We did it!

What a life changing adventure!!! I mean from last March to now. I couldn't in my wildest dreams expect what has happend to us. All of the love , support , and hard work from friends and strangers.
I know that the road for our daughter could be a hard one because she has arthritis and there is no taking that back, but as you all know I wasn't raising money for a band-aid I am looking for a cure . I won't stop the fundraising because I am a mum and we have to do what we can for our kids!!! and help others along our way. Your support has made me such a better person and I thank you all so much for that, I will continue to help fight this disease.
I would like to take you all to race day because this was one wild emotional ride if I do say.
3am we are at the bus stop waiting with our JIM group(team Disney) how proud I am to have this shirt on my back, we have a group photo done with a huge canadian flag, I am trying to fight back the tears because I don't believe I am standing in these sneakers and this day is here.
I am not scared I have been a basket case to this point.
We get on the bus and we have people that look like they know what they are doing and you have us no body of an athlete,but I knew I had the mind and spirt of one.I am sitting there thinking of all the wonderful people that have given so much to get us to this point, and thinking of all the things that our trainer has told us.
No one could have prepared us for the sight we saw when we got off the bus THE PEOPLE oh my it was unbelievable , we had to walk over a mile to get to our start line and I am thinking all the way this should count in some small way( haha) may I add how organized this was Myleta would have been so proud!! We sang with the Americans then our small group held hands and sang OH Canada, I just new this was going to be an amazing day.
You passed people and paced with them talked with total strangers it was amazing (sorry but I might be using this word alot).
There was music and lots of water and powerade along the way not to mention the tylenol biofreeze and vaseline we were able to take some pictures along the way because I wanted you to be able to see the MAGIC of the day !
The real magic was when you know what I am going to say.... was the sight of Myleta arnie Bonnie and Jerry, I wanted to bust my heart was racing tears were pouring I am sure the people around thought I was losing it, but I couldn't hold it in I had no idea if they were ever going to find us in this sea of people. Well what a boost we were given by these sweet and wonderful people, not knowing if we would ever see them again that day we were surprised yet once again by this crew when they ment up with us again no words can tell you how we felt Kris was right when she said we have the most wonderful people for friends( I remember Bonnie yelling out you look good, I am thinking bless you for that tall tale)
I must let you know about the sweeps they were very nice people but I really didn't like their job. They kept us posted as to how we were doing with our times and gave us alot of encouragement. There were times we were 6 minutes ahead of pace and there were alot of wohoo's at that time then we got a 30 second pace at mile 19 well it hit us like a ton of bricks and zapped everything we had I thought all we had worked so hard for was almost out of sight,I was really starting to get tired at this point and poor Kris was really having a hard time her hands were swelling and I thought what have I done could this have caused a flare up? I told her to get her hands over her head to get the swelling down she couldn't walk like this because she felt she was wasting time,it didn't matter to me her health was more important but now things had changed she goes Mum you and Dad have done so much for me I don't want to let you down( like that could ever happen) I had to go ahead of her and it almost broke my heart, our trainer got me to a safe pace and then went back to help her and I say he did an awesome job.Terry came up with me and that was what I needed we had trained this together and he said we are going to finish it together.He keep Kris in his vision so that made me so happy( at this point I was very tired and didn't dare turn around incase I fell) then we lost her I thought she had been swept again more tears , you can't walk at this pace and cry at the same time I thought I was going to die.
I kicked it into high gear and gave it all I had Terry quite surprised asked where did this come from??? I said I have too many people that I am not going to let down and we have to cross the finish line, I felt so good I was not tired just down right excited WE DID IT we crossed we made it Then we could hear our names being called , never in a million years did I think that Myleta Arnie Bonnie and Jerry would find the finish line what was I thinking it was Myleta dah!!!!!
Terry turns and said I am going to get Kris in my heart knowing how tired she was I didn't think he would find her , then Myleta yells to me there is Krissie You have no idea the pride I felt to see my little one cross this line she didn't do it for her she did it for us, Love has so much power!
If I should never walk another mile I will never forget this day I thought about all of our events laughs tears and the strength that I got from each and everyone of you I remembered smiles and hugs and as you know I had lots of time out there to reflect! I have put alot in this post but there is so much more.... Thnks to you all for being with us on this most wonderful event in our lives .
Would we do this again? In a heart beat!!!! and would do anything I could to help you experience this wonderful feeling.
I would like to finish up by saying that our JIM team raised over $80,000.00 , my friends I thank you so much for being part of that. You all ROCK!
With love and so much thanks
Holly Terry & Kristen Hearn
xoxoxoxo

We are stil hard at it

well I am late on my post Terry and I walked 27 kms last week ! I think it was the best walk ever!!
Tomorow we do 31km it's going to be cold and this will be the first really cold walk I will let you all know how we make out
Holly

It's been awhile

Hello friends,
well it's been awhile since I have posted but that doesn't mean that I have stopped walking(haha)
We have been working very hard to get these bodies strengthed to be able to do this marathon.
We are at 21 kms this week and let me tell ya doing it at marathon pace is very very hard for me my body is letting me know that I have to try and work harder. Terry is very sore today but I am so proud of him he is doing very well.My little legs paddle along behind him.
What an experience this has been. I am not ready for race day but I can't wait for it!!!
take care my friends!!!
Holly

Week # 6

Hello,
well what a beautiful day it is ...
I have done my first hill train and I feel like I have been hit by one.
I know you all know where Myleta lives, well me and my bright idea
I used the hill going toward her place as my first one, I have to say it is not human friendly!!!!
Thought I was going to die .
I can still walk so all is well!!! I go to see Amy tomorrow and she gets to put her magic powers to work, I can't wait
Holly

Week # 5

Hello girls , all is well
we are doing 8 km this week, then it bumps up to 12 next week so I will take the break!!
Terry is really coming along well he is really trying to run more than walk...
I hope you are all enjoying the start of fall!!

Week # 4

It's a new week and things are better but, I can't believe it's week 4 already......we did our 10km yesterday and I am back in the game.
Terry said our time is getting a little better .Ohhhhhhh how I have been wanting to hear those words. I have to admit I am really sore today it doesn't take long for a little break to come up and bite you on the calf!!!!
Here's hoping for a pain free week

Week # 4

Week # 4

Week # 3

Well girls this was a bad week for me. I got my long walk in and a few little ones but, I wasn't feeling the best so I took it easy :-(

Week # 2

Hello all,
well 1 week under our belt, and today is the start of week # 2!!
Well today I learned how to FLY!!! thats right I had just started my walk and about half hour into it the rain started that was welcomed great way to cool down well then the thunder started, oh my I turned tail and ran most of the way back home, I may not be able to move tomorrow but I didn't get hit by lightning!!
What an experience this is turning in to.
I guess you can say week 2 has started with a BANG

Here we go Week #1

On Saturday we started to train on the joints in motion schedule( a little different then mine)
We also had to go to PEI to help my friend Millie. Well my first training day was on beautiful Prince Edward Island. I got to walk with Terry which I don't get to do often because of work. That was a treat all in its self!!!! , also to be able to talk to someone other than myself.
May I say I was so very happy to see what strength I have gained !! I could really keep up with those long legs of his( I kept my beaming on the inside) because he is doing a great job also.
Now I am sure the time will fly by!
Holly

Mama needs a new pair of shoes

Oh my stars .... I have worn out my first pair of sneakers already.
I can't believe it, never in my life have I had to replace a pair of shoes in less
than 4 months.
And may I add what a difference when I got the new ones. This experience is all so new to me
I just don't know what to do with myself.Somedays I don't even think it's me thats out there doing all this walking.
I am really starting to believe that you can change your life style if you really want to!!!
now if I could just get it out of my head that hot fudge sundae's are my friend I would be ok.....
love to all

I am almost half way!!!

Good Saturday morning to you all!!!
I am almost half way there I walked 20 km today it started out ok but, man did it get hot I so do not like walking in the heat I don't know for the life of me how people run in it ( you are my hero's is all I can say)
Yes I feel like my legs are going to fall off ,I hope they can keep up with me because we still have a long way to go.
I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Act of kindness

Well my walking is going well I am even surprising myself but, with all this walking comes some aches and pains .... Lets face it this old body is not used to it.
My friend Tom who works in our physio dept at the hospital came to my aid in just minutes, I told him that I have a bit of a click i n my knee and told him what was going on with it . I tell ya with in minutes he had pages of exrecise for me to do to help strenghten it up.
So many people have come forward with such kind words of encouragement and it really helps to keep me going.
This week at work I had a blue ribbon day , it was a great chance to talk with people that I don't usually see. I was very surprised to learn how many people suffer in silence with this disease, people you wouldn't even know that had it.
By being involved with this it has made me more aware of arthritis and more determined to help find a cure!!!
Another act of kindness is the cardmaking for our troops. I want to thank each and everyone of you that is taking part in this heartfelt project.
What an amazing thing our paper crafts have done.

A walk for my soal

On Friday I felt so sad and so mad.I had to do something good.
So I went on a 14km walk, I knew this would give me the chance to do some thinking.

And thinking is what I needed to do. Those of you who know me know that I wear my yellow ribbon almost every where I go , since our son has been in Afghanistan I can say in all honesty there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of our men and women over there. When I get up in the morning I look at our canadian flag smile and say may god bless each and everyone of you today and then I throw in a thankyou guys!!
On Friday when I heard about Angies husband my mind was in a whirl, my heart was pounding and I felt very helpless, all I could think of was how can I help this sweet person.
Some days I am not strong and I want to have them pulled out of there and brought home to where they will be safe but ,I know that isn't what they want . So by the end of the walk I was in a better frame of mind, strong again and ready to support, but my heart was still very heavy for Angie I guess only time will help because I have no answers for these feelings.

WOW !!!
This is how I have to start this out. I am still beside myself. I can't believe what we have done this weekend.What a room full of wonderful talented amazing women.I still can't believe what just happened, not that I didn't have faith in all of us but, this was truly amazing that we have this kind of power. You have to be feeling so good about your selves and what you have done. Our hearts are so in the right place.
I couldn't help but look around the room and feel so blessed. I only wished that you could feel what was in my heart because there are no words to describe it because I really don't think I have ever had this feeling in my life.
I tried so hard not to cry but I truly could not hold them back my chest was hurting so bad, I felt out of emotional control.
I want you to know that without each and everyone of you we wouldn't of had the success of this event. Your kindness we will never forget.
When I called our daughter and told her how we were doing she just couldn't believe it, and said give them all a big hug for me.She has been taken back with all of the kindness that has been given to us. She goes mum I am so proud of you, I know how nervous you were about yesterday, I told you everything would be fine.( Hey thats my job to tell her that everything will be fine) I love it when she loves me!!!!:)
All the cards that were made for our canadian heros again another focus that is so very near and dear to my heart. I thank you so very very much .I want to tell you just incase you left before this draw was made. Jill MacDonald won the binder of cards and gave them all to our TROOPS!!!Oh my gosh I am flooding but yet again. Such kindness thankyou so very much Jill. I will tell you ladies I have a son who is not like his Mum he is a tough guy.... has said to me miss MacDonald is one of the best teachers I have ever had. Coming from a son who keeps his feelings inside......well this means Jill you ROCK.
I want to thank you all for making this a day that we will never forget and most of all this event may be the one to ease the pain!!!!!!!
With love ,hugs, tears and one heck of a big thankyou
Holly & Terry

we are wearing the treads off our shoes

Hello everyone,
Just thought I would drop a line to let everyone know how Terry and I are doing in the training dept!
I am now up to a 14 km walk and I am gaining a bit of strength to be able to run a bit, not much mind you but I am getting stronger every day.I am sure if anyone heard me going down the road they would call 911 beacuse I sound like a 1960's jeep on its last legs when I run.
Terry on the other hand is doing much better with the running and may I add the weight is falling off of him much faster than it is me( darn men and their DNA).
It's really hard work for us since this really hasn't been a part of our lives(exercise that is) but, it is part of our daily life now and we look forward to trying to beat our pervious days time.
Thank you so much for the continued support for us, it pushes me down the highway a bit faster and longer when all I want to do is go home and scrap!!!
Holly

Hello and what a beautiful day it is today!
I walked 12 km today in 1hour and 50 minutes, this is the longest I have gone and boy
do I ever feel good about it, well my spirit does and you can only guess how sore the rest of me is.!!!
I got a call from Kris soon after I got back ,I told her my news and she said she was so proud of me....it really made stop and think I am the one that always says how proud I am of them, my this is such a life changing event for me. I am so happy to be doing this, what if we change just one life with what we are doing....oh my heart! it thrills me to death.
The days are flying by to our big paper arts a thon, I must say my "dream team" is working so hard to make this an awesome event for all of us. The ideas that are coming out of this crew is amazing, they are truly three of the most kind hearted people .We are all very lucky to have them on our team.

So until next time, there is a magic bag calling my name.
Hugs Holly

What a wonderful day

Hello to all my blogger buddies,

I just couldn't wait to get on line to tell you the great news that we got today.
We have had the fear since March of 2006 that Kristen may have cancer. She has
been for several tests and none of them have come back with any hope except for today!!!!
Her doctor is so positive that he got everything on the last procedure. I just can't believe this
I am busting with so much happiness . I had myself ready for the worst today and it has turned out to be just great. I think it must be all the positive power that you guys are bringing our way.
While we are driving home Kris looks over at me and said thank god you don't have to walk a cancer marathon next year. Oh good lord how lucky we are today
Hugs Holly

Hello my friends,
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather.
I went out side for my first walk yesterday ,I have been using the treadmill.
I must tell ya it sure is different on the outside!! I walked for 2 hours I just couldn't stop
it was beautiful and I had all the problems of the world solved by the time I got back home!!(I wish).
Well today is a different story I have muscles that feel like they are on fire..... it might have been the 12 hour night that I worked yesterday that is adding to the discomfort.
BUT I have to tell you I feel great in the spirit, and I am sure by tomorrow the pain will be a memory.
So this is the scoop I have done 9 miles on the treadmill it took me almost 3 hours, I know very slow, but what a wake up call to tell me what my body can do when I put my mind to it. I made much better time on the outside, and got a bit of a tan to boot!!! I will save the mill for the rain days and hit the dirt on the nice ones!!!!
Thank you thank you for all the wonderful things that you continue to do for our cause.. you must be feeling very good about yourselves because I know I do!!
Love from my heart to you all
Holly