Aaron's Last Wish

I was so inspired today by what I found on the internet, that I felt I had to share it with everyone!

Earlier this month, a young man named Aaron Collins passed away and his final wish was that his family go out for pizza and leave the waiter or waitress a $500 tip.  He did not have the money to do this himself, so his brother decided to take donations to be able to make a difference in the life of someone who relies on tips to earn money.  Click here to go to his website. 

You can watch the video of the first recipient of the $500 tip above.  You may be asking why I would post something like this.  It may or may not have anything to do with cancer since on the website, it does not say why Aaron died.  However, this blog is also about people who inspire me, who give not just for the sake of giving, but to help make someone else's life a little bit better.

Comment on this post if you think this is as amazing as I do!


Faith, Hope and Love,


Angela

My first training session at the gym

This morning I had my first training session at the gym.  My new trainer, Margaret and I worked on legs, arms, abs, shoulders, everything you could think of!  When I told her I would be walking the 3 Day in October, she suggested interval training where you do cardio at high intensity for 30 seconds, lower intensity for a minute and a half, and switch off.  After I did the strengthening exercises I went on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes and did six intervals in those 20 minutes.  So I was pretty proud of myself.

I have been working out pretty regularly and have lost 1 pound over the past 2 weeks.  Not too bad but I expected to have lost more.  But it just goes to show that plain old cardio just isn't going to do it anymore for me.  I can't get away with not strength training anymore. It's too important.

For my first training session I started with step ups, then 3 point tricep press, squats with shoulder press, side leg raises, I did push ups, and ab exercises.  I also did the tricep pull down machine, which wasn't bad.  I used 10 pound weights too which I never thought I could. 

My aim is to get to the gym 4 times a week and also to do at least 1-2 long training walks per week.  Margaret told me the interval training should help boost my endurance so I will be able to do the long walks.  And the strength training should help me drop some weight.  I would love to lose 10 pounds at least before the walk. 

Post a comment if you have any suggestions for me to help build my endurance and burn calories, or if you just want to share your training story.  I never thought I would really like working out this much again, but we're at the beginning of the 3rd week and I haven't quit yet!  So that's something!

Faith, Hope and Love,

Angela

Beach Walking Fun!

Finally got around to downloading those photos from my iPhone.  Remember when I said I went on vacation and took one 3 and a half mile walk?  Well, on this walk I took pictures of interesting "curb appeal" because I like to do this for decorating ideas.  Plus some beach houses just look really cool!

Check it out:

Probably the coolest idea ever!  Who knew you could use old doors as an entryway for your front yard and have it look this cool?

 The picture on the right is from the same house.  I love the way the owner uses natural elements here.  It's what you should see when you go to the shore.

This is from another house.  I loved all the different chairs.  And the sideboard.  It looks like it belongs in a turn of the century dining room, not in someone's front yard at the shore!

This pic on the right is the quintessential salt box house.  I love the picket fence in front.  It's not trying to be cute, but it really is!

 This little wooden cutout cracked me up!  Adorable, yet passive aggressive at the same time.  Gotta love it!

This pic on the right reminds me of how we used to decorate my dad's family's shorehouse when I was a kid.  Just put a rusty crab trap out front.  Then they know you mean business!

 This is the view from the bulkhead I stopped at.  It was a gorgeous day and the water was so calm. 

 The pic with the pink flowers was a memorial garden I stopped at that was right on the bay.  I thought it was fitting considering the pink in the picture, as well as part of the reason why I walk.  It's not only to fight breast cancer but to remember those who fought, but did not live to see a cure.  It reminds me why I fight, for them, as well as the loved ones left behind.

 A tilted, seaweed covered beach.  It was deserted at that time of the day.

This is the dog who nearly attacked me when I tried to get his photo.  There is nothing scarier using the zoom lens on your iPhone camera and watching the dog come closer and closer to you.  Yeah he was not that happy!

So far my beach walk has been the most fun of all my training walks.  But I am happy to report that since I joined a gym on Monday, I have gone 4 times in the past week, and used the child care twice!  Not too shabby.  Let's hope I can keep it going.

Faith, Hope and Love


Angela

Damn, I weigh 138 Pounds!

That's 3 pounds more than I thought I did.  Hot damn, that is bad!!!  I joined a gym today and worked out as soon as the ink on the membership pages was dry.  Well, not literally, because everything is done by computer now. 

WOW!  I'm not even going to take a photo of myself and put it on here, because I am 5' 1" and 138 pounds.  In my mind that is not even close to okay.  Walking with that kind of weight on what I thought was a fairly petite frame ain't gonna cut it.  If I don't lose some of it, I know I'm not going to make those 60 miles.  Hell, I may not even make 10 miles.  I guess now I know at least part of the reason why I'm so tired all the time.

The gym I joined has inexpensive childcare.  That just eliminated my last excuse not to work out.  Stay tuned for weekly updates.  I just hope that I get up enough courage to meet with a trainer.  I get two free sessions and I'm really unsure about it! 

One day at at time.

Faith, Hope and Love,


Angela