"For two days, we walked as one."

We walked. We made a difference.

This past weekend was incredible but, well, to be completely honest with you, it also hurt, a lot! We started out strong on Saturday (even thought it was pouring for the first 2 hours!) Around mile 15 I started walking a little slower and my knees started to hurt. Around mile 18 (there were so many hills at the end!) I started to tell myself that I had to keep going, that there was no reason for me to stop, even though it hurt a lot! The last mile was the hardest, it was uphill and getting dark and we were so close, but still so far. But oh, what a feeling when we saw the "Mile 26" sign at the end of the day! It took us nearly 12 hours to walk 26.2 miles before (literally) collapsing into a chair at the end. It was SO nice to take my shoes off and put my feet up at the end of the day.


Waking up Sunday morning was painful. We slept in a tent all night and I was very sore (and blisters don't go away overnight!) I'm not sure how I even got to the bathroom that morning, but somehow I made it not only to the bathroom, but the last 13.1 miles as well.
Reaching the finish line was one of the best feelings ever! We did it, it's over, we made a difference, wow...

The weekend as a whole was incredible, so emotional, so uplifting, one of the most amazing feelings ever. There were 3,000 walkers and so many people helping out all weekend. There was a group of guys on motorcycles who had bras hooked to their windshields who helped us cross the streets (we were in the city a lot of the time.) These guys were so great. We would thank them for helping us and they would respond with "no, thank you for walking, you are doing great." There were also kids on the side of the roads in the residential areas that handed us lemonade and thanked us for walking. Also, handmade signs put up on trees and telephone poles, people passing out popsicles, dogs dressed in pink, women shouting from windows thanking us for fighting cancer, and (this really got me) bald women with signs on the sides of the road hugging the walkers with tears in their eyes. It was so incredible. Amazing. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I can't wait to send out thank you cards and try to describe what it was like to those who supported me and my team.

My sister came to visit for the weekend and not only did she and her friend Tara cook for us on Friday night, but they left the kitchen spotless when they left AND waited 3 hours on Saturday so that they could cheer for us and see us for 10 minutes along the route. It's a great feeling to have someone you know cheering for you! (Even if she is a little crazy and the first thing she said to me was "I'm doing this with you next year!" We'll have to see about that!)

So here it is, Wednesday. I am still quite sore, I still have blisters, and I am still incrediblly thankful that I could be a part of something like this walk. For the weekend, I was part of a community of incredibly strong, determined, friendly, encouraging, people who are all dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.

Thank you for everyone who has supported me and my team throughout this journey. You all deserved to be there last weekend, crying and laughing along with us.

To see more pictures of the walk you can visit my Picasa album by clicking here.

This will, unfortunately, be my last blog post about the walk *tear*. I do, however, have 2 other blogs (wait, 2? yes, two!) which I will be writing in the future. One will be tailored to scrapbooking, specifically projects I complete and kits I will be making. The second will be full of the absolute randomness that is me. I like getting all my thoughts down and I have enjoyed the feedback I have gotten from family members about my "humor." (I put the word "humor" in quotes because I don't find myself to be that funny and think I have a rather warped sense of humor which stems from watching a combination of SNL, Monty Python, and Scrubs way too much.) But hey, I enjoy it, so I'll keep on doing it! :-)

Scrapbooking Blog: http://allsamsidea.blogspot.com/
Personal Blog: http://samanthapiette.blogspot.com/

Rest assured these blogs will be getting more attention now that the walk is over (for this year.) *wink*

Day 1 Route:


Day 2 Route:

So Close!

I'm not sure I can explain how excited and nervous I am about this weekend. There are so many things I feel I am going to be completely surprised by. I think whether or not I make it the whole 39.3 miles, I will be surprised by how far I do make it. I think I will be surprised by how incredible the whole experience is going to be. We have already made it so far, raising over $10,500 to fight Breast Cancer, but the fundraising was really just the beginning. The experiences I will have this weekend will not be able to be described and I am so incredibly lucky to be able to experience something like this. I love being part of something bigger than myself and this weekend I will be surrounded by 3,000 people who all share my passion for making a difference in the world. There will be tears, yes, but I know they will all be good tears and that the "heaviness" of the weekend will weight down on me in the form of complete gratitude for being able to be around such strong and inspiring people. I have been told that there are women who walk who are going through Chemo right now. That idea alone makes me want to cry. There is no reason I can't complete the 39.3 miles compared to someone who just came from the hospital. There are men who walk for their wives, or daughters, or mothers, and I will certainly cry for them as well. I am incredibly passionate about this cause but it can't compare to those who have lived it or have watched someone suffer because of it. If any of you are reading this, you are in my heart this weekend and always.

I can't wait to update my blog with pictures and memories of this weekend and share with you a little bit about what it was like. On that note, I encourage everyone to become involved in a charity of your choice. It's the most rewarding experience and I know you won't regret a it for a minute. Also, if you think you can't do it, you can. Just believe me. You will muster up the courage to ask people for donations and to walk that extra mile on the treadmill because you know it will benefit everyone in the end. You will not love every minute of it, because it will be difficult at times, but the times that you will cherish will be the moments that make you feel that you have made a difference. Honestly, you can do it. No matter how crazy everyone thinks you are, you can.

So, talk to you all Monday. I won't be able to walk, but I will be able to type! I'll leave you with one last good (fingers crossed!) image of this weekend:

Forecast for Walk Weekend

Dear weather.com,

I do not like you very much right now. I hope you're happy.

Love,
- Sam

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Dear Accuweather.com,

You make my heart go "pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pit." Where have you been all my life?

Love,
- Sam

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Fundraising update:
We added up all our donations as a team and officially have (as of last night!) $26.00 left to raise! Phew... $26.00 is nothing compared to $10,000.00! (Oooh, look how many zeros!) $26... it's the cost of a shirt (an inexpensive one from Target) or the cost of 26 items from the dollar menu at McDonald's, or about 7 gallons of gas in Massachusetts right now. So, we officially have half a tank of gas to get to our team goal. I think one Real Piette of Newport, Vermont said it perfectly this morning:

[08:55] thefrontdesk27: I can't believe it

Neither can I... however, all this is merely what we intended to do. We set a goal and are thisclose to reaching it. It feels good. Ask my team members about it. I bet they will tell you it feels good too. Colbie Caillat describes it well: "I get the tingles in a silly place, It starts in my toes, And I crinkle my nose, Wherever it goes I always know."

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Because my family in Vermont seems to appreciate the intense randomness that goes on in my head, the following is a small slice of that randomness (as if you people don't get enough of this already):

This morning on the radio they said "Coming up next on Mix 98.5, the youtube video of the day!" Does everyone else see what's wrong with this, or is it just me?

Since starting SparkPeople I have lost a little over 15lbs by eating healthier and going to the gym. 15lbs is almost a whole Bruno! It's almost TWO Boogers! Food is a ridiculous thing to be controlled by and I am doing everything I can to stop that control. I would much rather be controlled by something more scary. I can see a lot more people feeling bad for me if the headline read "Local Woman Attacked by Flying-Purple-People-Eater" than "Local Woman Attacked and Held Hostage by Three Cupcakes and a Big Mac." That story and more, tonight at 11...

Lately, Jason has been looking me right in the eye and saying "I like you." It's nice, but after a week I know when he's going to do it, and if you heard him say it, you would not think it was cute, you would just have a raised eyebrow or two. He says it as though he's surprised by it. He's cute and I'm really glad he likes me, you know, considering we are married and all.

When I eat the 100 Calorie Packs of Oreo Bites I really try really hard to convince myself that I am eating a Snickers bar... I hope it starts to work soon.

What's with squirrels lately anyway? I have anyways been a fan, but lately I feel like they know something I don't. I'd like to say I DON'T think they are all plotting to take over the world and secretly hold meetings in storage space #48 of my apartment complex, but it just wouldn't be true. I think the mysterious music coming from that general area isn't a very good cover.

I'm not sure if squirrels on steriods would be really scary or incredibly funny. See previous comment before you decide.