Calling all Walkers!

Calling all Walkers!

If you haven't heard already, now is the time to be signing up for the walk and raising as much money as you can to help support our team. The links for the team pages are below. You can sign up for the walk(s) there.

We are walking in Antelope Valley on 4/30
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MSFitsAV

And

Pasadena on 4/3
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MSFitsGLA

We have a couple of fundraisers so far... hopefully more are to come.

3/16 - Menchies Canyon Country
3/30 - Rubios Valencia
4/14 - Jersey Mike's Subs on Copper Hill in Valencia
4/30 - Menchies Canyon Country

There will be a prize for the person on our team who raises the most money!
The Participant Center has some good tips for fundraising as well as email templates and things. If you have an idea for a fundraiser or would like to have one closer to your house... just let me know and we'll see if we can get it set up.

This year we aren't stopping after the walk. We're going to continue to fundraise throughout the year to maximize our fundraising power... the more money for MS the better!

Let me know if you need a new shirt. We're using the same shirts as last year, but if you didn't get one or don't have one or just plain can't find yours, let me know.

Let's stop the disease that keeps us from moving!

Happy Fundraising!

Jess

Fixing the Negative Self-Talk

Um, I kinda love Jillian sometimes. I rarely watch The Biggest Loser, but I might start. Sometimes she's harsh but sometimes things like this really stick to me. I hope I can remember to think about it more often.


"From LOSING IT! With Jillian MichaelsFriday, September 24, 2010

Fixing the Negative Self-Talk

Is your inner voice a trash-talker? If you've tried and failed to reach your fitness goals in the past, negative thoughts might have held you back. Want to succeed this time? Get your journal (or log on to your Fitness Diary). It's time to get some of those thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you have a negative self-image?Do you constantly say things like "I'm fat" or "I'm ugly"? Do you pick yourself apart and beat yourself up when you look in the mirror?

Do you lack self-confidence?Do you doubt your ability to achieve your goals, weight related or otherwise? Do you dwell on your perceived limits or fears? Do you doubt your ability to accomplish the things you want to accomplish?

Do you feel powerless?Do you feel as if you have no control over your life, or do you rely on excuses like "I'm genetically predisposed to being overweight"?

Do you label yourself in self-deprecating ways?Do you think and talk about your failure to lose weight as a foregone conclusion? Do you refer to yourself mockingly (or not!) as a stereotype — the happy/funny fat person in the room? Is your e-mail address fatso@blank.com?

Now think about your responses to these questions. How would you describe their tone? Are they affirming and constructive, or downbeat and destructive? If you want to turn your thinking around, ask yourself one more question:

How is this negativity serving you? Answering this question will help you understand why you have been perpetuating these destructive thoughts and behaviors so that you can cut them out at the root. Is what you say about yourself really the truth? Or is it a defense mechanism? And if so, against what? Are you just making complicated excuses? How does this kind of negativity help you achieve your goals?

Here's the last step: Go back and answer the above questions again, and force yourself to use only positive terms. It can be hard to let go of negative thought patterns. Often, they're the result of years of self-loathing and your internalizing of the negative opinions and judgments of others, but you can do it. Remember, knowledge is power. The next time one of these negative thoughts crops up, you'll have the awareness to cut it down. "

Oh Yellow...

Oh yellow bell pepper...

Where have you been my whole life?

I'm sorry for misjudging you based on the stink of your siblings Red and Green...



Will you ever forgive me??

Oh my cuss!

Last night we went over to our friend's house to eat dinner and watch this hilarious movie!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox was such a pleasant surprise! It was quick and clever and still okay for kids although they maybe not as appreciative of the humor.

I highly recommend it!

Oh the Fanny Pack…

While I would never admit it in person, nor would I ever resort to going back to using one, there are some days where I think, "Man, it's too bad fanny packs are so ugly….". They really are convenient, especially when you have to go and go fast!

I would LOVE to have that convenience during work to hold tissues and wipes and hand sanitizer and whatnots constantly needed for the care of young children with special needs.

But alas, although the "ugly" 80's are back with a vengeance, the fanny pack is still unacceptable, and hopefully will stay that way.

Walk MS

Walk MS

This time of year is pretty special to the Posner family.

It's the time of year when we prepare to do

Many know that my mom has had Multiple Sclerosis for about 17 years now.

Many also know that my sister, Sam was also diagnosed last year with the disease.

(Interesting that my mom was pregnant with Sam when she started having symptoms….)

Not many people know that my mom's sister, sister-in-law, cousin, and my Grandma's cousin (on Dad's side) also have suffered with MS.

It's a disease, we feel, has done enough damage to us and we'd like to do whatever we can to make it go away.

While we're so grateful, Sam is currently symptom free, my mom is not.

She's actually, getting worse.

Her MS has moved into a progressive stage and her symptoms are increasing.

She currently has tingling numbness on the entire left side of her body, PAINFUL tingling numbness on the right side of her body with hot and cold flashes on the right side as well.

She's remaining in good spirits. Tough as ever!

She's been going to acupuncture which seems to be helping a little bit.

We always knew this would happen eventually, it's still really hard when it does.

Below is a letter she wrote to our family and friends:

Dear Friends and Family,

Once again our family is preparing for the Annual Walk for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Every hour another person is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. If you think of your friends and family you probably know at least one person that has this disease. Just receiving this letter means you know at least one, me. My daughter, my sister, my sister-in-law and cousin all currently have this disease.

I was formally diagnosed with MS 17 years ago. I had some "pins and needles" tingling numbness on the left side of my body while I was pregnant with my daughter, Samantha almost 2 years before that. I've had the tingling numbness ever since and the ability to feel has never returned. This past year has been a very tough year with many new symptoms that I've been fighting since September. I have been having "pins and needles" tingling now on my right side as well and have had pain along with hot and cold flashes on my right side all the time. Steroid treatments no longer ease my symptoms, nor does medicine.

My 18 year old daughter, Samantha, also has MS. She was diagnosed about 2 years ago with tingling in her hands. Thankfully, she is currently symptom free, but must continue with medication.

Our family is getting ready for our 4th year walking. We walk to find a cure. We walk so that Samantha and I may one day be able to have a life symptom free. We continue to hope and pray for a cure. I am lucky that I am still mobile and that I can care for my family, but we MUST find a cure soon! I am now in a new phase with MS. My symptoms are not going away and are progressing.

Please help us with our cause. We would love you to walk with us! Join our team! We are the MS Fits. We are walking Saturday April 10th in Antelope Valley and Sunday April 18th in Pasadena. Bring your families! It's a fun day!

We also have some fundraisers set up:

February 4th at Menchies Frozen Yogurt in Santa Clarita

February 13th at Wana Iguana in Valencia

March 18th at Menchies Frozen Yogurt in Santa Clarita

15% of your purchases will go to our team for Walk MS 2010!!!

For more information go to these websites:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MSFitsPosners

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MSFits_Posners

Any little bit will help!

Thank You!!

Karla Posner

This week is our last scheduled fundraiser:

We hope to see you there!

We really want to get a lot of people involved this year especially because it's been so hard for my mom lately. We really want to show her how loved she is and how much we support her!

If you need more information on MS or our Walk MS Team, visit the following sites:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MSFitsPosners

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MSFits_Posners

And watch the following video:

Please don't feel pressured to join our team or donate money (either or both would be greatly appreciated though!).

If you would like to help us fundraise, you can do so by joining our team, it does not mean you have to walk.

Or if you want to walk, it does not mean you have to raise money.

Any support is wonderful and appreciated more than you will ever know.

I know we are not out of the woods. I know it's going to get harder. All we can do is hope and pray something comes soon to ease the pain of all the people affected by this disease.

Love,
Jess

Almost a Year!

So, I guess we're really terrible at this blogging thing. Nobody has complained yet so I guess that's good, or it means no one reads it, which is fine too.

So, I guess not a lot has been going, but how can I say that when it seems like we're always so busy! At this moment I SHOULD be doing probably a hundred different things, but I've been thinking about the blog a lot lately for some reason so I figured maybe I could at least say I crossed this off my list.

So lately:

Scot

Got a great internship here:

BULLETPROOF RECORDS

Working for writer/producer/music supervisor Ralph Sall.

He originally went there to learn about Music Supervision, which is what he wants to do, but Ralph is kind of a "Jack of all trades" in the music/movie industry so he's actually learning a lot more. The company is responsible for some of the music on the following:

Tremors

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Encino Man

Addams Family Values

Speed

Clueless

Billy Madison

Bio-dome

The Craft

Can't Hardly Wait

10 Things I Hate About You

Mean Girls

Because I Said So

Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past

… and that's only a FEW of the projects they've worked on!

He LOVES it and looks forward to going everyday.

He's also back to being an Inventory Supervisor at Borders in Northridge. He's amazing at it! He did so well in that department at the Valencia store, hopefully he likes it just as much at this one. I kinda know he will.
He's ALSO (he's quite the busy bee) going to school. He's taking Math with me (THANK GOODNESS!) at College oF The Canyons.

I (Jessica)

Still work here:

But also work here:

as a Substitute Special Education Instructional Assistant.

I'm learning SO much every time I work! It's great!

Going to school here:

(Yes I know, I'll never leave)

I'm working on the 20 year plan.

(since the 10 year plan has almost come up and I'm STILL there – glad I started early in HS!)

I'm sure I've missed some things but, hopefully I'll be more diligent in my blogging and can fill you in later!

That's all for now, folks! Hope you have a happy, safe weekend!

~Jess