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...