This year I am still participating in the Avon Walk, however I am doing it as a crew member. It is difficult to raise money when you're in your mid-20s, and especially with the economy in the state it is in. However, I am still accepting donations. As a crew member, I can raise money, I just don't need to raise a certain amount of money. So any donations are accepted.
Now that I got the fundraising part of out the way, I wanted to let you know that I have taken a leadership position for the Rocky Mountain Crew. I am going to be the team leader for Quick Stop C. It's not a huge responsibility, but I will be overseeing the quick stop and the 4 other people who will be working it with me. According to Sarah, who is the leader for the crew, the four women who will be working the quick stop with me all signed up together. But it will be a lot of fun!
I have my first team leader meeting next week, and we will be meeting on a monthly basis. My main responsibility until the event will be acting as a liaison to the other four ladies at my stop, making sure that they know all of the information about the event.
We have some really fun sounding meetings coming up. In addition to the first team leader meeting, the following week there will be a crew meeting (for everyone in the crew), and also a casual get together at Hooters! How fitting!
I am also planning on buying a pink DU t-shirt (yes, they make those). Granted I am not one to ever wear pink, however with my participation in the Avon Walk, my pink wardrobe seems to be growing!
I will be posting here occasionally with periodic updates leading up to the event, however it won't be quite like last time, since there are no training or fundraising updates.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Recap
So here I am back in Colorado, after my weekend of walking marathon (literally) lengths in LA. It was a really great weekend. This is going to be quite a long e-mail.
There were four of us who walked together, my mom, her friend Charlene, her friend Denise, and myself. Charlene, I found out, is a breast cancer survivor, as was her mother. Her mom had breast cancer, survived, and lived until last year to the ripe old age of 101. We discovered toward the end of it too that Denise has melanoma. So out of the four of us, three went/are going through cancer, and hopefully what I did will help my generation and the younger ones to prevent getting cancer.
My mom picked me up from the airport and we headed to the hotel in Long Beach. This was where the Event Eve was, which was our check in. We started seeing all these crazy and fun signs, shirts and buttons. This whole weekend was all about boobs, and it was as politically incorrect as you could get away with for one weekend. It was great.
Personally, I got two pins, one that said "Save 2nd Base" and one that said "Save the Jugs" and has a moonshine bottle on it (I gave that one to Zach).
We saw everything you can think of, and I have a lot of pictures of some of the stuff. 
There were slogans "Squeeze 'em for a Reason", "Get your mammies grammed", "Healthy Hooters", "Bumps Ahead", etc. We spent a better part of the weekend trying to come up with our own names. Charlene and Denise came down with Charlene's husband Chuck and my dad. We all went out to a yummy Italian dinner before settling in to get a good night's sleep before our very early morning on Saturday.
Saturday we had to be up at 5 a.m. to try to get over to the opening ceremony, where we got breakfast and had someone lead us through some stretches, and heard some inspirational speeches.
One was a lady who did the Avon Walk last year for her sister, and within the past year had been diagnosed herself with breast cancer. She had surgery on Tuesday, but was still going to walk whatever she was able to do.
There were 2100 of us doing this walk and we had raised over $5 million.
We walked through some really nice areas, including about 6 miles along the beach, and then through marinas and everything. It was a nice change for a land-locked girl like me. After lunch we started moving more inland. We got to 13 miles, the halfway point. This was an option for some people who were only doing a half-marathon each day. We decided to keep on going. Which we did. It was a long day full of walking, but we made it through somehow. There were two options, one of camping out at Wellness Village (which is the name of the end of the first day) and the other of staying at the hotel. My mom's vocabulary doesn't have camping in it, so the hotel it was, which was a great idea because there was a hot tub. That felt so good after walking all day. We went out to dinner that night and passed out super early.
Sunday morning we didn't have to wake up as early, but we still had to deal with getting over to the starting point. We get outside and of course we're about 150 deep in a line to get over there, and the busses weren't even there. They were sending two busses over to pick us up, but we weren't going to be within those two busses. We ended up having to take a cab over, because the starting time was 7:30 to 8:00 and they were closing the course at 8:00. We wouldn't have even been able to make it to the starting point if we had waited for the bus. I feel bad for the other people who were waiting around, I don't know what happened to them. (The transportation was the only negative part about the weekend, everything else was incredbily well-organized).
Sunday everyone was walking a little slower. We were all doing what I called "the blister shuffle". Personally, the bottom of my left foot was pretty much one giant blister, but with a thorough coating of moleskin I was able to make it through. Sunday actually wasn't that difficult, until around mile 8 or 9 and then everything just kicked in. All we wanted to do was make it to the finish line. Needless to say, that last mile was so energizing! It was pure adrenaline that we were running (or rather walking) on by that time. We got to the finish line and my dad and Chuck were there to greet us. We didn't stick around too long, we finished about an hour before the closing ceremonies started. I was fortunate enough to have brought my flip flops and changed into them as soon as I possibly could. I also signed up for next year, to do the Rocky Mountains one. Someone I had talked to during the walk said that they signed up for crew, so that they didn't have to worry about doing the fund raising. So that's exactly what I signed up to do. So I am going to crew the Rocky Mountain Avon Walk in 2009. I do have the option of being a walker if I change my mind. As much as I would love to do the actual walk again, I just don't want to have to worry about raising all that money all over again especially in this economy. But the following year I'll be a walker again. I like the alternating theory.
It was a really inspirational and emotional weekend. There were these people who were cheering us along the entire time, following the route, playing music for us and cheering us along. We had our unofficial mascot, which was a Golden Retriever whose mom was doing the walk and we are all dog people, so we always stopped to pet her anytime we walked by her. Also there was the motorcycle crew, which were Harley Davidson guys who were there for us at all major intersections, helping us get through the traffic.
Everyone this weekend was really amazing to be out there doing whatever they were doing, be it walking, crewing, volunteerings, or cheering. While I could barely walk Sunday afternoon, it was definitely worthwhile and I should be able to start walking the dogs again as soon as tomorrow. However, I was thinking ahead of time and did remember to schedule a massage for today :)
Here is a link to the photos I took, hopefully I will be adding the ones Charlene took soon. Avon Walk Photos
or cut and paste: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbNmbRo3csmTjQ
There were four of us who walked together, my mom, her friend Charlene, her friend Denise, and myself. Charlene, I found out, is a breast cancer survivor, as was her mother. Her mom had breast cancer, survived, and lived until last year to the ripe old age of 101. We discovered toward the end of it too that Denise has melanoma. So out of the four of us, three went/are going through cancer, and hopefully what I did will help my generation and the younger ones to prevent getting cancer.
My mom picked me up from the airport and we headed to the hotel in Long Beach. This was where the Event Eve was, which was our check in. We started seeing all these crazy and fun signs, shirts and buttons. This whole weekend was all about boobs, and it was as politically incorrect as you could get away with for one weekend. It was great.
Personally, I got two pins, one that said "Save 2nd Base" and one that said "Save the Jugs" and has a moonshine bottle on it (I gave that one to Zach).
We saw everything you can think of, and I have a lot of pictures of some of the stuff. 
There were slogans "Squeeze 'em for a Reason", "Get your mammies grammed", "Healthy Hooters", "Bumps Ahead", etc. We spent a better part of the weekend trying to come up with our own names. Charlene and Denise came down with Charlene's husband Chuck and my dad. We all went out to a yummy Italian dinner before settling in to get a good night's sleep before our very early morning on Saturday.
Saturday we had to be up at 5 a.m. to try to get over to the opening ceremony, where we got breakfast and had someone lead us through some stretches, and heard some inspirational speeches.
One was a lady who did the Avon Walk last year for her sister, and within the past year had been diagnosed herself with breast cancer. She had surgery on Tuesday, but was still going to walk whatever she was able to do.
There were 2100 of us doing this walk and we had raised over $5 million.
We walked through some really nice areas, including about 6 miles along the beach, and then through marinas and everything. It was a nice change for a land-locked girl like me. After lunch we started moving more inland. We got to 13 miles, the halfway point. This was an option for some people who were only doing a half-marathon each day. We decided to keep on going. Which we did. It was a long day full of walking, but we made it through somehow. There were two options, one of camping out at Wellness Village (which is the name of the end of the first day) and the other of staying at the hotel. My mom's vocabulary doesn't have camping in it, so the hotel it was, which was a great idea because there was a hot tub. That felt so good after walking all day. We went out to dinner that night and passed out super early.
Sunday morning we didn't have to wake up as early, but we still had to deal with getting over to the starting point. We get outside and of course we're about 150 deep in a line to get over there, and the busses weren't even there. They were sending two busses over to pick us up, but we weren't going to be within those two busses. We ended up having to take a cab over, because the starting time was 7:30 to 8:00 and they were closing the course at 8:00. We wouldn't have even been able to make it to the starting point if we had waited for the bus. I feel bad for the other people who were waiting around, I don't know what happened to them. (The transportation was the only negative part about the weekend, everything else was incredbily well-organized).
Sunday everyone was walking a little slower. We were all doing what I called "the blister shuffle". Personally, the bottom of my left foot was pretty much one giant blister, but with a thorough coating of moleskin I was able to make it through. Sunday actually wasn't that difficult, until around mile 8 or 9 and then everything just kicked in. All we wanted to do was make it to the finish line. Needless to say, that last mile was so energizing! It was pure adrenaline that we were running (or rather walking) on by that time. We got to the finish line and my dad and Chuck were there to greet us. We didn't stick around too long, we finished about an hour before the closing ceremonies started. I was fortunate enough to have brought my flip flops and changed into them as soon as I possibly could. I also signed up for next year, to do the Rocky Mountains one. Someone I had talked to during the walk said that they signed up for crew, so that they didn't have to worry about doing the fund raising. So that's exactly what I signed up to do. So I am going to crew the Rocky Mountain Avon Walk in 2009. I do have the option of being a walker if I change my mind. As much as I would love to do the actual walk again, I just don't want to have to worry about raising all that money all over again especially in this economy. But the following year I'll be a walker again. I like the alternating theory.
It was a really inspirational and emotional weekend. There were these people who were cheering us along the entire time, following the route, playing music for us and cheering us along. We had our unofficial mascot, which was a Golden Retriever whose mom was doing the walk and we are all dog people, so we always stopped to pet her anytime we walked by her. Also there was the motorcycle crew, which were Harley Davidson guys who were there for us at all major intersections, helping us get through the traffic.
Everyone this weekend was really amazing to be out there doing whatever they were doing, be it walking, crewing, volunteerings, or cheering. While I could barely walk Sunday afternoon, it was definitely worthwhile and I should be able to start walking the dogs again as soon as tomorrow. However, I was thinking ahead of time and did remember to schedule a massage for today :)
Here is a link to the photos I took, hopefully I will be adding the ones Charlene took soon. Avon Walk Photos
or cut and paste: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbNmbRo3csmTjQ
Monday, September 8, 2008
Final Week
This is the final countdown. There are four of us that are going to be walking together, my mom, her friend Charlene, her friend Denise, and myself.
Friday I fly into Burbank Airport and my mom picks me up, and we go straight down to Long Beach to check in for the Event Eve. My dad and Chuck (Charlene's husband) are coming down and all six of us are having dinner together. Then it's off to a very early sleep, because we have to be at the starting line, at the Queen Mary, at either 6:30 or 7. I don't remember which one, but at that early in the morning, there isn't much of a difference. We have to keep a 3.2 mile per hour pace in order to be able to walk the entire course in time, which includes breaks and lunches. I know that I will be bringing my Camelbak, because while there are water stops every 2 or 3 miles, I think it will be best to have it in between stops. We arrive at the Wellness Village sometime before 7 pm, where they will shuttle us back to the hotel (my mom's version of "roughing it") and we will promptly pass out. Assuming we wake up on Sunday morning, I believe we have about a 7:30 am start, to finish off by 3:00 pm. The closing ceremony is back at the Queen Mary, from 3:00 to 3:30, and then we will head on back to my parents' house.
I am quite glad that I decided to fly back on Monday, rather than Sunday night. I am also very glad that I decided to change my seat to one where there would be a partition in front of me, rather than a cramped seat. If I am able to move on Monday, I will still probably want all the room I can in order to stretch out. I get back in to Denver on Monday night, and the event will be over.
While the event will only be one weekend, I know that the memories will last a lifetime. I am bringing my camera with me, and am planning on taking many pictures during the event, which I will post on here.
I probably won't be able to post on here during the event, since I am not bringing my laptop with me, but I will write about it as soon as I get a chance.
Friday I fly into Burbank Airport and my mom picks me up, and we go straight down to Long Beach to check in for the Event Eve. My dad and Chuck (Charlene's husband) are coming down and all six of us are having dinner together. Then it's off to a very early sleep, because we have to be at the starting line, at the Queen Mary, at either 6:30 or 7. I don't remember which one, but at that early in the morning, there isn't much of a difference. We have to keep a 3.2 mile per hour pace in order to be able to walk the entire course in time, which includes breaks and lunches. I know that I will be bringing my Camelbak, because while there are water stops every 2 or 3 miles, I think it will be best to have it in between stops. We arrive at the Wellness Village sometime before 7 pm, where they will shuttle us back to the hotel (my mom's version of "roughing it") and we will promptly pass out. Assuming we wake up on Sunday morning, I believe we have about a 7:30 am start, to finish off by 3:00 pm. The closing ceremony is back at the Queen Mary, from 3:00 to 3:30, and then we will head on back to my parents' house.
I am quite glad that I decided to fly back on Monday, rather than Sunday night. I am also very glad that I decided to change my seat to one where there would be a partition in front of me, rather than a cramped seat. If I am able to move on Monday, I will still probably want all the room I can in order to stretch out. I get back in to Denver on Monday night, and the event will be over.
While the event will only be one weekend, I know that the memories will last a lifetime. I am bringing my camera with me, and am planning on taking many pictures during the event, which I will post on here.
I probably won't be able to post on here during the event, since I am not bringing my laptop with me, but I will write about it as soon as I get a chance.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
10 days!
Obviously I have been very bad about keeping this updated, but August was also a ridiculousy busy month for me.
So now I have ten days left until I leave for LA and check in for the Event Eve. Unfortunately my training hasn't been all that I would have liked it to be. I have been working long and late hours, which doens't give me a lot of time during the day or after work. It's not much of an excuse because I know I should make time for it. On the bright side, when I was in LA about a month ago, my mom and I did go on a 4 mile, 1 hour walk, and there were no problems there. It was very humid though, something I am definitely not used to out here in Colorado! But, in less than two weeks, I will be back there again, and geared up to walk 39.3 miles in two days!
As of right now I am actually 99% towards my goal! I surpassed the Avon Walk goal of $1800, and had set my own goal to be $2500. As of this morning I am at $2400+. That makes me excited, and I know people have said they have some more coming to me.
I am just really excited about this whole weekend an am very grateful for all of the help I have had in getting out there!
So now I have ten days left until I leave for LA and check in for the Event Eve. Unfortunately my training hasn't been all that I would have liked it to be. I have been working long and late hours, which doens't give me a lot of time during the day or after work. It's not much of an excuse because I know I should make time for it. On the bright side, when I was in LA about a month ago, my mom and I did go on a 4 mile, 1 hour walk, and there were no problems there. It was very humid though, something I am definitely not used to out here in Colorado! But, in less than two weeks, I will be back there again, and geared up to walk 39.3 miles in two days!
As of right now I am actually 99% towards my goal! I surpassed the Avon Walk goal of $1800, and had set my own goal to be $2500. As of this morning I am at $2400+. That makes me excited, and I know people have said they have some more coming to me.
I am just really excited about this whole weekend an am very grateful for all of the help I have had in getting out there!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
End of July
July has come and is nearly gone. It has been a really hectic month as far as jobs was concerned, at the beginning of the month I went from two jobs to one job full time. I also have had a lot of planning to do, between my trip to LA next week and graduate school. But everything is settled now, I took my GRE test yesterday (it's like the SAT for grad school). I leave for LA on Sunday and will be there for a week for Steph's wedding. That means getting my bridesmaid dress squared away (which I picked up, fully altered, yesterday), the dogs boarded, and all of our travel arrangements. I leave on Sunday, Zach gets in on Friday, and we both leave the following Sunday. We're getting a rental car to get around LA, and my friend Lauren will be staying with me during the week, which will be lots of fun.
I also want to thank EM and Callie, who have helped me out in my fundraising by forwarding my email to their email lists and have gotten me donations as a result. At this point I have over $2110. I do still really want to get to my personal goal of $2500, but at this point I have surpassed Avon's minimum of $1800 so I am all set for the walk. I just need to get my training shoes on, and keep up the walking, although I know next week in LA I will be able to go walking with my mom, which will be really fun.
I also want to thank EM and Callie, who have helped me out in my fundraising by forwarding my email to their email lists and have gotten me donations as a result. At this point I have over $2110. I do still really want to get to my personal goal of $2500, but at this point I have surpassed Avon's minimum of $1800 so I am all set for the walk. I just need to get my training shoes on, and keep up the walking, although I know next week in LA I will be able to go walking with my mom, which will be really fun.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Update
Sorry I've been really bad about keeping this updated. There has been a lot going on in my life lately. For a while there, I was working two jobs, one at the restaurant, and one at the copy center. Well, over 4th of July weekend I received a phone call saying that the restaurant was not opening back up. So, I took on the copy center full time. That transition has led me to working a whole variety of hours, so I don't really feel like I had the same routine that I had before. I am also studying for the GRE, which I am going to take on July 29th; I wanted to get it out of the way before I went to LA in August, and then I will work on the application process between the August wedding and the September wedding. Things have been busy, and I haven't been able to concentrate on the training for this as much as I had wanted to. Plus, we aren't really getting summer nights here...it's still hot at night. It's made sleeping difficult, and I am even sleeping under an open window with the ceiling fan going full blast. I haven't had as much energy as I would have liked. I think this means I will get back to going to the gym after work. If nothing else, it's air conditioned. I just don't feel right taking the dogs out for long walks in this heat. I do plan on waking up early on Thursday morning and taking Skylar for a hike, that will be fun. Not sure where yet though.
Currently I have raised $1250 so far. I am only $550 away from the limit set by Avon, and I am half way to my goal. I have contacted a few more people, but really most of my fundraising attempts have been put on the back burner for now. I am hoping my trip to LA will help out with donations.
Currently I have raised $1250 so far. I am only $550 away from the limit set by Avon, and I am half way to my goal. I have contacted a few more people, but really most of my fundraising attempts have been put on the back burner for now. I am hoping my trip to LA will help out with donations.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Week 4 continued
I'm playing with that map thing some more. Here's today's walk.
Definitely shorter, because it is still warm and a little bit of a later starting time. And I know this is full of trees!
Definitely shorter, because it is still warm and a little bit of a later starting time. And I know this is full of trees!
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