POST: JULY 7, 2011 - | BACK TO OTHER POSTS

I'm sitting on my flight to New Jersey with the biggest competition of my life staring at me straight in the face. Everything about this unusually warm morning feels surreal. I’ve been preparing for this competition over the last year, and it’s so close now I can taste it. I can hear thick New Jersey accents all around me, the smell of my Jan Tana lotion is piercing my senses, and I can't seem to play a single song on my iPod without running my routine over and over again in my head. All of it makes me smile to myself as my heart rate soars through the roof of the plane. This is the stuff I live for. This is the rush that makes my skin tingle and makes it hard for me to breathe; ultimately making me feel alive. My nervous excitement reaffirms to me...this is my calling. Regardless of what happens this weekend, I've already won. I made it through the ups, the downs, the sadness, and the pure bliss that can surround competition prep. To me, that's enough to make me feel damn good.

Traveling has been fairly uneventful so far; besides nearly missing our first flight and a lady at an airport Starbucks trying to sabotage me by putting syrup in my black ice coffee. Really lol? Josh was amazing and while I was running around town like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get ready for our departure...he prepared all my food. If you've been reading my blog you know that's no small feat. 3lbs of salmon, 5lbs of chicken, and 5lbs of steak, and a few pounds of potatoes later and we finally finished cooking around ten at night only to wake up at 4am to start our journey to Teaneck.

I'm so tired my eyes burn, but I couldn't fall asleep right now if my life depended on it. This is the moment I've been waiting for, and I don't want to miss a beat. This is probably the last blog I'll be writing until I return as the weekend ahead is action packed. However, I will be updating my Facebook page from time to time if you'd like to follow my progress. Until next time, thank you for reading and for your support! This, of course, wouldn't be possible without my sponsors (Mary Stratton of Alpine Real Estate, Falling Waters, and Acrovision), my nutritionist/figure coach IFBB Pro Kristi Tauti, my fitness coach IFBB Pro Tami Ough, my loved ones, friends, and campers. You have all helped me in so many ways and I'm so thankful! I hope to make you super proud! Team Universe here I come! Wooooo hooooo!