn't score my elk until the end. We had to do some hiking up and down some mountain terrain and I have to tell you, if it hadn't been for the workouts I do with Charles, I truly believe I would have had a hard time of it. As it was, I hiked with a backpack full of meat (over 30 lbs, for sure!) and I didn't seem to lose my breath like I used to. Now that I know what the problem is and am doing what I need to do to take care of myself, I think it was actually easier!

Heart disease is a bummer, to say the least. Living with it can be a drag. But I am not going to stop living because of it. I am determined to enjoy things in spite of it. Like the elk hunts and such.

And the up-coming hike! I know I can do this but I am not stupid either. I know it makes people raise their eyebrows. I can see the doubt in their eyes when I bring it up. But, I have committed to it and will do my best to make it happen.

My sister Amy and I have collaberated a bit on an idea. She has graciously agreed to do some paintings and auction them off for the Heart disease campaign. You can visit her gallery in Dahlonega, GA or visit her website at http://www.hummingbirdlaneartgallery.com/ . I do not know if she has any of the paintings posted but I will be sure to let you know when that happens. As the details of the auction or sale are worked out, I'll be telling you about that as well! If and when you do visit her gallery, be sure to tell her and her husband, Todd, that I sent you!

I have also gotten support from a dear friend of ours in San Diego. His name is Kevin and he has provided a web-page on his company's website to support my hike! How wonderful is that? He posted the letter I wrote explaining everything and even wrote a little blurb for me. I cannot thank him enough for the exposure and the support! The whole company now has access to help! Thank you a million times over, Kevin!

Last night, right before I went to bed, I actually made a list of topics for this. As Amy and Alexandra have pointed out, its important to keep this blog up to date. So, I'm thinking that now that time is growing short, I will be posting more often. Maybe even twice a week. It won't be as elaborate as Alexandra's, but it will be from me and my heart.

Your support has meant the world to me and I hope that has the time draws nearer, I can entice more and more people to help make this happen. I have edited my list a little so be sure to check it out!

Keep your heart healthy!

WOW!!!

It's September already! Where did the time go since I last wrote in? Well, it apparently has just flown by.

As far as the hike goes, I still plan on it, for sure. It's going to be hard but where there's a will there is a way, as my friend, Alexandra, would say!

I celebrated turning 46 this past August. That is hard enough to believe. I think back to when my parents were this age. I can still remember those days. What fun we had during the summer time at my grandfather's house on the river, the late night kids games we played outside, the bike-riding, crawdad catching. Man on man, where has it all gone?

Anyway, I promised to make a list of the needed items for this hike and today I have posted it.

I know that I have yet to discover some important things that should be on that list, but for now, this is good. My husband and I are bigtime campers and I already own alot of the stuff I will need. Keep in mind, it's only me carrying this stuff and I have to keep it at a minimum weight and not try to carry the kitchen sink with me.

If anyone would like to know more about the resupply operation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

And speaking of the List, I already recieved one thing I dearly wished for and its a book with important information about the trail itself. Like where to send resupplies on the trail.

Thank you, dear in-laws, for the book! It'll be used like crazy!

I had a very interesting talk with a friend regarding this hike. I even made a deal with her.

I was trying to emplasize how important this issue is to me and the more we talked, I think she understood. So, to show her how important it is, we struck a deal and I will make the same deal with anyone who wants to take me up on it.

The deal is, for every mile I walk, she has to give up a day of adding any salt to her food. By my calculations, that is a little over 7 years. At first, she was not so keen on the idea. But I told her that it was a small step in getting her healthy and that's all I want, that awareness! I am hiking for her. I will remember this as I go each mile, it means a more healthy way of eating for her and anyone else too.

Does everyone see how important this is to me now? Your heart, my heart, everyone's heart is the important message and it's important that we treat it with love. This disease does not have to have the grip it does if we just start taking better care of the most important muscle in our bodies!

Please remember to donate to this very worthy cause by clicking on the heart at the top/right of the blog! If you want to donate through your company, lets work on that! I'll be more than happy to provide links to company websites here on my blog giving credit where credit is due.

Be sure to share this blog and the donation site with everyone you know, they have hearts and so does everyone they love!

Don't make your heart work harder than it should, it'll love you for it!

The Response!

The response to my letter was so encouraging! I even had a friend make the first donation to the American Heart Association! Thank you, Jason, for your help and your encouragement!

I spoke with Alexandra and she is over the moon about me finally making the committment in such a public way. There's no backing out now! She and I also discussed the possibility of me going up there to Utah to do some hiking with her. That way we can work out the kinks of hiking together. I sure hope we can make that happen.

Temperatures here in the Valley are reaching up into the 110+'s. That makes it almost impossible to hike during the day. I'm afraid that I would end up on the news as one of those dummies that gets exhausted and can't make it back down the mountain. Believe it or not, it happens!

Alexandra also told me that I had some visitors to my blog and I want to thank you for that. I haven't quite figured out how to keep tabs on such a thing, but she is savvy and is helping me do what I can to figure that out. If you are following, please sign the visitor log and let me hear from you. Share my blog or donation site with all your friends and family, so they can help me with my goal!

I am headed to the gym this morning for what they call Saturday Seminar. They basically set up about 3 or 4 stations and the trainers are at each one kicking your beehiney into action. I have let that go for the past month or so and its time to recommit. By the way, the gym I go to is Pure Fitness and the trainer that has really made a huge difference to me personally is Shane. He hails from Michigan but came out here about 6 months ago. I think he gets homesick, but he's good at his job, shows no mercy and takes no excuses. Which is what I need!

That's all I have for now. Please click on the heart above if you haven't yet and give to a worthy cause.

Remember, I am doing this hike for you!

Rethinking....

I am rethinking how to do my blog. That's the main reason I haven't really written in lately. I am sure no one wants to read my deep thoughts on life. I read and follow my friend, Alexandra's, blog and she is so energetic, it makes me tired just reading it! But, I do find it very inspirational. She also sends me a daily message of "optimism" and it really does lift my spirits.

Today, I have not done alot. For the past 3 weeks, I have aggravated a shin splint in my right leg and am doing what I need to do to take care of it. I find it highly irritating that I cannot continue at the rate I was going. Isn't that funny? I am the laziest person I know and I miss going to the gym! Whodathunkit?!

I have, however, made headway in my look for help in the donation department. I hope that you, my dear loved ones, will share this link with anyone and everyone on your contact list! Your donations and contacts are important for this to be successful and I am making the committment to not only the HeartWalk of 2010, but to do the Pacific Crest Trail hike next year with my friend, Alexandra.

By clicking on the heart at the top of the page, you can make a direct donation to the American Heart Association.

I would like to thank Tiffany Phillips of the American Heart Association for helping me with this donation project. She was very patient and encouraging!

I would also like to thank my friends at Choice Hotels International for their donation to my equipment needs for the hike. Their generous donation will go a long way in providing much needed tools and stuff.

For anyone following me that would like to donate anything to me personally for the Pacific Crest Trail hike, please contact me using the email address for this blog. Going almost 2700 miles is a huge undertaking and there will be things that I will need in the beginning and things to be replaced as I go, i.e. food, shoes, socks, etc...

We haven't exactly figured out the daunting task of staying in touch. All the useful tools these days will take batteries and I, for one, cannot plan to carry a ton of them with me. Anyone with any ideas on this subject is welcome to email me or Alexandra! We'll take all the help we can get!

I will try to be more upbeat in what I post and let you know of my progress, which is stalled at the moment. Say some prayers and give from your heart to this worthy cause!

I'm here, I'm here....

Ok, so here I am writing in again. Over the past six months or so, I have taken steps to take some kind of control over my health. One of which is going to the gym on a regular basis. But, it would seem I have reached a plateau of sorts. I am not sure if this is good or bad. I mean, I still go, but am I doing enough?

I do about 45 minutes of cardio every time I go. I do circuit training on the equipment and every once in a while, my husband gets me into the weight room to do some real muscle building. When I get done, I feel sore...a good sore, too.

I enjoy my workouts but I don't seem to be dropping the weight like I wanted. Oh, well. As long as I keep going, I'll know its a good thing right?

One thing I noticed on a recent blog from Alexandra is a posting about the list of things a 90 year old woman had written for a graduating class speech she gave. I believe it was printed in her local paper and it has now made the rounds via email...around the world, I am sure.

I actually recieved that same article in my email a few days ago. I printed it out and placed it on my refridgerater for any and all to read. It has some very valuable advice to it. I actually saw my son reading some of it the other day. I'm glad.

I think about this blog alot and what it is I want to say to anyone reading it. I want anyone and everyone to be very aware of Heart Disease and its devastating effects on an individual and the people who love them. Without saying "I want..." too much, its important to me that the message get out there. If I can affect one person into action, then its well worth any effort I may have put forward for this.

Please visit the American Heart Association website at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000 to learn more about heart disease.

If you know of anyone who could benefit from following me on my journey, please, by all means, send them my blog link.

I could also benefit from your comments and support. As of this date, I am looking to make contact with the AHA in providing a link on this blog that anyone can use to donate to such a worthy cause.

Say a prayer that I can make that right connection!

How it all started....

About a year ago, my wonderful friend, Alexandra Evans, called me and told me her story. It was a sad story to say the least, but it has changed a few lives. Mine included.

Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and Alexandra was prompted into action. She told me that she had thought and prayed on what it was she was compelled to do about this in her life.

She told me that it took a while, but she finally figured out what she could do. She was going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

You can follow her blog at http://hikeforbreastcancer.blogspot.com/

Then she asked me to join her! Oh my! I don't know what my mouth was thinking that day, but I found myself actually comtemplating this. I brought it up to my husband and family and they were all for it. And before I knew it, I was telling Alexandra that I would help her with her goal. She was more than happy that I had made this decision. But, make no mistake, she was doing this for herself and her mother and her cause. I was along for the ride. I just didn't know what a ride I had signed up for.

It was about a couple of weeks later that I decided that I needed to consult a doctor about how out of shape I was. Let's be honest, the past 20 odd years, I have abused this body, but not felt bad in an overall sense. I knew I was too overweight, but I felt fine!

So, I made the appointment, went in and discovered that, in general, I was in pretty good health. I was not prepared, however, for the doctor telling me that there was a "blip" on my EKG that I had just done in his office. I mean, I was hooked up to a miriad of wires for all of a minute or so, what could be wrong? I felt fine!

He referred me to a cardiologist to get a better reading of the results. That doctor confirmed it. Something was amiss with my heart. I couldn't believe my ears. I felt fine! Does no one hear me when I say this?

The next couple of months were all about finding out what was wrong. He did a few procedures and discovered that my heart was enlarged and that I had a "Left Bundle Branch Block". Say that five times real fast!

He told me to lose weight, that would help with my enlarged heart by not making it work so hard. He told me to get in the gym and do cardio vascular workouts. But the LBBB will always be an issue, no matter what I do.

How could this be happening to me? I felt fine. Sure, I would get short of breath when I went up a flight of stairs or while out trapsing through the woods while hunting. It wasn't anything I had seriously considered might be a problem. Now I know!

I would love to be able to go back a year ago and start this blog from day one and share those daily experiences with anyone who is reading this blog. I would share my thoughts on what this meant to me, my family, my future, all of it. The best I can do is start now.

It was the toughest thing to tell my kids. They took it pretty well and all things considered, are very encouraging towards my goals.

I took a walk one night with my husband, Charlie, who is the rock in my life. He's a no fuss, no muss type of person and always lays it out like it should be. On this walk, we spoke about the hike and what my health issues meant in that regard. He said, "Well, if you die on this hike, then you'll be doing something you can be proud of." It struck me as kind of strange, the way he put it. Did he expect me to die? Could I die if I do this? Well, my cardiologist says that I am "good to go" if I start taking care of my heart. So, I took what Charlie said in the spirit it was given. It was a positive note from him that he was ok with this idea and doing what I needed to be doing to get healthy.

I will probably end up writing about the various people in my life as this blog goes on. But the main focus I want to pay attention to is Heart Disease.

What does this hike mean for me? For you? For all hearts? Well, I'll tell you. It means I want everyone to be aware that if you have a heart, then I am doing this for you.

Take care of your heart, it'll love you for it.

Stuck in the middle again!

Is that an appropriate title or what?

Those of you that know me, know that I am the middle sister of six girls. How's that, you ask? Well, I grew up with 4 sisters, two older and two younger. When I got older, we all discovered that we had a sister we didn't know about. Long story short, she was, and still is, a wonderful addition to our family.

As I said before, though, I grew up as a middle child. I won't really get into my long childhood history but suffice it to say, growing up in the middle had its advantages and disadvantages.
As I have gotten older, I have decided to focus on the positive in my life and not worry so much about those things that I cannot control.

So, what's so "middle" now? Well, it was about a year ago that my life took a turn I never saw coming. And about a year from now, I will be embarking on an adventure that I never planned on making.

I was blindsided by learning that I have Heart Disease. More specifically, Congestive Heart Failure. I still have trouble thinking in these terms. Its been surreal, to say the least, to hear someone tell me that my ticker was bad and will always be bad.

I have to do something! So, let me tell you how this all came about......