Hello All!
I hope the month of January has served you well! I’m glad to be starting a new month, a new week and a new semester! I’ve been a little under the weather and out of sorts the past week or two, but the semester is starting back up tomorrow and I feel ready to get back in the swing of things. I have been extra conscious of my health right now because I don’t want any stress to make my cold worse! That is why I have been putting in the extra minutes in the gym or on the beach path…I feel like both cardio and weight work outs for me, are such a reliever of stress, anxiety, or just anything in excess–that includes food, haha.
I’ve got a lot planned for this spring. This semester may just even go by faster than the last. I think it always happens that way when summer is around the corner…although the weather here has made it feel like summer. What a teaser! Next Saturday, I will be speaking at an event in support of raising money for therapy centers at UCP-OC! How awesome does that sound? I am going to post a flyer invite for any locals out there. Anyone who wants to dress up for a casino night of fun while supporting a great cause is welcome! Just take a peek below for more info, or visit www.ucp-oc.org to purchase tickets! I will say that I am a little nervous to get up there on stage to speak about myself and my CP and involvement in the disability community. It is a great honor but I feel so funny talking about myself for ten minutes! Thankfully, Bonner Paddock who is not only a good friend of mine, but an amazing speaker will be there as well to tell his story and that is a great comfort for me. It will be a great first experience; I just hope I can impress upon people how great this cause is, and inspire them to make a difference. 
In other news, I plan to help put together a team with UCP to run a 5k in May. I think it will be a great way to raise some money, support a cause with some friends, and have fun at the same time! It’s my goal to get some people from Soka to run it with me, and whoever else feels motivated to. This run will be a great start to my training for the Surf City Half Marathon that I am going to do a year from today! Yep, that’s right, I’m going to run my first ever half marathon (13.1 miles)! Every year, about 20,000 people come to run along Pacific Coast Highway and I want to join in on the craze this time. I’ve put a lot of thought into it, and I am determined to turn myself into a runner this year. It will allow me to set a great goal for myself and I think it will be a great activity for me to focus on outside of school and everything else. I would not tell all of you guys if I wasn’t serious about it, so I hope to keep track of my training with everyone here on TeenCP. I hope that you will all support me in this, I don’t expect it to be easy and very much fun! I know I will have my days when I’ll complain and cut my legs off haha, but knowing I can be held accountable by having it in writing will be a great motivator for me. Last part of the annoucement, I will be running the half marathon in honor of UCP-OC, so any of you who would like to sponsor me or just donate to my cause I’d be most grateful to. Since this is just a quick first announcement, I hope to have more details to follow in the next couple of months since this is far off. I don’t have any amount in mind as far as how much I want to raise, but maybe with your help I can start to get a feel for just how much is possible! Have any of you out there done any event similar to this, or for a cause? Any advice or tips? I’d like to hear what you have to say! This also means I’d like to look for new running shoes, so any TeenCPers who know a good brand, go ahead and leave a comment.
Alright, well I feel like I am forgetting something, but also rambling at the same time.
More news to come on everything…this is just the beginning, here we go TeenCP!
Take care.
-Katy
Have a fantastic July everyone! I will be taking a short leave in case I can’t get internet access… if not…pics will be posted!
I think I should take up a consistent yoga class…that should do the trick. What do you think? Anything you could recommend I do to lessen the pressure on my joints, muscles ectt? It makes me sad that I cannot run the way I used to. Hmm…I think my soreness may also be due to the fact that I went on an extremely strenuous hike this past Sunday. (Pic up top is from the hike–so pretty– the scenery is a part of what keeps me going!) I don’t even know where to begin, I was so not mentally prepared for the inclines and the slippery gravel. But I did it, and I was limping around extra bad the rest of the day…it was worth the accomplished feeling I felt afterward though…because there were some people who were “normal” and they didn’t even finish. So ha! There’s dis-abilityfor all those underestimaters. ;p Haha I hope you know I am not completely serious…but I mean c’mon, you have to admit its at least 3x harder for us CPers to do any sort of physical activity, I can’t help but point out how great I feel when I am more physically able than someone who does not deal with CP. Empowering, almost…to accomplish something unexpected like that. It’s like when I saw the hill before me, I told myself there was NO way I was going to make it…but I surprised myself, and that is the greatest form of self-motivation ever. Have you ever had that moment where you just WOWed yourself? I hope so! It is an incredible feeling to push yourself past failure.
