The 4 F's.

Q: What do these four words have in common: 

Family
Fun
Faith
FitBit

A: They were what I did on my family vacation.

On Saturday morning, we stuffed the back of our Swaggerwagon with as much as it would possibly hold and headed to Catholic Familyland.  This family camp has been one of my Summer destinations since I was 16, so this was year number 20...errrrrr, ummmm, I mean 10 for me. *wink* 

Amazingly enough, my shoulder and neck felt completely fine as we arrived at the park and unpacked. If I were my husband, I would have been a bit skeptical about this injury especially since I had been in too much pain to pack the van, but I'm calling it a miracle. 
One of my commitments for the week was to never drive the van or accept a ride. The two sections of the park are connected by a trail that is just a little over a mile long, so I knew I'd be in for quite a bit of walking. And I was right! 

According to my FitBit...

Saturday - 13,226 steps (total slacker on the first day, I guess, but I was still nursing my injury)
Sunday -  31,142 steps
Monday - 30,016 steps
Tuesday - 30,020 steps
Wednesday - 8,268 steps (Note: I, along with a few others, had a little stomach thing going on...)
Thursday - 20,880 steps 

And during that time, I only accepted a ride ONE TIME and that was because it was just about to rain (meaning the trail would be a muddy mess), everyone was anxious to get lunch started because a few of my nephews were scheduled for a trail ride, and my stomach wasn't feeling all that happy.

After close to a week away from civilization, I realized a few things:

• I am incredibly blessed to be with a man who supports me in every way. Nick has always been there for me and is incredibly proud of everything I do. And, I hope that he realizes that I am proud of him too.

• I have and will continue to inspire other people. This is one of my sisters (and also my best friend). She has never been active but after participating in a few of my challenges, she made some life changes and was actually excited for our hike together.

• I am a lot stronger-willed than I think I am. Yes, this is me, hiking the trail in my dress for Sunday's Mass. I know I look like one of those ladies downtown with the bright white sneakers and the business suit, but I'll have you know that I did, indeed, switch my shoes for church.

• If you move more, you can eat more. Ok, this is not the most flattering picture of me, but see that S'more I am eating? I earned every single bite of it!

One of my friends posted something on her Facebook page and I am stealing it because I think it truly captures my thoughts on the week. "

"I don't believe that I am any more blessed than I was a week ago, I just think I slowed down enough to remember what is right in front of me."

Amen.