Crystal goes to Hawaii!

Remember the friend in my last post that helped get me over the hurdle?! Anyways, she is raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society yet again. This time she is mentoring a team for the first time in her life...helping them to raise money and going to Hawaii to finish the race :) How awesome is that?! She's already done lots of work to help her team fundraise money, so let's show some support for her effords and hard work and help her reach her goal. It's so easy to donate! So much harder to participate!

Thanks for your time and help!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/lavatri11/crystalp

All because of ONE friend who believed in and cared for ME!

In this blog it's all about my tranformation to finding the real "Brittany" again. You don't realize how much you change until it's slapping you right in the face! I knew I got that big but I didn't really "KNOW" how bad I looked. And no, this isn't to knock "big" people, this is about ME and ME only...ok and maybe Nicholicious too :) haha. I will forever cherish the first pictures to remind me that I don't want to be unhealthy again. I will not let "life" get in the way of living life! Hope that made sense. It does to me :) So, enjoy and please comment letting me know because believe it or not, I do still need encouragement because I still have a long way to go.

February 2010:

March 2010:

Serving others...what I love doing, at a Family Day at church.

With my friend Stacey.
With my beautiful baby brother!
Me and mamaw.
I could go on and on with more fat pics, but I won't bore you with those! haha

July 2010 (starting to transform to smaller...no more bigger):

Both Nick and I (look at our skinny faces) on 9-17-10:

TODAY 10-11-10:

I'm not even sucking in..NO JOKE! lol

Oh and THIS IS AFTER lunch!

I do still have those big tatas to get rid of, but I believe they will go last! Thanks alot to the "genes" in my family. lol

This blog is dedicated to the one and only Crystal Peal. We have been friends and grew up with each other since I was 4 years old. Her parents STILL live next door to my grandparents. We fight like sisters and love like sisters and I know now that nothing will EVER replace our bond or friendship. I love you so much Crystal and thank you again for believing in me and having faith in me! I can only contribute these last 5 months and my life changes to you...and to God :) But you're the human who helped light a fire within me...the fire that I thought was out. Not anymore....I'M BACK!

With Crystal at her triathlon in Galveston on April 24...where my fire was lit :) So proud of her!

Getting very nervous!

Well, here I am...only a week and a half away from leaving for San Francisco. The race is on Sunday October 17. Today is October 6. OMG...it's really hitting me now. Only T-11 days until I accomplish the biggest thing in my life so far...running across the finish line of a half-marathon. Wow, I MADE IT! I DID IT! You just don't understand what this has done for me. It has made me more compassionate, has made me get a jump start on better health, has pushed me to challenge myself more, has even finally helped my husband to get on the track for better health (even though we really thank Advocare for that but if I didn't start training for this marathon, who knows where we would be right now) and has made me realize that I've finally surpased the hump! The hump to me is the big mountain that I didn't think I could get over. The hump for me are the commitments that I never follow through with. I've always made plans, committments, ideas, etc. and never really followed through with them. Well, I can now stop saying that. I do believe that from this race on forward, I will start sticking to my commitments and I will continue to be compassionate and even do another race or 10 or 100 in my life! haha The "100" seems like a lot though. haha The other night, I had the pleasure of sitting in a room full of women that I truly admire and respect. They dedicate their lives to serving our country and veterans and their families. They do much much much more beyond that but their sole purpose is to serve veterans. The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 521. I grew up in the Legion and am now a proud 28 year member. No, I'm not 28 years old, but the day you sign up, you get a year tacked on :) My grandparents have been involved for yearsssssss so naturally I've been a member all my life. Anyways, I had the pleasure of going to their meeting (which I can at anytime, but rarely go) and standing up in front of all of them to tell them THANK YOU. The compassion hit me even more that night. All it took was humbling myself and taking time out to show them some gratitude for donating to my fundraising. You could tell that they appreciated that so much. I wish more people would show their gratitude towards these amazing dedicated women. By the end of my "speech", I was crying...I just couldn't hold it in anymore. The emotion overwhelmed me because there I realized how much I have done so far and the fact that others cared enough and had faith in me to donate their hard earned money to me. I just can't thank everyone enough again for their donations and their faith in me. So I ask you this...please keep me in your prayers on Sunday October 17 while I'm completing 13.1 miles. Oh, I did do my very first 12 miles this last Saturday. I'm not going to lie, it was long, painful and very tiring but I DID IT! Wish many of you could be there with me on that day but I am blessed enough to have my husband, Uncle Lou and Aunt Joan there to cheer me on...along with thousands of others from San Francisco. OMG, that all makes me excited! haha

Who's with me for next year's marathon? COME ON...IT'S LIFE CHANGING!!! :)