60 Miles, 3 Days, 1 Goal

I am walking in my 2nd Michigan Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure in August 2011. The day after I completed my 1st 3-Day I logged into the Susan G. Komen website and registered for next year's event.

Was the walk easy? No. So why sign up again? Because I can! I can raise the awareness, I can raise the funds, I can walk the walk! And this year I am fortunate enough to have my sister join me on this awesome journey. There are thousands of 3-Day walkers who can't walk with their sisters, I embrace this year's journey with every ounce of gratitude!!

Please follow along as Jennifer and I fundraise, train, raise awareness, possibly argue, and find out more about each other than we ever imagined!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Reflections


I am so proud of Jennifer and how far she has come since the beginning of the year. She’s not been shy when she tells people that one of the advantages to signing up for 3-Day was to get in to better physical shape while raising awareness and money for a great cause. And let me tell you - - - she looks AWESOME!!!! Remember one of her first blog posts about going to the gym (almost a year ago) and her enemy the elliptical? I can vouch that 11 months later, she looks like a natural on that machine (she knows how to go forward) holding a steady 6+ mph pace for 30 minutes or more and she doesn’t look like she’s gonna pass out!

I also am very, very grateful to all of our family, friends and acquaintances for their generosity to the Sisters Saving the Sistahs! Remember in early March we held our first fundraising event, Euchre Tournament, we had a HORRIBLE snow storm that evening and everyone still came, stayed, played and donated generously!!

Next, we held our first Spaghetti Dinner & Trivia Night fundraiser in the middle of May at the campground and it POURED all weekend! And yet more than 75 people came out, camped, ate, played and again donated!!!

We held a garage sale, the end of April and after experiencing the Spring from hell, we lucked out and had perfect weather! This time not only did we benefit yet again from the generosity of our family and friends. But, we were touched by all the strangers that opened their wallets, shared their stories and wished us well!

In addition to the two "events", we also worked two Detroit Tigers baseball games running a concession booth. We asked our family and friends to sacrifice an evening to attend a training and then an entire Saturday to work the game. We put the call out via e-mail, Facebook and phone calls and got all 16 responses we needed within hours! I think everyone agreed it's a busy day, a lot of work but also a ton of fun!

Jen and I have trained for 23 weeks and we have walked more than 380 miles together. I have thoroughly enjoyed every step of it – the conversations, the quiet moments, the scenery, and the laughs. We grew closer than we’ve ever been, and built a bond that I would not trade for anything. I am honored to walk 60 miles next weekend with my sister, my best friend! Breast cancer has taken away too many sisters; I don’t take for granted how fortunate Jen and I are. We may get blisters, sore muscles, or road rash – but we will have each other!

I am very blessed - I have a beautiful sister with a heart & soul of gold! I have the most thoughtful, caring and tolerant family who made so many sacrifices to help a cause I believe in. And I have the most honorable and charitable friends who opened their hearts and wallets unselfishly (and were some of our biggest cheerleaders!) THANK - YOU!!!!

If you were considering making a donation...there's still time! You too can help put an end to breast cancer...I would love nothing more than to have future generations know this world without cancer. Until then I will continue to walk, raise money and spread hope!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Back to Back Training Walk!

This weekend Jen & I will take on our first high mileage back-to-back training walks of the 2011 season. On Saturday we are scheduled to walk 18 miles at Stoney Creek and on Sunday we will walk 15 miles in the Metro Beach area. This is our "dress rehearsal" for the 3-Day event (which is only 1 month away!). This is when we will get all our whining out of our system, find out the nuances of long-distance walking, and know what our bodies will feel like “the next morning”. Right now the forecast is typical for July in Michigan – HOT! So, we will adorn ourselves in pink tanks and ball caps, lube our feet, lace up our shoes and head out during the wee hours of the morning in hopes of finishing before any oppressive heat and humidity sets in.

Our fanny/hydration packs will be packed with everything we will carry on event which includes: Vaseline, extra pair of socks, lip balm, mini first aid kit, wet wipes, sunblock, hand sanitizer, bandanas & buffs, tissues, poncho, camera, binder clip & zip ties. We will load up a cooler, to keep in the car, filled with water, Gatorade, lunch and snacks.

Undoubtedly, the most important thing we will have is each other!

Only 4 weeks to go until Michigan walkers hit the pavement in one of the biggest and boldest challenges to put an end to breast cancer. I know that many of you who read mine or Jen’s blogs know other walkers participating in this year’s event, so don’t forget you can send a letter or card to your walker which they will receive at camp during the event. Your words of encouragement really help keep the walkers motivated!!

Must be postmarked by August 2, 2011
3-Day for the Cure
ATTN: Participant’s Name
PO BOX 699
South Lyon, MI 48178

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Event Information is Posted

The 2011 3-Day event information has been released for spectators. Please check out the tab on top of my blog to access information regarding cheering stations, closing ceremony and sending cards & letters to walkers.

31 days to go!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

35 Days to Go - Let the Feet Rock!

That’s only 5 weeks until we will walk 60 miles in 3 days with thousands of other women and men. In 5 weeks we will find out if we’ve trained enough, packed the right things, and mentally prepared for this life changing event.

Something else we need in just a few weeks? MUSIC! Good, clean, fun walking music!

For Christmas Jen & I each received portable speakers that we attach to our hydration/fanny packs. They run on batteries and we hook our IPod or MP3 player up to them. This way we are able to enjoy music without the headphones (which are a BIG no, no on the 3-Day walk for obvious safety reasons!). Don’t get me wrong, on event there are a ton of people cheering you on along the side of the road, there are many amazing walkers to have great conversations with along the route, but there are some stretches when you just need that extra little pick-me-up and I find music is a great tool for that!

So if you have any ideas of songs for us to load up on our players – keeping in mind that other walkers around us will have to endure our music selection – please share! You can post a comment here on my blog, post a comment on my Facebook, or send me an e-mail to smithstef.5@gmail.com

We are looking for lots and lots of tunes – it takes about 8-10 hours each day of walking…

Quick update: Our fundraising events have officially come to a close but of course we are continuing to accept personal donations to help reach our goal! Our Spaghetti Dinner, Trivia Night plus Tin Can Auction in May raised $1000 and our last Detroit Tiger game concession gig was June 11th which earned us approximately $800 for the night! We are so appreciative of all of the support, donations, and encouragement that our friends and family have shown us over the past several months!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Bitter Sweet

As Jen & I wrap up the final preparations for our last team fund raising event this weekend, the feeling is bitter sweet. We have had a lot of fun planning and executing the events and we have raised a lot of money for a cause that we are committed to, but the work that’s involved can be a little overwhelming and time consuming. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family on weeknights, camping on the weekends and concentrating on getting our training walks in.


There are two large components to signing up for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure…raising a decent chunk of change ($2,300) which means putting all your creative efforts and energy forward and getting your body trained to walk 60 miles in 3 days! We have 92 days left until the walk…3 months, to reach both of those goals!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Catching Up on Blogging!

Wow, the past few weeks have been amazing and my blog has been neglected! Let’s see, Jen & I had our garage sale fundraiser this past weekend which is really what we spent the last several weeks preparing for. We had hundreds and hundreds of items donated to us by friends and family so there was a LOT of cleaning, sorting and pricing going on. To say the sale was a success is an understatement. Not only was it financially successful but we were once again touched by the generosity and support of our family, friends and community (thank you Kay & Hubert for putting in 11 long hours on Friday, we could not have gotten through that day without you!!!). I also have to give big kudos to my two kids who jumped right in throughout the weekend helping us break-down and set-up without a whine, grumble or complaint!


And so now we move forward with the planning of our final fund-raising event – Spaghetti Dinner & Trivia Night with Tin Can Auction, which will be held at the Genesee Otter Lake Campground clubhouse on Saturday, May 14th. The sauce has been made and frozen (thank you Craig family for your generous donation of sauce, noodles & cheese!), and baskets for auction are being assembled, picked-up and tagged. If you’d like to camp for the weekend they are offering “Buy 1 Night, Get 1 Free” so total cost would only be $25 to camp for Friday & Saturday!! But you are always welcome to just come up for the day, enjoy the dinner and have some fun with Trivia.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Fund-raising At The Copa!

This past weekend we had the first of two Detroit Tiger concession fundraising games.

This opening weekend game was a great to get our feet wet; fortunately our location had us just busy enough! At 1:15 p.m. (3 hrs before the first pitch) twelve of us filed into booth #327 and began counting, sorting, straightening, cleaning, prepping, stocking, cooking and of course panicking! The gates opened at 2:30 and by 3pm we had our first customers and the nerves were all settled. We happily served with smiles lots of hot dogs, kielbasas, nachos, popcorn, beer, pop and a ton of coffee and hot chocolate!

By 5:40 p.m. the game was over and the sad fans were filing out, since the Tigers lost 3-1. Now it was time for some to again start counting the entire inventory which includes the cups, trays, buns, hot dogs, kielbasas, candy, bags of chips, ice cream, popcorn buckets, nacho trays… And others had to clean the grills, pans, nacho machine, hot chocolate machine, counters & floors. Kay & I counted and sorted the cash, collected uniforms, spoilage and journeyed down to Comerica Park dungeons to turn it all in. And then journey down again because I forgot to get my “coupon voucher” and then journey down AGAIN because we forgot to have the spoilage slip signed! Phew…2 ½ hours later we were in our cars on our way home!

It was a lot of work, a long day, but a ton of fun! AND preliminary reports indicate that we rose close to $500 for our Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure accounts! That makes it all worth it in the end!!

Thank you to all our April Angels for your help on making this yet another successful fundraiser!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Staying Positive!

I’m feeling a little crabby today so I need to put into perspective all of the great things that have happened this week to get out of this funk!



Let’s start:


~ Our NCAA Brackets 4 Boobs ended on Monday night which brought an overwhelming total donation of $400 to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure! Kyersten Helsel was the winner who generously donated back to the Sistahs!


~ I had a great training week and stayed on track, Jen & I made it to the gym every morning by 5:30 a.m., put in 10+ walking miles, 60+ minutes of strength training, 1 hour of cardio, plus a little bit of Zumba time @ home (thanks to the PS3 Move!) and it’s only Thursday!


~ I received 2 online donations –I can’t tell you how exciting it is to watch the little thermometer climb and to get the e-mail notifications “A donation was made on your behalf”!


~ I called my doctor’s office and scheduled my yearly physical – all the ladies out there, have you scheduled yours?? If not, call now!!


~ The kids were home for Spring Break, so I was welcomed home with smiling faces and a clean house each day!!!!


~ Jellybeans have been in full stock on my counter (thanks to the dear hubby) for my continuous consumption throughout the evening --- and this morning ‘cause I was starving when I got home from the gym!

There that did help! A little bit reflection therapy does a mind some good! Here’s to a good weekend!!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Zumba!

Okay so I attended my second Zumba class this week and I am definitely hooked! If you haven’t heard of Zumba, it is a Latin-inspired dance-fitness program with a combination of fast and slow rhythms that tone and sculpt the body with easy to follow dance steps. Zumba utilizes the principles of interval and resistance training to maximize caloric output, fat burning and total body toning. I wanted to find something that would mix up my normal gym work-out routine; with their “Ditch the work-out and join the party” tagline this fits the bill! I’m fortunate that it’s offered at Anita’s School of Dance, which is about a mile from home. The price is right - $5 drop-in and the time is perfect - 7:30pm – 8:30pm.

This weekend’s training miles are 6 and 4, but with Mother Nature’s cruel way of showing what a real Michigan Spring is like, we probably will be walking in the malls. We’re thinking we should try Somerset tomorrow – I LOVE to window shop!!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Batter Up!

This 3-Day season Jen & I are working two Detroit Tigers baseball games running a concession stand or as the park calls them Big League Grills. A percentage of the proceeds from our booth, 8% of alcoholic beverage net sales and 10% of net food & non-alcoholic beverage sales, will be directly donated to our 3-Day accounts. This on average equates to a $500 - $800 donation per game!

We have 12-14 of us working each of the games and our first one is only 2 weeks away, April 9th, opening weekend, eek! If you’ll be at the Saturday, April 9th game vs. Kansas City we will be in Big League Grill # 327 which on the 3rd level behind home plate. We’ll be serving beer, pop, water, hot dogs, kielbasas, peanuts, chips & pretzels, ice cream, etc. And if this cold weather keeps up hot chocolate & coffee I’m sure will be on tap!

Last night, we had our “training” at Comerica Park – where essentially we learned how to pour a beer and up-sell! Which I guess is the most important thing when it comes to baseball and fund raising! The 3-hour training is mandatory for all people working in the stands, so although it might’ve been a bit of a snoozer after a long day at work or at home with little ones – it was necessary. Again, I am so grateful to our 16 friends and family that committed to doing this with us this year! We truly appreciate that you gave up your evening and an entire Saturday(s) – game day, to once again support us.

Quick update: our NCAA Brackets 4 Boobs Fantasy team is in full swing – we currently have 59 players so the pot will reach $600 (thanks to an extra donation) – which means the winner can expect to win $300 and $300 will be donated to our 3-Day funds! Again, as a result of generous friends, family & co-workers we have another successful fund raising event!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Family Fun Weekend!

Well this past weekend Kraig & I with the kids and two other families went to Frankenmuth, MI for a weekend of swimming, putt-putt, arcade playing, laughs & good times! But have no fear - I still managed to get my training miles in! Jen & I went for our 3 mile walk Saturday in Frankenmuth and it was nice to have a change in scenery, it made the 3+ miles go by quickly. We walked along the river for a bit, until the path became totally washed out and then headed up the road to the world famous Bronner's.

It was nice to have a stress free weekend of nothing but family fun! N
ow it's back to reality with work and 3-Day fund-raising planning!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Only 150 days left until the Michigan 3-Day event!

The past six days have been busy to say the least! But making money for the 3-Day is a good kind of busy! Last Friday, I was able to go to a 3-Day fundraising Arbonne party for my girlfriend, Debbie, who signed up in February for her 1st walk here in Michigan! She will be walking with her two sisters, Maggie (who has walked twice before) and Denise who is also a first time walker! I’m so excited for all three of them; they are going to do awesome!! And I am really looking forward to hopefully doing some training walks with them in the near future (c’mon Spring!!!!)

On Saturday, Jen & I went out with the kids to collect the bottles and cans for our mini bottle drive. To say we were pleased would be a huge understatement. Once again we were blown away with the generosity of others. Check out Jen’s blog post about our adventure http://we-are-walking.blogspot.com/2011/03/finding-positive-in-dreaded-time-change.html

So far we’ve returned $ 152 worth of bottles & cans from that drive and there are still a lot more to be returned! Also, I got a call from Jen that the party store around the corner, Grapevine, will take back ALL of the Bud Light Lime glass bottles that my neighbor graciously gave us – all 40 something 12-packs!!!!!

Our 2nd Annual NCAA Brackets 4 Boobs fantasy team is underway with 50+ players nearing their deadline to make bracket selections. The madness begins this Thursday, March 17th – so hurry up and get your picks in! If you would like an invite to join the team before the 1st game of the 2nd round (noon tomorrow) please send me a message, smithstef.5@gmail.com bracket are only a $10 donation with 50% going to the winner and 50% to the 3-Day fund.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Lessons Learned

I am very grateful for my children – they are healthy, full of optimism, innocence and willing to help!

This weekend Jen and I are conducting a neighborhood bottle/can drive, so I asked the kids if they would go pass out, through the neighborhood, our flyers that are attached to pink garbage bags. Without hesitation they both said yes and they were eager to do it. Now, I thought for sure when I told them I wanted them to knock on doors and physically hand the information to as many people as possible as opposed to just sticking it in the door, I would get refusal. Nope, they both started “rehearsing” what they would say when someone answered the door! So out they went on Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening knocking on doors and talking to the neighbors about what their aunt and mom were doing.

I am so proud of them and very grateful they could help me out this way. Along their route they learned that a woman down the street from us is a breast cancer survivor, a very young woman around the corner just finished battling breast cancer and another woman around the corner is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Alyssa said to me “Mom, we only went on 4 blocks and there was almost a woman on each block that has had or has breast cancer! We have to collect as many bottles as possible – we’ll help put more fliers out!” I think this was a good lesson for both kids, because I know this entire journey since January 2010 has been a life changing lesson for me!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Thank You is Not Enough!

I don't even know where to begin!?!

Last night Jen & I held our 1st fund-raising event for the 2011 3-Day for the Cure and the support & donations from family and friends was stunning! The extreme generosity from everyone blew our minds.

First the weather turned crappy (thank you Michigan) about an hour before "start" time with snow & sleet falling at an unexpected rate yet everyone still came! Next, there were "new" rules to be learned that may have been a bit confusing -but everyone rolled with it and still played! And then, with 40 people packed in a house for a card tournament, it got a little warm - but everyone still laughed and had fun! When it came time to draw the 50/50 - the full pot was at $240, the winning ticket was worth $120 - - - the owner of the winning ticket, Wendy Wiegand, graciously donated it back to the cause! The night continued & the tournament came to an end, it was now time to announce the winners - 1st place would win $100, 2nd place $50 & the lucky name drawn from the "euchred quarter kitty" would get $43. Ric Elmo won the quarters, Steve Hamill won 1st place, and Ray Reick won 2nd place - - - ALL three donated their winnings back to the cause!!!!

My heart is filled with so much gratitude I can't possibly put it into words! To say thank you does not seem enough.

A total of
$1,200 was raised last night, - all of which will help put an end to breast cancer! It will be done, I'm convinced!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Infomercials Galore!

Okay, so you probably know by now that the 24-week training started this week for the Michigan walkers. Well, when you live in Michigan it can be a little dicey to get a 3-mile walk done the first week of March, especially when you work during the day so the sidewalks/trails re-freeze in the early morning hours & in the evening. So that means it’s either mall walking (not bad) or hitting the treadmill (boring!), I’m planning to do both this week, trying to mix it up a bit – ha ha ha!

So while I was doing my 3-mile walk at the gym on the treadmill Tuesday, during the wee early morning hours, I noticed how many darn infomercials are on. You can by the Ninja (a $300 blender that you’ll rarely use), Wen products for your hair (you’ll look like Alyssa Milano), or the Booty Pop (you know you want to be Kim Kardashian!) Wouldn’t it be nice if one of these stations could put on some CSI or Law & Order re-runs to entertain me for the hour, is that too much to ask? Until then, I’ll keep checking The Weather Channel website in hopes of a good thaw real soon –this week is 12 miles, next week is 13!

Quick reminder:
For those that want to participate in the Euchre Tournament fundraiser this Saturday, if you have not paid or made arrangements with Jen or myself – PLEASE do so ASAP! We’ve had a great response and want to make sure we accommodate everyone!! You can reach me by email at smithstef.5@gmail.com or Jen at jen.carbary@gmail.com

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Last Free Weekend

This is not a negative comment - but I just enjoyed my last "free" weekend for the next 6 months! Which means each weekend over the next 24-weeks will be filled with fundraising, training walks & preparation for the 60 mile journey that I'll be taking with Jen in August!

I read a great blog post last year from a fellow 3-Day walker titled "You know you're a 3-Day walker when..." one of the "whens" was sleeping past 7am on the weekends is a thing of the past. Which is so true, majority of our training miles will be put in during the weekend. The first couple of weeks aren't too hard, 3-4 miles each day on Saturday & Sunday. But, it won't be long before I will get up at 6am to get to a training walk that will be 10+ miles, with a bunch of amazing other 3-Day walkers!!

So I took today and didn't go to the gym - I slept in, enjoyed my coffee watching t.v. and didn't leave the house - - - because I could, this one last time until August :)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

More Snow?? Oh Right, I Live in Michigan!

With only one week to go until training begins we have more than 8 inches of snow on the ground and promises of more to come in the next several days…how are we going to get our walking in besides on the treadmill (sorry, boring as hell!)? Looks like we’ll be hitting the mall a little more frequently over the next couple of weeks – question is can my pocketbook handle it?

Our first fundraising event, a euchre tournament, is next weekend, Saturday, March 5th and almost all of our seats are filled! Please remember if you are planning to come, reserve your seat as soon as possible and money is due by Wednesday, March 2nd. You can send either of us a message and we can make any of the following arrangements:
~ One of us will pick it up from you
~ We’ll arrange a good time for you to drop it off
~ You can mail a check
~ Pay electronically via PayPal (bank transfers only)

This evening of cards is meant to be a FUN, entertaining, light-spirited tournament to raise money for a great cause!

I’ve added a couple more recipes in the What’s Cooking? section, if you’ve got one to share please post it in the comments under that tab. I’m always looking for something new to try!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Furlough!

Furlough Day! This means I have the opportunity, while the kids are at school, to hit the pavement and get some much needed fundraising letters out to various businesses. Some of the items we’re looking to have donated for the upcoming events are pasta, spaghetti sauce, salad dressings, pop, water, baked goods, gift certificates, sporting event tickets, and any other product for raffling. Last year I remember thinking “Oh this would be so much easier if I were a repeat walker…” Well here I am as a repeat walker and it’s still not any easier.

Quick reminder, Sisters Saving the Sistahs is hosting a Euchre Tournament fundraiser on Saturday, March 5th, registration begins at 7pm, 1st hand will be dealt at 7:30 pm. This will be played in a Round Robin fashion, every 8 hands you’ll get a new partner! There will be 8 rounds or 11pm whichever comes first. Cost is $20 per person which includes pizza, pop & munchies (BYOB), CASH prizes for 1st and 2nd place! All proceeds and 50/50 raffle will go to our 3-Day accounts!

To reserve your seat (adults only please) remember to contact either myself at smithstef.5@gmail.com or Jen at jen.carbary@gmail.com --- all money is due by Wednesday, March 3rd (cash or check).

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Gratitude!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our family and friends, Jen and I have filled all of our “volunteer” spots for the two Tigers games! Our 3-hour training will be next month with our first game on Saturday, April 9th. I’ll have our booth number the week of the game so if you’ll be at the Copa to see the Tigers whoop some White Socks butts you’ll have to stop by and say “Hi!”

Two weeks from now I’ll begin my “official” 24-week training schedule. I remember last year how nervous I was when I began this schedule – this year I’m excited! Although, now I realize that 24 weeks is not a lot of time to raise $2300 and get into the best shape I possibly can while maintaining a healthy family life, and working full time. I think I need to take the next 2 weeks and concentrate on balance!

I’ve posted the 24-week training schedule under the Accountability tab – let me know if you’re up for a walk!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

I Learned How to Add Pages!

Thank goodness I have my sister, why you ask? Because she is way more tech savvy than I. I’ve added “pages” to my blog so now I can really inform you, entertain you, but hopefully not annoy you! Please take a minute and check out the tabs on top to see the different elements that go into preparing for a 60 mile journey!