List 5 Ways You've Changed In The Last 5 Years

1. I've lost and gained almost 100 pounds.
In January, 2003 I decided that I needed to take better care of myself. I joined Weight Watchers online and over the course of the next two years, I lost 97 pounds. But when I stopped training due to injuries in 2005, I let myself get back into bad eating habits. I've gained to within 20 pounds of where I started. This year, I have basically maintained - losing 5-6 pounds then gaining it back. I really need to find my mojo and start losing again, for myself and so that I can enjoy Audrey for many years to come.

2. I've determined that I can be an endurance athlete.
At the same time I started losing weight, I started walking. I didn't set out to become an endurance athlete - in fact, I've never considered myself to be an athlete of any kind. But, once I started walking, I found I stayed more motivated if I had goals. My first goal was to be able to walk 3 miles, then 3 miles in under an hour. Once I achieved that, I needed another goal - and set my sights on a half marathon. It didn't happen the first year due to a knee injury and surgery, but I completed my first half marathon in September, 2004 and my next one the following January. I have also participated in 2 MS150 bike events, even though I haven't managed to ride the full 180 miles over 2 days. Who would have thought!!!

3. I've lost half of my immediate family to cancer.
Now although I haven't actually suffered from cancer, it has had a major impact on my life. In the space of 8 months I lost my Daddy and my baby sister both to cancer. I watched Daddy perservere and fight the disease seemingly successfully twice before it got him the third time. And I lost my best friend as well as my sister when Mary died at the age of 38. These two events have probably had the biggest impact on my life ever, not just the last 5 years. It has definitely left a void in my life and a really big hole in my heart.

4. I've learned new things.
I learned how to digiscrap so that I could capture memories for Audrey since her mother wasn't around to do it. And I have grown as an artist in this time. And yes, I consider it a form of art, it's a way of expressing myself through a digital medium. I've also learned how to take better photographs - although this is an ongoing process for me. And I wouldn't consider myself a photographic artist, at least not yet. I've learned that I can stretch myself and I can achieve things that I never would have dreamed possible 5 years ago (see #2).

5. I've made some wonderful friends all around the world.
The internet can be a wonderful thing. It brings people closer together. And if the people are truly honest about themselves, you can form friendships through the internet. I've met some wonderful folks through my Weight Watchers journey. And I'm meeting new people all the time through my digiscrapping. Now, some of these people I will never meet face to face, although I have met several, but they have come to mean so much to me. We have shared successes and failures, joys and heartaches - all through the electronic medium known as the internet.