Princess Diaries

2010-10-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

My New Home
Its hard to believe I have been in Bellingham for five weeks already. Wow! I am beginning to learn my way around town and love exploring. There are endless roads and trails to explore and the scenery is incredible. While I could do without the rain, living in a temperate rainforest has it perks.

Eric came to visit earlier this month and we explored Whatcome Falls Park. Its a mile from downtown and technically still in town; however, you feel completely removed from town when you are there.

And things seem to be super-sized in the rainforest. Like these leaves...and the slugs which are 3-4 inches in length...and the hills are crazy steep.

The great thing about Bellingham is that I can be in the mountains, on a lake, or on the bay within minutes of leaving my house. When the sun is out...or when the clouds are out and its not raining...I love being outside. Fortunately, I have sun lamp to keep me going during endless days of cloud and rain.

2010-10-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

End of the Summer
As usual, life has been crazy and my updates are delayed. The end of the summer was particularly crazy and I sorted, donated, sold, packed, stored, cleaned, and moved across the country. It was a long three weeks from shoulder surgery to arriving in Bellingham but I made it and Eric was a huge help! And I even got him wearing IU clothes in the process! :)

During that process, Eric made a surprise discovery in an Altoids can. I thought my parents accidently sent me a can of Altoids with our Hawaii souveniers which I saved for Eric because I don't like them and he does. Fortunately, Eric does like them because he opened the can and found these ear rings inside. Thanks Mom and Dad for our gifts.

Date nights continued every week throughout the summer no matter how busy we got. Our favorite was a picnic dinner at Garden of the Gods. I can't believe I lived there for seven years before I finally had a picnic in GOG. I look forward to more when I move back next summer.

I finished the track season strong and won Female Rider of the Year! :) I wish I could have raced nationals this year. It was definitely my best season on the bike yet. I look forward to getting even stronger and faster in coming seasons. :)

Eric and I went up to Denver to celebrate my birthday. Dinner was good and dessert was ah-mazing! :) We went to dBar and I got the cake and shake...best dessert I have ever had, hands down.

And we spent the most time on our bikes. I miss my partner in crime and look forward to having my training partner back at the end of next summer.

2010-08-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hat Trick Track Style! :)
As I said earlier, I am having the best season of my life right now and just keep getting stronger. I love it! :) Thursday night I swept the women's racing and won the One Mile Scratch in a two-up sprint (after shattering the field with an attack at two laps to go), the Point A Lap (soloed in after attacking with five laps to go), and the Five Mile Scratch (attacked with three laps to go, attacked again with two laps to go and soloed in again). Fun times! :)

2010-08-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

It's Christmas in August...or early Happy Birthday to Me :)

I just got my first shipment of product from Raw Revolution and am so excited because it came just in time for the end of the season and long rides in the fall. Everybody that I have shared the bars with love them because they are so tasty. :) No soy and they are gluten-free which is an added bonus for the "soy-tards" (me because of my hypthyroidism) and "glu-tards" (me again because of hypothyroidism).

2010-08-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

Leading Babies in My Life
I thought you needed an update of my best friend, Edith. She just turned one last month and walks now! :) Mandy, Levi, and Edith are moving to Dubai for Levi's job so I am going to miss seeing this one but am excited that we can Skype with webcams so I can still watch her grow up in the coming year.

And Madison Elizabeth, Maddie, is the newest addition to the Prentice household. I flew home to Michigan for her baptism earlier this month and was honored to become her Godmother (Jeff is the Godfather). She is absolutly adorable and has the cutest smile and laugh ever. Again, I am going to miss seeing her in person but am so excited to be her Godmother and look forward to watching her grow up as well. And, I already taught her the skill of self-portraits! :)

2010-08-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Mid-Summer Update
As you probably guessed from my lack of blogging, the summer has been very busy. The good news is that my dissertation is progressing very well; although, I still have a lot of work ahead of me. More importantly, Eric and I have been able to spend a lot of time together both on and off the bike. To answer the lingering question on everybody's mind: Eric will be staying in Colorado Springs for the coming year and I will move back once I am done with my internship in WA. We have plans to see each other every month and will spend the holidays in CA with our families. Also, we exchanged promise rings with the intention of getting engaged and married when the time is right.

Not surprisingly, a lot of our time has been spent at bike races. Most of Eric's racing has been in the rain which tends to be sketchy and dirty. Those aren't bad tan lines in the picture, its all dirt. I have been racing twice a week on the track and riding better than ever before. I am currently leading the women's series in points and am the marked rider when I race with women. I am also have a ton of fun racing with the guys and turning heads in the men's field at times.

We have also been trying to enjoy Colorado and went whitewater rafting last month. It was Eric's first time on whitewater and he loved it. The water levels were a little low so the water was slow but we still had a blast. And we have a long list of things to do when I get back to Colorado next September.

2010-07-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Check out my new sponsor, Raw Revolution. Their bars are AWESOME!!! They are totally raw food bars that taste amazing and are really good for you. Try one, I promise you will not be disappointed! My favorite is Raspberry & Chocolate. :)

2010-07-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Recent Happenings
Some of you know that I got a new bike this summer...I absolutly love it! Just as my old bike did not fit very well, I realized that my saddle was not the right fit either. I spent last week saddle shopping and ended up riding five different saddles until I found the right fit for my rear. Riding is so much more enjoyable now. And, have I mentioned how much I love having my own personal mechanic? He is awesome and my bikes are much happier now! :)

Track racing started the first week of June and it's been a blast! Now that my body has had a year to get back to normal and my hypothyroidism is being treated, I am riding much stronger. I surprised myself by starting the season with two wins the first night and have continued to smash since then. I love my stars and stripes skinsuit too! :)

Every week Eric and I go out on a date night. We spend a lot of time in spandex so it is fun to get dressed up and explore the town together. I get to introduce him to some of my favorite spots and we try new restaurants together.

And we continue to cook. Food Network has become one of our favorite channels and we decided to have our own Iron Chef competition. It was Chef Gracheck versus Chef Bennett. Our theme was breakfast and the secret ingredient was egg. We rated each other's meal just like they do on TV (plating, originality, and taste) and I am proud to announce that I am currently the Iron Chef of this household. :) I am sure we will have another throwdown and maybe we will get a little bit more ambitious with our secret ingredient.

2010-06-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Six Months and Counting

Time sure does fly by when you are having fun! Eric and I celebrated six months on Wednesday. It is crazy to think we have only been together for six months because it seems like I have known him my entire life. I think, in a way, I have. I cannot imagine a more perfect match for me. He was well worth the wait! :)

2010-06-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

May
As you probably guessed by my lack of blogging the past month, May was a busy month. The best thing that happened was Eric's move to Colorado. He moved out here in early May and we are having a ton of fun together. The other big event in May, no where near as exciting or fun, was my decision to pull the plug on my first dissertation and start all over. I decided to change my study because I could not find a research participant. That came after eight months of work, 85 written pages, and 90 chapters and articles for the first topic. While I am taking on a lot of extra work right now to start over, I still hope to have my experiment completed before I move to Washington in September. Number one priority is to finish it so I don't need to worry about it while I am on internship. Number two priority is to get it published. I'll worry about that after I defend it though.

Eric and I have been cooking a lot and trying new recipes. Some new, some old, some borrowed. I think our greatest accomplishment so far is cooking Dad's pizza. It is the first time I ever tried cooking it on my own and I have to say our pizzas would have made Dad proud. They were super tasty and fun to make! One of our other favorites is Dad's Asian Shrimp Salad...so good and so easy.

2010-06-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

April Cali Trip
The long overdue pictures from my trip to Ventura to visit Eric. We spent the first couple of days riding in Ventura. Those of you who have followed my blog for as long as it has existed may remember a race that I did in Ojai back in 2006. Ventura is right by Ojai and we rode through it a few times. I love riding in that part of the state. It is beautiful and has great roads for riding. And that is coming from a girl who is not a climber; although, Eric is trying his hardest to turn me into one...and it is sort of working.

We went to Monterey for a race Eric was doing and had a blast. It is such a cool town and well worth visiting. The night after his race we managed to find a candy shop with 100s of types of candy. It was a throwback to childhood as we went from barrel to barrel reminscing. It was kind of like Willy Wonka candy factory minus the oompa loompas, chocolate rivers, and scary boat rides.

The next day we went for a long ride up the coast. It was beautiful! Spring time in Cali is my favorite time to ride with all the blooming flowers and ocean in the background.

Before leaving town, we stopped by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is built right into the bay and so cool! We had to do a speed tour as they were closing soon after we got there but I am so glad we had the little time we did get. I definitely recommend a trip if you ever find yourself in Monterey.

This is outside the aquarium, they must do live feedings or something during the day. I thought it was a great photo opportunity. Eric is getting used to my self-portrait skills and complete inhibition about asking strangers to take our picture. That is something my family can appreciate! :)

Something I have never seen before were restaurants having street samples right outside their doors. Appearantly, Monterey is the place to go for clam chowder and some of the restaurants take it to the streets to entice you inside. I tried a few samples and have to say they were really good.

2010-04-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

A Month Late but they are FINALLY here: COSTA RICA Photos
Just arrived in San Jose and on our way to pick up "Muchi" (rental car). Super excited because I thought I would be at the beach before sunset. As you already know, that did not happen.

This is what we woke up to the next morning at our hostel (Cuesta Arriba). Imagine monkeys crawling in trees above you and two foot igaunas crawling up trees as you walk by. Really cool!

Day 1 on the beach: As white as beach and ROASTING HOT!!! The ocean was as warm as bath water so Leana and I sweltered for 90 minutes before heading into the shade. The cool thing was that Santa Teresa has not commercialized the beach so it was totally tree-lined.

This is the "metropolis" that Leana and I finally stumbled upon after hours of driving. We were SO EXCITED to find a town, even if it was only a block long.

"El Muchi Torro" or "Muchi" for short, our trusty rental.

Favorite local saying "It's the shit!" (pronounced shee-t).

Beaches of Santa Teresa at high tide. There was no shortage of good waves for surfing.

Costa Rican fruit: FRESHEST and TASTIEST fruit I have ever had!!! So good!

Day trip to Isle Tortuga.

First time snorkeling. As I said before, I thought it was cool but appearantly it wasn't that great compared Great Barrier Reef snorkeling. Satisfying for a first timer and I will totally do it again!

Hanging out on the beach on Isle Tortuga after snorkeling.

Final night in Santa Teresa. Every sunset was a little cloudy but still incredible with the huge waves crashing in.

Unfortunately, we spent Easter morning in line for the ferry so this is how I celebrated: listening to Jesus music on my iPod.

Hostel #2: Backpackers at Arenal in La Fortuna. Much nicer and even had air conditioning, super helpful for sleeping!

Arenal, active volcano in La Fortuna, on Easter evening.

Getting ready to swing like Tarzan and fly like Superman (ziplining).

Arenal during the daytime while crossing the lake from La Fortuna to Monte Verde.

Final day in Costa Rica repelling during waterfalls. So fun! :)

2010-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Back through the Forest, across the lake, and into the Lost Canyon we go...

Tuesday morning Leana and I woke up early to catch the jeep (minivan), boat (tiny little boat), jeep (another minivan) tour back to La Fortuna. It was a little overcast but we still managed to find an hour of sun at our hostel and actually got rained on during our afternoon adventure. Fortunately, we were repelling down waterfalls so we were already wet.

Our waterfall adventure was lead by Des A Fio and took place just south of La Fortuna on "the Lost One," a creek so small it is not recognizable on a map. Although the creek was small, the tour was a lot of fun. We started with a short repel down a 25 ft waterfall to practice our skills. After tromping through the creek, we repelled down a 140 ft waterfall off a platform (involves falling backwords into the air and lowering yourself to the waterfall). Then we came upon the world's smallest diving hole. It was about 2 ft by 2 ft but deep enough to jump into...and jumping into it was the only way to keep on moving. So cannonball we did and off we went. Next was a smaller, 25 ft, repel without a platform and then our guides created a dam and positioned us along a waterfall without water. Once we were all set, the guide got up (the dam) and let the flash flood go. I was fortunate enough to be at the back/top of the waterfall and got pummeled by the flood. Finally, we repelled off a 220 ft waterfall and basically free-fell all the way down. Overall, we covered 4 km of creek/waterfall. It was a blast. Not as adrenaline pumping as the zipline but so much fun and I would totally do it again!

After our waterfall adventure, Leana and I sadly had to pack our bags and head into San Jose for our trip home. I would like to say the final drive was easy but, lucky for us, we literally had to drive through the clouds (hence "Cloud Forest") to get back. The fog was so dense I could only see about 10 ft in front of the car and had to navigate mountain roads (read: twisty turny uphill/downhill) by the little reflectors on the side of the roads. Not so fun but we made it to our hostel in the ghetto (not so fun either) and caught our plane home on Wednesday.

I have tons of pictures and will post them as soon as I get a chance. For now, I am trying to get a lot of dissertation work done as I head out of town again Wednesday to visit Eric.

2010-04-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Monday Funday
As promised, more on Monday's adventures. Leana and I spent Monday afternoon with Extreme Adventures ziplining over the rainforest. The tour had 14 cables that provided 4 km of zipling. We got to ride tandem twice, rapelled down off a platform, swung through the forest like Tarzan, and flew like Superman. The videos do no justice for how incredible the adventure was but at least they give you a taste of what we did.

Tarzan: I jumped off a platform, free fell for a few seconds, and then swung on a 30m rope 50m into the air. I had to look straight out (instead of down) and the guides literally pushed me off the platform. Talk about scary...but SO FUN!

Superman: I literally flew across the rainforest like Superman. It was my last ride of the day, 1km long and 180 meters (590.5 feet) above the forest floor. I alternated between enjoying the view to freaking out and worrying about falling out of my equipment. Of course, being the adrenaline junkie I am, I would totally do it all again! :)

2010-04-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Over the bumps and across the ocean...

To Isle Tortuga we went. Saturday Leana and I took a taxi (minivan) across my favorite dirt rodes to Montezuma where we hopped on a boat. The boat took us to Isle Tortuga where we spent the day snorkeling and hanging out. It was my first time ever snorkeling so I thought it was cool when I saw fish with bright blues, oranges, purples, and yellows and vivid black and white contrast. Leana, on the other hand, has snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef and thought it was kind of lame. I would love to go snorkeling again at a place where the coral is alive and fish are all over the place.

After snorkeling, we went over to the island and they made us BBQ for lunch. It was not our best meal but fun to eat on the island. We spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging out on the beach until it was time to take the boat and taxi back.

Sunday we left early in the morning (5am) to catch the 9am ferry that was 90 minutes away. Fortunately, the roads were not as bad in daylight. Unfortunately, we got there at 6:40am and were already too late (too many cars ahead of us) for the 9am ferry so we had to wait in sweltering heat for the 11am boat. Not exactly how I wanted to spend Easter Sunday but there were no churches in Santa Teresa and we had to catch a ferry. It was a long day of travel (5am-4pm) but we arrived in La Fortuna with no trouble.

We actually spent today in Monteverde and head back to La Fortuna tomorrow morning. Then we head into San Jose tomorrow night and fly back Wednesday. Today's adventures were absolutely incredible so I will save them for when I have more time. As a teaser, it involved flying like Superman above the rainforest and jumping off a platform...

2010-04-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Over the ocean and through the rainforest to Santa Teresa we go...

As most of you know, I am in Costa Rica to celebrate my 30th birthday and kicking cancer's a** with Leana. I don't have a cord to download photos so those will come later but there are too many good stories to not update with.

I left my apartment at 7pm Tuesday evening for our 1am redeye flight out of Denver International Airport. Wanting to save money, I booked a flight with a layover in Charlotte....so we flew from Denver to Charlotte, got in at 6am and then had a 6 hour layover until we left for San Jose. Next time I think I will pay the money for a direct flight. We did manage to keep ourself entertained by doing all of our activities (eating breakfast, perusing bookstores, and going to Starbucks) throughout the six hours. And, fortunately, I managed to fall asleep before take-off on both flights and slept through half of each with the aide of Ambien (Flight 1) and a sport psychology hypnotic CD (Flight 2: Greatest sleep aid I have found to date, shuts my brain off and out I go).

When we got to San Jose, we thought we had another 4 hour trip out to Santa Teresa. It is located on the Nicoyan Pennisula on the Pacific ocean. Then we thought we really scored because there was a new toll road so it should only take 3 hours....well, we left San Jose at 2:45 pm and arrived in Santa Teresa at 10pm. Our trusty little Peugot 06 (I named him "El Muchi Torro") was good to us but the drive was long. It started on winding little roads, then I made a wrong turn down a one way "street" thinking I was merging onto the highway, than traffic jams, then we missed the ferry and had to wait for the next ferry and then the nice paved roads turned into paved roads with monster-sized potholes (they put MI potholes to shame) which then turned into washboard dirt roads...with pavement when the hill was too steep for dirt.

But we eventually made it and were able to Santa Teresa. We heard it was an untouched surf town and that is no joke. The town is not really a town, just some random restaurants and surf shops down the road. The beach is great, miles of sand and forest. No businesses or hotels are built up on the beach. The waves are awesome. We took surfing lessons today and I got up most of the time and had my longest rides to date. Even learning how to turn the board now. And the food is amazing. I think it is primarily surfers from countries all over the world that come here to surf and they make a living by cooking food. That is pretty much all you can do here: eat and surf...well and lay out on the beach; although, it is SO STINKING HOT it is hard to do that for very long. I am literally drenched in sweat all day long and the ocean is as warm as bath water. We learned laying at at noon is a REALLY BAD idea so we have been getting up early and going out later.

Other interesting notes are the spider monkies which are all over in the trees...and the giant iguanas (2 feet long)...and the locusts which are going all day and night. I am in charge of driving since we have a manual car and I have gotten really good at dodging ATVs and people and bikes and dogs and passing randomly...kind of learning to drive like a local. I am also learning some spanish, like "Reduction" means "Speedbump" and "Ceda" means "Merge."

Tomorrow is our last day in Santa Teresa and we are going to Isle Tortuga for a day of snorkeling. Then we head to La Fortuna on Sunday.

2010-02-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

My New Home

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intend to be." Douglas Adams

After five incredibly stressful days on an extreme emotional rollercoaster, I secured a pre-doctoral internship and will be moving to Bellingham, WA this fall. And, while I never dreamed of moving to B-ham (as the locals call it) or Washington, I can honestly say I am SO EXCITED for this opportunity!

I am excited for two very important reasons. First, the internship is going to be awesome! I will be interning in the Counseling Center at Western Washington University. I love working with college students and am especially excited because they have two eating disorder specialists on staff and work with a campus dietician and physician. In addition, there are opportunities to work the the student-athletes. Yay! :)

Second, Bellingham seems like an incredible town. It is 90 miles north of Seattle, 70 miles north of Olympic National Park, 25 miles south of Canada, 60 miles south of Vancover, right on the Pugeot Sound and just to the west of the Cascade Mountain range and Mt. Baker. The town prides itself on outdoor recreation and open space. Can you seriously pick a cooler town to live in for a year?! :)

2010-02-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

My Best Friend

You saw a picture of my best friend, Edith, right after she was born. Six months later she is the cutest and happiest baby ever. I love spending time with her. Her smile is contagious! :)

2010-02-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

Catching Up
I can hardly believe a month has passed since my last post. I neglected my blog partly because I did not have internet at home for 10 weeks. The other part is because I was busy trying to get my dissertation proposal turned into the IRB before Eric came to visit. I turned it into my committee and now have approval from one committee member (waiting on two others before I can submit to IRB).

And I finished it just before Eric came for a week long visit. He has been skiing before but never experienced winter quite like this. On our first ride (I was cleared for road riding in early February), he wore 5 or 6 layers to stay warm. It was in the upper 30s that day...not quite CA but not all that cold either. I was only wearing a baselayer, jersey, and vest.

We went up to The Pantry (Green Mountain Falls) one day and ended up pond skating after breakfast. I have not done that since I was a kid and it was so fun. No skates, just our shoes, but it was a blast to play on the ice for a little while before we froze.

Eric also got to meet almost all of the important people in my life that live in Colorado Springs, including a special breakfast date with my best friend Edith (Mandy's baby). He's back in CA now while I focus on moving forward with my dissertation and am trying to line up an internship for next year. I am also starting real training again this week and head to Costa Rica in five weeks. Hopefully I will be better at posting now that I have internet at home; although, my life is pretty dull these days with most of my focus on dissertation and internship.

2010-01-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

"Snowshoeing" in Rocky Mountain National Park
Anybody who knows me well, knows I do not like winter and cold weather. Well, Leana was visiting Colorado and convinced me that snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park would be fun so off we went...except there was no snow as we drove up to the park so we decided to go hiking instead. While snowshoes would have helped, we got around just fine without them.

We had a great time and got to play in the snow for a little while. The best part was that after we had our fill of winter on the mountain, we drove back down to Boulder and Denver where it was 50F and sunny. Gotta love Colorado! :)

2010-01-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

The Break
This is my collarbone after I broke it. I still wonder why the first surgeon did not think surgery was neccessary. After the swelling went away, it looked like my bone was pitching a tent under my skin.

This is my collarbone after surgery. It took eight screws and a 5cm plate to put the pieces back together. Five weeks later, the screws are so superficial you can see metal through my skin and I wonder whether they might rub straight through. The good news is I might be allowed to ride the road again next week! :) My vertebrae are healing well and are not causing any problems at this point.

2010-01-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

The Final Few Weeks of 2009
My life continues to be a series of dramatic highs and lows. After spending most of November working on my dissertation proposal, I spent the first week of December in Chula Vista coaching a para camp. The camp was a bit of a disaster for me. I was hit by a truck on Tuesday. No major injuries as I was able to stay upright despite the truck going at least 50mph. Two days later I crashed my bike (endo-ed over the handle bars on a descent at 35mph) and spent the night in the hospital. I was in major pain and on a lot of drugs as you can see. I broke my collarbone into three pieces (had surgery the following week in CO), fractured three lumbar vertebrae, and had a bad concussion (my helmet cracked into three pieces). My dad also said I had "chipmunk syndrome" because my face was so swollen. Fortunately, I do not remember the crash and my body is healing well. I am not allowed to ride the road until February but am doing really easy trainer rides as of last week.

Another bummer of last month was that Cosby lost his fight to lung cancer. This picture was taken over Thanksgiving when he was still doing pretty well. He detoriated pretty quickly in the weeks following and my family had to say goodbye to our dog of 12 years.

However, just as cancer was trumped by First Descents (cancer camp) and winning two national titles, the harshness of the past month was trumped as well. I met Eric at para camp (he was piloting a tandem) and he has been a huge part of my life ever since. He is my perfect match and I gurantee you will be seeing him on my posts in the future. So, my life continues to follow Dickens' Tale of Two Cities quote: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." But the best of times always trump the worst and I would not trade one good thing to suffer less during the hard times. The blessings always outweigh the suffering.

2009-11-14T10:26:00.001-08:00

Moving On Up

So earlier this week I found my name advertised on the back of a bathroom stall door in the "Commode Chronicles" and then I found my story on Lance's LIVESTRONG blog: From Cancer To National Champion. Who knew I was so famous?! Also, for those of you have not seen the Kenda site, my story is on there as well: Cancer Killer to National Champion.

2009-11-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

Hard Work Pays Off

After three years of doctoral coursework and two masters degrees, I am finally reaping the benefits...I found my name advertised in the "Commode Chronicles" in the UCCS bathroom stall today. Hum...

2009-11-06T21:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween...one week late!
Last year's Halloween was a real trick: on chemo and peeing red. This year it was a real treat because I got to be Rainbow Brite and celebrate with all of my track racing friends.
For those of you who don't remember, Rainbow Brite was an 80's cartoon character. She rode a white horse, Starlite, and rescued the world of darkness with color. That is all I remember about her and it was a lot of fun being Rainbow Brite for a night.

2009-10-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

One Heck of a Hilly Ride
Saturday was the IU Alumni Association's first annual "One Heck of a Hilly Ride." It was scheduled on the same weekend as the Hilly Hundred in Bloomington and we certainly lucked out with the weather. As I type, it is snowing outside...fourth snow of the year and it's not even November yet!

Those of you who know me well know I do not like climbing. Well, this was my kind of "hilly" ride...the course profile showed a gain of 900 feet over 20 miles...perfect for my inner trackie. We rode from Denver to Morrison, had lunch, and then rode home. I met six new Hoosiers (five Little 500 vets...one happens to be the Little 500 announcer these days) and enjoyed great riding weather.

Perhaps the greatest pic of the day: Bikers with Bikers...or better yet: Hoosiers with "A**holes." (Not joking, that is the name of their biking club!) They were super nice and some of them actually ride pedal bikes as well.

2009-10-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Annual Trek to MI
Last Friday I boarded yet another plane but this time headed east to Detroit. My first stop was Beth's doctor's appointment where I got to see the ultrasound of my future niece/nephew...yup, she's knocked up! :) It was really cool because the baby was really active and jerking around in there. Appearently, the baby had just grown past the size of a kamquat and was the size of a lime last week. I affectionately refer to the baby as "Baby Kate" and she is due to arrive mid April.

After the doctor's appointment, I headed over to a Whirlyballin' bachelorette party...it was finally time for Mary to get hitched. Whirly Ball was awesome and I became the designated player, playing all four 15 minute periods. Three of my four teams won and I got a few goals despite my terrible hand-eye coordination. For those of you who don't know the game, picture bumper cars, lacross, and basketball all in one. It's crazy fun!

The night continued with wedding festivities including a bachelorette dinner after Whirly Ball, hanging out with Bethie Saturday morning, and then the rehearsal Saturday afternoon...it was anything but relaxing with so much going on but definitely a lot of fun!

Wedding morning with the beautiful bride! We had our hair done and took pictures are Mary's childhood home in Gross Point. It was a beautiful but frigid day...my toes were the color of my dress by the end of the ceremony!

The newlyweds: Josh and Mary VanHaitsma! The wedding was right on the edge of Lake St. Claire complete with fall colors and blue skies.

The reception was at the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle...and this may be the only time I have ever appreciated the Detroit skyline. It was an incredible sunset. So incredible that I was willing to face the frigid weather for a few shots of the skyline. Detroit has never looked so pretty; although, as Jeff Johnson suggested, it could have been Detroit burning down and not the sunset I was seeing! :)

2009-10-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Elite Nationals
A year ago I did not think I would be able to race at Elite Nationals; however, after having a good season and heading into September still feeling strong, I packed my bags and headed to LA for Elites. I knew it was going to be fast and the track was short but I really had no clue what 250m meant. The picture does not do justice for a 45 degree banked turn. If you stand at the top and look down, it looks pretty much vertical...you have to go at least 17 mph to stay upright.

It was fun to be out there with the Colorado team. These are only the bikes of Colorado racers. I think we had 16 or 17 racers out there last week but the competition came from everywhere. Each of the women's fields was so full they had to run two heats before racing for the title. That's awesome!

And who can go to CA without riding along the beach?! Most of us stayed at the same hotel and went for morning spins by the ocean. I loved racing on the track but the morning spins were equally awesome.

Friday was my day off so you can guess where I ended up...my excuse was to work on my tan lines for Mary's wedding but really I would have been there reason or not. I had two days between races so a few hours on the beach were not going to hurt my next race.

And I got to spend my day off with Ben, my friend from college. He has really gotten into track racing and is talking about building a velodrome...maybe in Btown at the quarry where Breaking Away was filmed! :)

My favorite picture of the whole week: Hermosa Beach Pier just after sunset. The best part about this picture is I literally took it on the fly as I was trying to beat a family before the kids started climbing on the statue and was avoiding a couple sitting right by it.

So, the whole reason I went to LA: To race my bike! My first race was the Scratch race (normal race with set distance and the person who wins the sprint at the end wins the race). It was my first mass start race on the 250m and I was nervous. I did not ride a smart race because I was so concerned about the sketchy girls around me and sat up after a big crash with two laps to go. I look forward to doing more mass start races in LA between now and next October so I can race the track with more confidence and race rather than worry about self preservation. The team pursuit was later that evening and I felt really good but one of my teammates was having an off night. As a result, we went really slow which was a bummer. There is nothing a racer can do when her legs are not there in a pursuit. As you can see in this photo, I was ready to go well before my teammates...I had not done a start on the track yet and was very focused as I wanted to get going fast so I didn't slide off the track in turn 1.

Sunday was the day I was looking forward to: The Madison! It was the first running of a women's Madison at Elites but was a "demonstration" rather than national championship race. My teammate that I had been practicing the past month with "quit" bike racing after a bad race Saturday night so I ended up racing with a girl out of WA. We spent 10 minutes on the track practicing exchanges Sunday morning and then lined up to race together later in the day. It actually worked out really well as she is strong and fearless. The race was fast from the start and the first exchange was a bit hairy as nearly every team (10 total) went up for their first exchange. Guess I should tell you what an exchange is! Basically, the Madison is a modified Little 500 as we only have one racer per team in the race at any given time. In this photo, I am coming in from the race and literally throwing (by handsling) my teammate into the race at full speed. Dad was there and took a few side shots which I will post after he downloads them but you can see I only have one hand on the handlebars while the other is holding my teammate's hand. I grab her hand, shoot past her, and transfer all my speed into her as I sling her into the race. Then I sit up and ride up track on relief until she comes around to me and throws me back into the race. It is perhaps the most painful race you can do as you go as hard as you can every time you are on the track and have minimal recovery while on relief. This race was 100 laps/25km which happened to be my longest race of the year. Despite being crazy and barbaric, the Madison is definitely my favorite race and I look forward to racing it as often as possible with the guys next year! :)

2009-09-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

One Year CancerVersary

As hard as it is to believe, today is my one year cancerversary. Exactly one year ago today I got the call telling me I had "a form of cancer known as Hodgkin's Lymphoma." The past 365 days have been some of the hardest days of my life and included a series of unfortunate events: cancer diagnosis, my "permanent" crown fell out, mountain lion living in my backyard, ran into a bear on a ride, happened to get flats on both my car and bike on the same day...the day before my comprehensive exam...and it was near impossible to change Matty's flat b/c my special lock to take the lugnuts off was missing, got rear-ended by a car while stopped at a stoplight on my bike, Matty's battery died...I am sure there are some other things I am forgetting but you get the picture. However, in spite of the unfortunate events, the past year has included some incredible events as well: incredible new friends within the cancer community, Mandy coming home from Ecuador the week I was diagnosed, winning two national titles and setting a national record, First Descents (aka: The Best Week of My Life), not being seriously injured when I was hit by a car, not being eat by the mountain or bear, turning 30, finishing my doctoral coursework, and starting my private practice...the highs were high and the lows were low this year but anybody who knows me well knows I do not settle for mediocre. It was been an extraordinary year in both directions and life just keeps getting better! :)

2009-09-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

Challenged in New Ways at Para Camp
I spent the past week working at a paralympic "Learn to Race" camp. I have ridden with some of the paralympic athletes over the past few years but never coached any of them. Needless to say, the past week was quite a challenge as I had to adapt my coaching style for all types of athletes, abilities, and types of bikes. As you can see in this picture, I am rely on vision for teaching. Well, many of my athletes were blind and riding tandems with sighted riders. I literally had to get hands on to teach them throughout the week.

We also had a big group of handcyclists. I had never seen a handcycle before camp started and was amazed and perplexed by those machines. We even got them out on the track for a few laps.

We also had single leg amputees and brain injuries. The week was filled with incredible athletes who had a lot of determination and courage. I was continually impressed by their abilities.

And, fortunately, camp ended this weekend as yesterday (the last day of summer) came complete with our first snowfall...and we expecting up to an inch of snow tonight. There is a winter storm warning in the mountains tonight as well...seriously, on the first day of fall!?!?

2009-09-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

My First Month as a National Champion
I can hardly believe it has been a month since my last post. Life has been crazy busy ever since I slipped on the second jersey. The weekend after nats I turned 30 (yay!) so that entire week was one of celebration...celebrating my wins and celebrating my fourth decade of life. I may be the first excited woman to turn 30 but if you had my 29 you would be stoked too!

And I got to celebrate with all of my favorite Colorado Springs people...and Col and Edith, the newest edition to the Wilner family! :)

Edith was actually born while I was in Vail at First Descents. I went to see her the day I got back into town so she is less than a week old in this picture. She is so stinking cute!!!

Somewhere in the mix of the past month I went to Lakeside Amusement Park with the Rront Range cycling woman. I love those rickety rides and this year was no exception. In fact, Renee and I were so into our go-kart racing we got kicked off on our first lap. Renee opened the inside lane up to tempt me, I went for the hole, she hooked me, I t-boned her, and we were kicked off. That's okay because we just went back to the Wild Chipmunk, my favorite!

I also made a trip to Indiana for Donnie and Sera's wedding and was blessed to spend two days with Becky, one of my best friend's from college. We spent a day on the lake in northern Indiana and I loved every minute of it.

Then I met up with all of my brothers for Donnie's wedding. It was so fun to spend the day with them as it is not very often that we all get together anymore because of distance.

First pic of the four of us in a few years...this one is for my parents...funny how well we get along now considering how much we all used to fight! :)

And since Steve was the best man, I got lucky enough to spend a ton of time with sister-in-law Jen. She's a good add to the Gracheck clan! :)

And the wedding turned out to be a bit of a highschool reunion. Here are a few of us but there were a lot more to add from the 1997 and 1996 Dexter classes.

2009-08-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Masters Nats Action Shots
Final lap in the Points Race.

On the pain train in my 2km Pursuit.

2009-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Life Just Keeps Getting Better

After the big high Friday night, I woke up Sunday with another national race on my mind. This time the team pursuit in 90F+ weather. My team had never actually ridden a pursuit together before we lined up on the start line that morning but we each had good knowledge of pursuiting and exchanges...and it worked! We won the race and set a national record. It was the most painful, yet fun, four minutes of my life! :) So that makes two national championships and national record 11 months after being diagnosed with cancer...so good to have my life back and so fun to win a national championship with my good friend Renee!!! :)

2009-08-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

Kate=Cancer Killer and National Champion in 11 months time!
I woke up singing "I Gotta A Feeling" this morning and knew it was going to be a good day...I was anxious for the Points race but also knew I wanted to win it bad, real bad...and I did!!! In order to win, I had to have one of the best races of my life. While I made a few mistakes, I rode it well enough to to stand on top of that podium and wear the stars and stripes jersey I have been gunning for since the day I started chemo. I mentioned in my last post I told my chemo nurse I would be on the podium this year...well, really I told her I was going to win a jersey this year...and I did!

And I was blessed to be able to share the experience with my parents. They have supported my racing for the past six years and when I told them I was riding well and going for the gold, they decided to come watch my quest. It is big to win a national championship but it is even bigger when you win a national championship the same year you were diagnosed with and beat cancer. As I rode my rollers yesterday I realized today's race was on the eleven month anniversary of my diagnosis. Eleven months ago to the day I was diagnosed with cancer...so all I have to say is take that cancer!

And I certainly could not have won without my local cycling ladies, some of my favorite people in this city. Many thanks to Aim (farthest left) who raced the Points race for me tonight. She was like my safety blanket and it was huge to know she was out there to help me win. And I certainly could not have done it without Katie's (left side of me) guidance! I told her I wanted to win a jersey the same year I beat cancer and she got me on top of that podium. In fact, I surprised her with my burst of speed tonight...sprinting has not been my forte but I am starting to get the hang of it and have a few good accelerations in most races now. Renee (right side of me) gave me the lowdown on the women in her race tonight (our groups were combined) which was a huge help. And Melissa has been an awesome support and fan throughout everything. Really, they have been there for more than one race or this season, they have been there for six years and I was so happy to celebrate with them tonight. And many thanks to the rest of my cheering posse...it was so fun to see the stands full knowing many people were out there for me as well as knowing I had people cheering for me all over the world! :)

2009-08-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Masters Nats Day 1
So, today was the start of Masters nats and the beginning of the end of a year-long journey. As you may recall, I was diagnosed with cancer 10 days after racing at collegiate nats last year (I am lucky enough to qualify for three different track nationals each year...and two of the three happen to be on my home track back to back years). On the first day of chemo, I told my oncology nurse I would be racing at masters nats and gunning for the podium the following season. Well, here we are, 11 months later and I was standing on the podium! :) I took third in the 2km pursuit this morning and had a solid ride. Not as fast as I wanted to go but probably the best executed pursuit I have ever ridden.

But even greater news is Renee smoked the field today and won the stars and stripes jersey. She had the fastest woman's time of the day earning herself a national championship. Up next is the Points race on Friday evening and then team pursuit (Renee is on my team! :) ) Sunday morning. While bronze is nice, I am definitely looking to get higher on that podium over the coming days! :)

2009-08-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

More Pics from the Greatest Week of My Life
Playing "Polish Horseshoes." Fun game but I stink at it. The goal is not to get as many points as possible but to score 21...I kept scoring over 21 and knocking my team back down to 16.

Hanging out before dinner...I believe this was Fish Taco night and that is why we were hoarding the serving table. Best fish tacos I have ever eaten, hands down, no comparrison!

Hanging out on the water...have I mentioned I love being on the water?!

Paddle, paddle, paddle...I love whitewater kayaking and totally plan on doing it again this year! And, by the way, the water seems way more intense when you are sitting in that boat and paddling through it.

Break time in the hot springs. Our second day on the river took us down to Glenwood Springs and we got to hang out in the non-commercialized hot springs before finishing our section that day. They were warm to scalding hot depending on where you sat, smelled like sulfer (rotten eggs), and came with a water snake.

First day of camp we played water polo on the pond. In this picture I am on the defense but I really spent most of my time cherry picking and scoring goals! :)

Paddling downstream with the award balls strapped to my head...they clinked the whole way down the river and I felt very "special."

My awesome roomie, Sharkbait, on her birthday. We surprised her with a luau on the last night of camp.

Pretending to be a hardcore rock climber...just like I pretended to be a hardcore downhiller earlier in the week.

And the night I won my award, on land achievement, I was adorned with the Christmas tree ornament ball decoration necklace...the one that was strapped to my head on the last day of paddling.

2009-08-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

First Descents=The BEST Week of My Life EVER!
Okay, I hope you are ready for a long post because I have a lot to share...it was really hard to choose which photos to use because the entire week was fabulous! Even more difficult is to put into words the greatest week of my life. Most of you know I love being on the water and in the mountains. Well, being on the water in the mountains was the perfect fit after living through 11 months of what I consider to be the worst year of my life. I am definitely hooked on whitewater kayaking and am already planning my next paddling excursion (right after track nationals!) But it was not just the kayaking that made this week so great, it was definitely the people. I was surrounded by a group of people who knew how to laugh and have fun no matter what life has brought them. I can honestly say I have never laughed so hard in my life nor have I laughed that hard every single day of my life for a week straight. We were real and shared our experiences but also grabbed the bull by the horn (so to speak) and lived life to the fullest during our week together. I cannot remember the last time I felt that alive. When I got home, multiple people told me I was glowing. That is all thanks to First Descents which reminded me how great it feels to be alive and thriving.

So, now that I have gushed about how great First Descents is, I will take you on a little journey of my week. The first day was spent on Eagle Pond learning how to put our equipment on (yes, we had to wear all of that everytime we got in our boats) and how to escape our boats if it capsizes. I even started to learn how to roll but got too cold and have to save rolling for another day. The greatest part of the day was when we played water polo on the pond. My team totally dominated the game and I scored a hatrick and maybe more...just call me Cherry Picker! :) Oh, that is the other thing. We all went by nicknames for the week. My name was Wheels (I am sure you can all figure out why). In this picture is Shark Bait, my roommate, who is AWESOME!

Day 2 was spent downhilling on Vail Mountain in the morning and on the river that afternoon. I brought my bike and rode every morning before camp started by didn't want to wear my kit to downhilling. Let's be honest, I don't ride on dirt and I didn't want to pretend I was good at it. As you can tell, I looked like a hard core cyclist that day...complete with a special Nalgene handlbar holder! The cool thing about this activity was that a few mountain bikers in Vail spent their summer fundraising so they could rent equipment and take our entire camp downhilling. The support for First Descents in the Vail valley is awesome!

And it wasn't until I saw this picture that I understood Hangry's (he gets angry when he is hungry) fascination with my tan lines. They have definitely gotten bad over the years!

Wednesday was spent down by Redcliff rockclimbing. It was a fun day and I scaled two different routes. The rockclimbing guides actually choose some pretty tough routes (upper end of difficulty) so I was psyched to get up them both; although, I couldn't move my hands by the end of my second climb.

The rest of the time was spent on the water kayaking. I don't have any pictures yet because I did not take my camera on the water but our photographers are sending CDs out with all the photos they took. I will post them when they get here. Every night we were treated to dinner by a different local family. One night a local chef made us fish tacos which were AMAZING! And we always finished the night with a campfire and awards. Whoever won the award had to strap the it onto their helmet the next day on the river. I spent Friday paddling with those balls taped to my helmet. One woman on a raft asked if I was celebrating Marti Gras and I told her I was special...I definitely looked special with those on my helmet!

As I said, the people were amazing! I am not going to post them all up here but a few noteworthy ones are being included. This is Skittles, my partner in crime. Each night we took random pictures on the cameras laying around as a surprise. We definitely got a lot of good laughs doing that. And she happens to be a person with an incredibly dry sense of humor that can make an entire room burst out laughing. For example, on the last night one guy was talking about the "special energy" our camp emits. Skittles said "Well, most of us have been radiated" in a room full of cancer killers. We were rolling on the floor laughing.

Eco, on the left, and I met on Twitter a few months ago so it was fun to finally meet her in person. She thinks she is going to get me skiing this winter and I may have convinced her to run a marathon with me when I turn 40...yes, I am already planning it as I will need a long time to build my base. Hyphy, on the right, is my Hodgkin twin. We were the only two Hodgkin killers at camp.

This is Bongo. He was actually a counselor but was also a camper six years ago and fell in love with kayaking. He promised to teach me how to roll this fall. But, more interestingly, he actually grew up in Chris Carmichael's house! He grew up in the Springs and his family sold that house to CC when he was a kid. Crazy!

And, last but not least, Smelly, our camp director. She did an amazing job of getting us everywhere and was an awesome teacher. I was stoked to run my first class three rapid with her and sad to say goodbye. Smelly is another one that can make you laugh until your stomach hurts.

Well, that's it in a nutshell. The greatest week of my life at the end of the worst year of my life; although, things started turning around...I think August may be the start of a great year to come. After all, I will be 30 so things have to get better right?! :)

2009-07-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Elite Districts/CO State Championships

Thursday and Saturday were spent at the track racing in the Colorado State Championships/Elite Districts/Elite Nationals qualifier. I am pretty stoked about how strong I felt both days (despite accidently racing a 50x14-gigantic gear even for a guy-Thursday). I took fourth in the scratch race Thursday evening in strong field and then third in the Points race on Saturday. The significance of Saturday was that I beat a girl in my nationals age group that I didn't think I could beat...super confidence booster for August! :)

2009-07-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

Lucy's Back In Town...

Just the other day I thought Lucy may have gone back to the mountains and then I heard her again tonight...and this time I got a little bit of it on tape. This is what I wake up to in the middle of the night.

2009-07-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hammer Time Trial Day
It's that time of year again...time to race the clock! Today was the annual Hammer TT day which means everybody was out there to race the clock. I was excited to get my first 2km time of the year. This is one of the races I am gunning for at nationals in August.

The 2km is six laps as fast as you can go; however, the trick is to not go out too hard because you will pay for it in the second half. And, that is exactly what I did. My second lap was about 2 seconds too fast which means my final three laps were about 1 second slower than I wanted. The good news is I rode 5 seconds faster than I did at collegietes last year and have lots of room to improve before August.After that, I rode in a team pursuit with some of the women I race with every week. It was the first team pursuit I have ever done and it was so much fun! A team pursuit is when four riders work together to race the clock over 3km (9 laps).

Final lap you are supposed to cross the line together...Julia and lost our other riders along the way. I am definitely excited to do another team pursuit with some faster riders in the future!

2009-06-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Jumped through another hoop!

It's official, I passed comps!!! :) Despite studying a lot over the past month, I was fairly certain I had a good chance of failing after giving my best guess on many questions which seemed to have no right answer or not enough information to actually answer the question. As you can imagine, I was much relieved to get the call that I passed today! :) Now I just have to finish up my last class and onto dissertation!!!

2009-06-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

My Knight In Shinning Armor

Col! Actually, it was Levi who came to my rescue after running through Plan A, B, C, D, E...there was a lot of them. Tomorrow is the big day (comprehensive exam at 9am) and I woke up to a flat tire on my bike...no problem, I'll just drive over to the track...and then I realized Matty (Jeep) had a flat tire too. Still, no big deal, ride the slow leak to the track (I can't actually change the tire on my front wheel rim because it is so tight I cannot get tires on/off) and have guys help me with the tire and get help changing Matty's tire later...well, that was a great plan until Mandy, Levi, and Col showed up at 5pm and I realized my special lock lugnut was missing which meant I literally had no way of swapping the flat/spare tires. I ended up calling lots of auto parts stores, asking other Jeep owners in the complex, and calling towing companies looking for the special lugnut...no luck and Jeep dealerships are not open on Sunday. Then I found Jeep/Chyrsler has 24 hour road assistance so I call them and explain the situation. The lady assures me they can help me out and an hour later the guy shows up with no clue that I needed the special lugnut and of course he didn't have it...now we are at 7:30pm on Sunday evening and I have an exam in 14 hours. Levi calls one last auto parts store and the guy suggests hammering a regular socket on and it worked! Horaay!!! So Col kept me company but Levi saved the day. And I will definitely be replacing those special lock bolts with regular ones just as soon as I get time.

2009-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

What I have been up to...

You're looking at it. I am taking my comprehensive exam on June 29 and have 3 years of coursework to review plus learning things I never learned. In the past seven days, I have made 700 notecards and studied 2-6 hours/day. This is my final stack of notecards, not sure how many are there but I have to know them all plus some other stuff I didn't feel like putting on notecards by next Monday. Wish me luck!

2009-06-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Track Nats are In Colorado!!!
Most of you know that racing at Masters Nats has been my goal since the first day of chemo. Well, I am riding strong and nats were just moved from Indy to the Springs which means I get to race nationals on my own track for the second year in a row! :) And that also means my friend Melissa has come out of retirement and is racing again.

The best part is she showed up wearing my "Serial Cancer Killer" shirt last week and I had packed mine to wear after racing. If you click on the photos, they will enlarge and you can get a better view of the shirt. Anyways, I am riding strong and burnt my "cancer card" because I am plenty strong enough to keep up and now I am going to start racing to win versus hoping to keep up. About sixty days to nationals!!! :)

2009-06-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Pups Pools Patio at Nosh

Yesterday I spent the afternoon hanging out at Nosh with my friend Lara and her dog Kojak (the husky). Nosh has dog days throughout the summer and dogs are allowed to hangout while their owners eat lunch or dinner on the patio. They give out treats and dog toys to all the dogs who come. Since I don't have a dog, I had to recruit Kojak as my sidekick but it was so much fun. I wish Cos and Rudy where here so I could bring them!

2009-06-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Mandy's Baby Shower
Mandy really did not like taking this photo but I wanted to make sure you could all see the progress from her last preggo pic. She is due in July and does not know whether she is having a girl or boy nor will she tell me names. So, I had to name the baby after myself (I call it "Baby Kate" which is better than "it" right?) but she is always quick to remind me the baby's name is going to begin with a vowel. That is the only clue I have so far...

And here is little Wesley. I love hanging out with him! :) Wesley is only 6 months old and has already had two haircuts...I am quite certain he has more hair than I do right now and his looks a bit more controlled than mine. I am currently sprouting hairs out the side which stick straight out when I have a pony tail...at least it is all growing back!

2009-06-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Lions and tigers and BEARS oh my!

After 29 1/2 years and 6 years in Colorado, I came across my first bear. I was riding up Goldcamp Road last week and just about at the top when I came to a narrow part of the road and saw a bear coming towards me. For a split second, I thought "Hum, this is going to be interesting riding past this guy" (he was a pretty big bear like the one in this photo) and then I noticed his ears went back and he started running towards me. I saw a truck was coming behind him and the bear's only choice was to come at me. I changed my mind rather quickly, did a quick U turn on my bike, and sort of speed away...I thought I was safe going downhill on my bike, no way a bear could catch me, and then I found out bears can sprint up to 40 mph an hour. Next time I might be a bit bigger hurry to get out of there!

2009-06-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

Looky, Looky...
The track is FINALLY open and I am racing my bike again!!! :) Last night was the season opener and the skies cleared after an afternoon of storming and torrential downpours. I am so excited to be back on the track but have a lot of work to do. Most of these girls (all of them) have been racing since March and that's when I started training again. No matter what, I am so thankful to be racing this year and it felt so good to be on the track again!

For locals, the track is open for the summer and racing starts at 6:30pm on Tuesdays (free) and 7pm on Thursdays (supposedly they are charging admission this year). I hope to be racing most, if not every Thursday, and many Tuesdays as well. I will be out there both nights next week assuming the weather holds up.

2009-06-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

More Weddings

Leslie, fellow Hoosier, actually married Rob (both are fellow high school leaders) in Ohio this spring but they had a wedding reception at Jack Quinn's last week. It was kind of nice to celebrate with them and eat wedding cake (carrot cake, my favorite!) without having to dress up. And I think people are starting to realize I don't have a disease anymore because there is no more staring...appearantly, three weekends in a row of me looking healthy and having hair (albeit sprouty, frizzy, and out of control at times) has assured them I am okay.

2009-06-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

High School Graduation
As many of you know, I have been working with highschoolers for the past three years. Last week I spent an afternoon at Palmer High School's graduation. I have not been to one of those since Peter and Chris graduated high school many years ago. It was the usual pomp and circumstance complete with class speakers attempting to be funny but really saying nothing at all. The show was stolen by their superintendent who is retiring and played a song on his guitar about their graduation and his upcoming retirement. It actually made me laugh out loud.

And along with high school graduation goes open houses. I spent Saturday afternoon hanging out with "my highschooler" (as I have affectionately referred to her for the past two years) at her open house. It was fun to see a lot of people I have not seen in a very long time; however, the past few weeks have started a trend in which everybody stares at me like I have a disease. Well, I did, and all of the people that I have not seen since my diagnosis don't know I am cancer free now so they stare at me wondering but too scared to ask. I think I should just wear a sign saying "I'm cancer free and fully healthy!"

Jaimee's (my highschooler) younger sister was very amused that I showed up to the open house with "Ms. Brown." Heather is a high school teacher and Julia was so intrigued that we were actually friends (because teachers obviously don't have friends outside of other teachers). She approved us as a "good friend couple" though.

2009-05-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Under the Knife Again

Since last May, I have had four surgeries and I am becoming a pro at "going under." Yesterday my oral surgeon went in to check out what was going on with my dental implant. Well, it was in fact failing so he took it out...I am once again a toothless wonder. Actually, my dentist prepared a "flipper" (hence the photo...thought a dolphin was more appealing to look at than my new retainer) ahead of time so I am back to a retainer. Since it is a rooftop appliance I talk a little funny but I am getting used to it and practicing my s's and ch's. Twenty-nine continues to stink...only 90 more days until I turn 30! :)

2009-05-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

Lucy's Dinner

Well, I haven't heard Lucy in almost two weeks now but that does not mean she isn't out there. I finally realized what she has been eating though. We have a ton of young bucks hanging out in the park as well. This guy is one of six that I counted the other night...no wonder she isn't leaving!

2009-05-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the Thunderbirds!
After six years in Colorado Springs (yes, I am celebrating my sixth year here and sixth year with CTS this week!), I decided it was about time I went to see the Thunderbirds at the Air Force Academy graduation. I love watching air shows and the Thunderbirds were good but would have to say the Blue Angels are better...

But that could have been due to my viewing location. I watched the show across the highway from AFA and the planes came right by me but they were not very loud. Earlier in the week I heard them practicing from my apartment and they were much louder. I think the sound was lost being out in the open space versus valley. Next year I am going to hike Blodgett Peak and watch them from there. The amazing thing is how many people go out to watch the show. Literally hundreds of cars were parked along the road...and the planes are in this picture, right by the tree.

2009-05-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

Lori and Richard's Wedding
My friends Lori and Richard got married yesterday at Fox Run Park in the Black Forest...they really lucked out as it was pouring rain and storming about an hour before the ceremony but the clouds broke and it was beautiful. I packed my rain jacket and rain boots (red and white polka dotted) just in case it didn't clear...I am sure I would have been quite the site in my dress had I broke them out! :)

They had their reception at IT'Z Family Fun Center and I tried my skills at Dance Dance Revolution. It's safe to say I am much better at pedaling on a unilinear plane than I am at trying to tap four different squares. Boys, you can just magnify my Guitar Hero handicap by about 100 to imagine how bad I was!

The best part of the night was hanging out with all of my youth group leader friends. I stepped down from leadership last year when things got crazy so I barely see them anymore. They are as entertaining as ever and I love seeing Leslie, my fellow Hoosier! :)

2009-05-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

My New Neighbor...Lucy the Mountain Lion

For the past month, I have been hearing these really wierd noises at night. The first night I almost called 911 because it sounded so much like a human but when I looked outside I couldn't see anything and the noise faded away. Well, it keeps coming back and I finally did some google researching to find out I have a mountain lion living in the park by my apartment. A female mountain lion, Lucy, who appears to be in heat and that is why she is screaming...I really hope she does not attract a male down off the mountain and have babies down here!

This is more what she sounds like compared to the above clip but it is R rated as the videographer had some choice language as he recorded the sound...and for some reason I can't get it to upload so here is the link if you are curious: Screaming Mountain Lion

2009-05-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

Chris' Graduation Take 2

You may remembering me touring college campuses last year for the boys' graduations. Well, Chris decided to return to Boulder to turn his minor into a major this spring so I was back in Boulder last week celebrating his second degree...it took me 2.5 hours to get to Boulder (Denver traffic to blame) and a detour on campus sidewalks (not joking, I followed some other car across campus...on the sidewalkds) but I made it in time to watch my "little" brother earn his second degree in as many years...and then I had to head back for 12 hours of class and a final. Classes are over now and I am heading into my FINAL term of class for the rest of my life. I will be totally done with my doctoral coursework in July!!! :)

2009-04-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, mmmm good...

You know that song "take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of beer on the wall"? Well, that is exactly what I was doing Wednesday morning as I had to down two 450 ml bottles of barium, apple-flavored barium "smoothie" that is. The apple flavor did not cover the metal taste. But more importantly, I found out my 900 ml of barium was laced with laxatives...yeah, that makes for a fun day! Anyways, the barium was for my first post-treatement CT scan. I met with Dr. Huff (oncologist) today and everything was clean...I wasn't worried and I actually continue to get in trouble (by both my oncologist and radiologist) because I don't do self checks. I figure CT scans every three months will catch anything I need to be aware of. Appearantly, I am being non-compliant...I prefer to avoid paranoia though! :)

2009-04-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Happy (belated) Easter!
As I indicated earlier, it always seems to snow on Easter...and this year was no exception. In fact, Peter was lucky enough to leave CA for the weekend and experience a bonafide snowstorm...lucky Peter!

It was a fun day nonethess as both boys came down to the Springs for the day. Those of you who know me well, know I love hanging out with these guys. Easter was no exception and I was happy to spend time with them...inside! :)

2009-04-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's Easter weekend, so it must be...

SNOWING! Inevitably, it seems to snow every Easter weekend in Colorado...dad, I can hear you laughing from here. At least I have a lot of homework to do today.

2009-04-01T21:30:00.001-07:00

Enough Of April Fool's
Well, while nobody played April Fool's jokes on me, I had plenty of unexpected excitement. First, I was lucky enough to find a patch of inch long hairs that wanted to stand straight up today...I did not even realize I lost an entire patch but there is definitely a kid like patch of hair growing in mid-part.

Then, my work email account broke...and the phone lines were down at CTS...and I could not get in touch with IT...so I did not work today and have no time to catch up this week. I did find a lot of evites in my SPAM folders though...sorry to anybody I did not reply to in the past year! And then there was the mini blizzard that I barely escaped on my bike. But more troubling is the fact that I went to my dentist today after noticing my crown (product of 4 years of braces/retainers and 4 surgeries in my 20s) is literally falling out...the screw is coming loose from the bone. I have to see my oral surgeon next week to see what comes next...and take antibiotics in case of infection.

Needless to say, I wish I was back in Tucson hanging out at Agua Caliente. I need a vacation and have only been back six days.

2009-04-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Colorado's Big Snow
I was lucky enough to fly home from Tucson during the 2009 "blizzard." So lucky, in fact, that my flight to Colorado Springs was cancelled (before it even started snowing) and I spent seven hours with my bike in DIA (read: Sat in a chair for seven hours next to my bike and studied). I finally caught a shuttle home and we made it back in less than two hours?

And this was the result of the big snow: Matty had barely any snow on him...and, the snow completely melted within 24 hours.

2009-03-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

New Desert Discoveries
Who knew that Tucson had it's very own oasis? Well, one remains and it is now preserved in a park called "Agua Caliente." The oasis sits at the base of Mt. Lemon (you can see the mountain in the background) and is exactly how you would imagine a desert oasis: palm trees, lush green grass, birds and turtles...pretty cool!

My other cool discovery for the day was blooming cacti. I have been to the desert in the spring but have never seen a cactus blooming. The prickly pears have little buds all over them and the started opening today.

Tomorrow is my last day in the desert for the year and I hope to see more blooms and find new discoveries...and continue to work on my tan! :)

2009-03-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Living The Good Life
I am spending my pseudo-spring break in Tucson riding with an athlete...its 80F and sunny right now! An interesting tidbit: It takes 70 years for a branch of a saguaro cactus to grow. That means this cactus is literally hundreds of years old!

So, not only am I getting paid to ride my bike in Tucson this week, but I also get to sit on and watch my athlete do all the work! :) Actually, I was holding her for starts today and then jumped on my bike and sprinted up to her...at which point I sat on until her interval was over. But I did pull her around when she wasn't doing intervals so I did earn my keep. :)

2009-03-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

Mary is getting Married!
As you know, my good friend and old roommate,Mary is getting married...which means she has to pick out a dress. A couple of weekends ago we went out to get her feet wet and try some frilly, not so frilly, sparkly, lacy, and just plain ugly dresses on...

Mary tried this one on just for me...I would definitely say it got the biggest laugh of the day! :)

Anne and I got to try bridemaids dresses on afterwards...neither of these dresses made the cut...you'll just have to wait and see the color and style! :)

2009-03-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Last Day of Winter!

Really, could you ask for a more perfect end to winter...60F and fresh snow on the peak...and I will be starting spring off in the desert...tanlines here I come! :)

2009-03-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Healthy Hair

Chemo did a number on my hair as you can imagine...not only did a lot of it fall out (took about 8 weeks before it stopped falling out after chemo) but it also got really nasty and frizzy. Last week I finally got fed up with my chemo frizz and cut a bunch of it off. I can still pull it up in a pony tail but it somewhat resembles my short hair days...which are not coming back as I have Mary's wedding this fall. I am ready to be frizz free again just as soon as healthy hair grows back.

2009-03-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Red Wings/Avs Game Featuring Growler Boy and Muffin Top
Chris and I try to go to watch the Wings when they are in town every year; however, this year was extra special as we used it to celebrate the end of my treatment and got really nice seats...row 20 on the blue line! :)

With such great seats, how could we miss warm-ups? This picture is for Peter as Lidstrom is in it.

Our seats were awesome not only because they were so close to the ice but also because we were surrounded by Wings fans! The little boys in front of us painted their faces and dyed their hair red with a white skunk stripe.

But it was the people next to us who really caught our attention; in fact, they were pretty much an ongoing sideshow throughout the game. Chris became best friends with Growler Boy who was seated right next to him and incredibly intoxicated. Just in front of Growler Boy was Muffin Top who was in close second in regards to intoxication. I thought Growler Boy was really funny but that is because I had Chris as a buffer (who was under constant attack of flying cotton candy, peanuts, and beer.)

In the end it was a great night...the Wings won and we had a lot of good laughs! :)

2009-03-01T20:16:00.000-08:00

Go Renee Go!

First day of March and first race of the season for some local cyclists. After freezing my butt off during an early ride with Renee, Mandy and I went downtown to watch the one and only local crit of the season. While it was fun to cheer Renee on, I can honestly say I was quite content on the sidewalk. Not sure if that is because I know where my fitness is right now or because I really do love track racing more than road now. Track season is only four months away! :)

2009-03-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

Spinning Nation 09

If you will recall, I posted a few weeks ago about the national Spinning Nation event. Well, yesterday was the day and I joined the VillaSport team for an hour of power and fundraising. I believe the team raised about $4000 as of the second hour of the event. It was fun to be a part of the team and spend some time hearing other survivor stories.

2009-03-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Time to Let the Cat out of the Bag

Mandy is pregnant!!! :) She is due in July and is going to wait until then to find out whether she is having a boy or girl. This picture was taken on Valentine's day before she was really showing but I am happy to report two weeks later so is starting to develop an awesome baby belly! :) I keep telling her Kate is an great name for her baby but I have yet to convince that naming her first child after me is a really good idea.

2009-03-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

Boulder's Very Own Velodrome

A few weeks ago I went up to Boulder to hang out with Chris and check out the new velodrome...it's indoor which is really cool but only 140 meters which is not so cool. (compare that to our track which is 333 meters). I heard it is like riding "woop-de-woops" because of the G forces. I think I will leave G forces to the rollercoasters and keep my track riding on the 7-11 velodrome in the Springs.

2009-02-26T08:03:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the term again

Typically, long absences on blogging means one thing: I am really busy and it is the end of a term. The past two weeks were no exception. I have been doing homework non-stop when I am not at the counseling center, in private practice, in class, or on the bike. The good news is this term is almost done! And, even better news is that I only have two more terms of class left!!! :)

An update on my health: I love having my life back and being done with treatment! I have been really tired this month as was predicted. I was disappointed with that as I hoped I would bounce back after a week and a month later I am still dragging (granted my life is not conducive to resting right now) and my muscles hurt after easy rides. So, I have my life back but am anxiously awaiting to get my full health back as well. And, just in case you were wondering, my hair has (finally!) stopped falling out.

2009-02-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

Spinning Nation 09

A few weeks ago I was on the group ride when I met another rider with a close connection to cancer, his is also a cancer killer. Long story short, he has invited me to be a special guest at the 2009 Spinning Nation, a nation wide charity event raising money for LiveStrong and Athletes for a Cure. The event takes place, nationwide, on February 28 and I will be riding at Villa Sport Athletic Club. The event in the Springs welcomes everybody and I am certain you would find a similar event in your area if you wanted to ride for charity as well.

2009-02-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Slumber Party

Last summer, when Mary and I moved into seperate apartments, we agreed to have monthly sleepovers. Our track record of sleepovers has been lame but understandably so with everything going on. Anyways, Mary recently got engaged and she asked me to be in her bridal party...I agreed on one condition: Despite her lifelong dream of bridesmaids in pink dresses, I just couldn't do it. Right, I don't think we need to worry about that. And, good news for all you Mighiganders, Mary and Josh are getting married in Detroit which means I will be in Motor City the week of October 10. Mark your calendars! :)

2009-02-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

Celebration Time!

Last night was Ladies Night as I celebrated the end of treatment. It was nice to spend time with some of the women who have stood by me, step by step, as I navigated through the past five months. And today I woke up relieved to know I do not need to be back at Penrose for a full month! :)

2009-02-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

The Fat Lady Finally Sang!

Remember that saying, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings"? Well, she finally sang for me today as I am officially done with all of my cancer treatment! Guess that means I can (happily) relinquish my title of "Serial Cancer Killer" as I am no longer fighting and ready to resume normal life. Not sure Dr. Huff would agree, but I would like to say I am no longer a cancer patient...just a patient who beat cancer! :) I will find out in April if I can officially say I do not have cancer anymore. For now, I am cancer-free, done with treatment, and ready to get back to normal!

2009-01-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

Wish me luck...
I am lucky enough to have been invited to teach SIX hours of Health Class at Mitchell High School tomorrow. This will be my third time doing this and let's just say I appreciate teachers more and more with each passing hour! Oh, in case you are wondering, I go there to teach the kids about eating disorders: what they are, how to recognize them, and how to get help.

2009-01-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

Three Days to Go

Finally, only three more alarm clock wakings to go! :) Everybody keeps asking how radiation is going so I will give a quick update. I have not noticed any side effects but I am starting to get pretty tired. I can't decide if it is from waking up early, radiation, or having three weeks straight of class and work (no weekends off)...probably a combo. But it's starting to show. Workouts that were easy last week are much tougher this week. But with only three more days, I know I am getting off easy compared to most. I have this weekend completely off (homework aside) and look forward to sleeping in and doing a lot of nothing! :)

2009-01-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

The COUNTDOWN Is On!!!

Today officially marks the final countdown of cancer treatment. I only have FIVE MORE DAYS of radiation left!!! Mark your calendar, February 2 is the big day! :)

2009-01-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

Jedi Mind Tricks

I have spent the past two weekends in class...last weekend was non-optional and this weekend I elected to attend an EMDR training. EMDR is an energy-based therapy which helps people process traumatic memories in a quick period of time and does not require any talking. At first I thought it was a bunch of bull but the results are incredible. I actually am having it done on me tomorrow so we will see what happens! In case you are curious: EMDR

2009-01-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

UofR Winter Party

Last night was our annual winter school party. Appearantly, we were celebrating the year of the Ox. Something to do with the Chinese calendar. Although, we were celebrating at a Greek restaurant so I am not sure how it all went together. The good news is I know have a lifetime 10% discount at Jake and Telly's (Old Colorado City) and I got a certificate to recognize my year on GSA (Graduate Student Association)...you know you are all jealous! :)

2009-01-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Recovery Speedy Gonzales Style!

Great news! I just got my most recent blood work back. My blood draw in December showed a white blood count of 900 (really low) and hematocrit of 36% (low and really sucky for a cyclist). That was December 11. I had another test on January 9, one month later, and...my numbers are up! My WBC is up to 8300 (well within normal range), hemoglobin is 14.4, and, most importantly to me, my hematocrit is up to 43.5%!!! :) Before treatment started, I was at 43.7% so I am back to pre-chemo hematocrit. My two week Cali Cancer Comeback Camp worked!!! :)

2009-01-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Go Chargers!

Like my cheerleader pose? Yeah...that's why I played sports and wasn't a cheerleader! :)

2009-01-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

Take That Cancer!

An update on my recovery: I celebrated my one month anniversary of my last day of chemo with a personal best ride while in California! While my fitness is not great and I have some work to do on endurance, I was able to average 175 watts/99 rpms for 90 minutes...not bad considering I was 30 days out on chemo! :) And, I started doing a bit of structured riding while out there with personal bests on my power starts, both legs, highest power I have ever produced on my road bike during a start! :) I got about 276 miles in during my two weeks out there and was super excited about how strong I was right after chemo. I hope to keep building my base this month during radiation and want to start back to real training in February.

In regards to other updates, my hair is still falling out; although, it is slowing down and I am not bald. I do feel like a kid with tufts of hair growing back up front though. And radiation has been lengthened to 20 days (versus the original 14)...my last day if February 2 now.

2009-01-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

Treatment Resumes
As you may recall, despite being cancer free now, I still have to go through radiation to make sure all of the Reed-Sternberg cells are dead. Technically, radiation is a much easier treatment in terms of short-term side effects with the only real anticipated problem of minor skin irritation (think sunburn). The bigger concern is possibility of breast cancer down the road from the radiation. I will be so closely monitored for the rest of my life I am not too worried about that though...what I am more concerned about right now is the fact that I have to wake up and be at radiation by 7:45am every single week day for the next fourteen days. I am really not a morning person and rarely wake up to an alarm clock; so, if I am grumpy over the next three weeks you'll know why! :) (And, yes, I did choose my treatment time...I wanted to get it out of the way early but am seriously wondering what the heck I was thinking when I choose that time!)

2009-01-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Home at Last

After 17 hours on the road and a night in Gallup, NM, I am officially back home in Colorado where it is 10F and feels like 2F. As you can see, Peter, my chauffer, was quite tired after our long drive home. We spent seven and a half hours on snowy highways and in zero visiblity today. I already did not like driving through NM and now I really don't like it...and I definitely miss CA already.

2009-01-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

A Time To Pamper

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a gift certificate for a hot stone massage at the La Costa Spa. I cashed in on the GC yesterday and had a great afternoon of pampering as I was allowed to use the spa all day long. It was the type of spa where everybody walks around in white robes and you can't help but be at peace due to the waterfalls and music. It was a much needed day of relaxing after this fall and getting back into shape the past two weeks...and let's just say hot stone massages are AMAZING!!!

2008-12-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hanging Out with Old Friends

I drove down to Santee yesterday to hang out with my friend from high school Jenny (White) Harris. She lives out here now with her family and Tristan is my new buddy. Jenny and I were hockey team managers/soccer team buddies/drivers ed partners/exchange students together during our four years at DHS so it was fun to catch up while hiking at Mission Trails Park and eating at Miguels on Coronado Island...they have an amazing white salsa sauce which I highly recommend!

2008-12-28T11:12:00.000-08:00

Patience Pays Off...
And I finally got a chance to drive dad's new car...let's just say Matty (my Jeep) is seriously lacking in horsepower when comparend to dad's car!

2008-12-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

Two Big Black Dogs
Cosby looking good at 11 years old!

Rudy is always a sucker for the camera as you will see...

And he will put up with literally anything!

Peter and Chris thought this was really funny, not so sure Rudy agreed though.

Rudy all wrapped up.

2008-12-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!
Yes, Chris purposely made that face and my camera died right after so this is our 2008 family photo. Yes...mom is wearing antlers in the picture too.

And yes, I am considering becoming a professional Guitar Hero player...Santa brought us Guitar Hero for the Wii and I have progressed from barely competent at beginner level to playing through most easy songs and some medium songs. My future as a professional video game musician is looking bright! :)

2008-12-22T21:49:00.000-08:00

Cancer Camp Here I Come!

I found out today I was accepted into the First Descents camp program. It is a (free) week long whitewater kayaking camp for young adults with cancer. It's not until July but I am psyched...at least one good thing came out of cancer! :)

2008-12-21T21:31:00.000-08:00

First Day of Winter in SoCal!

What better way to celebrate the winter solstice than a bike ride along the beach?! Yes, I am spoiled because I get to spend the holidays in San Diego and yes I will be rubbing it in for the next two weeks! :)

2008-12-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

Roadtrip

Since I really wanted to go to CA for Christmas and my immune system is low, Peter became my professional chauffer for the holidays. He flew out to the Springs to drive me back to San Diego; fortunately, we get along very well. The trip was uneventual aside from a one hour food hunt in Albuquerque, incredible amounts of snow in Flagstaff, and being given the key to someone else's room at our hotel (the good news was nobody was home when we walked into their room)...oh, and we tried Del Taco which was nasty and is now on my official never-eat-again list.

2008-12-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

SoCal, Here I Come!
I am finally headed home to sunny SoCal today! I never really got permission to put radiation off for two weeks, I just told my radiologist I would be gone until January 5 and he did not protest so off I go. I did have my simulation done on Wednesday and now have three tattoos...one of which I intend to have removed as soon as radiation is over. The guy said they would look like freckles but I think it looks more like a big ink blot on my chest which I am not thrilled about. At any rate, radiation will start after the first of the year and I am off to relax in sunny San Diego for the next two weeks!

2008-12-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

Annual Christmas Party Pajama Style
Since we couldn't find an evening when the whole group could get together, we decided to have Christmas breakfast in our pajamas this year. So, on the coldest morning of the year, we all trekked up to Monument to celebrate Christmas, my remission, and Joel's birthday.

And I got to meet little Wesley for the first time. He was born on November 2...I have never seen a baby with such dark hair let alone so much hair...he might have more hair than I do right now!

After breakfast and before opening gifts, Anne and Jeremy surprised us with a game of Pictionary. The theme was Christmas music and I am happy to report my team won! :)

The other surprise was for me. We got to hurl snowballs at the box in honor of my killing cancer! :) So now I have beaten cancer, finished classes for the term, and it is finally time to relax!

2008-12-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Loving Life Cancer Free!
Obviously, celebration was in store after yesterday's news and that is exactly what I have been doing. The celebration started out with Amy and Lara at Blue Star.

Then I headed north to hang out with Lori, Leslie, and Julie at Elephant Bar. That was especially fun as I have not seen these ladies since the summer. I used to lead HS youth group with them.

And then this morning I woke up for a special celebration breakfast date with Mandy at Wooglin's, my all time favorite. And Darren, who owns Wooglin's, was so happy for me that he gave Mandy and I free breakfast! :)

2008-12-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

The Celebration Continues!

(Mom, ask the boys how to view the video.)

2008-12-12T11:48:00.001-08:00

IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!

As of this morning, I am officially cancer free!!! Take that cancer, 12 weeks from diagnosis to remission and I beat chemo 4-0!!! :) I still have to go through radiation but it is a huge relief to be done with chemo and cancer free at this point. I certainly could not have asked for a better Christmas present!

2008-12-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to Feel a lot like Christmas

Tis the season to spend time with family and friends and it started last night. My friends Vicki (pictured) and Ben invited our cohort at school to celebrate the holidays at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort last night. It was fun to spend time with classmates and professors in a non-school atmosphere...and I am quite happy to report we did not talk about school at all! :) And I confirmed that I might be the worst dart player in the world...that's why I ride bikes, I have no hand-eye coordination.