My Lovely Engagement Ring

George and I picked this ring out together and I love it because it is so unique. I love that it has rubies in it and I especially love the flower-shape. I just got it back from being sized at the jeweler today. I feel like I am wearing a big hug from my sweetheart on my ring finger!

We're Engaged!

Well - everybody else is doing it! But seriously, George and I are really happy together and things just click. So this past weekend, we got engaged! We got engaged at sunset on Waikiki Beach after eating yummylicious cheeseburgers at our new favorite seaside restaurant. The ring is really purdy and I will post pictures of it as soon as possible. Its at the jeweler being sized right now, but I should get it back today. I can't wait!

We are going to get married legally on Saturday, but we will have a formal ceremony in a year or so because our marriage won't really be official until we celebrate with and receive the blessing of our friends and families. Location and date, TBA. Anyway, I hope you can see just how happy we are together. While these pics are not from our engagement evening, we went back to the same restaurant/locale with our friend, Jason, another Army fellow who is stationed in Hawaii in George's same unit who also just arrived in Hawaii. We got him to take some pictures of us and we got some others as well. To see them click here. In particular, check out the album entitled "Cheeseburgers in Paradise."

Some Quick Observations about Oahu

Rather than going into detail, I'm just giving little thoughts/observations I've had in the last few days on Oahu. If you want to know more, just ask!

• Little sprinkles of rain that come out of nowhere, last for 5 to 10 minutes, and then disappear.
• The reality of traffic on the H1 and in Waikiki
• Seeing four or five rainbows in a day
• The excitement of finding a gallon of milk that cost only $5 in the PX!
• All the crazy and beautiful Hawaiian streetnames
• The way everything looks like it could be a postcard
• Being caucasian and being a minority
• Hawaiian music everywhere: in the airport, in the shopping mall, in restaurants
• The stunning beauty of the beaches and water and mountains
• Ukeleles for sale in the grocery store
• The value of a lanai
• My willingness to be super-clean out of fear of the so-called B-52 Bomber flying cockroaches
• Missing my friends and family
• The way days seem to last for such a long time and don't just fly by in a rush
• The serious intensity of the midday sunshine
• The clarity of the sky
• Fish!
• Exploring it all with my sweetheart

A Waikiki Morning

I just posted some pics I took this morning. Check out my new picasa album called a Waikiki Morning.

Day One: Venturing Out and Quincy's "Hotel"

Its about 5am local time and I'm blogging. I would say I've still not recovered from the jetlag.

Anyway, my first day here was quite full. By the time I got back to my hotel last evening, I was ready for some serious sleep. I had started the day around 6am by heading out to find a grocery store. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning. Flowers and birds everywhere, the mountains in the distance, and a blue sky I haven't seen in a long long time. I found a grocery store and got a bunch of things to stock my kitchenette. Boy, they aren't kidding about the price of groceries here! I saw my first-ever $7 gallon of milk! As much as I love milk, I didn't buy any. Many of you may realize what a sacrifice with was for me. I'm sure I'll treat myself at some point, but considering my budget, I have to be really careful. What I did get a lot of was fresh fruits and vegetables. I can honestly say that I ate the best bananas of my life yesterday. WOW. Smaller than the ones I'm used to, but sweetness packed in.

After venturing out for groceries, I came back to the hotel and crashed for a few more hours. After lunch, I made the loooooong trek by foot and bus and foot again to see Quincy at the Animal Quarantine Station. He will be there until next Wednesday - the 23rd. He seems to be healthy, though the vets there were not able to give him a proper exam because he was "vicous"! That was actually written on his chart! I hung out with him for an hour or so, though he really didn't seem happy to see me. I think he is still mad at me for the plane trip. I spoke with the animal caretaker and the vet and they both said that cats are often moody for the first few days they arrive. Hopefully Quincy will mellow out. He was gladly eating treats out of my hand one minute, but then hissing and growling at me trying to gently pet him the next. Anyway, If you'd like to see Quincy's accommodations, visit my photo album of the outing.

I promise I will take pictures of other stuff today. Honestly, the main reason I didn't take more pictures of the scenery is that it is so beautiful pictures just wouldn't do it justice. As I was walking down the main street of Waikiki yesterday looking for breakfast and groceries, I was nearly in tears the place is so beautiful. Still, I'll take my camera out today and capture some stuff on film. :-)

I made it!

Last night, around 9:45pm local time, I took my first steps on the island of Oahu! I feel like I haven't seen much yet as it was dark when I arrived and it is still dark now. Still, everything is exciting to me. It is about 5am local time as I type. Quincy and I survived the flights, although I am eager to check in on him at the Quarantine station, where he will be until next Wednesday. He cried a lot during the second flight (understandably), but the airline personnel whisked him away before I have a chance to check him over properly.

Despite my worries over Quincy, I am very excited to be here. For one, this is as far to the West as I have ever been in my whole life! And even though I am still in the U.S., I definitely feel I am in a different culture. Instead of signs being written in English and Spanish (as I am accustomed to in D.C.) they are in English and Hawaiian or Japanese or Korean. The airport and lots of other buildings from what I can tell, are largely open-air structures. I've already heard lots of Hawaiian music: in the airport and on the bus ride to Waikiki.

Speaking of the bus ride, because I am staying in a super-budget hotel, I needed the help of the driver to get my heavy bags to my third floor room. The driver gladly helped me, but as a courtesy to the other passengers, I had to be the last of his drop-offs. As a result, I got to ride all over Waikiki and see all the fancy and not-so-fancy hotels. I am already putting in a vote for the Hawaiian Hilton Village. It looked cool, though expensive I'm sure!

Well, I'm sure I will have a lot more to report once the sun comes up and and I can walk around and see everything in the daylight. That said, my new island home looks very promising and I can hardly wait to explore it! I will report more and post pictures as soon as possible. Thank goodness for internet connection here at my hotel! Aloha.

The U-City Loop

Last night, my mom and I went down to an area of St. Louis called "The Loop." It is a funky-cool little part of town with one-of-a-kind shops, a vintage movie house, an array of local restaurants and artisan shops alongside the occasional chain outfit. It is a great little neighborhood where people from throughout the city mix: locals out for a night on the town, funky young folks with crazy-colored hair, city-dwellers and suburbanites, and college students from nearby Washington University. For those of you familiar with D.C., imagine a less pretentious, less overpriced version of Georgetown without the traffic jams. One charming little feature of the neighborhood is the Hollywood-style stars which are embedded in the sidewalk featuring names and bios of famous St. Louisans. To see more pics from our excursion, click here.

The Jeff Smith Movie

We made the trip the old movie house in the Loop (see above entry) called "The Tivoli" to see a movie that documented the recent experience of one of my high school classmates, Jeff Smith. In 2004, Jeff made a bid to win the Democratic nomination for the Congressional seat opened up by the recently retired Richard Gephardt. Watching the movie and seeing all of Jeff's hard work made me so proud of my old school and my graduating class which yielded a diverse collection of people who are engaged in wide range of worthwhile pursuits. I remember Jeff as a kind person (whom I had a crush on in 6th grade!!), who everyone got along with. He was (is) a unique guy: a 5'6" basketball player who was the only white guy on our school's varsity basketball team. In college, he majored in African American studies and eventually earned a Ph.D. in political science. He has been a strong proponent of education and has helped start several St.Louis-area charter schools with rigorous math and science curricula. He ran his Congressional campaign on a platform of equity in public education. As a future teacher myself, his campaign focus captured my attention and support. While he lost the nomination in a close race to a member of a well-known Missouri political family (the Carnahans), he went on to win a State Senate seat in the most recent election. It was an inspiring story about a person who is really attempting to use his life to make a difference in the world around him. I have no doubt that he will do great things in service of my home state and hopefully in service of the country someday.

Esteban

If I had to identify the biggest change in myself in my past ten years in the Washington, D.C. area, it has been learning about and becoming completely comfortable with myself. The most notable result of this is that I feel comfortable speaking with just about anyone. Combine this result with a naturally out-going personality and I was bound to meet make casual friendships with many of the people in the path of my daily routine. That is how I came to meet Esteban.

About a year ago, I started riding the 3T bus from my house to the West Falls Church Metro Station. On many mornings, I would be waiting at the same bus-stop as a middle-aged gentleman with a dark complexion, wearing his green Giant-Supermarket uniform shirt. At some point, I overheard him speaking Spanish and eventually I imposed my unrefined Spanish skills on him to start a conversation. He was immediately friendly and kind, although still somewhat soft-spoken. We talked about his job at the supermarket and his family in Mexico. I told him about my school program and my job and a little about my family and my boyfriend, George. That is how I got to know Esteban.

Over the past few weeks, as my move to Hawaii gets closer, I have had to start the difficult process of saying my goodbyes. The goodbyes to my friends, both my close friends and more casual friends, I had anticipated. I am still working through the separation anxiety and I'm sure I will continue to feel the heartache over it when I arrive in Hawaii. The goodbyes I had not prepared for, however, were the ones like the one I had yesterday with Esteban.

I haven't take the bus since I moved closer to the Metro Station in April, but I still see Esteban all the time. I run into him nearly every time I go to the grocery store and I see him several times a week on my short walk to the metro station. Yesterday, we ran into each other and realized after our short conversation that we weren't going to see each other again. We might not ever see each other again. While I'm not headed out of D.C. for another couple weeks, Esteban is leaving D.C. for a month-long vacation to visit his family in Mexico. We talked a few moments about our respective upcoming travels: his to Mexico and mine to Hawaii. Of course there was the silent realization that our occasional encounters may never happen again. As we concluded our conversation, we exchanged the greeting "Peace." Receiving that greeting from my unlikely acquaintance actually gave me a bit of needed peace. And I truly hope Esteban will have the same for himself and his family.

Simplify.

In preparation for my move to Hawaii, I have been paring down everything I own. I have already sold a number of large items, I have a dozen or so boxes filled with items to be sold at a yard sale, and I've put a ton of other things I own in storage. My room looks really funny and it first it felt wierd, but now I am starting to like it. I think I'll like it even better when the yard sale boxes are gone. I definitely had accumulated more stuff than any human being needs. Moreover, I'd accumulated more stuff than I really even wanted.

I was walking though Tyson's Corner Mall on Friday on the way to meet some friends for dinner. All the stores filled with things to buy - things that persuade us we might look better or prettier, things that will make our lives easier or more comfortable or more efficient. As it has been a while since I've been in a mall and I've been going through this paring-down, at first I felt disgusted by all the stuff everywhere and all the people buying everything, walking with two and three large shopping bags of new clothes, gadgets, housewares, etc. Then some adorable dress caught my eye. My mind rapidly changed gears and I wanted the dress. Somehow, just by looking at all the things in the windows, I became caught up in the shopping world and the promise of these tangible, material goods. Quickly, though, I remembered how good it has felt to pare down my belongings and how I want to keep it that way and most importantly, how I don't really need anything new at all.

There are so many wonderful things in life that don't come with a pricetag at all: the love of friends and family, music and harmony, sunsets, a walk in the woods, jumping into the ocean or a lake, fresh snowfall, and all the gifts of nature.

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
to turn, turn, will be our delight
till by turning, turning we come round right.

-Eighteenth Century Shaker Song

Don't Worry, Be Happy.

That really should be my motto. Permanently.

I had a decent-sized wrench tossed into my Hawaii plans this week, but it is certainly not an undefeatable wrench. I can still go through with my adventure as planned, albeit with some minor and temporary adjustments. Nonetheless, I have been incredibly stressed over it. The bottom line is - I need to CHILL! Things will work themselves out. I have two choices: I can either spend my time fretting the unknown details of my upcoming move, or I can relish my final days here in Washington and daydream about the wonderful parts of the adventure I have coming. The beaches, the sunset, the new culture and people, the new job, being with my sweetheart in paradise, visits old from friends, birthdays on the beach, fresh pineapple, open-toed shoes, sunshine, windows, rainbows, learning to surf, learning to hula, and learning a new way of thinking that DOES NOT resemble the high pace of my life here in Washington.

And Steve Winwood with this closing thought that I will try to keep in my head as I go to sleep:

And I'll drink and dance with one hand free
Let the world back into me
And oh I'll be a sight to see
Back in the high life again

Shelly & Andrew's Wedding

I didn't have a ton of photos from Shelly & Andrew's wedding as I was running around quite a bit myself that day, but I do have a few. Check them out here. It really was a very special celebration and I'm honored to have been chosen to stand in Shelly's bridal party. The planning and preparation of the bachelorette weekend and bridal shower as well as the events themselves brought close friends even closer together.
For a lovely slideshow of the event, see Lawrence and Pam's photos on their business website.

Girl Time

I spent a lot of time this weekend doing things with girlfriends, so I thought I'd take a moment to express how much I enjoy having such wonderful women in my life. I spent much of Saturday with a group of women who got together for a bridal shower for one of our friends. So much love, fun, silliness, kindness, friendship, and the like was present in this group of old and new friends. The sister of the bride - also the maid of honor - took so much care in planning special cuisine for the event. Her mother and another friend carefully planned decorations and the event itself and several more friends helped make everything happen.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon and evening with one of my oldest friends. We just talked about life, our careers, our plans, and our families for hours. Sitting by the pool gabbing, splashing around in the water gabbing some more, catching up over dinner and just plain hanging out made for a little oasis of peace in the sometimes crazy and frantic-paced life we can lead. There's nothing else that compares to this kind of time with a friend.

Languages of the Pacific

As my move to Hawaii approaches, I am learning more and more about the experiences I will be having. Thanks to the kindness of one of the two teachers who will be supervising my student teaching, I have learned a little bit about the language backgrounds of the students in my classes. The number of languages that the ELLs (English language learners) speak is astonishing! Some of the languages I could have guessed expected: Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Tagalog, Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Other languages are ones I truthfully didn't know existed! In addition to the ones I just mentioned, I will have students who speak Marshallese/Ebon (from the Marshall Islands), Samoan (from American Samoa and the Samoan Islands), Kosraean (from Kosrae, an island in Micronesia), Chuukese (from Chuuk, also part of Micronesia, and Tongan (from the Kingdom of Tonga). Need a refresher course on where these places are located? I sure did. Check out this great map. I am so excited to think about how much I will learn there. My goal for now is to learn at least a few phrases in each of these languages. I think as a future ESL teacher I can make a much better connection with my students just by knowing how to say 'hello' in my students' first languages.

Aloha!

Aloha! Even though many of you know this already, I decided it was time to "go public" with the news that I will be moving to Hawaii this August! It still seems totally unreal to me and it will probably stay that way until I step foot on the island of Oahu in mid-August. Still, my plans have pretty much come together. I've booked my tickets and made arrangements to bring my cat (no small feat at all considering Hawaii's strict animal import laws!) I will be doing student teaching through the University of Hawaii - Manoa at two different schools in a town called Aiea. Aiea is very close to Pearl Harbor and not far from Honolulu. I have no idea where I will be living yet and I probably won't know until I get there. With any luck though, I'll find someplace reasonably inexpensive and QUICKLY! After my student teaching this fall, I'll be eligible to become a licensed teacher in Hawaii to take a full-time ESOL teaching position in the spring.

Its no secret that George has played a big part in my decision to go to Hawaii. I'm crazy about him and we're both really excited for the move! Still, I've been craving some sort of adventure that would take me to a new and different place and this has become the perfect opportunity to explore someplace new. It may be quite different than Tunisia or Morocco (places I'd previously had in mind), but I think I will get an equally exciting experience from Oahu. We are both ready and excited to try surfing, hiking, mountain biking, spulunking(sp?), rock climbing, try out the new food and culture and meeting new people. As for me, I want to learn some hula as well as some of the Hawaiian language.

With all this excitement, there is indeed a sad side: the realization that I'll leaving my wonderful wonderful friends in Washington, D.C. I've already shed more than a few tears just thinking about it and I know more will come, especially as I actually have to say goodbyes. I don't even like to think about it, actually. I will undoubtedly be in touch with everyone (maybe MySpace will help!) and I will try to come and visit. Travelling will be expensive, though, so I probably won't be making TONS of trips to the East Coast. I will warmly welcome visitors and I will make room for you wherever it is that I end up living!

On that note, I *really* hope I get to see lots of my friends this summer. You guys have been the most wonderful par of my last ten years here in the Washington, D.C. area!

Love,

Me

Biking

So - I got myself a new bike this past weekend and its great!

Back when I was in middle school I used to bike EVERYWHERE. I would ride my bike any day the weather was nice. It was probably one of the only things that I enjoyed doing by myself when I was that age. I wasn't much of an independent kid at that time, except when it came to riding my bike.

One day when I was fourteen, I headed out for a bike ride on an afternoon when the weather was pretty questionable. My dad told me he didn't think I should go because it looked like rain. Stubborn as I was, I went anyway. Unfortunately, the next my dad heard about me was a call from the police (or hospital?) I don't really know. He and my mom got the news that every parent wants: I got hit by a car and an ambulance was taking me to Missouri Baptist Hospital. Luckily, it was only a broken leg. I do believe that my life flashed before my eyes during the accident. It was a pretty trippy, yet in some ways unforgettable, experience. After a few months with a cast on my leg, though, I was fine.

Still, it took me a few years to get the courage to even ride a bike again. Once bitten, twice shy. I didn't ride much again during high school at all and I didn't even have a bike when I was in college.

Eventually, after law school, I got back into biking. And the past few weeks I've been thinking of getting a new bike. On Saturday, with George's encouragement and upon seeing the cool-ness of his new bike, I got myself a new one. The results have been awesome. I've been feeling really burnt out with running and its been great to get out, exercise, and revive an old past-time. Lucky for me, I life less than 1/2 mile from the W&OD trail so I biked to work today. I am looking forward to lots more biking this summer on the many great paths in the greater DC area. Whether its a quick trip out for ice cream, or a day trip to Leesburg, I'm ready to go solo or with company. Anyone wanna go for a ride? Give me a call!

Hooray - It's OVER!!!

Ok - so its not 100% over because I actually have class from 9-3pm tomorrow, but it sure feels like it now that my last paper is complete, printed and ready to be handed in. I can hardly wait to get a Margarita in my hand and relax with my honey and my friends.

It has been a hell of a semester. And not in the good way. I am vowing - for the benefit of myself and for my friends - NEVER to put myself through something like this again. I'm glad I made it through the 18 credits for my program this year so I can begin student-teaching/teaching this fall, but every aspect of my life has suffered as a result. I've been spread WAY too thin. My social life, my job, my love life, my hobbies have all had to take a back seat at some point. Hopefully, though, I am on the road to living life at the pace we all should live it: slowly and without hurry.

Thanks to all my pals who helped me survive the past 3 or so months - especially George who didn't know what he was getting himself into when we started dating! I love you guys. You add so many wonderful things to my life.

Repetition

I know this feeling will go away soon, but there's nothing that brings me down more than when my life becomes void of variety.

A Day in the Life of Lisa. I get on the metro. Doors are closing. Please stand clear of the doors. Nine stops. I get to work. My windowless flourescent office awaits me. I read seemingly identical pages - minute by minute. There is no ticking clock, but I can hear it loudly and slowly - very very slowly, slowly - in my head. I mark with the red flag. Then the green. Then with the blue. I want to scream. Then again with the red. At last 3 hours have gone by and it is time for lunch. I note the calories on my frozen meal. I microwave it and I eat my frozen meal. I count my pocket change to see if I have enough for a Diet Coke. I eat it while I check the weather forecast and the headlines. They are the same as they were the last time I checked - ten minutes ago. Back to work. Another 4 and 1/2 hours of the minutes slowly passing by as I look at seemingly identical pages. At last the work day ends. Three blocks to the metro, nine stops til home.

Hopefully I can put all of this behind me soon. I want my days to be filled with laughter and variety and the world and God. Not this lifeless, souless existence I have at my office. It is devoid of everything.

Without Esther, Tom, Steve, and Ian I would go completely mad in my flourescent world. Thank you for helping me through.

And thank you for George and my sister and Becca & Shelly and my other friends who help me live on "the outside." Without you, my 9-to-5 would wither me away like a wicked witch drenched in water.

London

At long last, I posted the pics from my trip to London in March. Check 'em out at my website . Hope you enjoy! It really was a lovely trip.

-Lisa

Go Mason!

George Mason actually knocked out N.C. State in the NCAA Tourney. Unbelieveable. Go Patriots! For the first time in my life I can actually say that I go to a school with a real basketball team!

Life is Crazy...

Its hard to believe how much has been going on in my life lately. Plenty of good stuff, but lots of stuff nonetheless.

The best thing in my life lately without a doubt has been finding George. We've been having an absolute blast together regardless of what we are doing. We seem to be in sync in terms of what to do. We don't seem to have much trouble agreeing to go out to see music, to stay in, to hang out with friends, to make snowmen, or go workout. Its pretty cool. On top of that, he knows what I'm thinking about something before I even have to say it. It makes communicating really easy. There's never too much confusion even when I don't express things as clearly as I could. I could say a lot more, but I don't want to go overboard here. In a nutshell, its crazy, but its crazy in a really good way.

I guess the other 'crazy' stuff is just a result of having a full schedule and a busy life. I've had some craziness at school this past week. (Some of which could have been avoided if I had a better academic advisor!!) Also, my roommate is moving out and I'm finding myself scrambling to find a new one, after the person who'd planned to move in had to back out. Lots of schoolwork, work piling up at the office.

Then, there's the huge news of the week/(month?). Becca and Dave got engaged! I'm so happy for them. I really think they will be wonderfully happy together. Purdy purdy ring, too. Happy stuff.

Then there's the recent thoughts of Hawaii. More happy stuff. That has definitely got me thinking about how things could work. Cool stuff, even though I don't think I could describe how much I will miss DC and my sister and my friends here.

MIddle School Teachers in Danger?

My Mom sent this to me. It was from an article in the online version of the St.Louis Post-Dispatch. Apparently I'm entering a rather dangerous line of work!

To view the full story, click here.

1. Police officers
2. Corrections officers
3. Cab drivers
4. Security guards
5. Bartenders
6. Custodians
7. Special ed teachers
8. Gas station workers
9. Junior high teachers
10. Convenience store workers

These are the jobs with the highest rates of workplace violence in 2001.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

South Florida Lindy Exchange 2006

Believe it or not after several years of swing dancing, the South Florida Lindy Exchange (SoFlex) was my first out-of-town exchange. What a fabulous experience. It was an inexpensive trip that allowed me to dance nearly non-stop, go to the beach, and best of all visit with dance friends old and new from all over the country. I counted at least 10 dancers from DC and I had a great time visiting with former DC-dancers Frank and Glenn who both now live in Florida. Jes and I and Lisa from Atlanta had a great host, Ilian, who contributed greatly to our lovely weekend. SoFlex will certainly not be my last exchange! Check out my pics!

Mose Allison

I've been meaning to write about this all week, but haven't had a chance until now.

Last Sunday, I capped of my weekend of amazing blues music and dancing seeing the Mose Allison Trio live at Blues Alley. First off, that place is a fabulous place to see a show. We were close enough to see the facial expressions of each musician, watch Mose's hands on the piano, and hear musical nuances that might get lost in a larger space. The proximity also allowed us to notice that Mose was intermittently drinking a clear liquid from a glass bottle. Liquid courage? I doubt he needs it.

Regardless, Mose was a real treat. His music combines simple, earthy song lyrics with esoteric melodies and harmonies to create a uniquely flavored blues/jazz sound. He is another artist who is hard to classify. Even individual songs use elements of both traditional Mississippi Blues and very modern jazz. The topics of his songs included lost love, world peace, being a senior citizen, and excessive drinking/gambling to name just a few. Whether it brought you to laughter or solemn thoughts, each song was heartfelt. He sang a few carefully-selected covers and brought new life and personal flavor to each of them.

This 79-yr-old artist is definitely not over the hill. He comes to D.C. about once a year, usually in early January to play a longstanding engagement at Blues Alley in Georgetown. I highly recommend seeing one of his shows should you get the chance.

Holidays 2005

December was busy but fun. I happily finished my semester early in the month and spent the rest of it hanging out with friends in DC and visiting my family in St.Louis. Some December highlights include the Hayride that Hyong organized, Christmas Caroling in Old Town Alexandria, visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St.Louis, Christmas with my family and New Year's Eve with friends. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Happy New Year and enjoy the pics!

The 2005 Marine Corps Marathon

After six months of intense training, I am proud to say that I completed the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon. I finished in just under six hours. (5 hrs, 59 mins, and 48 secs to be exact!) The support of my friends and teammates from the AIDS Training Program was immeasurable. The whole experience was life-changing and I highly recommend it to anyone considering the challenge. Through the training, I pushed myself to achieve a goal I could hardly imagine when I started. I can't say enough about the support of my friends on race-day: Shelly, Becca, Dave, Brian, my sister, Alison, and Matt all cheered me to the end. Congrats to all my teammates who also completed the training and the Marathon! Check out some more pics!