Hello, my dear friends!
This post is a scary one, so I’m not going to say much—I think I did enough of that in the video below anyhow. 😉
After almost 7 months of remaining anonymous and faceless, I decided it was time for a change.
Here’s to you.
Thanks for helping me, supporting me, and befriending me.
rachaelxoxo
My Journey--One Day at a Time 
Yay, finally a face to match the blog 😀 You’re so pretty! Thanks for the video, and for always sharing your experiences.
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Thanks so much, Brittany!
That was such a nice comment. I was very worried about finally doing this, so your support and kindness means so, so much to me!
I’m grateful to have met you! Thanks for being here and for letting me come along for the ride as you navigate your journey, too! ❤
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I love it! I’m so proud of you for overcoming this obstacle in addition to the multitude of others you’ve already burst through. I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again: your rambling is adorable!! YOU are adorable, and now the rest of the group knows it too! And thanks for the shoutout 😉 I’m famous now!
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You are one in a million, Alison! The rambling is anything but cute! Ha! But it’s OK… It’s part of who I am 😉
Thanks for your support and for giving me the courage to finally post! I wouldn’t have done it without you! ❤
And you're already famous, lady! You lost 100 lbs. in 34 weeks! You are totally famous! 😀
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First, you’re gorgeous!
Second, I know we’ve had a few comments back and forth and everything but actually seeing you talk and be real about who you are makes me feel like there is a really connection possibility for us. I think the care package idea is awesome and I am SO looking forward to joining in on this with you guys.
I don’t spend much time on the blog as I used to because work is so chaotic right now. But I envision it slowing down again after tax season so I hope to be able to keep up on everything more than once every 2 weeks.
I am so proud of how far you’ve come. Not only your weight loss and your journey but actually revealing yourself to the blogging world. It’s easy to stay hidden. It’s easy to hide. But you coming out with this and embracing yourself is such a huge step. I haven’t posted any progress pics or video blogs because of my weight. My voice. My hair. Etc. You’re already going in the direction I wish I could.
I can relate to the whole “you don’t look like you weigh that much!” stuff. I’m also 5 foot 8 ish and people have always been shocked when I said I was over 200 lbs. I may not always look it, but I sure feel it.
I have to say again how proud I am at how far you’ve come. I hope I can say the same about myself in the future.
You’ve been an inspiration and now that I feel like I know the real you…I am excited to see where this friendship goes!
Amber
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Amber, this made me SO happy!
You are such an awesome girl, and I would absolutely love to become better friends. Send a message to my contact tab and we will make it happen! 🙂
I was very, very, very nervous to post this video, but you, Alison, and Brittany have made it very worth it! You are all such sweet ladies, and I am very thankful to have met you and to have so much support from you guys!
You will share what you want to share when you’re ready, Amber. Truthfully, I never thought that I would let go and show my face or whatever, but after 7 months, I decided it was time. I changed my mind and getting to know all of you and hearing about your stories is what made that happen for me.
Don’t do anything before you’re ready to; you can do everything at your own pace! 🙂
Thank you for being proud of me and for always, always, always being so kind to me. You have no idea how much it means to me.
I am so proud of YOU, Amber, and I know that you will do all of the things that you dream of in time.
I’m excited to hear more from you and I’m excited that you’re in on the care package idea! 😀
❤
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Lovely video. I’m so jealous of your chin, by the way. And we’re the same height! I know this was hard for you, and I want to tell you that we, your fans, appreciate what you’ve done. Maybe I’ll give it a try too!
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Thank you so much!
And please believe that my face wasn’t always like that. I will try to pull together some pictures and post them at a later date. Everyone told me that I lost weight off of my face first. It was VERY chunky before and I definitely had a double chin! 😉 Ha!
Thank you so, so, so much for your support and kindness. It means the world to me!
I would love it if you made a video, too! I would like to see you and get to know you better! ❤
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Rachael, you made my day. I wasn’t even out of bed yet and I was doing my usual morning check of WP on my phone. I started scrolling, and then BAM! I saw a face and I got so excited!! I’m serious I gasped and whispered “Oh my God, it’s Rachael!”
You’re beautiful! You’re like I imagined. This truly does mean so much to put a face to one of the incredible people I have met while blogging. Even once the weight is gone and life is moving on, I hope to never leave behind the “Blogging Family” that I have, including you. Even if WP is no longer in the picture. You’ve all become a part of my life. The support, appreciation, and love that we all share for each other is amazing and I would never want to continue my journey without it. This community is really what keeps me going on the hard days. Know that you are never, never alone in this and we’re all here for each other. If you ever need anything through this, I am 100% here for you, to support you through every step.
This made me so proud to know you!
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Oh, Harley… THANK YOU SO MUCH!
This made me smile. You are just too sweet!
Thank you for the compliment. I’m glad that I’m what you imagined! I wanted people to feel comfortable with me since we’re all about to get pretty personal since some of our private information is going to be exchanged when we do the pen pal/care package swap. I didn’t want there to be any question of who I was. I know that I’m still technically a stranger, but I’m hoping that seeing me and hearing me speak and whatnot has put everyone’s minds at ease. That was a big concern of mine—big enough that I decided to face my fear and come out of hiding! Ha!
I’m always here for you, as well, and like I mentioned in the video—I really, truly, and genuinely care about all of you! I also hope that we all remain friends and continue to provide support to one another—even after the weight is gone and WP might not be in the picture.
Alison and I have a pipe dream of sorts… We’re hoping that someday a bunch of us can meet out here in the real world! One day, I would love for us all to meet someplace FUN—like an amusement park or something—and I want all of us to have lost enough weight and faced enough of our fears to not be worried or afraid that we “can’t” do things. I want us to ride rides without worrying about whether or not we’re too big or walk around without it being an issue.
Someday, maybe… Who knows! That’s my dream! I would very much love to meet all of you in-person.
Thanks for the kindness and support, Harley! I’m very glad to know you! ❤
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I am so excited that you brought that up! I’ve thought a million times about meeting all of you too. Like a mini vacation where we could plan something out and all meet up. I think an amusement park who actually be very symbolic for all of us.. Maybe one day! 🙂
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Oh my gosh I just flipped out (in a good way) when I saw this! Your blog was the very first blog I read on here and I was so happy when you followed me! I definitely want to join in on the care packages too. It would be awesome for all of us to meet in person one day when we reach our goals!
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Thank you so much! That was incredibly sweet of you to say! I love the fact that you’ve decided to come along on this journey with me, and it’s always wonderful to see your progress, too. It makes me so happy to read about your fitness experiences and watch your success with the jazzercise! The fitness aspect of my journey is still a huge work in progress. You are such an inspiration! ❤
Yes! Please do join in on the care package swap! The more the merrier! Head over to this post on Alison's blog: journeytoafter.com/2015/03/28/blogger-care-package-swap-round-one/ + fill out your information! Then Alison will contact you with the name of your buddy once she works out the logistics. 🙂
I would love nothing more than to have a huge meet up sometime in the future. As I told Harley in my response to her, that's such a big dream of mine. It would be SO nice to be in the same place as all of you! We've all been such great support for one another, and the icing on the cake would be a big group meeting.
Maybe one day it will happen! 😀
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