OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH!!!

Me, Star & Krsiten

Captain & Co- Captain on the SF Golden Gate

TEAM TATA'HINES! WE DID IT!!!!

WE FINISHED TEAM TATA'HINES!!!!!

HALF WAY THERE 1ST DAY!!! 13 MILES TO GO!

WE WALK TO HONOR OUR DEAR MOTHER!!!!

As you ALL know (or may not) that OCTOBER is BREAST CANCER awareness month!! I hope that you are supporting by either wearing ANY kind of pink or donating a $1 extra @ Safeway!!! a little goes a long way :)

Breast Cancer is near & dear to my heart. I lost my Mother Dearest ATILI FOSEPI VEA-UNGA to this deadly disease. She had caught it my freshmen yr in high school & in 3 short long battled yrs, my Heavenly Father called her. She passed away Thanksgiving Wkend 2003. Losing my Mother is probably one of the WORST HEART ACHING PAIN any man/woman can feel. She was my EVERYTHING... I soooo wish she didn't have to leave me soooo soon ;(

Words just don't do her any justice!!! I would sooo switch places with her in a heartbeat!!!

I totally envy those kids that have a strong bond/relationship with their Grandma, beacause I know if my Mother was here, my kids would be ALL OVER HER!!!! But I know that she's in a better place & no longer needs to suffer here on Earth. I know she's preparing our Eternal Home so when we meet again, it will be ONE HECK OF A REUNION!!!

So I have ALWAYS been interested in walking for a cure but I was ALWAYS delaying it & I was sooo afraid to funraise for the funds! So, last yr around November my sister Star & I registered for the AVON BREAST CANCER WALK!!! I was sooooo EXCITED AND OVERJOYED that we were actually doing it & on top of that I was walking with one of the most energizing & optimistic person I knew!!! SO that was a major plus in my book! After months of planning & NO TRAINING ( I know can u believe we didn't even train for this 40 mile trek thru the city??? Who the heck does that???? We did aprently!!!) we finally formed a team of 6 ladies. Our team was called TEAM TATA'HINES!!!! Juniper Teaupa-Captain Myself-Co Captain Lani (my sis) Kristen, Gianna & Alejandra. Each walker had to come up with $1800 to fundraise. So I was already scared we were NOT gonna meet our goal! So, each walker had a page & we were accepting donations left & right all the way til the even eve! Then we had an idea to do a pre order bake sale that was a HUGE HIT!!! We actually had a company donate majority of the baking ingredients since all the goodies were homemade! YES HOMEMADE!!!! We had a work cut out for us for the 2 days that we devoted our sweat & hardwork for :) But we sure had a blast doing them & I wouldn't have traded it for the world!!!! After the Bake Sale we raised almost $2500!!! And that was AMAZING AND A HUGE RELIEF!!!! We were glad to see our thermometers fill up & reach our fundraising goal amount!

The WALK itself was one of the most REWARDING yet painful experiences that I have ever endured. The first 13 miles were pretty easy for me! I actully got unlucky that week! So the walk was on July 11 & on beacause of July 4th I had caught a weird annoying cough/cold!!! SO my goal that week was TRY TRY TRY to get rid of it! I mean I was downing Robitssun left & right, I was drinking OJ in between... I was eating & sucking on cough drops like candy! NOTHING seemed to work!!! It was sooo annoying & irritating all @ the same time!!! I mean really.... out of ALL 52 weeks of the year, you decide to come to me NOW??? So my cold never left my system ;(

Because of this Walk, I will NEVER forget what kinda pain my Mom went through! I mean, after the first day we completed 26 miles. And I'm talking about hills & bridge & hills miles! No flat ground @ all!!! I mean we're talking San Francisco here!!! That night I was in the most undescribeable pain that I had to bend & squat in order for me to walk! It was CRUCIAL!! I was also in for a treat because my Honey massaged me for a good 3 hours!!! Of course I was passed out & he said I would jump up everytime he massaged a muscle in my leg or thigh was cramping! So I was truly greatful for that!

The 2nd Day was tough for me! I was always behind the rest of the group & I felt like @ times I couldn't breathe!!! I would have a semi-heart attack everytime we turned a corner & we were gonna walk ANOTHER STEEP HILL!!! Yet throughout this walk, this was a total MIND GAME!!! I knew I wasn't physically strong so I had to train my mind as I walking...

"I'm doing this for you MOM" was one of the repeated phrases I would say everytine I felt like giving up! or "This pain is NOTHING compared to what my MOM had to go through for those 3 never nending yrs she had to fight this disease" was also another motivator in my head!!!

As we approached our last hill, there in the distance we saw our HUGE SUPPORTING FAMILY!!! I mean our emotions went from being tired & in pain to I can walk another 26 miles EASY!!! It was by far one of the BEST experiences everrrrr!!!!

I advise to those reading this, if you are well & are able to walk a 40 mile marathon for someone you'd die for, I'd say DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some pictures from one of the BEST DAYS EVERRRRR IN MY LIFE ;) Enjoy!!