Lake Tahoe and more!

Wow, so I haven't written in awhile. Just been busy with no signs of slowing down.

Let's back up. The last day of work was May 22nd. That night we had a little get together at my co-worker's house. It was super fun. I always end up getting to know and having fun with my coworkers towards the end of the year. Usually then I'm leaving and it's too late to really get to know them and have fun, but since I'm staying I'm really looking forward to next year.

That weekend, Memorial Day weekend, Megan came to visit. That was a good time. Saturday night when she got here we went out. Sunday we just hung out I think. I really can't remember at this point! Monday we planned to go tubing on Salt River, which is like an hour drive. We get over there and the road is closed because the river is too packed! So there is a ton of people, inlcuding us, just waiting in a Walgreens parking lot. We sit there for like an hour when we're told a different road is now open. So we go the long way to get to the river. We get there and they tell us they stopped selling tubes 15 minutes ago!!! (earlier than was advertised by the way). So that sucked. Tuesday, Megan & I went hiking at the White Tanks and she left on Wednesday.

Thursday, Ivan's friends from Illinois College, Devone & Ziggy, came to visit. We knew Devone was coming but Ziggy was a surprise, so that was fun.

Friday morning I left for Lake Tahoe for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. The team flew into Reno, then there was an hour long shuttle ride to South Tahoe. Let me know just say, it was gorgeous!!!!!! The weather was in the 60's, which at first I thought was too chilly, but I got used to it and it was pretty nice actually. So, Friday was a free day to just hang out. Saturday morning we all got up for a short ride, which was the first 15 miles of the course. Oh wait, I forgot I hadn't even mentioned this part. I didn't actually do the ride. I just wasn't ready, plain & simple. So after discussing it with my coaches, I decided to still go with the team to support them during their ride. I'm so glad I still went. I had an amazing time and they are just an awesome bunch of people. So anyway, Saturday was the pasta party which is always fun, you cry, you're proud of yourself for raising the money, and you get pumped for your event the next day. And it was so fun to watch all the newbies go through the experience for the first time. One of the guys on our team was the #5 fundraiser of all the cyclists-- he raised like $33,000!!!!!! Can you believe that?! By the way, thank you all so much again for the donations. Although I didn't end up particpating in the ride, the bigger purpose of the fundraising was to get the money to the people who need it, and we did it!!! SO YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!

Ok, Sunday morning was the big day. The riders headed out & started at 6:15, and so did we, the SAG crew. SAG stands for "Support And Gear." So basically our job (which was me, our head director, a participant's mom, a coach's daughter, and one of our coaches) was to stop along the course every 15-20 miles and just give the riders whatever they needed. We had water, gatorade, made PB&J, had oreo's, an air pump to pump up their tires, cheer them on, and take pictures. They were all on such a high!!! So fun to watch, and they all did SO well. They were awesome. Our coach wasn't really supposed to be SAG'ing, she should have been in the ride with everyone, but she hurt her back moving luggage our first day in Tahoe!! She was in and out of the ER and doped up to high heaven that day just to sit in the van, but she too did very well!! She was a riot (but didn't know it!) and was so upset she couldn't be with her riders. But it was great having her in the van too.

So that night was the victory party. After that we went to a little bar for some drinks too with one of the coaches & all the newbies who had just finished their ride. It was so funny to watch it happen: all they talked about was their next season with Team In Training! I'm telling you this stuff is so addictive. Even though I didn't participate I too was thinking, "what's next?" I still want to do a ride, and eventually a triathlon. But I also told Ivan to make me take a break!! If I wasn't ready for this ride then I know it's time to take a break. I've done 3 seasons in the past year and a half you know? But, don't fret! If I do another I specifically want to try and do it without asking everyone for money, and just with events & things like that.

Anyway, this morning I had to get up at 2:30 a.m., to get a taxi to the bus stop in South Tahoe, to take the shuttle to the Reno airport. Then I switched planes in Vegas. Finally got back to Phoenix around 11:00. Came home, took a nap, and then the shuttle brought my penpal, Cathy, to the apartment!! She has another friend who lives in the area so she met up with her tonight. While she was doing that I did the laundry, unpacked, cleaned, homework, and all of that stuff. Tomorrow morning she & I are heading to the Grand Canyon. We're going to stay the night and swing by Sedona & Jerome on Wednesday. That night a friend of hers that we know who lives in California now is going to come out for a couple days too. They'll both leave on Friday, then I'll pack and head to Africa on Saturday!!!!!! I can't believe it!

Anyway, gotta get to sleep. Long day again tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So my birthday was Thursday. Good times. Ivan put a lot of thought into the gifts this year, although he's actually a very good gift giver most of the time anyway. So, he got me a camo colored hat and had the continent of Africa embroidered on the front in red and the South African flag embroidered on the back, some Armani Exchange sunglasses for the "African sun," a Leona Lewis CD because I like her, Michael Jackson's 25th Anniversary Thriller CD because "Africans love Michael Jackson," and a silver AIDS awareness bracelet where all the proceeds go to fighting AIDS, and then also sent me flowers. I was really happy. Definitely got things I can use and have to do with things that are important to me. Plus he put this all in a teal & lime colored bag, which are the colors I decorated the spare room in, and the card had a martini on it, which is my favorite drink! So that was cool. That night we had some Olive Garden, of course :) Friday night me, Ivan & Jeff went to the comedy club and saw Bob Marley, who was hysterical. It was a really good time.

Oh, and my coworker Nan gave me the absolute sweetest card. I have to tell you what the card said because it was just amazing! So, on the outside it said:

"Some people will always be special. Some people don't wait to be asked to help out, to listen, to be there, to care...Some people just know how to give from the heart--yet somehow, aren't even aware how selfless, how thoughtful, how needed they are--how many lives that they touch. Those people will always be special--and will always mean so very much."

So then inside the card says:

"For all the ways you're special, for the joys you share and the love you give, may your day be filled with all that's special to you."

And then Nan wrote some really nice things too, but anyway, I just thought it wast the sweetest card ever.

What else...this weekend has been really lazy. I did a lot of cleaning and Ivan was in a golf tournament. I'm kinda just hanging out and soaking up time with the puppies and Ivan. I leave in just under 3 weeks now...wow! What I'm more excited about than anything at the moment is that there's only 4 days of school left!! They will be a busy 4 days, but there's only 4 of them. And then Megan will be here too, so that's pretty dang exciting as well.

Well I guess that's all for now.

No news

First, new countdowns:
3 days until my 26th birthday
8 days of work left this school year
12 days until Megan comes to visit
20 days until the bike ride at Lake Tahoe
21 days until my penpal Cathy comes to visit
26 days until I leave for South Africa

My dad always says, "Don't wish your life away," I swear I'm not! I know there's a lot of countdowns....I just have a lot to be excited about right now. I actually told someone just yesterday that if I could pause at age 26 I would. Life is just really good right now and I'd hang here for awhile. But maybe I'd pause it in about 9 days, when work is done for the school year!

Not much has been going on really. I was sick a lot last week. Sore throat, hacking cough, stuffy head! Sucked. But I feel a million times better this morning than I even felt on Saturday. Let's back up. The weekend before last we went out for Jeff's birthday. It was a GREAT time. And then I spent the entire day in bed throwing up, paying for that awesome time I had. This past weekend I spent a lot of time laying around since I wasn't feeling great. We celebrated Bailey's birthday down at the pool, but I didn't get in since I wasn't feeling good. Ooh ooh ooh, we also got a new game for the Wii which has now consumed most of my free time, Mario Kart. I have loved Mario Kart on ever gaming system Nintendo has come out with, but they have outdone themselves. You can go online and race people from all over the world. If your friends have it, you can race them too, which is fun. So my family needs to get it so we can all "hang out." I love this game! So like I said, that has been a big hit in our house.

We also watched some movies this weekend, "Untraceable" and "The Great Debaters." Both very good movies. The first about an internet killer (it's a thriller/mystery not a scary movie) and the other about the first black debate team to debate whites, with Forest Whitaker & Denzel. It was really good. I teared up a few times...

This Thursday is my birthday. Friday night we're going to the Improv (comedy club). We used to go a lot when we lived in Rancho because it was a block away from our apt. but we haven't been much and I want to go so we are! Saturday a co-worker of mine is having a housewarming cookout so we'll be doing that. And I think Ivan has a golf tournament that day too. Next week is the last week of work. So I won't be seeing any kids, just finishing up paperwork, cleaning, and packing everything away for the summer. YAY! Then Megan comes, then Ivan's friend Devone is coming. Although most of the time he will be here I will be in Tahoe. Time is flying.

I started getting nervous about my trip for the first time the other day. I was falling asleep and just started thinking about everything I would need to pack and it's the first time I felt nervous. Partly because I was like "Oh my God, when am I going to pack!" Because my penpal Cathy will be visiting up until the day before I leave (which really is still PLENTY of time!!) and I also was thinking about the other volunteers...what if I don't like them, what if they don't like me. Sounds so juvenile, but it's how I was feeling. I was talking to Celeeste about it and the conclusion is really: who cares! My priorities are the work I'll be doing, and then the list of things I want to do/see while I'm there. Relationships are icing on the cake. Not to mention, I'm sure it won't be an issue. It's so easy to make friends when everyone is in the same situation. And if you're open to it, which I am, then it's all good. I'd love to have that connection and feeling that I had when I was in Key Largo with my roommates, that would be the ideal, ultimate situation. But I'm older and different than I was then, not better or worse, but I am very different I think. So we'll see! The other realization I had was when I was thinking about the traveling I'll be doing that day. I realized that while I'm still in the U.S. in the Phoenix airport and then in Atlanta I will probably be on the phone NONSTOP! It will be the last time I'll be able to call people for free and talk as long as I want, and be in same timezones. I'm sure I will take full advanatge of that. So don't plan on sleeping in folks! I fly out of PHX at like 6:45, so at about 4:45 a.m. I will be making some phone calls! haha Ok ok, maybe I'll hold off until I'm in Atlanta. The organization I'm going with, AVIVA, has done some major updates to their website. You should check it out. They have a lot of new pictures up and tons of new information. I guess they have 2 volunteer houses now and they book like very nice! I feel kinda bad! But that is partly why I picked them. For my first major trip, and being alone, I at least wanted to be comfortable and feel safe. Anyway, the website is off to the right if you want to look.

Gotta go!

A lot to discuss..

First, new countdowns:
15 days until my 26th birthday
15 days of work left this school year
23 days until Megan comes to visit
32 days until the bike ride at Lake Tahoe
33 days until my penpal Cathy comes to visit
37 days until I leave for South Africa

Next, what should I do when I grow up? Here's where my thoughts are on this subject. I have plenty of time and my mind will change a million times before and after making a decision but it can't hurt to think about it.

Thought 1: What I've thought the last couple of years is that after I finish my bachelors in Human Service (next summer) I would like to continue into a masters program in Public Service or International Development. I love the idea of working globally on issues I care about, with the opportunity to make a difference, and hopefully, travel a lot with that job. So the traveling I want to do would already be incorporated into my career.

Downsides: This career seems SO hard to get into. Any positions I see are always WAY up the ladder, which means I would have to spend years working towards it, while possibly doing jobs I don't love just to get to where I THINK I'll love. Not to mention, I still have to get a masters. So before this climb to the top I have 3 years of school ahead of me. Also, what if I have kids? A career like that isn't the best for raising kids I don't think...as far as traveling goes.

Thought 2: Find another career within the school environment so that I can have summers off to continue traveling and doing whatever I want to do. My thoughts were either counselor or social worker. Both of which have opportunities outside of the schools if I ended up wanting that.

Downsides: What if I don't love it? And I continue to sit there working in the schools and loving the summers & breaks, but wishing I was working internationally. Also, if I don't like it I'm left with a very specific degree that can't just be used for anything.

Thought 3: This just occurred to me this morning actually, and that is continue doing occupational therapy. Now hear me out :) I don't dislike what I do. Sometimes I just want something different. But I also know that you get what you give. What if I tried harder at what I currently do? What if I worked really hard to improve in certain areas and figure out what would make me enjoy my job more. I've heard some crazy stories about people loving their jobs again just after changing their mindset.

At the least I will be with OT for 3 more years. I can't deny the great benefits of working in the schools and the perks of being a contract therapist. That's what I will miss more than anything I think. So anyway, that's what consumes my mind a lot of the time.

I figure if I'm doing something I love (working internationally) then I won't miss the school schedule, however, I feel so lucky to be able to just know that I have 3 months a year to do whatever I want. I wouldn't be able to call up Megan and say, "Hey, let's go to Europe next summer!" Just wouldn't be able to do that...but I also go back to, would I miss it? Also, I fly home so much throughout the year and if I had a typical work schedule I wouldn't be able to do that. I dunno.

If it was up to me completely and there was no such thing as student loans...I would just keep going to school forever. Get one degree, start working in that field, and start working on another one just to plan that I'll want a career change soon!

Hunger Crisis

I always get these petitions from the One Campaign in email to sign petitions for various causes for AIDS, World Hunger, and things like that. Some of you know this as I've sent it on to you and if you've signed any petition of theirs, you will continue to get their emails. Anyway, here's a new one if you're interested in learning more!

"Hi, The world hunger crisis is all over the news this week. In just three years, the price of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice has almost doubled. If we don't do something soon, hundreds of thousands of people face starvation and a hundred million more could fall into extreme poverty.I just took action with the ONE Campaign and you can too, here: http://www.one.org/hungercrisis?rc=hctaf "

"Thank you"

So I sent this email out to pretty much everyone but I am posting it here too just because I think it's pretty important. I always want to say something when I see a soldier and never quite know what to say or do, and I always end up wishing I had, and I always tear up too. Something about soldiers makes me cry. Weird. Anyway, I'm going to try and start doing this.

One time on a flight home at Christmas we had the airlines asking us to give up our seats for some soldiers who needed to get home. A lot of people did before I even thought about it. Another time we had a soldier on board who had a close connecting flight so the flight attendant just asked us if everyone could remain seated to let him off the plane first so he could make his next flight, so when we landed everyone stood up and started clapping and everything while he ran off the plane. At the beginning of the L.A. marathon there were lines of soldiers there just cheering us on and giving high fives and my eyes just started watering! It's so crazy. Anyway, follow the link below. I'm freakin' crying right now. This is pathetic.


The Gratitude Sign
Ever wonder how to say thank you when you see a military person in uniform?See a simple way to do it from across a room or as you are passing by. http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php Please pass it on to family & friends!

Nada

Hey there. Not much to say I guess. Over the weekend Ivan went to California to see family so it was a pretty quiet weekend, not that my weekends are overly exciting anyway! Friday night I didn't do anything, got to sleep pretty early actually. Saturday morning Jeff made omelets and we drank screwdrivers...so I was kinda drunk by 9:30 in the morning! Jeff's a bad influence, as far as drinking goes, in my opinion! But I was able to then take a long nap, which was nice because I didn't sleep very well the night before. So that night me, Jeff & the kids went to the roller derby. I've been wanting to go for awhile now just because I thought it would be fun to see...and who knows maybe one day I will be out there on skates knocking women over! It was fun. I think I'm going to go again next month so Ivan can see it too. Other than that not much went on, except I rented Blood Diamond. Takes place in Africa-- Sierra Leone, Guinea, and South Africa. It's a really good movie, and Leonardo Dicaprio does a really good job in it. And it's so crazy to think that that stuff really happens. Villages get burned down, people get shot, and little kids get recruited to be child soldiers. In this movie there were kids that looked like 6years old shooting machine guns. That stuff really happens. They brainwash them. It's crazy. Jeff thinks I'm going to see some crazy stuff when I'm there. I keep telling him I will be in Cape Town, a huge modern tourist city, so it won't be like that!! Although I do realize it will be quite an experience to be with the kids and see/hear what conditions they came from...

Speaking of, I'm so excited. 43 days I think...! I'm going to get all my immunizations on Friday so then I'll be even more ready to go. YAY!

Time is Ticking...

27 days until my 26th birthday

24 days of work left this school year

36 days until Jenny & Erin come to visit

44 days until the bike ride at Lake Tahoe

45 days until my penpal Cathy comes to visit

50 days until I leave for South Africa

Time is ticking by. My co-workers, Karen & Nan, and I were talking about how fast time seems to be going. Karen's theory is that time literally is going faster. As if God has just starting spinning the Earth faster and faster and we just don't know it. It's an interesting theory, I think she might be onto something...what if an hour really just isn't what it used to be? That it's actually like a half hour or something. God is fed up with us and it's just speeding up time!

Come visit!

So, I now have a spare bedroom & bathroom! As you know, my friend Johnathan was living with me and he ended up moving back to Illinois this weekend so I now have room for people when they visit! I'm so excited about it too! haha So this weekend was spent organizing, cleaning, and decorating. We have tubs of stuff that have just moved from Heyworth to Rancho to Pasadena to Surprise, never knowing what we have or where anything is. So I went through everything, organized it, labeled it and put it in the spare room closet (out of our closet which was busting at the seams). I also got bedding and a few things for the room so now I'm just ready for someone to come and use the room. I've found myself in there just talking on the phone. It's just nice to have another space besides the living room and my bedroom. Jeff's kids have also enjoyed the room and just come over to watch TV! Ryan asked if it could be his play room...! No it's my playroom! hehe

I love it.

Another trip in the works?

The other day I was telling a co-worker about my internship in Florida, which got me thinking about all my friends from that summer, which made me realize I need to see them! Which prompted me to see what a plane ticket to Germany is running these days, relatively cheap!! I saw some between $500-700! That's crazy considering what I'm paying for my flight to S. Africa and everything. So it hit me that going to see them is definitely a reality. I texted Megan and said, "Do you wanna go to Europe next summer?" She texted back, "Yes, and I'm not kidding."

So we're in the thinking/planning stages. And I'm so excited. And I hope it really happens and nothing comes up that conflicts with this trip. So we're looking at summer 2009, likley a 4ish week trip, backpacking Europe. Our wish list at the moment is Germany, Amsterdam, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Italy, Greece. Now we just need to research and fine tune the priorities, time frames and things like that. Thank God for the internet! How the hell did people do anything prior to the internet? So we'll be staying hostels (which is cheap and supposedly a great way to meet other travelers), likley taking the eurorail all over the place, and I have already been in touch with my friends in Germany who obviously have places for us to stay and friends we can stay with if we're not in their cities. And who knows, they might even have friends in other countries we could stay with as well. We'll see! But I'm excited.

Possible plan for 2010: Egypt! This one's with Ivan though :) His dream place and seems pretty excellent to me too.

America's Most SCARY Bike Ride!

So yesterday at practice it was the first time that I thought...maybe I can't do this. I've been overly confident, having done a marathon I was in the mindset of, "you can do anything once!" Right?? Such a positive way of looking at things. But then I met hills...mountains...for the first time and they put me in my place. I ended up seeing spots and actually throwing up after getting up one of the hills (King Kong's Ugly Sister as it is so affectionately called--because she comes right after King Kong of course). I started up Usary Pass-- which leads up Usary Mountain!!!!!! This was hell, and stopping several times, as my feet were pedaling so slow I thought myself and the bike were just going to plop on over to the ground.

In my attempt to stay positive, I'm happy because I went farther than I have, got up some hills, and actually got back out to practice after company & fear had kept me out. On the other hand, I'm pretty pissed at myself for not being at practice in the first place. But I learned yesterday that if I give anything enough time I can do it-- if I need to take 10 breaks then I will take 10 breaks. I just have to remind myself that it's ok to do that, this too shall pass, etc etc etc.

Meanwhile I have my coach beside me just asking me questions to keep me occupied and to not focus on what I'm doing. Her favorite question to ask-- if you could only have 5 foods for the rest of your life and not have to worry about nutrition or anything, but you only get 5 foods...what would they be? 1-Ice Cream, 2- Mashed Potatoes, 3- Chicken Fried Steak, 4- Pizza, and 5- Pineapple. Although I have to tell you, PB&J is up there. Might even take it over pineapple. And then there's always the reminders of why you're doing this. All the people fighting cancer, and how treatment sucks, and they do it & everything. On the one hand it's motivating because you think "Hell yeah I'm doing this for them! If they can beat chemo & cancer and all this shit then I can ride a bike!" And on the other hand sometimes you're just in a selfish state and you're thinking "this HAS to be worse!" and "Ya know that sucks and I will feel for them later, but right now I am miserable!"

So right now I have had a reality check. Which is great because I now fully realize what I'm taking on---I don't care what anyone says, and I don't like running, but this is infinitely harder than a marathon! I will let you know if I still feel that way when it's all said and done, but right now I firmly believe this sucks. And I don't know what I got myself into. Oh right, the reality check. So, it's great because I have all the motivation in the world to get my ass in gear, literally--haha a little bike joke as shifting is like SOOO important. Really, you hardly ever stay in one gear for very long it's always shift shift shift-- anyway, yes, ass in gear because if I would like to come close to finishing this and/or surviving no matter how far I make it, I need to be training hard core. So that's great. The crappy thing is that I've had a reality check! hehe Maybe I can't do this. So while I'm kicking my own ass until I throw up, I do know in the back of my mind that this bad boy might take a couple tries to knock out. We'll see.

So, I invite you to check out the elevation map for Lake Tahoe(up top)...this shit is scary. I'm trying to remind myself that this is supposed to be FUN, and it's voluntary! Haha

Big Thanks!!

I just need to take a second to make some thanks for all the support I've had during my fundraising and training for the century ride so far

1-- Thank you to EVERYONE that has donated. Every bit helps and I'm always appreciative that you would give your money to a great cause, and in helping me reach my personal goals. So, thank you Rick & Joann, Mom, Gma & Gpa Beehn, Christina, Abby, Bud, Celso, Lisa, June & Charlie, Kris, Becky & Brian, Mark & Shannon, Teresa, Merit, Bloomington Meats, Tina, Ashleigh, Mary, Trisha, Donna, Matt, Megan, Jeff & Jyll, Schmid Electric, Gary & Fritzie, Erin, Judy, Bev & EJ, Gma Spaulding, Deb, Jessica, Kimberly, Tina U, Susan, and Lula!!

2-- I also wanted to mention some people individually who have gone above and beyond for me & the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

--My sister Jyll & her husband Jeff have been very supportive and giving this season! As a personal donation they gave $250, and they also put forth a corporate donation from their company, Schmid Electric, of $2300!! I don't think I need to really say more to explain how wonderful that is!!

--One of my best friends, Megan, told me she was going to give me 10% of her tips for a week. She let me know that was about $70, which that was already above & beyond. Imagine my shock when I got the email showing I had another donation and she went ahead and more than doubled that with $150! I just can't get over her genoristy and I don't know what I can do to thank her!!

--Megan's mom, Donna, has also helped me out in a great way. She took the letter I sent out and passed that along to her friends and family. Because of that, I have received 5 donations so far from people I wouldn't have reached on my own. All together from Megan, Donna, and their friends and family I have received $300!!

--Someone else who definitely was generous was Mark & Shannon Hickey. I know them from years of hanging out at Illinois College visiting Ivan & all my other friends who went to school there. They donated $100!! It's always amazing to receive a large donation and I love a response from people I don't even expect!

--Ivan has also, as usual, been a great supporter both emotionally, trying to motivate me!, and in fundraising. I organized a laser tag event and nearly all of my ticket sales sold were sold by Ivan. Which by the way this fundraiser made over $800!! Can't thank him enough for being there to back me in my crazy ideas!! He also put my bike together for me and goes riding with me on the weeknights

4--I have to mention my coaches, teammates, and my mentor Sabrina. They are the most supportive group of people I've ever met. They will not let me fail (dangit!!) and are literally right by my side every pedal of the way. Although I've been through this process and completed a marathon and a half marathon I've still struggled this season with my confidence and doubts. All I had to do was say the word and they have been right there with encouragement, advice, and basically holding my hand! I just want everyone know what a supportive and great program Team In Training really is.

So, enough with the thanks, here's a little update about how training has been going. Although I've had some minor mental setbacks I really have come a long way already. I started the season in February with my beach cruiser while shopping around for the right (affordable) road bike, although comfortable and stylish this was not going to get me much further than the 14 miles it took me! To date the farthest I've gone is 35 miles, which truthfully wasn't that bad until the end when it was all uphill, but again, I had psyched myself out before those hills. This coming weekend will be 52 miles, so wish me luck!!

Well thanks for listening. I just wanted to give a big thanks and acknowledgment to everyone who has been supporting me so far and let you know how the season is going! At this point we have raised $4145, which is AMAZING! Not much to go to ensure my spot at Lake Tahoe, but I have a personal goal of raising $5,000, so if you'd still like to donate that will always be welcome. Mostly I just want you to send some thanks and happy thoughts to everyone who has been so generous this season. And to me so I can actually get through 100 miles on a bike!! haha And also please keep those happy thoughts coming for my honored teammates who are living with blood cancers right now.

Thanks again to everyone!
Chelsey
http://www.active.com/donate/tntdms/chelsbels

Girls Gone Wild!

One of Ivan’s co-workers got us on the list for the Girls Gone Wild party in Tempe last night...we didn’t know what to expect...was it a big deal, were they filming, we even thought it might be for Joe Francis himself. Turns out it was the 2nd one, Girls Gone Wild was there filming! It definitely made the night a little more interesting. It was just entertaining to watch the cameramen walk around filming people, stop to focus on one and then basically convince them to take their shirt off. Along with the cameraman there was either a cute girl or some guy with GGW tank tops to give the girls once they showed their stuff. And early in the night (before girls were too drunk and needed some persuasion) the GGW girls with the tank tops would be dancing with the girls and just having so much fun, so duh, it must be so much fun then to go wild and flash the camera! haha It was funny to watch it happen over and over. Like these girls thinking "I’m not going to do it" and then bam, before you know it their boobies are out. Sidenote here: there are a lot of SMALL boobs in the world! haha The first girl of the night happened to be sitting right in front of us and it was EARLY in the night. Too funny. The club itself was designed for GGW. There were stripper poles/platforms throughout the place and girls dancing in cages with barely anything on, TV screens everywhere showing GGW videos, and the pictures on the walls were of barely covered body parts... where was I?! But it was a good time for me, Ivan & Jeff. Decent drinks, and the bartender was Ivan’s co-worker’s roommate, so she cut us a break a couple times, the music was good but so freakin loud. All of ours are still ringing! Fun though.

What else...I’m having a small issue with getting back on the bike, I’m just scared. And I know the only thing that will make it better is to literally get back in the saddle, I’m working on it. Ivan and/or Jeff might go with me next week to help me along because suddenly I’ve turned into such a wuss. No worries, I WILL get there. I did get on my beach cruiser today which helped a lot. I needed to be reminded that the bike is FUN! And it helped :)

Hmm...what else? Oh I got my hair whacked off and blond again. I love it. I can just wake up and literally do nothing to it because the messier the better right? So that’s fun.
That’s all I guess...peace.

My blood is boiling...

Just take a look at this link-- it's no secret how I feel about Oprah, and global issues. So you can just imagine what I was thinking as I read this. Read the article, and if you too want to be ticked off (if you feel strongly about Oprah or being American!!) read the comments from the locals (obviously not South Africans who actually need any help!!), and at the least, scroll down to the last comment :) haha

It's just amazing to me how some people who don't even need the help or benefit from aide can judge anyone for contributing to the greater good of the world. Really, stop and ask someone who actually NEEDS assistance and I bet they're not questioning who/where/why it came from. And then get off your judgemental ass and do something worthwhile if you think it needs to be done. AHH! And to be pissed off at Oprah for saying "Africa" instead of specifying South Africa? Really? She must have had to dumb it down for us hillbilly Americans :) (really, one person says we're a country full of illiterate hillbillies! Don't get me wrong, I agree we could use some improvement, but ya know, I just really don't appreciate the generalization!)

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/nicolejohnston/2007/11/12/oprahs-school-in-aaafricah/#comment-23233

Side note: This is my 200th post! Let's have a 200 party?! I started this in July 2005 and just now hit 200 posts!

Think Think

Not much to say. I'm just having some trouble focusing on anything but Africa right now. I've been trying to keep myself busy so I wouldn't think about it but to tell you truth I'm losing focus and motivation on those things! Yes, the century ride is only nearing closer and I am not motivated right now to get on my bike! Yes, I am super scared of what that means on event day, and even if I had been training like I should, I'm scared anyway. I think the realization of what 100 miles is, and especially with the dreaded HILLS, is setting in and I am scared. I have my moments where I am like, "I know I can do this! I've done a marathon, a couple half marathons, and many more things I didn't think I could do, so YES YOU CAN DO THIS!" And then I have a couple moments where I think, "But this is SOOO different! This is harder! This is scarier!" Those voices battle it out on an hourly basis. I think the problem is simply that I have been out of practice for a few weeks so I am out of the right mindset and scared of how far behind the rest of the team I am. Which on the one hand, I am no stranger to (since I'm pretty much a walker, slow jogger at best, and my teams have been runners!), and I know that especially with TNT I shouldn't worry about that because it's individual, they're super supportive, etc etc etc. And then there's the other hand...and it just sucks to be behind people and have them waiting on you, even if it's by choice because they want to see you succeed. That is such a blessing and a curse sometimes. You love hearing the encouragement and the comfort in knowing that they are there, and at the same time sometimes you wish nobody was there and you could just stroll in whenever you dang well please. Bottom line, I need to get my ass in gear. One other tiny confession...I'm afraid of going up the hills yes, that is no secret, but I might be more afraid of coming DOWN the hills! I'm a chicken and the thought of being out of control flying down a hill scares the shit out of me. I don't think I could hold in the brakes hard enough coming downhill. So there you have it. I'm afraid of going downhill and feeling out of control, panicking, and then wrecking...and even if all of that doesn't happen, the anxiety of flying down a hill with little control is bad enough.

So...back to Africa. I can't stop thinking about it. April is almost here and then May, and then I leave! Right now my focus is on the flights. I arranged my seats better, ordered things for the computer to use in-flight, am thinking about the books, magazines, games, etc to buy before I go. Researching ways to pass the time, things to consider, and how to conquer jet lag. Apparently there is a pill called "No Jet Lag" (clever name eh?) which will do just that. Some people think it's all in your head, some people swear by it. I don't know. I have looked at my flight times and what time it will be in Cape Town on what flights so I can try and use my flights to start getting adjusted to the local time... putting too much thought into this? Maybe. I land in the evening and I'm guessing I will be ready to just collapse into a bed after 28 hours of in/out sleep on airplanes, and considering that I'm ready to die after a 3 hour flight...but a little research never killed anyone right? So, if I were to really try and get on local time before I get there I figure I need to try and sleep on my first two flights from Phoenix to Atlanta to Dakar. These would be nighttime in Cape Town. And then on flights Dakar to Johannesburg and Johannesburg to Cape Town I need to try and stay awake, so when I land in Cape Town about 8 p.m. local time, I can just get settled into bed, and wake up on local time. Done. It sounds too easy...! Haha I'm sure I'll want to sleep at totally random times just to pass the time and because there is a 12 hour time difference between Phoenix and Cape Town. In any event, I'm banking on being exhausted by the time I get there so that I just slip into the time zone without my body noticing the difference. Man I'm excited.

I asked a coworker who flew to Japan over Christmas Break if she had any recommendations to passing the time and dealing with jet lag, she had an 11 hour flight. She said that surprisingly, the time goes really fast. Which I can kinda see that point of view. I'm totally building it up right now as this like heinous horrible amount of time, so I can bet that it could end up seeming not that bad. Plus, an 8 hour flight (which I have 2 in a row of) is about 4 movies. Not too bad... :)

Did I mention I'm excited?

Whew, big breath of relief that things should start slowing down for a bit. Becky flew in Thursday night and we went out to eat at Yard House-- Yard House is the shit! It is my favorite place. I don't think I realized it until people start visiting and I take them there and all I say is I love this, and I love that. I love it! We first went there in Rancho, went to one in San Diego, had one at our mall/apt in Pasadena, and THANK GOD, we have one here in AZ.

Anyway, Friday Becky hung at the pool with Johnathan & Ivan while I was at work and then that night we just drank here until like 3 a.m. Saturday we went to the Cubs game. Supposedly it was like 85 degrees out, but it felt like a million. We had lawn seats so we just laid out basically. It was HOT but a good time. We intended to go out that night...but the sun screwed us I think and we just sat here and fell asleep. Sleep is good though right?

This morning Becky left and I went to sell beer all day. I had some anxiety about it because of giving change and counting, stuff like that. It went pretty well. I wasn't miserable the whole time and it went by fast. Got pretty good at getting beer from a keg, which I'm not a beer drinker so I honestlty don't know if I've EVER got beer from a keg before...hmm... anyway, I made some money for my fundraising and only have a couple hundred left to make! YAY!

Back to training hard core this week, just hope I haven't fallen too far behind. Alright, gotta get some sleep.

So tired!

Let's see, last week was spring "break." I put break in quotes because it was anything but a break! Maybe from work, but my parents were here and we just went went went. They flew in on Tuesday and that night was a laser tag fundraiser I had organized-- which made over $800! That was split between me and another guy. It was a lot of fun and clearly a huge success. Wednesday we went to a Cubs-Rangers spring training game and laid out at the pool. Jeff made dinner that night, oh and he made french toast that morning since this has become a staple for my out of town guests to experience! Thursday we went to Sedona which was a good time. The red rocks are beautiful and the shops were neat.

Side note: all over up there is this little Indian character for sale, as decoration, just everywhere. So all say I was in search of the right thing with him on it, his name is Kokopelli. I finally find something. We get in the car to leave and I look up the story on Kokopelli since he is obviously such a big deal...turns out there are multiple meanings for him. The most prominent is that he's a fertility god!!!!!! Whoops! I spent my whole day searching out a fertility god! Luckily there are more meanings such as that he chases away winter and brings spring. (More Kokopelli stories to come).

Friday I arranged with a friend of mine to go out to Luke Air Force Base since my dad was in the AF years ago and thought it might be cool. It was awesome. I've been out there on a tour before but for some reason it's just always so cool. I guess because we civilians cannot get to it regularly maybe? Anyway, my friend Todd is an F-16 pilot and showed us around his squadron and told us all about the jets, and we got to look inside them and everything. It was interesting. After that we went to the White Tanks, which is a park here with trails into the mountains. We walked out there for a bit and got some cactus pictures.

Another side note: Just 2.5 hours after we left Luke AFB (which is an F-16 pilot training base) a jet went down. Luckily it wasn't Todd, but the 26 year old pilot did not eject and the wreckage, although very little left of the jet, was found later that day in the mountains.

Saturday we went to Apache Junction. There is is this whole "trail" you can drive and has all these little shops and restaurants through the mountains and around some lakes. Our first stop was a little museum and a church that used to be used in Western movies all the time. Turns out there were tons of movies filmed in Apache Junction. After that we went to a ghost town called Goldfield. Everything there was exactly what the original settlers had left behind. It was kinda cool if you could really imagine what it had been like. They had the stores & restaurant (saloon) set up and working as gift shops and things. I would have preferred it to be more like museum quality where you just saw how they left it, but either way it was cool and made me wish, like I always have, that I was living in the late 1800's or early 1900's. We also went on a mine tour. You walk down these stairs and onto a simple elevator and our guide just walked us through and told us what the people did down there and how their tools worked etc. It was cool. Oh-- time for the other Kokopelli story-- so a woman in the shop there told us the "real" story. Kokopelli was a trader who came up through the west from South America trading feathers. He would always play his flute to let the tribes know he was coming in peace (all the pictures & figures have him playing a flute). The story is that if the men of the tribes weren't there he would sleep with the women! And that he was also very well endowed! Obviously as time went on and the story was passed around he evolved into a fertility god that brought women babies, when in reality he was just a slut who gave women babies by knocking them up! Nowadays though he is pretty much just a symbol of the southwest. So that's that. Eases the mind on the whole fertility thing, but now I just have a slutty south american on some pottery in my bedroom! hah

Sunday we went to eat Margaritaville for lunch and went to Cabella's (sporting/hunting store). That night we went out to eat again and they left Monday morning, only for me to return to work (yuck). So, as I was saying, I'm exhausted!

Saturday night my mom & I also cleaned Jeff's apartment. Long story short-- Jeff is helping me with my math class (he's a math teacher) and in return I clean his apartment. Also his daughter has been sick-- high fevers, not eating, took her to the ER a couple times, after a week they finally admitted her to the hospital with pneumonia, 80% of her lung filled with fluid, surgery to get that fluid out, on oxygen--just crazy stuff, SO we thought it would be nice to clean the place up and do all the laundry. So we did. She's still in the hospital, will be for a good couple of weeks but finally started eating and her lungs have been looking ok.

Tuesday night is our bowling night and Ivan had an awesome night!! First let me say, we are not good bowlers! We bowl for fun and have been in last place the entire year (since August). Not anymore! We arrived Tuesday to find that we had moved up to places! And we were playing a VERY good team, who we ended up beating 2 of 3 games...which means we will move up again most likely next week! AND, Ivan bowled a 232! He did awesome. It was so fun. And the team we played was just a really fun team as well.

Last night (Wednesday) I had to go take a test to get a food handler's card so I can work the beer tent at a spring training game for a fundraiser some of us TNT folk are doing. After that I went to the hospital to see Jeff & his daughter, which was just sad! She's doing alright but children's hospitals in general are just kinda sad. Nobody wants to see sick kids, plus you could just see how weak she was, but she's on her way :)

Side note: Fundraising is going A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-L-Y well! I have had a wonderful response to the letters I sent out (THANK YOU EVERYONE!), laser tag was a huge success, and most importantly, Schmid Electic (my sister & brother-in-law's company) provided me with a corporate sponsorship! BIG BIG BIG THANKS TO SCHMID ELECTRIC for supporting LLS!!! So I don't have much fundraising left that is required and I will be able to focus on the training.

Today (Thursday) my friend Becky is flying in for the weekend. She's a HUGE Cubs fan so she bought tickets to a spring training game on Saturday. So we'll be hanging out, drinking, and watching baseball all weekend. Sunday right when she flies out I'll be heading over to another game to serve beer to raise money (which just MIGHT meet my minimum requirement of $4200...I will let you know!).

After that...I plan on sleeping!!!!!! And getting back to training hard core. With my parents here & Becky coming I've missed some practices and haven't been on the bike much. Can we say shooting self in foot? I'll get there though. This is not the end of the world :)

What else...geez I feel like I've been typing for weeks already... today I found out that my flight to Africa will have outlets so I can plug in my computer on flight! You have NO idea how happy that makes me! Normally I could barely get through a movie without the battery dying so knowing that I can plug in on flight eases my mind SOOOOOO much. I'll be able to watch movies (although the plane has TV screens in the seats already) and work on homework (yes I'll be finishing up a class my first 2 weeks in Africa, boo! And they start back up THE day I get back, yuck!) I can only take 4 weeks off before it starts messing with financial aid. And the thing I bought to charge with will let me charge my IPod while I'm on the computer. Handy stuff! I also ordered new headphones with a microphone so while I'm in Africa I can talk to everyone back home for free through my computer. Very excited about that. Only 79 days til I leave I think!

Alrighty I'm out.

You're so Swayze!!!

Hahahaha! The other night we decided to have Swayze Night, to honor Patrick Swayze since he's battling pancreatic cancer (in case you didn't know, and he's doing well), and he kicks ass, and who doesn't love some Swayze?!

Jeff made fajitas which we called Dirty Fajitas (like Dirty Dancing) and we planned on some "Sway-Tini's." We rented Ghost (man I forgot how good that movie was), Red Dawn and Roadhouse, and of course I already own Dirty Dancing. Ivan fell sleep and Johnathan bailed, but Jeff and I had a damn good time and ejoyed Swayze night to the fullest.

When Jeff left he said, "Merry Swayze!" I nearly peed myself. We had gotten pretty Swayze crazy by this point!

Send Swayze some happy thoughts (I kinda just like to say Swayze...did you notice?!)

I Got My Passport!!!!

Progress in Leukemia Treatment!

Here's a link to an article about some new developments in the treatment of one form of leukemia (CLL), a vaccine!

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080217-9999-1m17leukemia.html

30 miles down...

So I got my new bike and rode it last weekend about 14 miles. I was having a super hard time getting on it and stopping. I felt like it was too high and I had to reach so far I could barely touch the brakes. The problem is, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel like that and I'd just get used to it, or if there was something seriously wrong with my bike! So I continued to practice but it was still a bit scary. Friday night I drove an hour and a half to meet this guy who did bike fittings for everyone on our team. Wow! I was there for 2 hours while he tweacked my bike, gave me tons of advice, new handlebars (so I wouldn't be reaching so much) and got to practice riding on the rack (so I didn't have to worry about balance too). Saturday was our long ride, 30 miles! It wasn't too bad, until maybe a few miles left. My leg cramped up so I had to stop for a minute and stretch out. Then with only about 1/2 mile left probably (all uphill) I had to stop for a few minutes. Partly because my ass was killing me! I could barely get through a pedal stroke because I was just so uncomfortable and I think I had just psyched myself out about the hills. But then we carried on, finished & it was wonderful! I guess the only way to build up my butt's tolerance is riding, so while it will never feel great it will get better, my butt will just start hurting later and later. After the practice was our honored teammate picnic where all of the people we're riding for come out and tell us their story, thank us, and encourage us. So that's nice.

When I got home I was exhausted and normally I'll take a nap or something but everyone was down at the pool. So we all spent the afternoon in the pool drinking and hanging out. It was fun. Oh we were in the pool Friday night too. Forgot about that. It's so nice to be able to be in the pool in February!!! Have I mentioned that I love it here?

After all day in the pool Ivan & I went to a hockey game-- the Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames. It was fun, and I think I might be a hockey fan!? I enjoy those games more than any other games I've gone to. But the game itself kinda sucked because Phoenix did not do well.

Only one more week before spring break! yay! Looking forward to the time off and showing my parents around. The night they fly in I'm doing another laser tag event so we'll be doing that, and I think we're going to a Cubs-Rangers spring training game, the field is only like a mile from our apt. I don't know what else we're going to do, I would like to take them to the White Tank Mountains on some trails, possibly Sedona, Tombstone, and the Grand Canyon. We'll see!

How old am I?

I had a kinda funny moment earlier. I was on the phone with my sister right after work, and I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk. Then I said, "Well I'll let you go, I gotta eat this peanut butter & jelly sandwich I made and then I'm gonna go ride my bike." Did that not sound like something a 6 year old would say? Not someone going on 26? haha And as I thought about that I thought about what else I was going to do tonight after riding my bike...play with the dogs and do my homework...again, a 6 year old. I just thought it was funny. I guess I've achieved the goal so far of not getting old. Ivan and I are convinced that if we don't get married, don't buy a house, don't have kids, and don't settle down anywhere that we won't get old...so far so good :) We'll just outrun the respsonsibility and aging as long as we can. Until we wake up someday feeling old and behind as everyone else already settled down! haha Oh well. Right now it's all good.

So, I got my road bike!! Well I ordered one anyway. I got an 07 model off ebay for like $270, instead of the $650 it would have normally been! So I am on my way now. I've still been practicing on my beach crusier, which is a joke for the mileage we've been doing but that'll make it all that much easier when I get my road bike delivered (hopefully Friday!)

What else...this past weekend at practice everyone else did 24 miles I think, I just did 14 again since I was still on the beach cruiser. And I had a low tire. Talk about the most unprepared biker...ever :) Ah well. It's fun and the team is awesome.

Ivan & I went "mountain biking" and "hiking" Monday because we were both off for President's day. We took my beach cruiser and Ivan's mountain bike on the trails at the "White Tanks," which is a little mountain/park close by. Note to everyone: beach cruisers are NOT mountain bikes. That was such a bad idea. Oh well. I survived, although gritting my teeth the whole way and getting my fat tires stuck between rocks. It was an experience. So when we got back to the car we parked the bikes and walked a trail, which was so much better than beach cruising a mountain!!!!!!! And really pretty too.

I'm done with my second job. No it didn't last very long. It would have been fine if I hadn't decided to train for the century ride but I need time to ride so I had to quit. It was a good experience but I'm relieved it's over. I get to just come home after work! YAY!

Ivan got me bowling shoes for Valentine's Day. He's an awesome gift giver; always surprises me with stuff I wouldn't think to buy myself. They are white and hav pink flames on them! haha I'm definitely the coolest bowler ever now.... :) Still have no skills, but I look good! haha

I guess that's about it. I'm ready for spring break (only 2 weeks away after this week!!!) Who doesn't love time off work? And my parents are coming so that'll be nice too.
Alrighty, later!!!!

South African Glossary

So South Africa is an English speaking country (although they actually have 11 national languages) but of course they have their slang or common phrases like anywhere else. Here's some of them...:

Arvie - short for 'afternoon'Baai - Afrikaans for 'Bay', as in Gansbaai (Goose Bay)
Bakkie - A pick up truck with an open back or canopy.
Berg - Mountain
Bergie -A vagrant that lives on the slopes of Table Mountain
Biltong - Very tasty sun-dried strips of spiced meat available in beef, kudu, springbok, ostrich etc
Boerekos - Describes Afrikaans farm food which typically cosists of meat and vegetables cooked using large quantities of sugar and butter, not good for a diet!
Boerewors - Spicy coils of coarse sausage, common fare at most braais!Braai - A South African BBQ, and probably more central to South African culture than the BBQ is to Australians!
Bredie - Meat & vegetable stew
Cape Doctor - The strong south easterly wind that blows warm air from False Bay over Table Mountain to form the famous 'Tablecloth'
Cape Dutch - White-washed, Gabled style of architecture from the 19th Century, fine examples of which can be seen around Cape Town and the Cape Winelands
Circle - A roundabout
Dagga - Marijuana
Dankie - Afrikaans for 'Thank you'
Dassie - The Hyrax, a rabbit sized rodent common on Table Mountain which is the closest living relative of the elephant!
Dof - A derogatory term that describes someone who is a little dim-witted
Dorp - A small town or village
Drankwinkel - A liquor shop
Egoli - The Zulu name for Johannesburg hich means 'city of gold'
Fynbos - Meaning 'fine-leaved bush' and refers to the unique variety of Proteas, ericas and grasses found in the Cape Peninsula's Floral Kingdom
Geen ingang - No entry
Gevaar - Danger
Howzit! - A common greeting which can mean 'How are you?'. 'How are things?', 'What's up!' and so on!
Ingang - Entry
Is it? - Confusing for non-South Africans as this is a common reply to many sentences which means 'really!?'
Jol - A party or a good time on the town!
Just now - If someone tells you they will be with you 'just now', they actually mean 'in a while'!
Karoo - Arid, desert like plateau that occupies a large proportion of South Africa's interior
Kerk - Church
Kloof - A ravine or gorge
Koeksister - A very syrupy deep-fried plaited doughnut, delicious!
Koppie - A small hill
Kraal - An enclosure of huts
Lekker - Great, really good, as in 'thanks for a lekker braai!'
Links - Left
Lughawe - Airport
Mealie - Maize
Naartjie - A tangarine
Nek - A saddle between two mountains
Nkosi Sikelel 'i Afrika - 'God bless Africa' The national anthem of South Africa
Now now - When someone tells you they will be with you 'now now', they do mean to be with you as soon as they can! See Just now above
Plakkies - Flip-flops
Poskantoor - Post Office
Protea - The national flower of South Africa
Regs - Right
Robot - A traffic light
Rondavel - A circular building based on traditional African huts
Rooibos - 'Red bush', an indigenous herbal tea that is low in tannins and is reputed to have medicinal properties
Sentrum - CentreSingel -
Crescent Snoek - Large white-fleshed fish common in local waters and recipes
Stad - City, as in Kaap Stad (Cape Town)
Stasie - Station
Stoep - A verandah
Straat - Street
Strand - Beach
Tackies - Training shoes, sneakers or plimsolls
Toegang - Admission
Verbode - Prohibited
Verkeer - Traffic
Vlei - Lake, wetland, swamp or valley
Weg - Way or road

I bought the ticket!!!!!!!!!

Magically today when I went to look for tickets there was a price & itinerary that weren't there yesterday!! It happily meets in the middle on everything.

The price was $1900, so more than the cheapest but less than the expensive. The total time traveled is 28 hours, and gets me there on Sunday instead of Monday, no long layovers anywhere and a ton of different airports. Which normally I like direct flights, but with this I wanted a lot of different changes so I was never trapped anywhere too long!

I'm a happy camper. I'm sure a better price could have rolled around if I waited...but I prefer to just have the peace of mind knowing it's all taken care of. Although it's a little scary as well...now I'm REALLY going, and that's a chunk of change to drop on just getting somewhere.

So that's it... I'll be leaving Saturday, June 7th at 7 a.m. (stopping in Atlanta, Dakar, and Johannesburg before getting to Cape Town!)

I'll head back on Monday, July 21st at 5:45 p.m. (stopping in Dakar, New York, and then Phoenix!!)

Now I need to hurry up and wait... it's 4 months to the day by the way... :) Lucky 7?!

Travel Arrangements ?!?!

Ok, so what would you do??

So I'm looking at plane tickets to South Africa and don't know really what to do...here's the ups & downs of the tix I'm looking at. What do you think? The overall total travel time is only 4 hours less with the more expensive ticket, BUT I get there almost a whole day sooner...I'm torn between getting there sooner/quicker and saving $600. And I'm worried about my mental ability to have a 9 hour layover, and then sit on TWO 8+ hour flights in a row....

1-- $1479, arrive in CPT 3:55 p.m. on Monday
Good: Cheap
Bad: 9 hour layover at JFk
TOTAL travel time: 32 hour 20 min


2-- $2139, arrive in CPT 8:15 p.m. on Sunday
Good: arriving Sunday, no long layovers, shorter total travel time
Bad: cost about $600 more
TOTAL travel time: 28 hr 10 min.

I went and got my passport photos done, I have an appointment to actually do the passport paperwork next week, I made the appointment for my immunizations...looks like it's really happening!!

Hola!
I'm just so excited. I have a lot to be looking forward to. On the small side, we have a day off school in a couple weeks, then Spring Break. On the big side, fundraising has already started off with a bang for the century ride and I have a lot of ideas right now on how to raise a good amount of money. I'm pumped to get started on those and and start training this coming weekend. Which means this week I need to get a road bike and whatever equipment I need.

Another big side, the trip to South Africa. I have gone back and forth about if I should wait one more year or stick to the plan and go this year and all of that. Right now it's looking like this year is a go. So last night I could hardly sleep because I was on the internet finding all the things I want to be sure and do while I'm there. Super fun, very exciting stuff. You will finally have something interesting to read about!

I've been looking around for grad schools for a couple years from now. The one that looks like the one I would most like is in Chicago. Which is great because I'd be back close to everyone. BUT it's cold there! That's the first time I kind of realized I don't know if I want to go back to cold weather. It's so nice here to be able to ride your bike in January and just be outside...might have to try & find a school around here. The problem is that I think it's going to be so hard to get into the field I want to get into. At least, I think I'll have to start at the bottom (a.k.a make NO money) and work my way up...I just don't know where to start with all of that. I think I would like to get into international aid/relief/development, whatever you want to call it. All the jobs I see obviously call for years of experience in program development and/or supervising and all this stuff, but of course at the same time, even the local jobs of that nature call for experience...so it always comes back to that question of how do you get experience if everything requires experience?? I dunno. I'll just keep trying to get into some volunteer work and meet people and everything and see where I end up...

Hello everyone!! I’m so excited (and a little scared!) to be posting this (and you might be just as scared to be reading it!!) I have committed once again to training for a crazy endurance event and raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I got through the Los Angeles Marathon last year and just this month I finished a ½ marathon in Phoenix with Team In Training. This time around I will be training for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride on June 1st. Sounds great right? This is a 100 mile bike ride at Lake Tahoe!! AHH! I have also increased my goal to raise $5,000 this time. Why do you ask? Because we have not cured blood cancers yet! Here are some scary facts for you to consider:

• An estimated 747,465 Americans have blood cancers.
• Every 5 minutes, someone is diagnosed.
• Every 10 minutes someone dies from blood cancers
• This year 35,070 people will be diagnosed with leukemia
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under 20

There have been some amazing breakthroughs with medications which take some forms of leukemia from being a death sentence, to being a chronic disease. This has been made possible by the support and research provided by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and more importantly, by donations from YOU! There is still so much to be done by all of us, which is why I am asking you to donate generously to this amazing cause! As you know, everything you donate is tax deductible, 75% of every dollar goes directly to the mission of patient care and research (which is working!!)
Please follow the link below to make your donation. I greatly appreciate it, as do the millions fighting blood cancers right now!! Thanks in advance everyone!

http://www.active.com/donate/tntdms/chelsbels

If you would rather write a check, you can make it to “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society” and ask me for my address :)

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

**Pass this along to everyone you know they can help in finding a cure too!

No News

Hey All! Not much to say really. I was going to write a blog last week about something, and now I have no idea what that would have been about...

Let's see...last weekend was a 3 day weekend...but what the hell did I do? Saturday me & Jeff went to an information meeting about the Century Ride, so I'm 99% sure we're going to be doing that. There's only a sliver of a doubt because it's a big fundraising amount we need to get, $4200! So Jeff & I talked about working on that together thinking maybe it'd be easier to raise that much.

What else? This weekend was a really quiet weekend. Some people came over Friday night. Yesterday Ivan & I put a deposit on some furniture! Yes we're growing up and slowing down the moving pace by buying furniture. We just put it on layaway until our lease is up; we're thinking about moving into a house in July, so if we do that we'll just have the furniture moved straight into a house, and if we don't, then the rented furniture can be picked up and the new stuff moved here. The couch is AMAZING! haha It's a big L shaped one, and the pillows and cusions are filled with down! Oh it's so cozy. And the ottoman is gigantic. We love big ottomans...does that sound weird? Anyway, we're excited. And it would be exciting to live in a house too. (With a pool of course!)

Work's good. No news there really. I told my company I want to stay with this district, assuming they still need a contract next year. Which I have no doubts that they will. It's a growing district and I'm sure some of the contractors, at least 1 I think, won't be back next year. We'll see. Worst case scenario is that I have to work in a nearby district. Obviously I hope that's not the case, but I'm used to change so it won't be the end of the world.

I think I can say that Charlie is officially housetrained and it happened really quickly. In the 3 weeks we've doing this hardcore she's only had 1 accident. It's pretty nice actually.

So I guess not much more to say. I'm excited for people to start visiting-- Breigh is coming in a couple weeks (Breigh who I worked with in California), my parents will be here in early March, Becky is coming at the end of March for a weekend, and my penpal Cathy is coming the first week of June. Then I will be heading home for a couple weeks. I'm just really excited for summer!!! I'm going to be able to take the smmer off for the first time and I am just SOOOOO excited to do nothing, or whatever I want!! I've been thinking about taking golf lessons. There is a place where I can get 6 lessons for $250, I'd pay that. I'd like to just take some lessons and see if it's something I could get into. I mean we live in a place where you can golf year round and there are millions of golf courses so I figure I should try it out. There's also cheap tennis lessons at the courts near us, thought that would be fun too. I've played before but taking lessons would be fun and a good way to meet people too.

Anyway, that's all for now. Just enjoying a rainy day watching movies in bed. Ivan is volunteering at a Super Bowl event all day. Later.

Heath Ledger

Is it weird that I am that upset about someone dying who I don't know personally? Because I am genuinely upset and disturbed by him dying. I was a huge fan of his...in fact years ago I swore I was going to name my kids Heath & Gabriel (Gabriel after his character in The Patriot). I think it's just so sad I guess because he's so young, talented, and has a young child. I dunno. And I keep reading all the updates about the stories rolling in, they had a press release from his family, and they had talked to Michelle Williams (ex, and mother of the child) and ya know, everyone is just distraught obviously. They did say he'd had pneumonia and trouble sleeping, and it was ruled accidental. I guess that's why it's so sad, he wasn't trying to do this. Can you imagine? Just so sad.

Pics from the 1/2

Just follow this link if you want to see pics from the 1/2 marathon. You can search by my last name or by bib #45145.

http://www.asiorders.com/view_event.asp?EVENTID=29137

Enjoy!

1/2 Marathon Finisher!

Whew, no getting scooped up in a van for me :) Sunday was the 1/2 marathon in Phoenix which I "trained" for with Team In Training again, this time as a mentor. Which is why I wasn't filling up your inboxes begging for money! As a mentor, you have the option of not fundraising, I think it's every other season. So you got this season off everyone, but just wait until my next one, I'll expect some donations again, although I'll try not get mean about it this time :) haha

So anyway, Saturday night was the pasta party where we all go carb load and listen to people make us cry. You get the standard motivational person, and then we get a survivor, or someone still in treatment telling us all these crazy things, all the while making you feel wonderful and horrible. Walking into the dinner is the "red carpet" where all the coaches, coordinators, and mentors make all this noise & cheer & blow whistles in your face and all this stuff. This year I was doing the cheering. I remember last year being a bit traumatized because you don't know it's coming and it's so loud, and so many people, and you just want to cry a little bit! So it was kinda of fun to watch it happen to other people! haha

They had some crazy numbers to tell us too. Let's see if I can remember--this year is TNT's 20th anniversary...in that 20 years, there have been over 340,000 participants just like me, who have raised..............$800,000 million dollars for research!!! Can you believe that number? Wow! I'm trying to remember some of the other things they said...something like 61% of money used to go directly to research, now it's 95%!! Anyway, there were some crazy numbers, to be VERY proud of, but there is still so much work to be done. There's no cure!!! Although there has been wonderful progress with the medication, Gleevac, which these people will have to take everyday for the rest of their lives, and within I think 10 years or less they hope to have like 11 more medications available...(Still no cure you guys!)

Anyway, the race itself was good. A nice flat course, perfect 65 degree weather, a band at every mile, plenty of sports drinks & water offered along the way. Can't really complain. The miles seemed to just tick by...until like mile 9 that is. Then they got a little slower...but I'm only having minor aches & pains, nothing too major. I finished in just at 4 hours, since I walked the whole thing, which I'm content with.

This whole season was a weird one for me. I feel like I wasn't committed for some reason. I think because I came into the season late maybe?? Anyway, as every race, pasta party, or any TNT event will do, it reminds me of why I sign up in the first place. And I'm completely re motivated. So, I still have visions of the triple crown (which means I need to complete a 100 mile bike ride and a triathlon!), and a Hike (they have a newer program called Hike For Discovery), and I really want to get up to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, which is a TNT event (and there are SF firemen in tuxes waiting at the finish line with Tiffany necklaces!) AND there is a completely non-TNT related goal that would be so cool to accomplish-- there are a series of 1/2 & full marathons across the country called the "Rock-n-Roll" series (this one in Phoenix was one of them) and they have different medals for completing the races-- for example, you get a 26.2 rock star medal for a full or two halves, a 39.3 medal for a full & half or 3 halves, and so on, a gold musical note for completing back to back marathons in 5 weeks! (WOW!), and if you do at least 5 of their races (all of this in the same calendar year) you get a GIANT gold medal that says "ROCK STAR" on it. It's just amazing. There is a guy on our team this year who did this and we saw all his medals, which were awesome.

So I've got some decisions to make...what do I do first??? I need a break...I need my Saturdays to sleep in on for awhile, but I don't know what to do first. Obviously there's no rush, these events will be here for years and years...but what to do......

P.S.-- I'll need your help :)

Back to Life, bah!

So it's back to life as usual now.

I flew back to AZ on Wednesday the 2nd, with an hour delay in Denver, 40 minutes of sitting on a non-moving plane, and then only to land to find my luggage didn't make the trip with me!!! Finally got back to Surprise at about 2 a.m. My luggage, although torn open!, was delivered to me about 6 o'clock Thursday evening.

On Thursday Ivan took the day off work to hang out with me. We went out to lunch (Red Robin is wonderful) and to the movies to see Juno, which was good. A funny, witty movie about teen pregnancy...because teen pregnancy is so funny right? haha

Friday I rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned the heck out of our carpet. See....when we got Charlie, we got lazy. My intention was for Lucy to housetrain Charlie. I thought she might just pick up on what Lucy was doing...for everyone's reference: this is not the case. One well trained dog will not teach another dog to pee on a pad. So it's time to step in and give Lucy a break. So anyway, I cleaned the carpet and we've been taking them outside to pee like every 2 hours, while watching Charlie like a hawk. It's been 6 days and we've had only one occurrence of peeing on the carpet, which she was locked up for awhile for that one. I just hope she gets it eventually. Right now she's just not getting the opportunity to pee on the carpet, but I hope it actually clicks with her to NOT pee on the carpet, by choice that is :) We'll see.

What else...Saturday I had my last practice before the half-marathon... I'm sooo not ready. But oh well. I've done it before, I'll do it again, and if I'm so slow I get scooped up in a van and carried to the finish line, I actually won't really care! I've got nothing left to prove to myself and I just didn't put any effort really into training this season. So, I'm ready for it just be over with I guess.

That day I also did a little shopping with my gift cards and got a shelf, and a wall hanging. Nice little additions to the place I think. That night was Johnathan's birthday so we played this card game called "Skit Skat." Which was super fun. And drank of course. Drank too much. And Jeff came back from visiting people in Utah & Vegas. I ended up in bed sick most of Sunday. Why this always happens to me I don't know! Ok, I do know why, but I swear I always think I've stopped in time and I never do apparently.

Back to work on Monday. Which I sat there thinking...is there anyway at all that I can work part time? I really don't want to go back to work! So on the one hand it's nice to be back in a routine and everything, and on the other I could have used about another week off work! I'm so looking forward to this summer. The plan is to actually take the summer off. 12 whole weeks! Can you imagine? I would think maybe I'd be ready to get back to work then right...? We'll see. The most I've ever had off at one time was 6 weeks. Which was nice, but sucked because I hadn't planned for 6 weeks. This will be different because I'm planning on no income. Or at least very little income. I might see some home kids. At this moment I'm thinking I wouldn't want to see more than 5. Which means I could work like 1 hour a day, or 1 day a week, or just 2 days a week each day a couple of hours. Sounds magical to me. haha

This week some mutual friends of Johnathan & mine are coming to visit. Although it's a horrible weekend because I'll be busy with Team In Training and the marathon & all of that jazz. They are going to Vegas on Saturday night, which is probably good so I don't have the distractions before the race and be tempted to like drink all night and skip the race all together. hah....not a bad idea necessarily :)

So I guess that's about it... I've probably wasted enough time and should do some work...huh?

Snow snow everywhere!

It's snowing! I haven't really seen snow in like 3 years because whenever I am home it doesn't really snow...and right now it is snowing like nobody's business. It's pretty. However, it started snowing while I was driving in Bloomington. I really didn't know if I should drive slow, was it slick? I couldn't remember. But everyone else on the roads started driving like snails imediately. So I did too. I think they were being a little over precautious, but I also thought it wouldn't be good to be cocky and end up in the ditch either. Now the wind is picking up too!

So anyway, my trip home ends in a couple of days. This has been my laziest trip home ever! I saw almost everyone I normally see, just not as much as usual. I was content just sitting at home, being on vacation, and just taking a break from everything. Is that bad? Oh well. Tonight I'm opting to hang with my family and play board games instead of drinking..I need a break from drinking! I've only drank a couple times while I was home, so it's more like I need a break from it because of all the drinking & late hours in Arizona. Maybe that's the difference. When I would come home to visit from California I was socially starved, and now when I come home from Arizona I want a break from being social!!

So, yet again, I've been thinking a lot about South Africa. I go so much back and forth about this-- about whether I should go this year or wait until next year. On the one hand I've been waiting long enough I think. On the other, I know how good I will feel if I pay off all my debt! I dunno. I'm just going to have to wait & see how the saving/bill paying goes. Seems like I write about this all the time, but it's always on my mind. So today I woke up and thought, well if everything is going well and I decide to go, I need a passport. My plan was to get a passport today. Which I didn't. The post office closed early & Walgreens was going to take forever to get a picture done. I might try again on Wednesday. Besides, you need them for even going to Mexico now, so I should just have one.

Well anyway, as I was looking through my 'memory box' to get my birth certificate I looked through all my stuff from my internship in Florida...what a great time that was! It just made me think I needed to get to South Africa even quicker though! Who freakin' knows. I'm so wishy washy. I know I want to go and will go, I just can't figure out when. AHH!

2008 is Gonna Be Great

Yes, yes 2008 is gonna be great! 2007 wasn't a bad year by any means, but I really feel good about 2008. Ivan & I have finally got our money under control, are making headway, and have big plans. Our first year out of college we moved to California and lived like we were on a year long vacation. Our second year in California we got rid of credit cards and struggled for a long while to recover from our 6 weeks off work... we didn't plan well enough for that 'summer break' because I didn't expect it to be that long. And adjusting to living with only the money you make is well, it's really hard. This year in Arizona things have been so much better! It was a rocky start because I had a lot of car troubles but being able to pay for those in cash without any real difficulties is pretty awesome in itself. So, we are now firmly on our feet, 'off' credit cards (because yes, I would say we, as most people are, were addicted, or at the very least dependant on them for some time), and paying off bills, BIG TIME! Financially, 2008 is going to be OUR year!!

So I am just going to look at what I'd like to improve upon in 2008. I refuse to call them resolutions. I don't plan to just magically change my life 3 days from now. These are things I want to change, work towards, learn more about etc. in 2008. And I am completely confident that I will.

1. Obviously number 1 is to pay off old debt and majorly save some money. This should be no problem at all if I just focus. And hell, even if I don't focus 100%, this should still be very feasible now that the holidays are over, I have started my second job, credit cards are out, we already 'binged' on our new TV's and entertainment center, and we're ready to committ to our financial goals. I'm super psyched about this. And it helps that I am at home right now and everywhere I turn everyone is obsessed with Dave Ramsy, this financial guru, and they appear to be doing very well. Anyway, it's great motivation and I really have no excuses left. This is OUR year.

2. As usual I need to get my health in check. I have been on a yo yo weight thing for years and once again I have packed on some pounds. I just need to get more active. I need to find something I enjoy. Ivan just bought me a bike so I do think that will help. I'm not saying I'm going to lose a ton of weight or anything like that, I just need to put more effort into being active and healthy (and ENJOYING being active and healthy).

3. I want to learn more about Buddhism...am I going to be a "Buddhist?" Doubtful! But I think the Buddhist way of life is something that anyone should be trying to live. I think it's a positive way of life...and at the very least, I just want to learn about it. Even more than that I just want to focus on positive thinking. I have 2 Buddhist books right now I'm reading so I can see what it's really all about. I even found a Buddhist group in Surprise. I'm scared of it though...We'll see. Like I said, I just want to learn about it. ***And for those of you worrying and questioning this, I'd just like to lay out the disclaimer that Buddhism really IS NOT a religion.

Those are my biggies for 08, finances, health, and positive thinking. Can't hurt anyone.

My goal had been to get to South Africa this year and I don't know if that is going to happen or not. Seeing as how I'm trying to eliminate my old debt I think I should do that first and next year be able to go to South Africa with complete financial freedom! haha On the other hand I SOOOOO want to go and talk South Africa into the living right & positive thinking category very easily. We shall see. Maybe money will be amazingingly great... :) haha...

Anyway, I'm very excited about 2008 and am sure it will be a fantastic year!

Checked Out!

Dude I am so checked out! I'm at work and I cannot focus on anything. I don't have many kids on Friday mornings anyway, and they are only in school a half day today, so it's going to be a long day! Yes, I have stuff I need to do. But I'm so tired, and just checked out! I'm ready for a break from work. I'm ready to come home. Mostly I am just ready to be done for today!! SOOOOO Ready!!!!!!!!

Our New Entertainment Center

So this was long overdue. This weekend I finally got an entertainment center. Before our stuff was just sitting on a coffee table and just looked sloppy!! I'm so happy! Next we need somewhere else to put the computer. This'll do for now though.

Me & my bike!!

I Am Legend

So, I started my second job, and it's good. At the moment I'm just seeing one kid because I have to wait for more information on the other kids. I have to tell you though, I am not really looking forward to more kids ya know? Ah well. It won't kill me.

Ivan gave me my Christmas present Friday...well he was going to give it to me Friday and then I walked in while he was hiding it and so I got it a few hours early :) He got me a bike!! I've been wanting one and he got me a better one than I would have bought myself. So it's a beach cruiser---think old school looking bike with a big seat, fenders, and it's all pink. I'm so excited! When I got it I felt like I was 5 years old again. It was awesome.
Friday night we had a Christmas party at my coworkers house, Karen & Bob. Karen is a hearing impaired teacher that I share an office with and Bob is the school psychologist at my school. It was a good time. Our first adult party I guess. Bob, Karen, their kids, and a lot of the friends are musical, so they sang & played the guitar & drums all night. They were good too. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday morning I had to get up for practice. This week was the longest practice of the season before we taper down, 20 miles for the people doing the full marathon, and 10 miles for the people doing the half marathon. I didn't run, instead I hlped set up the fuel stations (orange slices, PB&J, gatorade) and cheer everyone else on. It was fun because it wasn't just our team, we practiced with the East Valley as well. I met the director for Team in Training here who also was the cycle coach for 6 years. She just about has me convinced to sign up for the century ride, which is a 100 mile bike ride. Eventually I'd like to do the century ride & a triathlon with them to earn the "triple crown" award. So, we'll see :)

All day Saturday Ivan was in a charity golf tournament (which his team placed 2nd by the way) so I went out to lunch with Jeff & his girlfriend Janice who was in town from Vegas. Then we went & saw "I Am Legend." Which I thought was awesome!!! It's weird because all the guys (Jeff, Johnathan & our neighbor Jared) didn't like it nearly as well as me & Janice did. Either way, it was good, and worth seeing. Not to mention, Will Smith is getting better & better looking the older he gets, and his body is outta control!!!

I'll be home in a week, on the 23rd!! YAY! See ya soon!

New Tattoo!

Hey there! Been awhile I guess. Let's re-cap.

I'm starting my second job doing home therapy this week. Right now I'm starting with just two kids. I'm scared! These kids might be more severe that I've been working with, probably more work!, and having the parents there can be an added stress you know? Normally I don't care but when I'm getting to know a child then yes, I would rather work with them one on one to get to know them. Oh well. I will survive. And the money will be nice too.

I'll be home in 3 weeks! I can't believe Christmas is only 3 weeks away. It's gone soooo fast. Time is just flying.

Ivan & I went and looked at furniture so I think we might be buying our own before next year! (you know my furniture is provided right now through the travel company). It's pretty dang exciting actually.
And now the fun stuff. Holly came out to visit for the weekend. We had such a great time. It was so nice to have a girl around! And someone from home! Friday night we went out to dinner and then just drank here with Katie from downstairs. Saturday we went & got tattoos!!! It was a good time. I've wanted another one for like two years so I finally got it. It's another small one on my left wrist. The definition/description is:

"The home to the Akan is a special place. A home which has a fence around it is considered to be an ideal residence.The fence symbolically separates and secures the family from the outside. Because of the security and the protection that a fence affords, the symbol is also associated with the security and safety one finds in love."

I'm very happy with it. Holly's is pretty awesome. It's a good sized one but the picture makes it look bigger than it really is. So that was super fun.

That night we went out for eat & drinks at the Yard House, which as usually was flipping fabulous. The food was awesome and they make a bomb ass appletini!!!

After that we went to this bar in Surprise called Coyote Alley. We danced there all night. I have not danced in forever! It was so much fun and like old times.

This morning Holly had requested Jeff's french toast since I talked it up so much. (It is almost a religious experience I think...haha...I asked Holly if for her first time she would like to be along with the french toast :)
Then it was time for Holly to go. It was so good to have here here! And next time she will come for longer!!

So I guess that's it. Head over to my pics to check out the tats.
Later