August Flying By

Not sure how this happened, but August turned out to be a very busy month... Started with the 3-day walk in Chicago which I completed with Nicole, Sarah's lifelong friend. 60 miles was definitely hard to do, but we finished and it was a great experience which felt good to complete in Sarah's honor too. We raised over $10,000 so thank you to all who have contributed throughout this year! Right after finishing the race, I had to go on a business trip to Philadelphia for a tradeshow. The week after returning, I ended up going to Texas with the boys for a week. They stayed with Oma and Grandpa in San Antonio while I learned to kite-board with my friend Chris in Corpus Christi. It was great and I know I'll love this new sport as I get better and better - you get going pretty fast in the water and you can jump in the air quite a bit, too (when you are good enough). And this weekend I ended up going skydiving again since Lovisa and her friend wanted to go - couldn't pass up jumping again; it's such a great feeling!
Overall, the boys and I are doing well. They started school last week and seem engaged in their activities and enjoying the tail end of summer. This year has been an emotional journey - and I'm not sure the journey ever really ends. But I think all three of us are in a fairly good place right now. Having said that, I expect ups and downs and am not looking forward to Christmas time... but we'll see. One step at a time.

30 July - Skydiving

I went skydiving last weekend while my college friend Jeff was in town for a skydiving summer fest. It was great! My second time doing it and what a rush. We jumped at 13,5000 ft and even though I was strapped to an instructor, he had me pull the chute at 5,500 ft and then steer the chute for the rest of our ride down. Ben and Sam got to watch me do it and we also watched many other jumpers coming down while we were there.
Ben, Sam and I are doing well. The summer is flying by (no pun intended - I promise) and we've got plans leading all the way up to the starting of school. Right now, my parents are visiting and I'm doing the 3-day walk for the cure (60 mile walk) starting Friday. I've been training, so I should be ready - but we'll see soon enough... This walk is something that has been on my mind all year since I started collecting donations for it in January. I'm excited that the time has finally come to do it. I know it will be an emotional journey as well as a physical one, but I'm ready for both. Remembering and cherishing Sarah is be important to me. If anyone would like to donate to the walk that hasn't yet done it, the link is www.the3day.org/goto/sixtyforsarah.