Thankful. Blessed. Grateful.

Well, happy Monday folks!

I hope everyone was able to survive the many flakes of snow that Mother Nature decided to drop on us yesterday. Who else woke up and looked outside with a jaw dropping emotion?!

And if the craziness of the snow wasn’t enough, how about the fact that Thanksgiving is this week?! Like, what the heck?!

But like, give me all the mashed potatoes.

Seriously though.

ALL THE MASHED POTATOES.

Okay, and Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce…

…and pumpkin pie.

So, basically, everything.

Anyhoo, I digress.

My post this week will be short and sweet, so enjoy!

With this being the week with the holiday the celebrates the action of giving thanks, I wanted to take a quick step back to talk about a very special part of my life that I’m extremely thankful, blessed, and grateful for.

On January 2, I embarked on a journey unlike anything that I’ve ever done before in my life.

A year long journey of running 1000 miles and working to raise both funds and awareness to a cause that has been close to my heart since my time at Penn State.

At the time of this writing, I have run a total of 900 miles and raised a total of $13,590! This means I’m only 100 miles away from my running goal and $2,410 away from my $16,000 goal.

16,000 kids are diagnosed every single year with some form of cancer. That’s two classrooms of children every single day.

With this journey that has just one week left in Month 11 and one final month to raise money and run miles, I’m so extremely thankful for so many people, which I will list below.

I’m so incredibly thankful for my parents who have taught me from the beginning to follow my heart and passions. They have been by my side and have seen my passion for pediatric cancer research grow throughout my time in college and also since graduating. I love you guys with my whole heart and are so thankful that you are there to offer guidance, support, and above all, undying love every step of the way.

I’m thankful for Hank Angus and the members of The Hope Express who helped me to dig deeper throughout two years of running adventures and pushing me to give 110% with every single mile and to not let the fire burning inside my soul burn out. They helped me to recognize ways to set out and change the world.

I want to thank ALL of the people who have supported me on this journey whether it be through words of encouragement, spreading the word about this cause, or monetary donations. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of the love and support. Words can’t really truly begin to express how thankful and grateful I am for each and every one of you.

I’m extremely thankful for all of the people who I’ve had the honor of being able to run in memory for over the years with both the The Hope Express, my 500 Miles of Love, Hope, and Kindness three month campaign in 2016, and now my current 1K For 10K campaign. Their stories of courage are incredible and while I didn’t have opportunity to meet every single one of them, I feel that their spirits are ones that move me on the days that I want to give up.

There is just 1 month and 1 week left in this year-long journey and as I sit here and write these words, I’m just overwhelmed with emotion. I would’ve never thought that I would’ve hit the $10,000 goal so early in that I would be increasing that goal by another $6,000.

So, here’s to the final legs of the journey. Here’s to hitting the 1000 mile mark and $16,000 threshold.

Here’s to keeping my passion alive for this cause, spreading awareness to everyone I meet, and allowing the fire inside my soul to ignite some continued positive change in the world.

Thankful. Blessed. Grateful.

Sprinkle sunshine always,

JP!