OK, now I’m 2 days late.. but better late than never right???

It’s never been a secret that I’ve been working with the amazing folks at EA SPORTS Active. I’ve been so lucky to have participated in two fitness challenges with them, using the EA SPORTS Active Personal Trainer, as well as the EA SPORTS Active More Workouts. With these programs, I’ve lost 3 dress sizes, and have gained a whole lot of insight into what I changes I need to make in order to make healthy living our lifestyle rather than just a short term accomplishment.

Well, this past weekend, I was invited to Beverly Hills to participate in an EA SPORTS Active retreat of sorts. The weekend consisted of fun, friends, food, photos, and famous people. Yes.. celebs. We were special guests of Nancy O’Dell at her Active for Life March of Dimes Benefit Party. She invited some of her friends, and of course, the media were there. It was a great night. I got to meet some of my fave actors, i.e. AJ Buckley (CSI NY), Holly Robinson Peete (21 Jumpstreet), Antonio Sabado Jr. (General Hospital), Greg Vaughan (General Hospital), and his beautiful wife Touriya, Sarah Hyland (Modern Family, and a few more. It was so cool…. We were able to take photos with everyone, hang out and talk to everyone about our experiences with the EA SPORTS Active programs, and I even got a couple of autographs. All of the celebs that attended had the chance to try out the EA SPORTS Active programs, create their own workouts, and then sign a Wii and one of each of the programs that will be auctioned off to benefit the March of Dimes. Amazing night.. just amazing.

The next morning, I was up at 4am. Darn that Eastern Time when I’m on the West Coast. Amy from MomSpark was awake too, and after a quick tweet and phone call, we were running out of the hotel to catch a taxi to Target. We got to Target, waited the 3 minutes for them to open, then literally sprinted through to grab sunglasses, a backpack, and water bottles. We made it back to the taxi in 10 minutes… to the second… then back to the hotel by 8:17am. It was amazing. We felt like we were on an episode of the amazing race. We went back to our rooms to pack our backpacks, then downstairs for a great breakfast.

The EA SPORTS Active team took us for a hike up Runyon Canyon. If you don’t know me.. hiking up mountains/hills whatever.. “is not my best” (as my girls like to say) It’s not necessarily the physical part of it, I can suck that up.. It’s the mental part. I  am SO scared of heights, and climbing something that I can fall/roll/slip down scares the heck outta me. I was fine until we started climbing these crazy wacky steps that could be considered mini-cliffs, then the fear set in. I had amazing friends there with me. Julie, Donny, Roger, all of them were super awesome and helped me get over that fear and keep on climbing. We made it to the top, and had an amazing, breathtaking view of Beverly Hills/Hollywood. We, of course, got photos with the Hollywood sign in the distance behind us! The way down was much easier. It was mostly a paved road, and I even had the energy to run some of it. It was awesome! When we got to the map, we found out that we hiked over 4 miles, almost 5… Oh yeah, and TEAM ANISSA represent! I wore my Team Anissa shirt on the hike… reminded me that if Anissa could come back from her ordeal.. I could conquer this tiny freakin’ hill… (mountain, whatever)

At the bottom(ish) we ran into a couple of gals offering samples of their Activate Vitamin Drinks. It’s really neat stuff. You twist the lid to release the vitamin/flavoring into the water, shake it up, and voila.. Drink and enjoy! I was able to try the Fruit punch and lemon-lime (someone else didn’t want hers). I really like them. I checked out their website, and saw that they have so many more flavors and formulas, but they don’t sell these waters near me. I may have to order some online! You can also follow them on Twitter @ActivateDrinks.

I know this was supposed to be a #mamavation post, and I’ve sort of rambled… The point of this whole story is that I did something that I haven’t done in a long time.. and I didn’t stop. Years ago, I climbed Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree, CA. I also climbed Mt. Fuji while living in Japan. Both were pretty big accomplishments, but I was in much better shape then. Now, this hike took more determination, and I did it. I had some great support there, and I thank them for pushing me! I can’t wait to someday either go back or climb something even more challenging. Well.. as long as I don’t have to look down 🙂

In any case, voting is coming up for the next #mamavation moms, and I’m hoping I’ll make it into the top 5 to even get to the voting platform! Until the 14th, I NEED you to tweet this phrase

“Hey @bookieboo! I want @MommyBrain to be the next #Mamavation Mom. She has my support!”

…. and tweet it often! Once, twice, three time daily… even more if you feel so inclined. I need @bookieboo & the Mamavation crew to see that I have your support… I need to see that too… If I do make it to voting, I’m going to need lots of votes! Voting will go from the 14-21st… so get your mice ready!