Today was my 19th birthday. 19 on the 19th, my golden birthday! One would think that I’d go do something crazy, exciting, or fantastic to celebrate, as I’d been looking forward to this day, and this specific birthday, for months. But today was different than I expected. I didn’t feel my normal birthday elation or […]

A few weeks ago I ate lunch with my middle school volleyball coach, Teresa Carpenter. Her husband Jim fought cancer from 2006-2007. Since I was in high school during those years I heard bits and pieces of information but never really heard his full story. Luckily, Teresa was gracious enough to spend an hour filling […]

The Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge was this past weekend, and it was a great opportunity to volunteer with my team and to meet various people in the cancer community. Throughout the weekend, I had the opportunity to talk to various people who have been affected by cancer. For example, I talked to some guys at the […]

First blog of MY RIDE YEAR. This is intense. So much has been going on, I cant even begin to attempt to sum it up, so just know, things are crazy things are good. This past Saturday myself and a fellow rider went to panhandle in front of Whole Foods, on our signature corner of […]

Panhandling was something I had never done but I finally did it consistently this past week. I went out Thursday, Friday and even Saturday at the game. I have to say that I was a little bit skeptical at first about the whole panhandling deal. I had heard stories of mean mugging by the homeless […]

Those of you who have known me for a while would probably recall how much I enjoy naming things. My car has a name, my cannondale had a name (‘Spasmotic Butterfly’ – see my prior journals about its affinity for randomly changing gears up a hill), and even my stuffed animals have names. But after […]

Austin, Texas: LIVESTRONG Challenge One more volunteer event, one more ride, and one more ride dedication. I anticipated catching up on blogging now that I am back from the ride and school is back in full swing. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out as I planned. Nonetheless, in between registering teams at the Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge […]

It’s not a newspaper, it’s a FELT Z85, and oh my goodness is it gorgeous. I even let it sleep in the bed with me. (http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2012/Road/Z-Series/Z85.aspx if you would like to check it out.) Those 4600 miles are starting to become more of a reality now. I have some of my gear, my bike, and […]

It’s been about a year now..A year since I applied to Texas 4000..and here I am now, one year later as a member training to (God willing) begin the greatest journey of my life. Fighting against Cancer, a mile at a time. Its incredible. Almost surreal. To consider what my team and I will attempt […]

I am trying to write the first blog in my life. I don’t know where to start and what to write in a blog. But I do know that I love my Texas4000 and all the 2012 riders. I wanna ride for them because they are all wonderful people that have been somehow affected by […]