Lace Up Those Sneakers and Let's START!

BIG News!!! Drum roll please. . . . .

I'm officially in training. Training to participate in a 5K, this mama is lacing up her pink and white tennis shoes to walk in the American Heart Association START! Heart Walk on May 2nd, in St. Louis. I am so excited!

I have wanted to walk in it for several years now, but this year I am doing it! I first considered it a few years back, walking in Nathaniel's memory, but I didn't. So this year, I decided, there is no time like the present and I am going to walk. I'm walking for several reasons. These are in no particular order--personal accomplishment, to raise money and awareness to a cause that I am passionate about (and hits very closely to my heart) and it is something productive to do annually in honor of Nathaniel. The most important reason being the last one. According to the AMA 36,000 children are born with a heart defect each year! I was a mama with a baby in that statistic group almost 9 years ago and if it hadn't been for research and research funding, my precious Nathaniel wouldn't have lived past 15 minutes, literally. I also want to add that I believe that God's a healer. First and fore most prayer should go up for those dealing with or born with heart disease, but I also believe that God gave some people the brilliance to work on these kiddos and others to be giving enough to fund the brilliant. So let me say, emphatically, that God brought Nathaniel through those three years and he used some very kind, amazing, brilliant and talented people to complete that task! I know that the Great Physician guided our earthly physicians and what a team they made!!

~~Shout out to Dr. Eric Medelloff (the surgeon), Dr. David Balzer (Nathaniels primary Cardiac doc) the Cardiac Team and the fabulous staff of St. Louis Children's Hospital!! You guys ROCK!!~~

Team Nathaniel has been formed. I have a personal web page through the AMA and a Team Page. Right now the team is me, I haven't started recruiting yet, so if you want to join me you are more than welcome. I shouldn't really say it's just me. Makiah is walking with me and I am pushing the boys. This is a family event. Hubs will be designing a Team Nathaniel t-shirt for those walking. If you can't walk, but you want to help, sponsoring is good too. No pressure to do either, I just wanted to share with all of you what I am doing. Joining and/or sponsoring can be done on those two web pages. Join on the team page and donations can be made on my personal page.

Now, here's your heart tip for Saturday: go nuts!! You have now been given permission to go nuts--walnuts, cashews, flaxseeds or sesame seeds, macadamias and most importantly almonds. Nuts pack a healthy punch for your heart by providing some healthy fats. They also give you something crunchy to munch on with the benefit of it being good for you. Watch out for the salted ones, they pack too much sodium! I like to add raw nuts to my salads or throw them in my chicken meals. Pack some to munch on during those walks for a nutritious boost of energy or as a cure for the afternoon drag. One serving at a time is just perfect for great health!

Gotta run now, do some cleaning, then off to celebrate Dad. Tomorrow is his birthday! I'll be posting pics tomorrow of my wonderful daddy!

I hope everyone is having a splendid Saturday!!