Hello fellow bandsters!

My husband and I were away this weekend in Orlando, which is about 3 1/2 hours from our home. There was a horror convention going on for my husband and shopping with my girlfrieds for me.

I cannot wear any of my old clothes, so I have given almost everything away to a co-worker for her and her daughter to share. So when the opportunity came up to hit some of the outlet stores with 2 friends who live up in Orlando, I jumped at the chance.

I never knew the Gap carried larger sizes. Most stores will go up to a 14, the Gap goes up to a 20. I am now wearing an 18-20, so I was able to get 3 pairs of jeans and 3 sweaters for my vacation in November. We walked and walked and walked and tried on shoes, pants, tops, and had a blast. A year ago I wouldn't have been able to do the amount of walking I did this weekend. The weight loss has certainly made such a huge difference in my life.

On Sunday I had a 1 hour massage at the spa while my husband was at the horror convention. I was resting/reading by the pool when he called that I should meet him for lunch. As we were walking around looking at all of the costumed people, I noticed a room with all tattoo artists doing tattoos.

I have thought about getting a tattoo for a while, but never really had the opportunity - until seeing what was going on.

I went into the huge room and walked around viewing some of the artist's work and found a young woman who I thought would be really good. So I actually got a tattoo.

I am a breast cancer survivor. Anyone who has read my blog knows I had a mastectomy on January 5th of this year. October is breast cancer month and the month I was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago. So, I have uploaded a picture of the tattoo that is now on the side of my left calf.

Cancer certainly changed how I look at a lot of things. Losing weight and getting healthier has also made things look brighter and clearer for me. I have a better chance of keeping cancer at bay by losing weight and exercising, which is exactly what I am doing.

For those of us who have had breast cancer, for anyone who knows someone who has or had breast cancer and for those of us who struggle everyday with weight, I am here to say there is hope. I am a survivor. I will succeed and I will continue fighting until I have reached my goal.

I hope you all have a great evening.