"Bet you thought you'd heard the last of me..." (XOXO)
“Hello Again, Hello…”
These are going to get better, and more regular, and just more. I think in the last three years, I’ve sent out maybe three missives, but all three of those were work. Good work, fun work, but…writing a whole-ass post, adding in photos and fun things like book and TV recommendations…I don’t know how other people can knock all of that out every other day, because for me, it takes a lot of time. For instance, my Bachelor recaps used to take me DAYS. That is not even an exaggeration…though time does fly when you’re having fun making fun of 21 sexy singles and a milquetoast lead.
But anyway - this particular newsletter is a bit fast and furious because it kind of has to be - I really wanted to send it out to you by EOD today, because so much kicks off tomorrow AM. But next week - and there WILL be a next week, I MEAN IT THIS TIME!! (Narrator from the future: “There was no next week…”) - expect a lot more fun and frills 😘
“It’s-a Me-a, A-Lee-ah”
Everything is Amber Lea Carter now. Social media handles, website, future books…it’s all (or will be) under Amber Lea Carter.
I started using the “L” in my name when SEO started to become a thing and I needed to differentiate myself as a blogger, writer, and author from the other million Amber Carters out there (I even went to high school with another Amber Carter - she was only a grade above me and apparently got into a lot of trouble, because I got called to the Dean’s office a lot thanks to the administrative assistants not being able to tell us apart. And then she graduated and I got called into the Dean’s office for stuff I DID do, which strangely felt gratifying by then). But now half of those other million Amber Carters have also started using their own middle L initial, too, so. It was either use my full name or change it to Amber Elle Carter, which is what people already assumed it was when I would say “Amber L. Carter” out loud on podcasts or during interviews.
But for the record, it’s pronounced “lee-ahh”, not “lee.” Call me Amber Lee Carter and I will never speak to you or your children ever again!!!
“Always gonna be another mountain…”
After dropping out of CoppaTrek earlier this year due to personal and professional timing conflicts, I found myself a lil’ depressed and disappointed in myself. I know I made the best decision for myself at the time, but man oh man. It was such a bummer to have to make it.
It also stripped me of the expansive, motivating high of training for something big. I loved having this huge, sort-of-scary challenge that pushed me to stick to my training and my nutrition, that kept me focused through the obstacles and temptations and “I don’t wanna do this anymoooore” type moods.
So, this fall when Target Together wrapped and I finally had some mental space to think through some new goals, I knew I needed another big, audacious challenge to work toward when it came to setting - and keeping - new Body Adventure goals.
And true to my nature, I ended up picking one of the biggest of them all:
A trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC, if you’re cool) in Spring 2025.
I’ll share more details with you as they become available, but what I can tell you now is that I am scared out of my mind about this trek - I have roughly a year and a half to not only drop more than 100 pounds, but also increase my endurance, lung capacity, and hearth health in preparation for the changing altitudes.
But I also need that fear in order to really push myself. Nothing motivates your girl like the thought of everyone having to constantly wait for me because I’m too slow, or being so out of shape and ill-prepared that I need to get life-flighted out of EBC in front of a bunch of super fit and probably incredibly hot mountain climbers.
I do not fear death; I fear humiliation in front of handsome men.
And training officially starts tomorrow, Monday October 9th.
You can follow my progress over at my IG and TikTok!
And that’s it for this week. It’s all I got. Get outta here!