Walk For Lupus 2012 Event!

If you remember, a few weeks back I posted about my husband fundraising for the Walk For Lupus event here in Fayetteville, NC. (See that post here: https://captivatephotographync.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/2012-walk-for-lupus/) This past weekend we went to the event. Kevin was able to reach his goal of $500.00 with the help of the amazing people who donated. This was the first time we have ever been to an event like this and we didn’t really know what to expect. Let me just tell you, it was amazing. As I walked with all the other people who were all there to support this cause, to support ME, and everyone else out there who suffers from this awful disease I found myself fighting back tears on more than one occasion. Not because I was sad or upset, but because I was just so overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed by how awesome the event was as a whole, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who were there supporting this, and most of all- I was overwhelmed by my incredible husband. Not only did he decide to do this and raise the money on his own, but he reached his goal, and as I hung back walking behind him with our daughter on his shoulders (the entire mile btw) I was just overwhelmed by how incredibly blessed I am to have someone as amazing as him standing by my side as we go through this journey together. Everyone had these stickers on their backs that said who they were walking for. Some said a friend, some said a family member, some said “Me”. The ones that tore me up the most were the ones that said “In memory of…..”. My beautiful little girl wore the most adorable little shirt with a family picture on it and said “I’m walking for my mommy” on the back, on the front she decorated it herself (Floodgates wide open when I saw this btw) and all I could think when I saw the “In memory of…” stickers was what if the day ever came that my daughter had that on her sticker. But- enough of that nonsense- I’m not going ANYWHERE (except to bed soon :-P) for a long long long time. Sorry everyone! 😛 Now- back to the event. We walked a mile around downtown historic Fayetteville past restaurants and other local businesses in a giant wall of purple and butterflies. It was awesome, especially to see people stopping to support us, offering encouragement, and some that even joined in walking with us. Amazing. After the walk we had some super yummy food and cupcakes and had some entertainment by way of a band, some young girls from a local dance studio doing some demonstrations for us and a DJ getting everyone out dancing to “The Wobble”, “Cupid Shuffle” and other catchy dance type songs. It was a blast to just hang out with everyone there and watch the entertainment. Hailey loved watching the girls dance and said “their spinning makes me dizzy!” haha….so precious. All in all, it was a fantastic day and I was so glad to be a part of it. Next year we are going to raise WAY more money and start fundraising even earlier (so lookout everyone). I’m already looking forward to next year’s event. Again- thank you to everyone who helped us reach our goal, and thank you to everyone who put on this event, and everyone else who walked and participated, and most of all, thank you to my husband, Kevin. I don’t know where I would be without you and I am so blessed to have you by my side. Thanks again everyone! I am attaching a few of the shots I took so everyone can see how awesome it was. See everyone next year! <3Bri