DH is just as silly as me!

Although he would never admit to it, Honeybunch can be just as silly as me. ;-)

Last month while on vacation we were driving to the White Mountains from Coastal Maine and we came across the antique tractor show in Farmington, Maine (it was sooo much fun). When we were leaving I spotted this stone yard.

We got out to take pictures of this rock, but DH just couldn't keep his hands to himself.
Um Honey, Don't push on that!

NOooooooooo!!!

Just kidding! The rock was secure. It is cool looking isn't it?

How Do You Like My Do?

I had my hair updated at Scizzors yesterday afternoon and Heather, the lovely stylist, blew it straight for me.


Pretty Cool huh? I think it makes me look very grown up! ;-)

Although it was fun, it was a one night thing. When DH got home he said "oh you got your hair done, you still have curls though right?" LOL So I am back to my wild mess of curls today.

Nana's 85th birthday Celebration

On Sunday, we celebrated Vivienne's 85th Birthday. The weather was gorgeous, 80 degrees, no humidity, and a light breeze. Many of our family and friends came over to share in the celebration that lasted all afternoon.

Vivienne, known as Nana to DH and DSs, is an amazing women. Her personality sparkles making it easy to get caught up in her zest for life. Pictured here with her 3 friends, the ladies spent the better part of the afternoon chatting away in the gazebo. From left to right is Connie, Vivienne, Lucile, and Sylvia.

Of course we have to talk about the food - and what the food was cooked on!! We enjoyed pepperoni bread, sausage bread, veggies and dip, chips and dip. Then we grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, hoisin chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans, broccoli salad, potato salad, strawberry salad, and my GF Barbara made two cakes and bought an ice cream cake! As always there was plenty to share. The hoisin chicken was a new recipe from the comps.

Here is my new grill!! After a lot of research DH and I decided to take the plunge and we bought a Weber Genesis E310. I am one happy grilling girl.

Isn't she shiny? The grill NOT the girl! - jeesh

The old charbroil served us well for 5 years

Cookies In Color!

Friday Night The Cheerers and Walkers shared dinner together

Front Row: Melody (MO), Barbara (SD), Kate (NH), Emily (OH), Shanna (VA), Amy (MA), Kim (TX), Kim (FL), Chris (PA), Peggy (VA)

Back Row: Deb (PA), Kristin (PA), Jill (NC), Leslie (OH), Mary Ellen (MA), and Sherry (NC)

Our comfy pink slippers given to us by My Dear Friend Peggy

Saturday morning and ready to go!
Marina and Peggy dedicating our walk

Cookies For A Cure

Peggy, Amy, Chris, Leslie, Emily, Shanna, and Marina in the front

In Case you were wondering - that is the monument behind us.

We were very lucky to have our own cheering squads. They really helped push us along the walk.

It Was An Amazing Weekend

The Walking Cookies
Me, Peggy (VA), Marina (TX), Emily (OH), Shanna (VA), Chris (PA), Leslie (OH)

This was taken just before we left the hotel for the send off of the walk.


It really was an amazing experience.

I have so many details to share, but not enough time to share them right now.

We started with 7 walkers on our team, but only 3 of us completed the walk. Sadly, blisters wreaked havoc on our friends. It was hard for them to stop and I admire their persistence in trying to finish.

Sleeping in a tent city isn't really all its cracked up to be, however showering in an 18 foot truck trailer can be fun. ;-)

Drink your Gatorade or you will require an IV.

It rained Sunday - a lot. Thank heavens for shower caps and Chris! She showed us how to put the shower caps on our sneakers to help keep them dry.

We have the best friends a person could ask for. 11 Cookies from across the country traveled to DC to cheer us on and many more wore their Cookies For A Cure Shirts all weekend to show their support.

Aimster

Pink Curls ;-)

Yup, I Have Pink Curls!

This picture doesn't show off all of my pink curls, but they are there. I had my hair done by my favorite hair dresser, Heather at Scizzors Hair Saloon in Shrewsbury. That gurl knows hair.



DC Here We Come

Tomorrow the airport service is picking me up at 5:50am and I am off on an adventure of a life time. I am excited to see my friends, to complete this walk, and to enjoy the weekend with my girlfriends.

The weather is iffy for the weekend. 60's and 70's with rain showers but that is ok we are a tough group of cookies!


I'll check in again, but probably not until I am home on Tuesday. Please pray for our group of 7 walkers and our wonderful 12 cheerers. We are blessed to have one another in this lifetime and I truly appreciate the times we share together.



God Bless
Aimster

Cookies For A Cure!

Training - Week 11 - 10 Miles

This is it - the week of our DC Walk. We have all been training and fundraising for this event since October 2008. It has been a wonderful journey.

My walking was minimal this past week. I did walk 8 miles Saturday morning. It was 70+ degrees out! It is hard to believe that when I started this training the side walks were covered with snow and ice. Saturday's walk was easy and enjoyable.

Here is a picture of my training T-Shirts. I had 4 made up and DH bought them for me. This shirt in particular I will be wearing on Sunday. The names written on it are people who have been battling cancer or sadly, lost their battle.

This shirt is our official Team Cookie Shirt! It was designed by a friend of Peggy's. We will be a lovely group of pink walkers and cheerers this coming weekend. Did I tell you we will have our own cheering section? That's right about a dozen cookies from across the country are coming to DC this weekend to cheer us on. I am so grateful for their support and can't wait to get me some cookie hugs.

One last picture of the back of my training shirt.

The Last Big Push (Training Wk 10 - 37 miles)

The Power of the Borg

22 Miles

I
walked
22 miles
in one day

I still can't believe I did it.

This was the last big walk on our training schedule, 22 miles on Saturday and 10 miles on Sunday. The 22 miles took about 8 hours. I left my home at 8am and walked 6 miles to my parents house for a pit stop and quick visit.

From there I walked another 6 miles ending at my home. My friend Jane met me a few minutes later and walked the next 5 miles with me. Then my final 5. It had started to sprinkle outside when I was on the last mile. As I finished the last part of the walk I prayed and prayed God don't let it rain yet! My training shirts are all white tees! Just as I got to my driveway the rain started getting heavier. Thank you Lord. 4 pm - 8 hours - 22 miles. Wow.

It was a long day. I could feel the good vibes, thoughts, and prayers of my cookies, family, and friends pushing me along. I couldn't have done it without you.

On Sunday I was only able to walk 5 miles. I had a blister on the bottom of my foot that was quite painful. DH walked the route with me. I call him Mr. Marlboro, he gets more beeps and waves than a bikini clad girl.

I have more to say, but I no time right now!

Miss Fancy Nancy

Nancy Montgomery - you will be missed.

I read the post this morning by my DF, Michelle, that one of our Cookies has lost her battle with Brain Cancer. Nancy aka Fancy Nancy, was a special woman. I had the pleasure of actually meeting her last April during our CIA meet up in NY. Fancy, Michelle, and I spent the better part of an afternoon knitting. Truth be told, they knit and I cursed and dropped my stitches. As expected we shared a lot of laughs and good snacks. I left the room with a special treat from Fancy Nancy, a tub of cheese! It was delish. Fancy Nancy, you were one in a million and it was an honor to be your friend.

20 Miles 6 were a bit wet! (Training Week 9 - 35 miles)

My GF, Kristen, met me for the last 6 miles of Saturday's 20 mile walk. It had been cool, windy, and overcast all day. Sure enough when we were heading out for the last 6 it started raining. Kristen was a real trooper and did the whole 6-sopping-wet miles with me. Thank You Kristen!

PS - I am sorry your sneakers stink..........

$2,000.00 and Counting!!

Thank You!

Thanks to the support of friends new and old, family, and co-workers, I have reached the minimum fund raising amount. You can see my progress on my Avon page by clicking on this link.

This journey has been more challenging than I expected. The encouragement and support of you all has helped me along the way. I pray that I can pay it all forward and help those that are fighting breast cancer.

Peace
Aimster

Sunday Gratitudes (yeah I know it's Thursday)

I am Grateful for my family and friends and their steadfast support.

"The Bake Sale"

The "Purple Egg Cake" by Amy Grahm



If you have read my Blog, I know there are precious few of you, then you will know that I have spent the last 6 months fund raising. The minimum requirement to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is $1,800.00. I wanted to avoid the usual practice of sending out mass mailings of letters and emails to ask for donations.

So, I decided to try other avenues of fund raising. My first and continuing effort was to make and sell beaded bracelets. Barbara and I started with making pink beaded bracelets ($12-15.00) and from there we added key chains ($3.00), and book marks ($5.00). The sales have been good from this effort. I have also been selling candy bars from my desk at work for $1.00 each. My crew has been in full support of that effort as well as several contractors. In addition to those two ongoing efforts I had a bake sale at my church and another one at work.

The pictures above are from the bake sale at work earlier this week. Eleven people from our campus donated their baked goods to the sale and many showed up to buy the goodies and make donations towards my efforts. I was able to raise $390.00 in proceeds. I am touched and honored by the support my co-workers and friends showed me. Thank You for helping me reach my goal!!

Maria & Me (Training Week 7 - 33 Miles)

Maria & Me after our 5 mile walk.

Saturday was a gorgeous spring day in New England. It was in the low 60's and sunny. My day started with a fun breakfast with Father Ignacio and my GF, Jean. Father Ignacio is from Columbia and the three of us have been spending time together once a week to help him master his english. I think his english is just fine. Breakfast was followed by a 10 mile walk and a 5 mile walk. Maria met me for the 5 mile walk. It was a nice change to have someone to chat with while walking. We completed the 5 miles in under 2 hours.

Lately, when walking alone, I have been listening to audible books on my IPOD. I have been alternating between a recording of the New Testament and a new-to-me author, Kim Harrison . A bit of an odd combination of things to listen too. Kim Harrison writes fiction books about witches, vampires, and pixies. The New Testament, well it's the New Testament. It is read by several people in different voices and is done really well. I find that I am hearing things that I missed when just reading it.

Training Week 6 - 26 Miles and Chris

LOOK!!!! LOOK!!! Flowers!!!!!!

Spring is here - even if it did snow yesterday. Thankfully I was home from my walk by the time it started. I was actually on the phone with my DSis when we discovered the swirl of snowflakes falling from a mostly blue and sunny sky. You Gotta Love New England!!

I spied this clump of flowers on my Sunday walk along Farm Road. I was walking alone. DH had a previous engagement (see the picture at the bottom of this post). This weekend's walks consisted of a 6 mile route to my DP's with a pit stop, then 2.25 miles home, a 2nd pit stop, and then a 5 mile loop for a total of 13 on Saturday. Sunday was a merger of 2 loops I have done before to total 7 miles. The weather was cold, back to long underwear, but the sun was shining.

Saturday's first route was new to me and I unwittingly included a hill that is steeper than Brimsmead Rd (see my previous post for a picture)! As I was struggling to make my way up this nose bleeder, I had thoughts of my friend Chris from PA. She is walking in DC with us and is a cancer survivor who very recently was given a good bill of health. It is funny, I have yet to meet Chris face to face, but we talk almost daily through our cooking group and I feel as though she is a dear friend to me. As I was struggling with myself to climb this hill, I had Chris with me, walking next to me, encouraging me every step of the way. I could hear her voice, see her smile, and feel her presence. I thought to myself, if Chris can beat this illness with a great attitude, grace, and sense of humor, then I can climb this crazy hill without whining. Thank you Chris for pushing me along!


DH's prior engagement..........

He is a cutey though isn't he?

Training Week 5 (24 Miles)

No Long Underwear!!!!

Hola My Friends!

That's right - Sunday was warm enough to leave the long johns at home - woo hoooo!!!!

My Sunday walks are in the afternoon after church. DH and I did 6 miles yesterday. It was gorgeous out - 59 degrees. As you can tell I was quite excited to NOT being wearing 3 layers and long underwear. My new hydration belt seems to be working well. It holds two bottles and a pocket for keys, etc. I took DH on my 6 mile route that goes through a few neighborhoods. In the first mile is Brimsmead Street. This hill may not look to bad from the bottom, but when walking up it you will find yourself out of breath.

My Saturday walk was 12 miles. There was a Ladies Luncheon at my church, so I made a 6 mile route to the church and walked it home to make my 12 miles. The Luncheon was fun, the food was good, and the company was rowdy .


While walking last weekend I kept looking for signs of spring. Most everything was still snow and ice covered, but I did come across this - motorcycle! A definite sign of warmer weather.

Bad Blogger

I know - I Know I have been a Bad Blogger. It is a good thing no one really reads this besides me! I will be back to update my training progress. For now I wanted to post a couple of pics of Fatty Cat. I was looking for signs of spring on my walks last weekend. I finally found one when I got home......

Mr. Fatty Cat rolling on the back walkway and enjoying the warm bricks

What a happy kitty!

I'll Be Back

Training - Week 3 (14.2 Miles)

Brrrrrrr - You gotta love New England! This weekend I decided to walk around the west end of Marlboro for my Saturday walk. It was a bit brisk out, 22 degrees and VERY windy. I had mapped out my route on this really cool website called USATF. You can map street by street where you will walk and the program will give you mileage. Then you can save the route and share it with other people. The routes that I have saved all start with my initials in the name. The route I mapped out measured to 7.2 miles and reached 3 miles at DH's office (for a pit stop).

And yes all of my walks are planned with pit stops.

Sunday was a 3.79 mile walk with my honey. It was a balmy 39 degrees out and overcast. I took this picture on Farm Road. The house in the background is a typical Old New England farm house.

And last but not least here is Mr. Fatty Cat relaxing by the fire with DH. What a way to spend a lazy afternoon.

BTW A bit of advice - If you drop your pedometer in a toilet bowl full of water, it most likely won't work right again.

Training - Week 2 ( 17.9 miles total)

3 months until our Avon Walk!

I can't believe it is coming up so fast. I have started a 12 week training program provided by The American Cancer Society/Avon Walk. If you click on the link above you will be able to see the schedule. Starting last Saturday I will walk Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Last weekend called for 4 miles on Saturday and 3 miles on Sunday. I was able to walk 6.1 miles and 3.25 miles. Believe it or not DH walked with me on Sunday! It was nice to have some company and to share the afternoon with him. He has promised to be my Sunday walking partner (Sunday's are the short walks).

I set out Saturday morning at 8:05. It was twenty- two degrees and very windy, but the sun was shining, look how blue the sky is! I finished my walk at 11:25 which included a brief pit stop at my parent's house along the way. The sidewalks are still partially covered with snow and ice. The conditions make walking challenging as most drivers do not like to share the road.

Here is a creek that runs under Concord Road.




Ooops - I almost forgot! I got a great deal on these boots this weekend. Macy's - marked down from 5o something to 14.70 - cute 'eh?

Sunday Gratitudes (On a Monday) 1-26-09

I am grateful for my full pantry.
I was at the grocery store after work one day last week. I was running low on staples and so I was plodding through the store finding the things I needed. As I reached for a bag of flour it occurred to me how blessed my husband and I are. If we need something from the grocery store we can just go and get it. And by "we" I mean "me" that man has not been in a grocery store since 2007 and that was the first time in ten years.

My point being - there are too many people and families that can't take that small liberty. To go pick up a few things at the grocery store. Times are tough and thousands of Americans are losing their jobs everyday. This sadly forces many people to have to make the hard choice of where to spend the money they have - food? prescriptions? clothes for their children?.

Last month Matt, a friend of mine, invited me to a volunteer opportunity at his church. It was for a program called Angel Food Ministries. Angel Food Ministries is an organization that distributes food at a low cost. It is able to do this through bulk purchasing power and an all volunteer work force. A local church is usually the pick up location. Participants can call in their order or place it online.

As volunteers, Matt and I helped purchasers collect their order and bring it to their vehicles. The program is open to all people but a majority of the participants are people in tough situations. We hear a lot of stories while we help them collect their order and do our best to offer support through encouragement and prayer.

Sunday Gratitudes 1/4/09

I am borrowing the Sunday Gratitudes idea from my friend Carrie in Idaho. Thanks Carrie! (I know it is really Monday - hey I am trying)


This is a picture of my DH and his best friend from childhood, Kante. The picture was taken 1/31/05, the day my wonderful DH was baptized in our Church. What a wonderful experience that whole day was and we were blessed with many friends and family to share it with.

Kante is living out of state right now. He was home for Christmas and he and his GF spent a day with us. It was fun to catch up on each others lives, to share the stories, the laughter, and the concerns. We enjoyed a yummy meal at the best Chinese restaurant in the area, Lotus Blossom, and then went to the Saturday evening service at Candleberry Chapel . You should checkout the web site.

I am very grateful to have Kante as a part of our family and life. Kante has had his trials in life. Some of which were scarier than many of us will ever experience. But he came through them with grace, dignity, an a wonderful sense of humor. Hi faith in God is inspiring to say the least.


Mr. Thorpe and his second grade class.