On the fundraising front . . .

This weekend turned out to great weekend for me on the fundraising side of things. I wearily started out Saturday morning before the sun came up to join the GTCC yard sale in Jamestown. It turned out to be a great investment. After spending a full week gathering items from multiple households, cleaning and pricing things with much help (thanks Cindy and Mom!) - I headed off with a trailer and carload full of treasures to unload onto someone else. After much ado to get across town with coffee in hand and a friend eagerly awaiting my arrival (note the sarcasm font), we unloaded and had things selling before they barely made it out of the car! It was a great morning that turned out a profit of $215! Jenn you're a rockstar for getting up so early and entertaining me!

After that great adventure on Saturday (and a nap on the couch), I quickly shifted gears to cleaning and setting up for a relaxing spa fundraiser. Thanks to consultant Deborah Hunt for her expertise in BeautiControl. We had a small gathering of family and friends to check out the new margarita products. They smelled so good you just wanted to imagine yourself on the beach soaking up the sun. After all the pampering was finished, Deborah made a $50 donation from all the sales. I can't share enough thank yous to those who continue to support and encourage me. I continue to be blessed by so many surrounding me and uplifting my efforts. Thank you as we all continue to fight to find a cure! Happy stepping! Valerie

Spring 2012 Training

It's been awhile since I joined back in the blogging fun. Jules took off for Seattle, we met up in Atlanta and somewhere in between we continued meeting some more amazing Pink People!! So we are back at it again for a new city and an old favorite. This year we hope Chicago will welcome us with good weather to walk in August and Atlanta will keep us humble as we crew and work all hours in October.

I am continuously honored by my survivors through their unconditional generosity and support. I have to share one with you. She smiles at me daily down the hall and supports me with her words telling me how amazing it is that I walk such distances. This has been another rebuilding year of sorts for her (literally and she looks fabulous!!!) She isn't made of money. She has a family to help support and yet she just gave me a gift card to help with getting a new pair of shoes for training. Now of course I'm all weepy, happily weepy no doubt.

My point being, I worry about the fundraising and the training and staying healthy and traveling and I constantly have my pink peeps on my mind - survivors, angels, fellow walkers, fellow crew, friends and family who help out. I never know how it will turn out until all the money is counted and my bags are packed, zipped and labeled with my name and tent number. I worry until glimpses of hope walk through my door and lift me up to say, take this, walk for me because I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you.

Julie, I'm borrowing your words: I am pro-cure. I walk for a future without breast cancer. I walk because I am able. I walk to support women and men like this who offer all they are in return for a healthy life.

Here's to a healthy 2012 training season!
Val

Pink Pic Monday

This Pink Pic Monday is dedicated to all the 3-Day walkers who have recently begun training for their walks and—with the arrival of Spring and sunshine—are planning for some nice, long, outside training walks. Take a lesson from me and don't forget your sunscreen!! 

Case in point:

In the words of Niblette: Owie.
...someone please pass the aloe!!

Yesterday I went to a Braves baseball game with @kscincotta and her hubs, and their friend JT. As we all piled into the car to head to the ballpark for a pre-game tailgate we were talking about our sunscreen. Everyone except me had already liberally applied their high-SPF sunscreen, and I had mine packed to put on. And I did...on my face, my arms, my legs and even feet (no silly shoe tan lines for me!). But as you can tell, I missed my neck. I thought I was doing so good until Kristen pointed out my bright pink neck. Then when I got home last night I noticed that a few of the folks in my Twitter feed had also imbibed in a little too much Vitamin D exposure and were lamenting their pain and overly pink skin tones.

So what does my ballpark burn and my Twitter feed have to do with my fellow 3-day walkers? Just this: There is more than one type of cancer my fellow Pink People! ...and when I say "Pink People" I mean Komen for the Cure Pink, *not* sunburn pink.

As 3-Day'ers we work hard every day to walk, fundraise, and raise awareness for breast cancer. But as our training season begins, in addition to our breast cancer statistics, please also remember this one: According to the CDC, Skin Cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US. In 2007, more than 58,000 people were diagnosed with melanomas of the skin, and 8,461 people died. Please remember those numbers and then liberally apply sunscreen and don't forget to reapply as needed.

In other words, be Pink!...not pink. (ow)

Happy walking Pink People!!
Love & Blessings-
Julie

Skin Cancer Prevention Tips from the CDC:
(source: www.CDC.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/prevention.html)
• Use sunscreen w/SPF 15 or higher and both UVA & UVB protection
   - Reapply if out in the sun more than 2 hours or you're swimming or sweating (hello walkers!!) 
   - Sunscreen expires & looses effectiveness when exposed to high temps. Check your bottles, and if in doubt, just buy new. 
• wear clothing to protect exposed skin
• wear a hat made from tightly woven fabric w/a brim all the way around to shade your neck. If you opt for a baseball cap, be sure to protect your ears and neck w/clothing or good slather of sunscreen. 
• wear sunglasses that wrap around & block as close to 100% of both UVA & UVB rays as possible 
• seek shade, especially during midday hours 

Pink Pic Friday

Yeah, so I hope I can get better at this regular blog post thing...especially the Pink Pic Fridays because they're just so darn fun! :-)

Today's entry: the fresh new design for Team Twitter Seattle. My teammate Nicole and I have come to the decision that the official Team food is ice cream. So I wanted to honor this most awesome bit of deliciousness in our team "logo". I hope you like!

Learn more about Team Twitter Seattle (or register to join the team!) at the3day.org/goto/teamtwitterseattle .

I need to extend some special thanks to some of the 3-Day Tweeps who graciously offered advice along the design process. Thanks to Nicole, Abby, Abbie, Laura, Pam, Kristen, Allie, and Paula. You girls rock!

Pink Pic Friday -Unfinished Fundraiser Quilt

Oooooh...pixel-y.

This is just the top. I know...it looks done, but anyone who's ever made a quilt knows that there's still a lot left to do once the top is done. I wish someone had told me that before I jumped into the project!! Now, I do have to say that I made 2 tops, and one actually did become a finished quilt. But this one, well...

I'd like to finish it. But where to find the time? I was able to do one last year because I wasn't training as much. I did a decent job (as first quilts go), but I'm not so sure it was worth the trade-off with all those training miles. I'm pretty sure DC would have been an even better walk without my blisters.

So this year, no finished quilt, but I have logged well over 135 training miles. And something tells me that I'm going to be better off because of it. ...I'll let you know for sure come November when I'm done walking Tampa.

The time will come when I finish this quilt. And hopefully many more. But for right now, training for this walk and curing breast cancer are just gonna have to come first.

Until next time, Happy walking!

Be blessed-
Julie

ITP Training Walk

This weekend, I had the pleasure of going on a training walk with @kscincotta.  The plan for 10 miles turned into 11.5, but you won't hear any complaints out of me.  Kristen is not only a wonderful training walk buddy, she knows her way around some great walking spots in Atlanta.  Our walk took us in a figure-eight sort of path, with  her place as the center of where the two loops met.  I took a few pictures along the way and wanted to share the beauty of this fair city.  I honestly have no idea what or where some of these things, are.  I'll have to pass the baton to Kristen to help me out there.  But I am sure of this: It's ITP Atlanta.

A pretty view of the city-scape

ummm...YES!

A group of statues along Peachtree

This emblem was on a lamp post just outside Piedmont Park.  Neither Kristen nor I had any idea what it was about.  Thanks to Flags of the World, I found out that this emblem is actually on the Atlanta City flag.  It depicts a phoenix rising from the ashes and the inscription "Resurgens 1847-1865".  "Resurgens" means "rising again" and the first date is the year the city's 1st charter was granted and the second date signifies the year of the "beginning of the city's rehabilitation after its destruction by the Federal armies in 1864." (Atlanta City Ordinance 52-102 (825))

I love a sign with a sense of humor.

Before I'm done, I just have to give a really big "Thanks!" to Kristen.  She not only joined me for a 11+ mile walk, she showed this suburbanite the charms and beauty that my nearby city has to offer.  I am always SO lost when I go inside the perimeter, and I still have very little idea where I was without looking at my walk map, but this little taste makes me want to go back (and soon!) to explore some more.

Happy walking!

-Julie

All Hail! The Power of Twitter!

...especially when it concerns 3-Day'ers!


This is a tale about the power of Twitter in my 3-Day landscape.

I've been on Twitter for a while...like long enough to accumulate a total of 1,149 tweets.  But while I've followed @the3day for well over a year, I hadn't really gotten into the throng of following and followers until a few months ago, when my fundraising and excitement really started to get going.  @JennyKOBrien was the first 3-Day Tweep I followed, then came @60milegirl, @MadameMommy, and @kscincotta.  There's a lot more to my list, so I won't go into them all, but a great many have become very important to me, and I'm so glad that I decided to really jump in.

You remember Heidi and Kristen, right?

Early on the joy was all in learning about each other.  "Where are you from? Where are you walking? Is this your first walk? I love your blog!!"  And then around the time Val and I hosted the Pottery for the Cure, things changed.  Because a couple 3-Day Tweeps...well, they made the trek to Alpharetta to come out to our little fundraiser.  I was in awe.  Because Heidi and Kristen don't live in Alpharetta...they live way NOT in Alpharetta, and both drove an hour or more to come out.  That's big.

Hi.  I'm Mug

And then, about a week after Pottery for the Cure...the next big Twitter happening happened. That's right.  Mug. Who, after about 6 hours of photos and Tweets, became known as @3DayMug and also garnered her own blog:  the adventures of Mug.

A lot started happening about the time of Mug.  My magnet design got noticed and a couple tweeps asked for re-designs (@fatgirlwalkin) and advice on creating their own (@60milegirl).  Then I designed another magnet to take advantage of ATL traffic and a few more tweeps (@lilshadetree @myarmer and others) asked for their own versions.  And because we're all in this thing together, I gladly helped them all. Because the 3 Day isn't a competition.  There's no race to be won.  No prizes for reaching your fundraising minimum first.  The 3-Day is a community, and this is what we do.

Tweep Walk v1.0

And it doesn't stop there!These Twitter connections have even led to a Training Walk!  Yup, four complete strangers decided to meet in a place relatively central to all of us and walk 9 miles.  That picture over there shows us all...@kscincotta with @3DayMug, of course,  @lilshadetree, @gphigirl and me (@knittingbagel).  And what a great walk!  Nine miles provides a lot of time to talk about what we've been up to for fundraising, share blister-prevention tips, talk packing and teams, and share some stories of our individual 3-Day adventures.

But even after all this, why am I bringing up the Twitter thing now?  Because something really big happened today.


It all started because a few of us we chatting about teams...should we be on one? Should we go solo? And do you ever really go solo on a 3-Day?  And then someone (either @AthenasArmoury @fatgirlwalkin or @abby3dayatlanta) said: "feel like Twitter is my 3-Day team".  And that's when the floodgates broke loose.  Shirts were mentioned, corporate sponsorship was tossed out, and now the list of Tweeps on the un-official Team Twitter is pretty darn big.  (I'm not exactly sure how big because ...ummm... IshouldhavebeenworkingandnotonmyphoneorTwitter... but you can ask Cat about the list.  She's the official list-keeper for Team Twitter.)  


So yeah.  Now I get to contact Twitter trademark folks and beg them to use some part of their name or logo (without any implied support of the cause, of course) so that we can knock out some fabu shirts and other things on Cafe Press.  (All money from the sale of items will be donated straight to Susan G Komen for the Cure.) But oh man, am I excited! I cannot wait to meet these people in Tampa, or walker-stalk them in Atlanta. And who knows about next year, or years beyond.  I can't wait to read about their triumphs and struggles and about their individual reflections on the 3-Day.  But I really can not WAIT to Cure Breast Cancer with them.  Because that's what we're all really here for.  


Go Team Twitter!!


Until next time, 
Julie


p.s. I know that I left out some folks in this here line-up.  I did not intentionally omit anyone.  I just have a really bad memory and until I can get out of the habit of posting after my bed-time (a.k.a. practically brain-dead) I will unfortunately miss a thing or two.  I really have a lot of love and am so thankful for all of my 3-Day Tweeps.

Julie- Why I Walk

Meet Niblette (center front)

Photo by @kitchensinkdyeworks

As we go further along in this here project, it's also quite likely I'll also refer to her as "E".  Four years ago, my life was changed with the arrival of this little breath of heaven.  A lot has happened in four years, but that fact that I have been given the task of raising this little girl, keeping her happy and healthy, teaching her about love and how to explore her faith and the world around her...it's a pretty big task.  

Before Niblette came into my life I had participated in a couple Race for the Cures and I faithfully bought the Breast Cancer postage stamps, but I had never taken any truly bold steps.  I'm not really a "do things on my own" kinda girl when it comes to events like Race for the Cure.  I want to do it with a group, or not do it at all.  But one day...

One day I was folding laundry and listening to the radio and the ad came on for the Atlanta Breast Cancer 3-Day.  And something told me, "You have got to do this."  

So the next day I went online.  And shortly after, I was at a Get Started Meeting.  And at that meeting, I registered for the 2008 Breast Cancer 3-Day in Atlanta, GA. 

I don't have lists of friends or family that I know who are battling, living with, or have lost their lives to breast cancer.  I am so thankful every day that I don't, because I know that there are so many who do.  But I have a daughter.  And I have a mother, and I have myself.  I have friends and family, neighbors and strangers, and we all have one thing in common: for the women in that group...in this country...1 in 8 of us will hear the words, "You have breast cancer."  And each one of those women is one too many.  And why are so many of us as risk?  Because we have breasts.  And because we are aging.  No one is immune.  Not me.  Not my mother.  Not my daughter.

So why do I walk?

I walk so the statistic can go from 1 in 8 to 1 in 800, then 1 in 8,000, then 0. 

I walk to raise money and awareness for an organization committed to not only finding a cure, but also educating and empowering women to take a stand and fight for our bodies.

I walk for Niblette.  For her future, and the future of her friends and children.

I walk because I can.  Because I am able.  Because I cannot stop walking until a cure is found.  

I walk because doing nothing is NOT an option.

Please join me in this epic adventure.  Donate now.  Or sign up to walk the 3-Day yourself.  Or just click to learn how Susan G. Komen for the Cure is working for you.

Be Blessed!  Until next time...

Julie