Chasing Hope Sport Bounce Fundraiser

Our first fundraiser was a huge success!

The first thing that i need to do is thank jenn sharman, the best boss ever, for allowing us to use Sportbounce this evening. this wouldnt have been possible without her and SportBounce!

Secondly, I need to thank my team for helping to spread the word, especially my mom, who has recenly become so excited about Chasing Hope and relay for life since she has raised over $800 in only 3 days!

Lastly, thank you to everyone who came out and got their bounce on!



Chasing Hope raised $530!!!



when it rains, it pours...

Since november, my boyfriend left me, i moved back home, i put my cats in foster care, i created a relay for life team, i totaled my car, i bought a new car, and to top it off, i have been laid off for the first time in my life!

I can definitely say that whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger, but im really hoping that nothing else insane happens any time soon. thankfully, i started my new job today at UNJURY where i am making significantly more money than i was making at chenega and still getting employer paid benefits. i am really starting to believe that everything really does happen for a reason.

Now i know you are probably thinking, what the hell is UNJURY? well, its a medical protein used mostly by people who have gone through some sort of bariatric surgery, either lapband or gastric bypass. it was originally intended to be used by wound patients in effort to help encourage cell growth. it is also currently used for cancer patients that are going through treatment and to aid in weightloss.

At first i thought it was a total scam, but after my first day, it is obvious that this is a great business that makes good money. everyone that works there is super nice and young! im very excited about this new opportunity!

If you are curious about UNJURY check it out here.

first relay for life team meeting

We had our first relay for life TeamLUKE! team meeting on Sunday Feb. 27th at Panera. Although there were only 5 of us that showed, we shared lots of great ideas and got to meet some of our team members.

Dawn (one of my best friends from high school and fellow cheerleader and dance team member) and her sister Dana just joined the team and between the two of them have already raised over $300! They have both participated in relay for life before, so having them on the team is super awesome. Ashley, one of my co-workers from BeanTree also recently joined our team. Last month she wrote a letter to a random soldier. So nice! This is her first time participating in relay for life. So glad this event has enabled us to reconnect.

Kaitlyn was one of my coworkers at Winwood. She has lots of friends that plan on joining our team and even got her boss to join. Go Kaitlyn! She also came to the walk for Ty Lewis last weekend in Reston.

It was really great to get my old friends together and catch up! Its amazing how such a great cause can bring together so many people. Relay for Life 2011 is going to be awesome! Thanks again to everyone that has joined our team and all of our supporters. Together we can make a difference.

update on TeamLUKE!, house hunting, and my job

We now have 10 team members! We have also already raised 78% of our goal and havent even had our first fundraiser yet. I think this event is going to be even better than I had imagined. Two of my long last friends have joined our team and I am so excited to catch up with both of them. There are also some Winwood parents that have joined too! We have had so many donations and I think people are finally getting excited...I know I am. I have also had friends offer to post the flyer that I made for our fundraiser at their places of employment to help promote the event. I really do have some great friends and family!

On Thursday I looked at a house that I thought was perfect, but it turns out that because the condo fee was a whopping $218, it was out of my price range. I was pretty bummed.

Then friday I get an email from my boss telling me that a co-worker had sent out a not so politically correct email asking the people in the office to make sure that they let him know when they will be having guests. Unfortunately he made it sound like we needed to know so they could schedule things around my telecommute day, which was the complete opposite of what the email intended. Needless to say, my boss called me the next morning tell me how he put his neck out for me and was really unhappy about what happened and that I am no longer allowed to telecommute one day a week. Seriously? I didnt send out the email. I only did what I was told. Then I was told by my other co-worker that my boss stuck his neck out for me when he shouldnt have. Why the hell shouldnt he have? I have been there for 2 years now, never received a raise, I do a lot of work for him and have learned a lot in 2 years. They both telecommute more than they are in the office and many other people telecommute as well, so why shouldnt I be allowed?

Luckily I got a call from my real estate agent telling me that his company got a foreclosure that is perfect for me and that he can negotiate with me first before letting anyone else see it. Finally, some GOOD news! So the day that started out so shitty actually ended up not being so bad.

damn camera and lots of lollipops

This past Saturday I participated in a walk in honor of my friend's husband Ty Lewis. It was freezing and windy when we first got there, but after we walked for a while it was actually kind of nice. We did 2.5 miles around lake anne in reston. there was a pretty good turn out and it was nice to see some of my old winwood friends there. i took lots of pictures including some winwood friends pictures to give to shannon! unfortunately, when i went to get them off my camera, the files were corrupted. i dont know what the hell is going on, but i am not happy. i will be dropping off my camera today to see if there is any way that they can recover these files. im going to be really bummed if they cant...

after working all day on sunday, i came home and started making cancer awareness ribbon lollipops. it took about 4 hours to make 60, but it was all worth it. at sportbounce on monday, my bosses kids helped me to sell every one of them! we raised $65 for TeamLUKE!

i also sent an email out to my co-workers today telling them about TeamLUKE and letting them know how to donate. one of them donated $50! as of right now, we have already raised $910 for TeamLUKE and we havent even had our first fundraiser yet. speaking of fundraisers....our first one will be on March 9th @ Sport Bounce (of course)! My boss is so amazing that she said we can keep all of the proceeds, instead of splitting them with Sport Bounce which is the usually policy. She also donated $250 to our team!

You can check out my personal page or our team page and see how awesome we are doing!

tax deductible donations

i have recently discovered tax deductible donations! i know i should have known about this before the age of 28, but now that i have discovered it, im all about it. i have donated to the avon walk for breast cancer and a walk that my friend is doing for MS. i will also be able to write off the donation that i will be making to the ty lewis cancer foundation walk that i am doing on saturday, so excited! the other night i even went through the clothes that i am going to donate and made a list. i have never really had to pay much money in taxes, but a friend told me that once i buy a house, im going to want all the tax deductions i can get. plus, id rather have my money go to great causes than to wherever the check goes that i write every year.
now i just need to do my taxes for 2010.

my mom and i are going to our first relay for life TeamLUKE meeting tonight. i am definitely looking forward to it. our team has already raised over $500 and that is just from personal donations, i havent even started fundraising yet. i love the feeling that i get from being a great humanitarian.

many thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family for supporting me in everything that i do. you all are the best!

interview and such

i have been a little concerned with my job security lately so i filled out an application online for a position at a company in reston. the pay range was 0 - 5k more than i am making now. at first i was so excited, but then today i cancelled my interview and told them i was no longer interested in the position. only a $5k increase is not enough for me to leave where i am where i can work from home one day a week, pretty much come and go as i please, get more than 3 weeks of paid vacation a year, 12 paid holidays, and FREE healthcare. Just the increase in gas and tolls wouldnt even be worth it. Plus i would probably have to work 8-5 and wouldnt be able to come to my favorite job to work during the week :)

i also went to look at a townhouse today that was completely trashed. it looks like im going to have to save up some more cash so that i can afford something a little higher than my current price range if i want anything decent. honestly, living at home isnt so bad. my mom's pretty awesome, except when she bitches about me hanging up my clothes. why am i going to hang up my clothes if im just going to take them off the hanger and wear them again :) just kidding ma!

i really wish i had something more exciting to talk about. im thinking of going to see Ted Garber in reston at Kalypsos which should be fun. there's also an 80s coverband playing at bunkers in leesburg on saturday that i could go to after im done babysitting...