Final Contest Post

I’ve been trying to think long and hard if there is one way I can explain that this experience has changed me. There is simply too much to sum up in one post…. you have joined me in the past few months and you have seen me change. You have read how each week I have come to a new awakening, and you have encouraged me along the way. After rereading the first few weeks of my adventure I relived feelings of struggle, strength and laughter. With each week of physical exertion I also had to strive to find a topic and the time to write. I believe that this was the hardest part of my journey. I had to be aware of my surroundings, my feelings, my family and I had to take that and portray it on paper. Maybe I shouldn’t say this was hard, as it was the biggest change in me.


With help from my family I had the ability to schedule in an extra work out, run or class. But who was going to schedule time for me to just sit and think… no one. Did I have the extra time to just sit and ponder… well, a little, during my 3pm coffee break.(Have I told you how important those are to me?) Running gave me the time to clear my head a review my thoughts, which was normally the way I ended the week. Writing was my way of releasing these thoughts and really not knowing who was on the other end other than me. People would make comments on my writing often mentioning things that I didn’t feel were inspiring or funny. Yet somehow it stuck in their head… and maybe I made I difference. (Even if it were to make them giggle)

Out of all the prizes I have won, and the physical changes I have made, what I am most thankful for is the time that people have given up for me. The time that Tina and Eileen set aside so that they could share the wealth of information that was just waiting to burst out with excitement. Hours upon hours on the phone with girlfriends letting me chat their ears off with disappointment, happiness or mulling over my week and my more than fabulous visit to the Willow Stream Spa.

Many friends and family who took the time to encourage me along and the organizers who arranged all this just for me (well it felt like it was all for me, but there was Stephanie and Renee too!) This contest has given me the initiative to look into myself, and my husband and kids sacrificed their time so that I could. You saw what I decided to tell you, my family saw the true me, which was mostly nice (or so I hope so!) but in striving to improve myself I am sure that I was at times a less than perfect mother or wife. As I worked through all my emotions I hope we hurdled together and because I am a stronger woman, we are now a stronger family.

Message in a Bottle

You know, while on vacation at the beginning of this contest my daughter threw a message in a bottle out into the Caribbean Sea. Today it was found washed up on a beach in Alabama. I guess you just don’t know where you will end up or what you can learn until you jump in.