Cheers to Another Fabulous Year

Hello my friends! I hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve. I am so filled with gratitude for the past year and can barely contain my excitement for the future! We have so much to look forward to, a life full of surprises, time to build on our momentum and I love it :) I think to myself all the time how lucky I am. My resolution is to think about others more often than I think about myself. I had gotten in a bad way about my journey, always focusing on me and I hate it. That's the beauty of life, though. You can always change what you don't like about yourself. You can be anyone you want, you can shift priorities, and decide how you want to live your life. It's beautiful. You're never stuck in a box, unless you want to be :)

I love you guys!

Training

Danny and I arrived home yesterday, and it feels so good! The time we spent back at home in Friday Harbor was AMAZING, but I've been increasingly nervous about the Germany trip. There are all kinds of details to take care of, and of course I'm trying to remain rested for the long trip but that's hard to do during the holiday season. A year and a half ago, my first seizure occurred a week after an international trip. I believe that the traveling was much harder on my body than I realized, then to mask my exhaustion I chugged espresso day after day. I now know that I need to be very diligent about how I treat my body. I just don't have the ability to push things like most people.

I figure that since I can't push my body like most others, instead, I will train for the trials that I can prepare for. While Dan and I were in Friday Harbor for Christmas, I ran my furthest distance since the surgery. It was 6 miles. Somewhere around mile four Dan and I started high fiving, realizing that only two months and a week ago, I was on an operating table while Dr Liau gently removed my brain tumor. I have recovered so well! This has been such a change since my first brain surgery. I feel incredibly encouraged by Dr Liau, and her fine skills. I have been lifting weights, running - even challenging myself with sprints. I want my body to be in tip top shape to combat the exhaustion of the trip. I don't want to be a burden on my travel buddy. And, I want to have a canvas that will excitedly accept the treatments like vitamins. I want a body that is prepared to use the immunotherapy to heal itself. I'm having so much fun with the physical training, and still taking time off with friends - the best of both worlds. But, as time nears the trip I will probably be hidden at home. Even if I'm just in bed, not sleeping, I'll need to keep my body rested. I'll be yo-yoing between exercise and downtime. It's weird, but I cherish my body's ability to move, to sweat, to rip my muscles then heal. I love the fact that I'm alive, and I'm excited for this new adventure!