I walked 60 miles.

Dawn, Jen, Tracy & Sarah

There are many reasons why I participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure this year.  One of them is Tracy, our team captain and a 3rd time cancer fighter.  Fueled by chemo, she was able to walk 16 miles between two of her treatments.  This woman will never give up and is a true inspiration!

Thank you again to everyone who made a donation or went on a walk or cheered me on!  I could not have done this without all of your love and support!

Olympic Peninsula

Mike and I spent Labor Day weekend on the Peninsula.  We went to the coast, hiked at Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park, checked out Forks and La Push, and Mike even skated at the parks in Port Angeles and Forks.  Thanks again to Jen and her family for inviting us to join them this year.  We had a great time!

I walk in 16 days!

I can't believe that there are just 16 days to go until the beginning of Seattle's Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure!  I still need to raise $1,000 so I can walk with TEAM TRACY.  If you would like to donate, please click on the pink icon to the right.  This is such an amazing cause that I feel very strongly about.  All the funds raised during this event are put towards breast cancer research and awareness projects.  A huge thank you to everyone who has donated or trained with me!  My life is full of amazing, loving and supportive people!

kayaking Lake Union

 Sleepless in Seattle houseboat

our view while we had a floating picnic

Fremont Bridge up for some boats

It Is Not Illegal...

To get this close to an orca, as long as you are standing on land.

Rachel & Ben

Rachel and Ben celebrated their first wedding anniversery with us here in WA.  We spent a day sight seeing in Seattle.  Highlights included the Ballard Locks, the Space Needle, the original Starbuck's and Pike Place Market.  And, of course, no trip to Seattle would be complete without a dinner at the Jolly Roger.  Then we packed up the cars with kayaks, the dog and lots of beverages and headed up to the San Juans.  We rented a sweet cabin on San Juan Island complete with a hot tub.  The highlight of our stay on the island was seeing a pod of orcas at Lime Kiln State Park.  Here are a few photos from our adventures....

Rachel and Ben at the top of the Needle.

Can you believe this was Ben's first time ever getting coffee at a Starbuck's? 

Hiking at Lime Kiln State Park.

Sherpa Ben carrying our picnic lunch.

Rachel and Ben on their kayaking tour.

Mike and I kayaking Garrison Bay and Westcott Bay.

On the ferry heading back home.

birthday full o' bouncing fun

Happy 3rd birthday, Oscar!

Thomas!

Bouncing!

Yes, there are kids in there.

Whee!

Bouncing with the birthday boy!

still here living life

Mike and I are still here.  We have just been living life.  Mike has been busy with a huge project at work that keeps him working at all hours of the the day, night and weekend.  I've been spending time with friends, cheering on the Sounders and gardening (we will wait and see how successful I am at that)!

Something else that will be keeping me busy in the next few months is the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  We are about 4 months away from this year's walk and I am in super fundraising mode!  Here we are last weekend at our first 3-Day yard sale.  We have another one coming up this Saturday in Shoreline.  Nollie and I will be starting our training walks very soon....guess I really need to get the store to buy some new shoes!  And check out the sweet 3-Day icon I put on the blog.  It will take you directly to Susan G. Komen where you can make a donation!

5 years

Mike and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in Hawaii on the island of Oahu.  We stayed on Waikiki Beach for 2 nights and then spent the rest of our vacation in a condo on the North Shore.  We drank lots of Mai Tais during this trip to Hawaii.  The best one was at the Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki Beach.  Mike and I did not stay there, we just pretended we did.

Highlights of our trip included: lots of Mai Tais, climbing Diamond Head, dinner at Nobu where Mike was very adventurous and let the chef choose his sushi, swimming with sea turtles right outside of our condo, Dole Plantation, Banzai Skatepark for Mike and Ehukai (The Banzai Pipeline) Beach right across the street for me, shave ice at Matsumoto's, Ali'i tour at Tropical Farms, the cute little town of Hale'iwa, and the quiet North Shore beaches.  

 

The Sounders just won the US Open Cup.

We went to the US Open Cup final last night at Qwest - Sounders vs. Columbus Crew.  

Sounders won 2-1.  

 The Sounders are back to back US Open Cup champions! 

Spass platz!

We spent the weekend in Leavenworth with Jen and Daren for Oktoberfest.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect - 75 degrees and sunny.  Remeber last year it was below freezing during Oktoberfest?!?  Many liters of good German beer were consumed, lots of bratwurst were eaten, and we danced like crazy fools.  It was a lot of fun!  Jen and I even made it on stage during the S-Bahn show where we sang Sweet Caroline!  So good!  So good!  So good!

60 miles...

Day 3 - on the Burke Gilman near Fremont

... and I walked every single step of it (amazingly blister free)!  My goal was to walk the whole thing and I did it!  I'm really proud of Jen!  She hung in there with her blisters and sore knee and walked every step with me.  I could see that there were times when she was thinking of flagging down a van to take her to the pit stop, but I would just turn around, give her a thumbs up and say "It's only 3 more miles until the next pit stop and then just 3 more miles after that until lunch!  You can do it."  She'd smile back and trudge on.

Jen and I at one mile to go

The 3-Day was an amazing experience!  I was trying to describe the weekend last night to Mike and I couldn't find the right words.  I think it's something that you have to experience yourself.  I was amazed at all the support we received along the route.  Friends, family, volunteers and strangers were out there everyday, rain or shine, to cheer us on.  There were church groups with tables of cookies, kids giving us hugs, cars honking, music blasting, people in crazy costumes, signs, balloon arches, front yards decorated in pink ribbons, groups handing out Gatorade....and there were people who stood out there and simply said "Thanks for walking."  It was overwhelming.  The 3 days where not only physically demanding, but they were very emotional too.   

Mike and Nollie showing their support at the Green Lake pit stop

Closing ceremony - raising our shoes in a sign of support to the survivors as they march in

I just want to thank everyone again for their support and donations!  Your support allowed me to spend the past 3 days with 2,300 other women and men who all feel very strongly that we need a world without breast cancer.  The Seattle 3-Day raised $6 million that will go towards funding breast cancer research.  Thanks again!  We are 3 days closer to the end of breast cancer!

Day 2

Walked 21.7 miles.
44.2 total miles done.
Sunny and 73 degrees.
Amazing cheering sections all along the route.
Pink balloon arches, dogs in tu-tus, cookies and candy galore.
I'm amazed at the outpouring of support we receive everywhere we walk.
Camp dance party was rockin'.

Tomorrow we walk Seattle!

Day 1

22.5 miles done.
Rained this morning.
There are firefighters walking in full gear.
Got mail at camp post office. Thanks Grams!
Showered in a semi truck.
Sleeping in a pink tent.
No blisters yet.
Joints ache.
Otherwise doing good.
Could really use a beer right now.

Doing it all again tomorrow!

TEAM TRACY cheering stations

One of our TEAM TRACY supporters has arranged for our own private TEAM TRACY cheering stations!  If you are in the area, please stop by on any day and cheer on all the walkers. Look for the pink TEAM TRACY signs.

Day 1:
Timeframe: 7:30am – 9:30am
Dairy Queen
17831 131st Ave NE
Woodinville, WA 98072

Day 2:
Colby Ave between Wall and 32nd St, Everett
Timeframe: 10:30am – 2:30pm

Day 3:
Western and Denny in Seattle
Timeframe: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
This cheering station is only 1/2 mile from Memorial Stadium (Seattle Center) where closing ceremonies is being held at 4:30 PM.

It's the final countdown!

I can't believe it is almost here.  Next weekend I'll be walking in the 3-Day!  I'm going to spend the next few days getting any last minute items (Band-Aids!  Ibuprofen!) that I may need and going on some of my last training walks with my training partner, Nollie.  Last night we had our final TEAM TRACY meeting before the walk where we got some exciting news from Tracy.  Our team finally broke our fund raising goal of $40,000!  We are in the top 10 fund raising teams in the Seattle area!  And Tracy has been chosen to be one of the 8 women on stage in the Survivor's Circle during the opening and closing ceremonies!

Thanks again to everyone who has donated and given their support!  I can't thank you all enough.  This is such a great cause and I'm happy that I've been able to help get the word out.  I'm hoping to reach my fund raising goal soon.  I'm at the $2,250 mark - only $50 to go!  If you haven't donated yet and would like to, there is still time!  Check out my 3-Day web page.  And if any of you in the Seattle area want to come and cheer the walkers on, here is the spectator info.  I would love to see some familiar faces at the cheering stations, at Green Lake Sunday morning, or at closing ceremonies!

on the sound

Mike and I took the kayaks to out on the Sound yesterday.  We put in at Shilshole Marina, then tooled around in there checking out the boats.  We saw a baby sea lion on the breakwater!  He was really cute just hanging out on the rocks.  Then we paddled around by Golden Gardens.  It was a great day to be out on the water.

3-day update

We had our first TEAM TRACY meeting a couple of weeks ago and it has really inspired me to start training and ramp up my fund raising.  A huge thanks to those of you who have already donated!  I still need more donations to reach my pledge goal of $2300.  Check out my 3-Day personal web page if you want to help.  Only 3 months to go!

I also wanted to let you all know that the West Seattle Herald featured a story about Tracy.  Check it out!  It's easy to see why so many of us are walking with her in September!

maiden voyage

Mike and I took our new kayaks to Green Lake for their maiden voyage on July 4th.  It was a lot of fun paddling around and getting a feel for our boats.  Mike's boat is red and mine is the pretty blue one.  No one tipped over so it was a successful trip!

Happy 6th Birthday Nollie!