2009 - What a Blessed Year!

I can hardly believe 2009 is almost over! Boy, I had a lot of great moments. Some things I didn't blog about at the time because I was focused on fundraising for PEAC were:

Sang with a homeschool choir, a homeschool drama production, "Show Choir", and as a participant at a Radio Disney gathering - Give me a microphone and I'm in heaven - can you tell I LOVE TO SING!!!!!!!

Participating in the Proud Equestrian Program for my fifth year and enjoying every minute on the backs of the most patient horses in the world. (Hailey, you will always remain in my heart until we meet again.) The highlight was riding a wonderful horse named Katie and winning not only my equitation class but also the trail class. I was floating for a week! Enjoyed physical therapy with my therapists - how cool are they?! Found a brand new baby deer - ahhhhh!!!!

Thank you to all the people that support me in all that I do especially my sister, who is always willing to try stuff out with me or encourage me to go for it. I love y'all!

Jesus IS the Reason for the Season

Christmas eve we always participates in the Children's Service.

I offered this special song/prayer for our friend's dad.

God bless him!

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas

A Blessed Thanksgiving!!!!!!

I wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving! My family has a lot to be thankful for - God, our faith, country we live in, our family especially that my grandparents are healthy, dad is working, that my sister is doing very well in dance, I'm loving singing in the choir, that I'm able to do intensive physical therapy, mom is able to provide for all our needs,... Yes, we are blessed and I pray that the Lord blesses all our family, friends and all that need His help. Blessings to all!!!!

Mom just found on our friend's blog that some schools are changing the reason for the celebration of Thanksgiving. Wow! I'm so glad my sister and I know that the pilgrims came to America for religious freedom and after a very hard year they were prospering with the help of the Native American Indians and their strong beliefs in God. If it were not for these very strong beliefs we would not have all that we have. Why are people trying to hide the truth from children in school? Don't they want them to be strong in what they believe in and know based on history that it is possible? People better pray real hard so that this stops - we need God in our lives.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139304,00.html

Won Euro-Peds Halloween Costume Contest

Yeah! I was one of the Euro-Peds costume contest winners as a cowgirl. That's my sister behind me, she was "Snoopy".

Wow! Where did the time go?

I'm shocked that a month has passed since I posted - so sorry! I've been very busy wrapping up the summer activities and getting back to our school year schedule. Here are the highlights of what's been going on:

Our annual church festival: My sister & I had a blast!

Visiting with extended family

Relaxing with my DS

Euro-Peds "Family" Reunion was a blast! Great to see the friends we've made over the years and all the progress they are making. The Chicken Dance was soooo much fun - everyone got in.

And of course studying hard in school.

TODAY'S CELEBRATION of CYCLING - Will You Be There?!

Hi everyone - do you have your helmet and bike ready to join me on the ride to Celebrate Cycling? Sunshine, fun and friends will be provided. Sure hope you can! If you are not able to consider sponsering a cyclist with a donation of $18. It sure would be a big help! God loves ya and so do I. Got to go - will let you know all about the celebration when I get home.

What a great time! If you didn't come consider joining us next year - great weather for biking

and enjoying ice cream sundaes

and playing on the playground

I didn't win the tandem but I REALLY APPRECIATE the people that helped me raise funds for this great organization. Mom and I are looking for a grant so that we can buy our own tandem and ride more often in 2010. If you know of any organizations that can help please let us know since I don't need a special tandem just a regular one with toe clips so my pesky right foot stays on the pedal.

5 Days Till Celebration WILL YOU BE THERE!

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love to sing. I'm called the "jukebox" at Family Ride because I always sing the entire 6 mile route - the first 4 miles are concentrating on cycling. Last Sunday, we went to Huron Valley Hospital's Open House and had an opportunity to join the folks from Radio Disney singing. I wanted to share the other side of me but are having technical difficulties uploading it. I was a bit nervous at first but as you will see I really came out of it. Join us Saturday, if you can't please donate.

What A Great Summer!

Labor Day - the day most consider the end of summer. I've had a great summer and hope the weather stays nice so we can continue to bike into October at Family Rides. I don't think most people realize the amount of multi-tasking involved in riding a bike by yourself - it takes a lot of concentration. Here's a couple clips from my classes:


Making my instructors jog a bit


Here I am pedaling along doing great - then my sister dropped in to make sure I knew where the brakes were. Sister's - yikes!

My physical therapist said a new bike path opened in the town next to us. We also saw the completion this summer of a really long bike path that connects into one of the MetroParks close to us. Now all we need is a tandem to check these places out. Hope your summer was wonderful, too!

Exercise Is Medicine

My family has always looked for natural, fun ways to address my challenges before alternatives were taken. Anyone that has ever gone through physical or occupational therapy knows after awhile those exercises get really boring especially when you have a lifetime to do them to keep your flexibility. That is what lead us to cycling and P.E.A.C. among other activities.

While browsing on the internet, Mom found an organization that has the philosophy that we have been working with and thought others would benefit from this useful information. The organization is Exercise is Medicine™ the non-profit arm of the American College of Sports Medicine .

The guiding principles of Exercise is Medicine™ are as follows:

• Exercise and physical activity are important to health and the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases


• More should be done to address physical activity and exercise in healthcare settings


• ACSM and AMA are making efforts to bring a greater focus on physical activity and exercise in healthcare settings

Yeah for me! Mom has known this for a long time. My spasticity greatly reduces by working the opposite muscle group. (Tight hamstrings, cycle 10 miles a week = spagetti legs!) Cycling is great for lots of other conditions as well as overall good health. Check out their website by clicking on - Exercise is Medicine™ lots of great info that needs to be shared with our health care people. Help P.E.A.C. continue to make a difference with programs for kids with disabilities through cycling.

Happy First Day of September!

Mom, my sister & I have been visiting local bike shops and talking to cycling groups plus friends and family about the upcoming Celebration of Cycling. Boy, if the weather continues like it is - we will have Perfect Cycling weather! So come on out on September 19th and ride with us. Bring your friends and family - its a great time. Now if you can't make it because you live to far away or have a zillion other plans PLEASE donate to this great organization on my blog. Yep! To the right is what PayPal calls a "widget" that will accept your credit cards or PayPal account it's very easy and the dollars go directly into PEAC's bank account plus you get an official receipt. (I love "techie" things, too - can you tell?) Even a tiny donation can make a Great Impact since it all adds up.

We also found a super organization that totally understands why I LOVE cycling and how it helps address my CP. More on that soon - I'm waiting for them to ok me adding them to my blog. Can't wait to share that with you - stay in touch so you don't miss it.

Less Then One Month Till Celebration

Wow! This summer has sure sped by. It's less then a month till Celebration of Cycling. We're so excited since it is always a great time to ride with our friends and enjoy the cool crisp September air - that is unless you ride in the afternoon which has been known to get humid. (I don't do well in humidity.) I've contacted a lot of people to join in Celebration - sure hope they can all make it! I'm not doing very well on fund raising. I understand times are difficult with the economy but I was hoping that a program that helps people with disabilities to be a part of what everyone else takes for granted people would open their hearts with even a small donation. Maybe they are waiting till right before Celebration - I hope that is it because this program need to grow into other areas. Mr. John (the main person) says bikes, trailers, trucks, insurance, and qualified instructors take quite a bit of money to put the program together in each city they go to. Did I mention that PEAC is open to customizing programs for schools, hospitals, special groups,... that want bike education? They have put on bike safety classes for public schools, run a riding camp for visually impaired, basically any type of program involving the use of bikes. This is a great group that has helped me out a lot - I hope I can help them to grow. Think about it - won't you?

Family Biking Night

Yeah! It's Thursday - Family Biking Night with PEAC otherwise known as GNO - Girls Night Out. We drive 120 miles round trip to ride one of PEACs tandem's with our friends at the Metro Park. Last week was the first time I didn't ride the whole 10 miles. I was pooped from my make-up bike class that morning so mom and I only went 4 miles but my sister did the 10 to keep the family tradition going. Sure hope everyone that reads my posts will donate to PEAC because I'd love to ride locally but my balance is still not steady enough for a long haul and winning the tandem would make my dream come true. Plus I'd like to see PEAC grow into other communities where kids with disabilities and their families can enjoy a sport/pleasure together. I have to keep pedaling because growing as I am my hamstrings are giving me lots of trouble and working the opposite muscles helps a whole bunch. If your interested in riding with the group check out www.bikeprogram.org/programs.html about half way down the page or give them a call for more info. Happy Biking!!!!!

My Dream - Please help!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Welcome to my blog

Welcome, friends, to my very own blog. Why a blog you might ask? Well, I want to help my friends at PEAC (Programs to Educate All Cyclists) raise funds to continue their awesome programs. I have been taking biking classes through PEAC for the last three summers and I'm very, very close to pedaling without toe clips and balancing a two wheel bike. PEAC is a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities become cyclists. They offer classes in the summer, through the school year, and by appointment through organizations and schools. Their classes don't only teach riding skills but also bike safety. Some people even learn how to use their bikes to get to work - cool!

Every Thursday night from April through October, they haul their tandems and two wheelers to the metro park for Family Rides - a chance to practice new learned skills with your family and friends at no charge. We call it "GNO - Girls Night Out" packing our supper and helmets for an evening of biking. From the first Family Ride we have gone 10 miles. Yes, our legs were sore but how much fun! Mom even learned how to captain the tandem so she was prepared for the day when we could have one of our own. Biking helps my legs become stronger by working my quads and relaxing those pesky hamstrings that love to spaz every chance they get. This is finally something that I can do with my family and friends - please help me to raise funds for PEAC before Celebration for Cycling by:

• Pledging Dollars Per Mile: I am able to bike 10 to 12 milesor
• Pledge a Flat Donation

Your donations are tax deductable. Please write a check payable to:

Programs to Educate All Cyclists

and mail it to their address:
32 N. Washington Suite 1
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

It's very important that you put JAMIE HUBERT in the memo line or your donation will not go toward our goal.

All checks need to reach PEAC before September 19th, 2009 the day of Celebration of Cycling - THANK YOU for helping me. I will keep you updated.