It's Spring Time...I Think!

I love spring! I get so excited to see the flowers come up, the trees blooming, the grass trying to recover from the harsh winter...and two inches of snow on my car! The weather in Utah is so messed up! It had all winter to snow, but no. It decides to come now. Just when we are getting used to walks in Liberty Park and flip flops, Mother Nature decides to play mean tricks. NOT COOL!

But in other happy news, my mom and two of my sister, Wendi and Gina, participated in the MS Walk last weekend at the Gateway. It's the first 5K of the season, and it was the first one since I had surgery. The more exciting part is that it was Gina's first 5K ever. Gina and I had surgery about a week apart from each other. While I was getting ready for my gallbladder to be sucked out, Gina had a lap band procedure done. She has done so well with it too. I am so proud of her. She has lost 45 pounds in the last 7 weeks! So it was exciting to walk across the finish line with her and feel her excitement. Then we ran into one of the nurses that works with Gina and assisted in the surgery. She was so impressed and excited.

So now, it's time to start preparing for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on May 9th. This 5K is very important to me and my family. My aunt, Maxine Elizabeth Gates Newell, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 16. Then she had almost any kind of cancer you can imagine, and then was diagnosed with breast cancer again later. She passed away in 1992 due to complications with the cancer. She was only 39 years old. It's amazing to see how far research and treatments have come in the last 16 years. So this race is very meaningful.

As a final note - I am healing very well from the surgery and feel amazing! I had no idea how poopy I had felt for so many years until the last few weeks. I have energy, I don't get sick every time I eat, and I can breath deeply without feeling the pressure of an enlarged gallbladder! So life in that realm is great! So, on to the next!