Bloggin with Kelley: My life with Spina Bifida and much more!!!

The awesome walking milestones just keep coming! In the past 3 days I have hit 21 for the 3rd time ever, hit 400 miles walked since November... and now I have hit TWENTY times hitting 3 miles or over!! Today I hit 3.12!! It wasn't in under an hour like I was shooting for but I am still THRILLED! Every time I hit 3.10 or over it makes me more and more confident about the 5K!!! My body was definitely fighting me today and I had to stop a few times but I was determined to get it in and I did!!! 🎉🎉🎉👟👟👟  #WalkinwithKelley #3milesdone #SpinaBifidaLife ❤️Hugs💙 Kelley

This morning was a BIG morning... As of this morning I have walked 400.10 miles since November 2016!!!  If you compare what my first week looked like  to now walking 2-3 3 milers a week and you can see how HUGE today is!! When I looked back I figured out my first 2 miler I ever walked was April 25th 2017! And y'all I have completed SO many 2 milers since that day!  My very 1st time hitting 3 miles was May 19th 2017!!  I have hit NINETEEN 3 milers since that day!! That numbers absolutely blows my mind!!  Some walks are an absolute breeze... while others are WAY rough! There have been several times I have asked myself "Why are you doing this?" Well I do it because it is good for me! I also do it to prove all those people wrong who said I would NEVER walk by myself or even at all! But most importantly I do it to show other people that you can't let other people tell you what you can accomplish... Only you and God can decide that! No one should EVER give up or not e...

Hey Y'all!!!  I have now made it THREE WEEKS IN A ROW hitting 21 miles! Y'all I thought last week was rough... well this week was even rougher! I battled rain, heat and my body wanting to crap out on me all week! But I didn't let myself give up or get defeated and set out this morning to get the last 2.84 miles I needed to hit 25!! As you can see it was WAY slow but considering how tired I am I am just glad I got that far! So that puts me at 21.01 miles for the week!!! Not bad for a chick with short tiny little legs🤣🤣!  Oh and I am about to hit a HUGE milestone tomorrow... But you'll have to wait till then to find out what it is!😉 #WalkinwithKelley #SpinaBifidalife  ❤️Hugs💙    Kelley 

Hey Y'all!  So yesterday I had an AMAZING and random experience while grocery shopping. I had not been in the store more then 5 minutes when a lady approached me asking about my legs braces! At the time I was actually wearing shorts (which is somewhat rare!). She proceeded to tell me about her right yr old niece who has cerebral palsy. She said up until a few months ago she was wheel chair bound and had a hard time even holding herself up! She said she was fitted for her first set of braces not to long ago and now she is walking with a walker! I told her about similar experiences I had with my Spina Bifida when I was her nieces age and that now I am walking 20-21 miles a week and getting ready to walk my first 5K! She said to me "Well that gives me so much hope for my niece! That she can defy the odds just like you!" So I'll be honest I have never seen myself as being an inspiration. I have had many family members and a few friends tell me that but I have always thoug...

Hey Y'all!  I was SO mad at myself on Monday after doing my first 3.10 of the week... It took me almost an hour and 15 minutes! Well I took and little time to let my body rest and got up bright and early this morning to tackle another 3.10... and this time was WAY better! It also felt better too! When I hit 3 miles I was right at an hour! Total miles for the morning 3.12 and I did it in 1hr and 3 minutes... I take that time!!!  #WalkinwithKelley #Lessthenamonthtill5Ktime  ❤️Hugs💙     Kelley 

Hey Y'all! This walking week started out TERRIBLE! My times were the worst they have ever been and my knee was bugging me! So yesterday I just did a short 1.80 mile walk and took a rest from walking in the evening.... Well this mornings 2.03 miles was FABULOUS! It felt GREAT and so was under 40 minutes!!  Tonight's walk was definitely way slow BUT it was also 95 degrees outside when I walked! Y'all this Mississippi heat is no joke this summer! I have lived here 5 yrs and I think this is the hottest it's been... Or maybe I am just now noticing cause I am out in it so much So because of the heat I am not going to get to down about tonight's time!  So that's 3.05 miles for the day!! Which puts me at 10.14 miles halfway thru the week!!  ❤️Hugs💙 Kelley  #WalkinwithKelley #SpinaBifidastrong #SpinaBifidawarrior 

Hey Y'all! So like pretty much everything in my life the road to getting my license was different then most my age! I didn't go and get my permit at 15 and then my license at 16.... Nope I didn't even get my permit until I was 17! Now we weren't even sure I would ever be able to drive a car! See because of my ankle fusion my ankle do not bend... AT ALL! And if they were to bend, well I would be in casts for a while! So my momma and daddy did TONS of research and found that I could get a car with left side hand controls (Like the one in the pic below) But in order to get them I had to go thru SEVERAL months of training with a person who had knowledge of these controls! Well in February of my SENIOR yr I FINALLY passed all the driving tests and got my license!! I still remember when it came time to put the hand controls on my first car... Y'all one set is over $1,000! And some insurances will not pay for them! You also can't buy a car that isn't an automatic...

Hey Y'all!  So I am sure this is something everyone can relate to.... The days you feel WAY older then you are! Well today is DEFINITELY one of those days for me! EVERYTHING hurts and is crackin! Getting up from chairs and other places is even a challenge! For most people this is a once in a while thing... But for a person with Spina Bifida it happens almost daily! Now I will tell you my walking has VASTLY improved these days... But they still stink! I'm 32 yr old and it shouldn't be hard for me just to get out of a chair and start walking around the kitchen... but it happens! On these days I struggle with EVERYTHING from walking, to bending... even cooking becomes painful... and I LOVE to cook!  So Today my walk started out FABULOUS! I did my first mile in 19 minutes!!  Then I hit a wall! My legs started to feel like I was carrying 20lbs weights and my knee started to hurt... That's the point you know "Ok it's time to just be done for the day and take a break!...

Hey Y'all!  So the word of today... SLOW! This morning it took me an HOUR and THIRTEEN minutes to walk 3.11 miles! I just did it last week ten minutes faster then that! Yes it was warm toward the end of my walk but 23 minutes for each mile... That irritates me!  Tonight's 1.04 was SLIGHTLY better... I was at 21 minutes when I hit the mile mark so I will take it! And it was WAY hotter then this morning! I don't know what the deal is today but I got a total of  4.15 miles,.. So I will take that as a win!  #WalkinwithKelley #SpinaBifidalife #Slowday #Tomorrowwillbebetter ❤️Hugs💙     Kelley 

There is nothing I hate more then a bully and trust me I have dealt with SEVERAL in my life! I just can't see how picking apart someone just because they are different then you can seem like fun! But to certain people it is! I have been made fun of for the way I walk, the way I look... you name it I've probably been made fun of for it! I use to cry in my bedroom at night cause I couldn't understand why or how people could be so mean... I mean I am a person who tries to be nice to EVERYONE! Kill them with kindness as my momma always says! Yet I ALWAYS seemed to be the butt of everyone's jokes in school. I would walk by the "Cool girls" in school and wave and they would just snicker and start whispering... That takes a toll on a person! I never felt like I ever fit in when I was in school.... So I pretty much kept to myself. To me it was better to be alone then to hear people's mean and nasty comments. All because they didn't understand why I was differe...

Hey Y'all! So about a week ago I brought up on Facebook that I was toying with the idea of doing a 5K walk... My friend Jessi jumped right in saying that if I did it she would walk it with me! She sent me the link to 2 different 5K's so I picked which one worked best and we both signed up! In the day or two after that the panic started to set in... Can I actually walk 3.10 miles?! Will people think I look ridiculous because it will take me so long?! I actually even had one of my friends husbands tell me he didn't think I could finish it! That made me so mad! On Thursday I went to check to participants list to make sure my name was on it and discovered that Jessi had been hiding a secret from me.... She not only named our team "Walkin with Kelley" but she had also recruited a few other people from her family(among others!) to walk with us AND she was trying to recruit more! Y'all when I saw all that she had done I just started cried! I don't think anyone ha...

Hey Y'all!!! I did it again!!! Over 21 miles for the week!!! This week has definitely been some of the ROUGHEST walks I have had heat wise!!! But I accomplished THREE 3.10 milers and then today I hit 21.09!!! I'd say even with the heat it's been a AMAZING week!! 1 month and 4 days till the 5K.... I got this!!! #SpinaBifidalife #WalkinwithKelley #21milesconquered #Mississippilife 

I have done something I don't think I have done yet... I hit over 3.10 miles THREE times....in one week!!! The first 2 times when I hit 3 miles it was OVER an hour.... But today I hit the 3 miles mark at 59 minutes!!! I'm getting more and more confident about the 5K in August!! Bring it on!! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 #WalkinwithKelley 💙Hugs❤️     Kelley

When I was in 8th grade I had what was called an "Ankle Fusion" where they have to go in and break the ankle (Or in my case ankles) and reset them using pins and screws. Before this surgery my ankles were turned outward. The surgery took about 3 hrs. I remember waking up with these big ole white casts on both feet... I look like the abominable snowman Y'all! I only had to stay in the hospital about 3-4 days but when I got home... The real fun started! Since both my ankles were in casts I was stuck in a wheelchair 24/7.... which I HATED! I went from being VERY independent to needing help with EVERYTHING! I had to make accommodations at school(one of which was leaving class 10 minutes early!) as well as at home! There were some funny/good moments though! Like one of my friends running me into a locker while steering the wheelchair (Their steering privileges were taken away after that🤣🤣) and everyone seemed to want to write or draw on my casts! I FINALLY got to the part wh...

Hey Y'all! So yesterday a friend of mines husband said to me "Darlin there's no way you can finish that 5K!".... That boiled my blood SO bad! I absolutely HATE when someone tells me I can't do something because of my disability! Well honey the last 2 mornings prove that I CAN and WILL finish 3.10 miles!!! Yes my times are slower then a turtle but I know I can finish! So I am just going to prove to him and all the other doubters that I can the same way I always do... With class and a whole lot of sass!  ❤️Hugs💙

Hey Y'all!  This week is suppose to be EXTREMELY hot but I wanted to get at least 3.10 miles in this morning (Cause that's what we'll be walking for the 5k!). So I walked at 7am! Well I ended up with 3.12! I was NOT happy AT ALL with the time(Yes I am being hard on myself!) but I finished and that was a win for me!!! This evening I had to wait till almost sunset for the heat index to even be in the 90's! I ended up getting in another 1.08 miles though!! 4.20 miles for the day and just a half a mile under 10 miles for the week.. I'll take that!  ❤️Night Y'all!!💙    Kelley 

So one of the 11 surgeries I had before I was 11 was my Tethered Spinal Cord Release surgery at 18 months old!  The purpose of this surgery is to untangle/release the spine from built up scar tissues thus allowing it to move freely! This surgery was performed at Westchester Medical Center in New York where my family was living at the time. My momma told me that the surgery took about 2-3 hrs and I only had to spend 4-5 days in the hospital! That shocked me considering it was a spinal surgery! One of the effects of the surgery though was that my strongest leg at the time then became my weakest leg. But compared to the possibility of lifelong back pain or paraplegia if the surgery was not performed I will take it! Guess that is just another reason for me to be proud of all my accomplishments with my walking!!! #SpinaBifidaStrong🎗🎗 ❤️Hugs💙     Kelley 

It has been a HOT day here in Ole Mississippi! This morning wasn't TOO bad and I got in a 2.09 miler!!! Now tonight... It was a SCORCHER! But I suffered thru it and got 1.09 miles in!!!  I am already at a little over 5 miles for the week!!!  Oh and in other news... I just signed up to walk my FIRST 5K with a few friends of mine!!! So in honor of that tomorrow I tackle 3.10 miles!!!  #SpinaBifidalife  ❤️Night Y'all!💙      Kelley 

Hey Y'all!  So if you live in the south or have ever been to a southern college football game..... You know we take our tailgating VERY seriously! But no other school in the south does it better then we do at Ole Miss! Guys in nice shorts/slacks and polo shirts and girls in sundresses and rompers(Or something to that effect!) are the normal around here. We gather in a place called The Grove with our tents and BBQ's and some go ALL out with AWESOME decorations and tv's and satellites!! Let me just say... I'm originally from Indiana and before I came to Mississippi I had NEVER seen tailgating like it's done at Ole Miss... and I have absolutely fallen in love with it! It's a time to hang out with friends and family and prepare to watch our Rebels take on whomever we are playing that week! Ole Miss was actually voted the TOP college for tailgating in 2016 by USA Today and SEVRAL other publications!        Of course before the season kicks off is the fun adventur...

Hey Y'all!  So I'm sure I'm not the only person who is really bad at comparing themselves to other people... Am I right?! Like how slow I walk... I find myself being upset and even mad for how much slower I am then an "Average" person! Another example of this is being able to stand without wobbling... I sometimes can't do that! I have to lean on or hold onto something to keep my balance... an "average" person doesn't have to do that! Well unless of course they are two sheets to the wind thanks to a few drinks 🤣🤣 ! I also CAN'T run... my "running" is an "average" persons version of brisk walking! I think of all this stuff I can't do that other people can do and it sometimes makes me so mad! But why?! I am special in my own way! Yes I can't do certain like everyone else.... But that doesn't make me any less of an AWESOME person! Just because someone has a different way they have to do something or they can'...

Y'all I did it!!! I hit 21 miles for the week!!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited this makes me!! After I hit 20 for the first time I thought ok this is it this is as high as you'll get... Well I was wrong!! Yes it's only one mile over but for me... THAT'S HUGE!! It's been on my mind for a few weeks but every time I try to hit it I always end up missing it.... Not anymore!!  This morning I got in 2.21 miles and it felt GREAT!!  Shortly before I was suppose to go on my evening walk it started storming! And I thought "Oh great another week where I will miss hitting 20 and 21...  but THANKFULLY it stopped just in time and I was able to get in another 1.25 miles to reach 21!!!  Not too shabby for a girl who no one ever thought would even walk on her own!! #WalkinwithKelley #SpinaBifidaStrong #SpinaBifidalife #21milesconquered 

After 2 nights off my body FINALLY let me get in a good 1.08 miles tonight!!! It was hotter then Hades but I got it in and I am SO glad I did!!!  This morning I got in an AWESOME 2.12 miles. It felt great and the weather cooperated for most of the walk... meaning I wasn't sweating TOO bad🤣🤣!  Still got one more day to hit 20... and maybe even hit 21 for the first time EVER😎😎.... Stay Tuned!!  💕Hugs💕   Kelley 

Hey Y'all!  So here's a topic I know most girls can relate too... weight! The other day someone asked me "With as much as you walk... How are you not stick thin?!" Now my witty response was "I have a love for chicken nuggets and all things BBQ'd and grilled!"... But why did that person even feel the need to judge my weight based on how much a walk?! On the other end I have been told before "Wow your under 100lbs! you are REALLY thin..." I'm 4'10 people! What most  don't realize is I can't get too heavy or I start to have issues with my knees and hips! But on the other hand if I get under a certain weight I start to get anxiety that I am too thin! In my opinion NO girl should EVER have to feel judged by her weight! You have no idea if that girl eats all the time but just CAN'T gain weight... Or if that girl has been struggling for months to get down to her goal weight! A person should be judged more for their character and h...

Hey Y'all!!  I was SUPER excited this morning... I hit 3 miles for a second morning in a row!!! I did fall on my caboose(Wet grass and Kelley don't mix🙈) but I made it thru!!  THEN I got to time for this evenings walk... and Y'all my body is having NONE of it tonight! I'm sure athletes go thru days where their body is giving me all sorts of issues(Not that I am in anyway an athlete!) But my body is just not going to allow it tonight! I always feel like I am letting people down by not being able to go walk! And I had to take last night off to so it made me feel like even more of a failure! I don't know why I feel that way! I'm not a bad person for listening to my body right?! But anyway tonight is definitely not a walking night for me!! Thankfully I am only 5.65 miles from 20... and God willing I can most DEFINITELY hit that by Saturday night! #WalkinwithKelley 💕Hugs💕   Kelley