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Friday, October 12, 2012

Lauren's Ride Fundraiser

Most everyone knows that i have been talking about Lauren's ride since it began in early September. Sometimes things just grab ahold of your heart and take root. When I heard about what John Byrne was doing, I was impressed and touched. I was all in.

Having two older brothers, I understand how close the bond can be between a brother and sister. Especially older brothers and younger sisters.

I've followed John's journey since the first day.Every day they post a blog or update, I am amazed at how doors are opening and how many good people are stepping up to be part of it.

The Oakland Raiders have been a huge support for the ride and much to my dismay, the Chargers haven't returned any of our phone calls or emails. The original idea came from Dottie, the front office administrative assistant at Monte Vista Headquarters. On September 25th, she mentioned getting a bunch of Charger's fans together and taking a huge picture. I immediately loved the idea. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible for me to do something simple. I suggested we turn it into a fundraiser but we knew cookies and cupcakes probably wouldn't raise much. So my mind started racing. I told Dottie we could keep it simple. burgers, chips, water. Easy. My text to her was : "That's a great idea!! Wonder if we'd have time to put together a little fundraiser. Like sell burgers or something. That's probably too complicated though". Then it was on like donkey kong! Well that lead to cupcakes then face painting. Then someone offered to dress up as Smokey Bear (side note for those that didn't know.. the "the" is no longer in his name). Then someone offered a sound system so we would have music. The water was donated by the fire station on the compound. The Union chapter donated $250 to help with the cost of food. Everything fell into place. We had about 2 weeks to get it all together. 12 days to be exact. Because we were having it at a CAL FIRE facility, there had to be quite a few Chiefs involved and many approvals made. On October 1 we got the final approval we needed and we were off.

Today I went to Costco to pick up the burgers etc. While in line I was able to share with a couple people about Lauren's Ride. One of them made a donation right there.

Rain had been coming down most of the morning and all day yesterday. I was praying the rain would stop. I also kept having this feeling that no one was going to show up. Right there in the Costco parking lot, I prayed. I asked God to bless this fundraiser. I asked that things would continue to fall into place like they had been over the previous 2 weeks.

Tonight was more than I could have ever hoped for. The music was great, everyone was pitching in to help, the kids were having a blast playing with Smokey Bear, the kids got to ride in the fire engine, two engines from San Miguel Fire came over. When San Miguel Truck 15 pulled in, I looked at Ali and started crying. All I could say was "wow". The rain had stopped a couple hours before the BBQ started and people just kept coming. We even got a phone call from John and Tony! I had no idea they were going to call. Dottie knew and thought she had told me but I never got the memo. That was definitely the highlight of my evening. You can hear the deep gratitude they have for everything people have done. I have greatly enjoyed following John on his journey across the country.

Once we counted the money we realized how much we had raised. $1100!! My hope was for $500. We bought enough food for 100 people and we wanted to sell all of it. We definitely thought that was a realistic goal. When this first started I had the number $1000 in my head. I didn't think we would get to that but I really wanted to. My hands were shaking while I was counting the money. That total isn't the final amount just yet. i have a few returns I need to do and that money will go into the donation as well.

Thanks to all who supported this ride, fundraiser and my crazy ideas! And most of all thank you to God. He opened every door for this and blessed it. My cup runneth over.

Some of the people that came out to support the fundraiser and Lauren's Ride.


Monday, October 8, 2012

The 50/50 Plan: Update

Can you believe it is already October? Where has this year gone?

Honestly fall and winter are the toughest food months from me. Delicious pumpkin flavored breads, pastries, muffins, bagels. Apple muffins, scones, pie etc. Holy yumminess. Peanut butter blossoms, sugar cookies, ginger snaps, pumpkin pie...

The thing is, you can still indulge in the goodness of fall and winter foods. Just sparingly. I've also started to make them myself instead of buying premade foods. 1) no preservatives 2) I know exactly is going into the recipes 3) I can cut back on sugars and fattening oils etc.

Just today I made jumbo banana nut muffins. I just tweaked it some so there's less sugar, egg whites only and unsweetened applesauce instead of oil. I haven't tried one yet but if they taste half as good as they smelled while baking, I am going to have one happy tummy!

I also just found an apple spice scone recipe on www.skinnytaste.com. Only 163 calories per scone! I cannot wait to try out this recipe!! Brew a cup of good coffee, add some warm cinnamon sugar cookie coffee creamer and we've got one amazing breakfast!

I've been in a kind of funk lately. I haven't given up or lost steam. I just have a "whatever" kind of attitude where this is all concerned. I feel great though. I know it will pass. A few of my friends have been in a similar funk lately so at least I know it's not just me.

I've been at this for 9 months already. It feels normal now, the counting calories and watching what I eat. It doesn't feel as labor intensive as it did at the beginning. I just strated training for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon coming up on January 20. I am really looking forward to the race. I am also looking forward to my 10K (6.2 miles) race on Thanksgiving Day and the Bumble Bee 5K (3.1 miles) on my birthday! Having races to do helps me stay consistent with running and working out. I have so much fun at the races. I am competitive but mostly with myself. So here are the most recent stats:

Weight as of 9/14/12: 165.7
                    9/21/12: 163.7
                    Difference: -2.0
Weight as of 9/29/12: 165.7
                    Difference: +2
Weight as of: 10/7/12: 163.4
                    Difference: -2.3 lbs
Total loss to date: 32.6 lbs

Yep, I gained 2 pounds one week. I don't sweat that though. If it starts happening multiple weeks in a row, I will take a look at what I am doing then tweak it. But one gain, no big deal. You have to accept that you will have weeks where you gain and you will have weeks where you lose 1/10th of a pound or lose 3 pounds. You have to keep pressing on. Look at the number, accept it, and move on. If  you gained, check how much water you drank that week. Maybe you didn't drink enough. Or maybe you had too much sugar or not enough fruits and vegetables. Change stuff around and be more careful the next week. You can't take back or change that gain. What's done is done so move forward. It is a life long journey so there will be peaks and valleys. Stay motivated, friends.