1. Take a Painting Class

I love art - I love making it, looking at it, being a part of it!  I especially love enhancing my current skill set and it has been a long time since I've taken any sort of art class that allowed me to do that (since college!)  This was a fun goal to accomplish, it not only suits my personality, but I met new people and I got something tangible to walk away with. 

To accomplish the goal of "Take a Painting Class", I bought a Groupon for Colorado Free University.  CFU is a place that offers all kinds of classes and they are very reasonably priced .  I looked at several different types of art classes to take and finally settled on a "Watercolor Batik" class.  I did batik in high school and thought it was cool and my watercolor painting skills can always use some work so it was a good fit for me. 

The class was taught by two old bitty's - one that was pretty nice but managed to convince one of my classmates to do more to her painting and in the process, helped her ruin it.  DOH!  The other lady was not  my favorite person - she was a bit on the crabby side and she thwarted my creativity by making me stop working on my background to do the leaves.  That irked me, but I understand why now, even though I should've just kept doing what I wanted.  :)

Batik is usually done on cloth and involves the process of using wax to cover areas that you don't want painted.  For this class, we batik'd on paper instead of cloth.  It starts out looking like this:

I wanted to keep my calla lillies white, so I put hot wax over them and started painting everything else.  Once I had what I wanted painted, I added another layer of wax before I finished the background (the leaves got covered with wax so I didn't mess up and accidently paint over them). 

Here is a picture with some additional areas covered with wax - you can see the beads of paint on the waxed areas. 

Between each painting session and each waxing session, you have to make sure your picture is fully dry or else the wax won't stick and you'll likely paint some areas that you don't want painted. 

Here is a picture with the entire painting covered in wax. 

The next step after this is to peel your painting off the wax paper and crumple it up.  That will cause some of the wax to fall off.  Then you can add the "crackle" effect by painting over the entire thing with a darker color.  When you are finished with that, you put the painting between several layers of newspaper and iron the wax out of the paper until it appears you have melted it all off onto the newspaper.  The final result is a frameable piece of art!

Here is a picture of me and my painting - I like it.  I put it in my work cubicle to add some color to the otherwise very vanilla walls I have to look at every day.  At some point, I'll likely frame it and give it away to somebody.  With this new skill added to my arsenal, I'm looking forward to having some girlfriends over for a wine and batiking night! 

5. Play a team sport other than volleyball

This goal was another "easy" one.  All I had to do was pick a sport, find a team and participate.  Luckily for me, when I started my new job, I was invited to join a softball team that was starting up.  I've played softball before, the most competitive time was my senior year of high school...but I figured it's just like riding a bike, right?!  Well, almost...it was a lot of fun but I did eat some dirt tonight when my upper body decided it wanted to go faster than my legs could take me.  :D  I totally wiped out and have a few gravel burns to show for it, however I'm glad I was wearing pants and I did hit the ball for good measure!  All I really have now is a bruised ego, haha!  I am looking forward to being a "Honeybadger that doesn't care" and having a fun season of softball with some really cool co-workers and friends! 

Here is a picture of most of our team:

 

43. Hike to a Waterfall

While in Costa Rica, I hiked down to the La Fortuna Waterfall.  This is the first time I've ever hiked down to reach a waterfall, usually you have to hike up the mountain to get there.  This waterfall was different from the others I've been to...it was a tropical waterfall and  was one long stream of water.  It was beautiful and I found peace in the moments that I got to enjoy it. 

16. Visit 2 Foreign Countries - Country #2: Costa Rica

My goal of traveling to 2 foreign countries has officially been accomplished with a lovely visit to Costa Rica!  Last year our friends, Ben and Megan, invited us to their destination wedding in Puerto Viejo, CR.  We decided to make a vacation of it while we were there and started our trip with 5 days in the middle of CR.  We rented a car from "the airport" so that we could travel at our own pace around the country and headed towards Arenal/La Fortuna.  On the way, we stopped for coffee at a roadside cafe, popped into a local artisan's shop of hand-painted pottery and ate gallo pinto for the first time...also known as comidas tipicas...translated it means Typical Food.  I think that's funny and I'm not even sure why! 

Me drinking a latte and Brian eating gallo pinto and fried plantains. 

Once we got to Arenal, we had to find a hotel, so we cruised around for a bit until we finally found a cute little cabana to call our own for the night.  The best part was that it was at the base of the Arenal Volcano.  The worst part is we found out the hot water didn't work the next day!  I guess it didn't really matter as we went to the Baldi Hot Springs that night and then ended up falling asleep early since it had been a long travel day.  

 Here we are at the base of Arenal Volcano. 

The next day we woke up to some heavy rains and lucky for us, we had our raincoats as we were off to La Fortuna waterfall!   This waterfall was different from any that I've hiked to before as you actually hiked down to it instead of up.  It was beautiful and just as majestic as any waterfall I've seen before.  The lagoons at the bottom were a nice bonus, though it was a bit too cold for me to jump in!  From there we had a nice lunch and walked around town, stopping to have beers and ceviche.  We were also on a mission to find some Denver friends that just so happened to be in Arenal at the same time.  It was mission accomplished when we met them at their hotel room, had drinks and then later went to dinner with them.  It was a great night spent with great people!  Brian was especially excited about this meet up as he got to play frisbee at the base of the volcano. 

The next morning, we woke up and decided before we left Arenal, we would kayak the lake.  First of all, it was super cheap to do and secondly, it was a beautiful blue sky day!  We had the best view of the volcano this day and we were able to enjoy some moments of peace in the lagoons across the lake where the wildlife was abundant. 

Brian and I kayaking Lake Arenal with Arenal Volcano in the background

After we were done kayaking, we jumped in the car where we made a pit stop at joint called Maverick's for the best burgers in CR and then we continued on to Miramar.  In Miramar, we had reservations to take a  45 minute horseback ride to the top of a zipline tour.  We did 25 ziplines over 9 different portions of a waterfall.  It was awesome and so much fun!  After the 9th zipline, there was  lagoon that we all got to swim in and get refreshed.  That's where a kind lady took this cute picture of me and Brian.

Isn't it cute?  :) 

We took the rest of the day to relax and enjoy each other's company.  The next morning, we were right back at it with the high ropes course.  This was way more challenging than I thought it would be and thankfully, it wasn't as scary thanks to secure safety harnesses!  Let's just say, the ropes course was the best ab workout I've had in a long time - my abs were sore for 3 days after we did it!  The tarzan swing was the funnest part for sure and we got lucky as we were the only ones on the course so they let us do the swing 3 times! 

As soon as we were done with the high ropes course, we jumped in our car and took off to Puerto Viejo, where we would finally get to see our friends!  Once in Puerto Viejo, the party started and the picture taking was not as plentiful.  Mostly because we didn't do much but drink, surf, lounge on the beach and hang out with our friends. 

Our last day on the beach - bittersweet as always!

As I mentioned before, we were actually there for our friends' wedding and we were lucky enough to be able to help them out whenever and however they needed it.  I got to do my favorite thing and boss people around as the unofficial "wedding coordinator" but mostly it was fun spending time with the bride right before her big moment. It was so wonderful to see two of my favorite people get married and to be able to share those special moments with the man I love and some of my other favorite people in this world.  Our trip to Costa Rica was truly something I will never forget and I can't wait to do it again!  Best wishes to the newlyweds and on to the next adventure! 

Photo courtesy of DavidLynn Photography

16. Visit 2 Foreign Countries - Country #1: Canada

This goal is actually going to be easier than I thought it would be.  When I started my new job, just about 3 weeks ago, I was excited to learn that I was going to have some opportunities to travel.  What I didn't expect was that it was going to be so soon after I started.  By my 3rd day on the job, I was asked to go to Canada for 2 weeks to help out with a very important client.  One week after my first day, I left for Vancouver.  While there, I obviously worked but I was also lucky enough to be able to stay over a weekend and do some sight-seeing. 

I was also lucky enough to be able to hitch a ride to Whistler/Black Comb and do a full day of skiing...literally I skied from 9am to 3pm.  The foot and a half of fresh powder was amazing!  I will definitely go back there to ski again! 

Here is a picture of me at Whistler.  A difference between Colorado and Canada - the trees have moss in them in Canada! 

Here I am at Blackcomb Glacier and I am about to take my skis off and hike up a hill to go down on the other side of this sign. 

Here I am on the other side, about a third of the way down the bowl.  That is a person way back in the distance which will give you an idea of how big those rocks really are. 

I planned the trip perfectly as Sunday, my day to go see the city a little more, was partially sunny and not rainy. I thought it was funny because the weather forecast actually said "40% chance of sun". We say "40% chance of rain" in CO. So off I go to see a few sights in Vancouver.

Here are some other pictures of me sight-seeing. I didn't make it far as I would have liked as it was a little chilly out and I forgot my beanie in the hotel room.

Look familiar to any CO'ans?

Here I am by the Olympic Flame from the Vancouver 2010

From the city to the sea, I like this picture!  You get the sky scrapers, parks, mountains and you can even see a sea plane to the right of me! 

I also met some pretty cool people that were kind enough to take me out and show me Vancouver's spots.   I went to a place called Chambar that had great Belgian beers and a dish made with mussels that was so, so good.  I had sushi, I went to a couple brew pubs and happy hours and overall had a good time. Things I tried for the first time:  baluga caviar, duck breast, poutine, dinner at a fancy steakhouse by myself. 

I'm pretty sure I will be going back to Vancouver in the future and I'm looking forward to seeing what else the city has in store for me.  Hopefully I will get to share some of my next adventure there with Brian!  

18. Start a New Job

Date Started: n/a
Date Completed:  February 13, 2012

I started a new job today!  I'm a Buyer at a company called Tetra Tech.  On the first day I learned the following things:  I like my new boss, he recently bought 2 ATV's which his wife did not approve; my cube neighbors are the older lady who is too slow for me, the guy that likes vodka "cause he's from the Ukraine" and his name is Alex and another guy who didn't make as strong of an impression as the others cause I don't remember his name.  I'm probably going to like this gig once I catch on to all the lingo, jargon and acronyms!

11. Start My etsy Shop

Date Started:  November 2011
Date Completed:  February 12, 2012

Today I launched my etsy shop, ShadyWolfDesigns.etsy.com !  I have been working since before November of last year to figure out all of the different components to having a shop on etsy and figured that enough time has been wasted and I just needed to jump in and start doing! 

The hardest part of the process was coming up with a shop name.  I had several different names in mind but chose ShadyWolfDesigns as it has special meaning to me.  Shea DeWolf should have been my birth name, however my last name ended up being Shedeed as my dad was adopted by my grandpa Shedeed when he was younger. I like to use this name as an alias sometimes and I often use it as username, though spelling variations do exist.

I intend to use ShadyWolfDesigns as a creative outlet to help me balance out my work-home-personal life.  I enjoy creating beautiful things and hope that others will like some of the treasures that I put up for sale in my shop.  I am excited about getting to share my energy and passion and I am looking forward to sharing what I create with the world! 

Here is what I made and used for my first listing:

Give 3 Hoots

ShadyWolfDesigns.etsy.com

I still have a lot of things to do in my shop but this at least gets the ball rolling.  If anybody would like to design a web banner for me, let me know!!  

47. Set Up "Creation Station" in Yellow Room

Date Started:  Before I even had 101 goals
Date Completed:  January 30, 2012...and always a work in progress!

In our house, we have a yellow bedroom that is pretty much my glorified closet.  In my quest to be more creative and create more things, I decided to turn this yellow room into my "Creation Station".  I didn't get too crazy just yet but I do have a full-size table, a photography box, a gift wrapping and gift basket section as well as a bin to keep all my other artsy stuff in.  Here is a picture of my work in progress...keep in mind it will always be somewhat messy...how can one be creative in a totally organized space?? 

You can also see my "Lover's Lane" painting in the room from just a few weeks ago!

21. Eat Breakfast Every Day For 2 Weeks

Date Started:  January 2, 2012
Date Completed:  January 15, 2012

This was an easy goal to start with however it has proven hard to maintain in the long-run for me.  I did really well eating some sort of breakfast food for the first 2 mandated weeks.  After that, I felt I didn't focus enough on making sure I ate breakfast and this habit has since waned.  I definitely eat breakfast on ski days and weekends but the weekdays are proving to be tricky.

38. Canvas & Cocktails With a Friend

Date Started:  January 14, 2012
Date Completed:  January 14, 2012

My friend, Val Passarini, won 2 free passes to Canvas n' Cocktails in Cherry Creek.  I was the lucky friend that got to go with her and it took us about 4 months to finally find a date that worked for us!  We ended up going on a Saturday morning to the mimosas session.  Our painting for that day was titled "Lover's Lane" and we had a lot of fun painting and sipping and gabbing.  Here are some pictures from that morning:

Here we are, just getting started...you can see all of the various pictures from other classes in the background. 

Here is Val's painting, about halfway done!

Here we both are...almost finished!

My finished product!  I like it...it now resides in my yellow "Creation Station" room. 

30. Create 12 New Blogs: Blog #1 - Pac Man Wall

Date Started:  January 12, 2012
Status:  1/12 Blogs to Write

For my 30th birthday party, I wanted to have a kickass theme.  Of course that means I chose The 80's!  Since this was a big milestone for me, I went all out.  The invite was totally bitchin' and the peeps had to come in 80's threads or they would be totally harshed on!  I also decided that I was going to decorate the house in theme and that meant, a Pac Man wall.  My supplies included black and blue electrical tape, clear push pins, two black plastic tablecloths, yellow sale stickers, and I had a color printer available.

I started by hanging two black tablecloths on my wall using clear push pins.  The tableclothes were taped together with black electrical tape at the seams. 

From there I used white chalk and plotted out the diagram of the game that I wanted to do.  I did this by dividing everything into squares.  After I got the initial outline, I started free flowing and applying blue electrical tape and yellow dot stickers.  I had to cut the blue tape in half length-wise to get it to the right thickness.  I also switched back and forth to each side while taping, trying to get it as symmetrical as possible. 

I continued on for about 3 days until I got here:

One I was able to put the outline of the game board on, the rest was easy!  It was like decorating a cake.  I will admit, I cheated on the ghosts, cherry, strawberry and numbers, but I did do all the cutting out myself.  I basically found the best authentic image I could on the internet, made it the size I wanted it to be and printed it.  I trimmed each picture down to size and glued it to the game board. 

I also customized the high score and game score to show my age and birthday.  It proved to be a great background to some totally awesome pics!

36. Build a Scarf and Belt Organizer

Date Started:  January 1, 2012
Date Completed:  January 1, 2012

This was truly the first goal accomplished out of all 101 Goals listed and has proven to be pretty valuable to me.  I can now find my belts neatly hanging alongside all my pretty scarves in my closet.  To complete this task, I relied on good ol' Home Depot and some closet organizers...I set them up how I needed them, drilled them into the wall and called it good.  Here is a snapshot of my end result, in use:

101 Goals in 1,001 Days - Original Goal List

I am going to try to accomplish 101 goals in 1,001 days.  Brian gave me this idea when he came home with a list of some other guys goals.  Maybe he was trying to hint at something, I'm not sure.  Either way, I decided it was a good idea and I'd like to give it a go.  I mean, why not?!  Worse-case scenario is that there are things that don't get accomplished.  Best-case scenario is that I accomplish a bunch of these things and not only will I have the satisfaction of knowing that I was proactive in my life, but I get to have a bunch of wonderful experiences at the same time.  I've also been encouraging my friends to try it...if they dare!  

Here are my 101 goals, not in any order whatsoever.

1.  Take a painting class
2.  Take a cooking class
3.  Take a yoga class
4.  Take a cardio fitness class
5.  Play a team sport other than volleyball
6.  Play 18 holes on a Par 3 course and keep score
7.  Run a half marathon
8.  Start a business
9.  Finish Google Search Engine Optimization course for certification
10.  Build a website
11.  Start my etsy site
12.  Produce 2 paintings on my own time
13.  Finish the upstairs bathroom renovation
14.  Organize the office into useable space
15.  Learn how to do Brian's administrative stuff
16.  Go on 2 foreign country trips
*Canada (Vancouver)
*Costa Rica
17.  Visit 3 never before visited National Parks
*Black Canyon of the Gunnison
*Mesa Verde
18.  Start a new job
19.  Read Anna Karenina or give it away
20.  Make something with jicama in it
21.  Eat breakfast every day for 2 weeks
22.  Take a sushi making class
23.  Take a sauce making class
24.  Grow 3 vegetables
25.  Grow 3 types of herbs
26.  Change red woodchip area in front of house
27.  Buy a new car
28.  Landscape front of house - bushes/trees area
29.  Build a marketing calendar for ShadyWolfDesigns
30.  Complete 12 new blogs
31.  Take a certification course to help career/skills
32.  Eat a food I've never eaten before - Persimmon
33.  Volunteer to work an event
34.  Handout baked potatoes, hats, gloves, socks to homeless people
35.  Assemble 20 pictures of local graffiti murals and add to blog - currently in progress...
36.  Build a scarf and belt organization station
37.  Go mountain biking and like it
38.  Sip wine and Paint with friends
39.  Learn how to make bread
40.  Hike 2nd 14'er
41.  White water rafting trip
42.  Get Kona to stop whining
43.  Hike to a waterfall
44.  Go cross country skiing
45.  Read 3 classic novels
*The Old Man and the Sea
46.  Visit Dinosaur Ridge
47.  Get creation station set up in yellow room
48.  Go on the Royal Rush SkyCoaster at Royal Gorge
49.  Go to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio
50.  Visit Niagara Falls
51.  Visit Brian's hometown of Hornell, New York
52.  Colorado Christmas with the family
53.  Complete a sketch book - currently in progress...
54.  Finish batik wall hangings - currently in progress...
55.  Go ice skating
56.  Buy a sewing machine
57.  Make curtains with sewing machine
58.  Make pot holders with sewing machine
59.  Learn photo editing techniques to produce better pictures - currently in progress...
60.  Plan VanDeed Field Day #2
61.  Host a crafting night with my friends
62.  Make 10 homemade cards and give them out for no reason
63.  Learn calligraphy
64.  Bake Christmas cookies
65.  Have a fondue party
66.  Make homemade chocolate covered foods
67.  Document how to make something and post it on Pinterest
68.  Go climbing
69.  Find and subscribe to 10 new blogs - currently in progress...
70.  Go to Grand Junction for a winery weekend
71.  Take a ballroom dance class
72.  Take a latin dance class
73.  Learn how to make green chili
74.  Learn how to make homemade beans like Granny used to make
75.  Go sledding
76.  Go to Brian's college town, Buffalo, New York
77.  Go on a winter sleigh ride
78.  Buy snow shoes and dog booties and go on a winter snow trek with the dogs
79.  Go to a derby party wearing a fantastic hat
80.  Run the BolderBoulder
81.  Go to Cheyenne Frontier Days
82.  Have a picnic with a group of 10 friends at Jazz in the Park
83.  Go to the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival
84.  Organize a pumpkin carving party
85.  Go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico
86.  Have afternoon tea
87.  Go on a dessert date
88.  Surf in the ocean
89.  Run the steps at Red Rocks
90.  Go on the Winter Park Alpine Slide
91.  Go on the Durango alpine slide
92.  Go on a river tubing trip with friends
93.  Get dressed up and go to a ball
94.  Visit Lakewood's 70+ parks - currently in progress...
95.  Go to a Murder Mystery dinner
96.  See the wildflowers at peak bloom in Flat Tops Wilderness
97.  Make a meal from a cookbook
98.  Go to an Opening Day baseball game
99.  Go to 3 art or food festivals
* Denver Chalk Art Festival
100.  Take Kona and Petra to Bark and Splash Bash
101.  Send 10 handwritten notes to people for random reasons

Shea's Faves

http://sheasfaves.theaspenshops.com/

This is my new website! Please take a minute to visit and browse. I am really excited to be representing Aspen Shops as they make great wedding favors, baby shower favors and have great Baby Aspen baby gifts!

I am offering 10% off the entire site thru the month of January - a great deal for those looking for truly unique gifts and favors!

If you are interested in hiring me as your party planner, I am also available for that! :)


I also started a HUB - I'm new to this...but here it is! Click on the link below...

more »
HubPages

Oh, where to begin

When I last wrote I had just gotten back from my WDW Marathon experience. It's now December and my, oh my, how time has flown!! A lot of things have happened in the last 8 months. Not even sure where to begin, so I think I'll start with the yearly timeline and fill in details from there...

1/9 - Orlando bound for the WDW Marathon
1/11 - WDW Marathon
1/12 - Character Breakfast at the Grand Floridian, dinner with the Guzdar's (traditional Chinese cooked by Angie's mom)
1/13 - WDW Epcot Center
1/14 - Universal Studios, Lobster Feast night with the Guzdar's
1/15 - WDW Magic Kingdom
1/16 - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure
1/17 - WDW Hollywood Studios
1/24 - National Western Stockshow with the Guzdar's - their first rodeo
1/25 - Girls luncheon at The Market downtown - Jami, Kelly, Kay, Rachel
1/30 - Chad VanKeuren visits Denver - snowboarding ensues
2/8-2/14 - Brian in Panama
2/20-2/22 - Valentine's make-up rendezvous/Anniversary Celebration at Vail Cascade Resort & Spa; Jami and Patrick joined us for a day of skiing and dinner at the resort
3/1 - Winter Park for the Wells Fargo Cup and a day of skiing
3/5 - Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House followed by Phantom of the Opera
3/6 - Girls Night Out at Beta - went with Leigh, Monica, Katie...Monica's friends drank all of our vodka :( Brian was in Tahoe for Mike Ross' bachelor party weekend
3/20-3/22 - Beaver Creek Weekend - rented a condo with friends and skied Beaver Creek Resort...this is the weekend that Brian tricked me into going down Birds of Prey (black diamond run, very scary!!)
3/24 - Called in sick to work to take advantage of a great powder day at Vail
3/29-4/4 - Brian in Panama
4/16 - Ludacris concert in Pueblo with Steph and Maria
4/18 - Jami's Bachelorette Party at Beatrice & Woodsley
4/24-4/26 - Mike and Jaquelyn's wedding weekend in Laguna Beach, California
4/25 - San Diego Zoo, Brian's birthday dinner at Oceanaire and Rain: A Beatles Tribute
5/1 - One Eyed Jacks to see a show with Monica, ran into Jake and MaryBeth there
5/2 - Birthday party at Tony and Angie's house
5/3 - Birthday Party at Danielle's
5/8-5/9 - Jami and Patrick's Wedding Festivities
5/8 - drove to Sedona, AZ and met up with everyone for drinks pre-wedding
5/9 - Visited Sliderock Park with Nick and Rachel; visited a vortex; attended J & P's wedding at Tlaquepaque Village
5/10 -5/13 - Grand Canyon Camping Expedition
5/14 - drove to St. George Utah, visited Pipe Spring National Monument and Brigham Young's Summer Home
5/14 - Zion National Park, drove to campsite
5/15 - Bryce National Park and then back to Denver
5/17-5/29 - Brian left for Panama
5/22-5/25 - Panama for Shea!
5/27 - No Doubt at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre with Leigh, Steph and Monica, ran into Jami and Patrick at the show
6/5 - Katie's Birthday Party
6/15 - Brian signed the paperwork for our NEW HOUSE!
6/19-6/21 - Rapid City Central High School Class of 1999 10 Year Reunion; Shedeed Family Reunion in Hermosa, SD
6/27 - White water rafting trip with Brian, Jami, Patrick, Dave, Emily, Trent, Kelly and Ty
6/28 - Volleyball Tourney with Corey, Leigh and Matt - took 2nd place
7/3 - Rockie's Baseball Game with fireworks!
7/4 - 2nd Annual O'Gorkie's BBQ
7/18-7/25 - Brian's parents (David and Mindy) visited from New York
7/18 - Indian Tacos night with Tony and Angie
7/19 - Royal Gorge Train ride and Royal Gorge visit
7/22 - Rockie's Game
7/24 - Black Hawk with Mindy while Brian and Dave worked on house stuff
7/25 - Arc Angels at the Bluebird Theatre with Rosie and Rylan
8/1 - Camping near Berthoud Pass with Kona and Tabbie
8/15 - Adopted Petra from the Western Border Collie Rescue (wbcrescue.org)
8/16 - Muddy Buddy in Boulder
8/22 - Brian and Shea's Housewarming Party!
8/25 - Nickelback at Fiddler's with Brian and Leigh
8/28 - Kelly's birthday party game night
8/29 - Date Night with Brian
9/9 - Killers at Red Rocks with Brian
9/12 - Emily Rein's birthday party at The Irish Snug
9/13 - Volleyball Tourney at Lowry Sports Complex
9/14 - Bowlero bowling league begins, teammates are Brian, Monica and Greg
9/19 - Brian and Daria's wedding at Cheesman Park, reception at The Aquarium
9/23 - Av's game with Steph
9/25 - Rockie's game with Brian and his friends Paul and Kay
9/29 - Hot Air Balloon Ride with Brian, finally!!
10/1-10/4 - Canyonlands Camping Trip with Brian, Amy, Eric, Tony, Angie, Jeff, Barbara, Megan, Ben, Todd, Deanna, Matt x2, Misty and the Puccio bros.
10/3 - Tate James Uchitel is born, my first nephew
10/8 - Cecilia Bain's birthday bbq party
10/9 - Drag Queen Bingo with Steph
10/17 - Kay's 40th birthday party at Wash Park Grille, also celebrated Danielle's 32nd bday
10/18 - Field of Corpses with Steph and friends
10/19 - Rusted Root at the Ogden Theatre with Brian, Angie, Matt S., Megan and Barbara
10/20 - Nuggets pre-season game with Brian and Steph
10/24 - Couples date day at Chatfield Corn Maze followed by Pumpkin Carving Party with Jami, Patrick, Ashlee, Chris, Trent, Kelly, Brian, Daria, Korkie and Deirdra
10/31 - Howloween dog party for Boris Henry's bday; Bassnectar at the Fillmore
11/5 - My 29th Birthday; celebrated by going to sushi with Brian, followed by a surprise candle making party at The Healing Glow studios with 7 of my closest friends: Leigh, Katie, Steph, Megan, Daria, Ashlee, Monica...I have the best boyfriend for organizing as we all had a great time!
11/13 - Nuggets vs. Lakers game
11/14 - Matt Duran's Bowling Fundraiser for this brother
11/25-11/29 - Thanksgiving in South Dakota
12/9 - Dinner at Katie and Gene's house
12/10 - Girls Night In with Kelly, Danielle, Kay and Jami
12/14 - last night of bowling league, took 2nd place out of 20 teams
12/19 - Bobbie Jiminez and Jen Stipe's birthday buffet and gambling in Black Hawk
12/25 - Xmas at home with Brian and the pups

Walt Disney World Marathon, January 11, 2009

My marathon journey began on a cool August evening in 2008. My boyfriend, Brian, and I went to the Jack Johnson concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO. We met up with several of our friends, including his friends, Tony and Angie Guzdar. While waiting for the show to begin, Angie turned to Brian and asked him if he’d like to run a marathon through Walt Disney World with her and Tony. Since that was one of his “life goals”, he immediately said “yes!”, without hesitation. He then turned to me and proceeded to try to talk me into it. I was definitely more hesitant than Brian was to take on this challenge, but he managed to persuade me by promising me that I could go to theme parks and ride roller coasters while we were in Orlando, and I would be helping save lives, so eventually I agreed. As it turns out, it was one of the best experiences of my life!

A little background info about our running partners…
Tony and Angie met 15 years ago while participating in an internship program at Walt Disney World.
January 11, 1999, Angie went into remission for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
January 11, 2009, Angie celebrated her 10-year anniversary of being cancer-free by finishing a marathon!

In order to help us train for our marathon, we joined Team in Training, an endurance athlete training program through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We started with the program in September 2008 and lasted through 18 grueling weeks of training at the altitude of 5,280 feet above sea level. There were some pretty cold running days and nights!

In addition to providing participants with training coaches and mentors, as well as easy to follow training schedules, LLS provided us with the emotional support that we needed to make it through the finish line. In return, each of us had a minimum obligation to raise $3,900 for blood cancer research, patients and their families. By holding various fundraisers like a Wine Party/Silent Auction at Tastes Wine Bar and Bistro, $5/day Jeans Week at work , Brunch at Buchi’s, and by securing a sponsorship for $5,000 from Compass Marketing, we all raised well over our minimum amounts for a collective total of over $22,000! Team in Training – first group long-run training session on September 13, 2008

Tony and Angie at Tastes Wine Bar Wine Party and Silent Auction – December 3, 2008 My friend Katie Bowe and I at Tastes Wine Bar Wine Party and Silent Auction
December 3, 2008

Brian and I got to Orlando, FL on January 8th, 2009 to prepare for our first marathon. From the moment we got off the plane until we left Orlando, our itinerary was jam-packed! Here’s what the week-long schedule looked like:
1/9 – Pasta and Inspiration Dinner at World Pavilion at Epcot
1/10 – Attend Marathon Expo at Disney’s Wide World of Sports
1/11 – Marathon Day
1/12 – Character Breakfast and Homemade Chinese Buffet at the Guzdar condo
1/13 – Epcot and World Showcase
1/14 – Universal Studios and Lobster Feast Dinner
1/15 – Magic Kingdom
1/16 – Islands of Adventure and Blue Man Group
1/17 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
1/18 – Return to Denver

Brian and I at the Pasta and Inspiration Dinner on January 9, 2009

Angie was picked out of hundreds of submissions to be the keynote speaker at the Pasta and Inspiration Dinner. Tony surprised her by also giving a speech. While Angie’s speech was all about being strong and having Tony there to be her rock, Tony’s speech was about everything that Angie had to endure during her fight against cancer. He spoke about her amazing ability to overcome any challenge set before her, including climbing Mt. Elbert while still undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Angie’s speech made people laugh and Tony brought us all to tears!Angie and Tony at the Pasta and Inspiration Dinner on January 9, 2009. Tony had just surprised Angie and will also going to speak and share their story with all LLS Chapters from across the country

Angie's Speech:

"I would like to thank and congratulate all the participants for their outstanding fundraising efforts; you have persevered in your training and showed immense dedication with giving up many Saturday mornings and time during the week to be apart from your friends and family but now you can begin to visualize the start line.

Remember we are honoring our moms, dads, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and friends who have been so unfortunate to have been affected by blood cancers.

We will be raising awareness this weekend by wearing our purple jerseys that will hopefully raise participation in Team in Training so we can find a cure!

I feel honored and fortunate to be up here in front of all you telling my story.

It all began 15 years ago in the fall of 1993 on a college program here at Disney World. During our first meeting with Disney staff, we were told “the people you would meet will become your lifelong friends”. We were only here for 5 months and didn’t think that was possible. Tony (my husband now) and I, along with 800 other college students lived in an apartment complex owned by Disney called Vista Way. I met Tony as he was sitting outside his apartment. He thought he was using a pickup line when he asked me “Do you run?” Apparently he was a leg man. Interesting how life turns out… I never thought the guy who asked me that question, I would later marry and decide to run a marathon together to celebrate life.

Our first bump in the road began January of 1998. I was experiencing difficulty breathing so I decided to see a doctor. I was diagnosed with Pleurisy, an inflammation in your lung membrane. To say a difficulty in breathing is an understatement. It felt as if a 300 pound person was sitting on my chest. In the summer Tony and I decided to move to Colorado from Florida. Breathing became more difficult, I thought it was possibly the altitude and I needed to get acclimated. December rolled around and we were visiting family in Seattle. The pain in my chest was unbearable. I went to a walk-in clinic, again diagnosed with pleurisy.

January 11, 1999 I woke up coughing and spit up a glob of blood in the sink. As I was trying to wash down the evidence Tony saw the blood and demanded we go to the Doctor. I fought it because we were supposed to go snowboarding that day. Tony took me to Denver General and there I had an x-ray. We knew we were in for more serious news when 4 other doctors came in to the room to talk about, what we thought was going to be bronchitis. The next words spoken from my doctor changed our outlook on life forever, “You have either a benign or a malignant tumor.” A year of being misdiagnosed and all I needed was an x-ray. Apparently the 14 centimeter tumor was pressing on my breathing tubes causing breathing difficulty. After many tests the doctor’s diagnosis was Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This was a very difficult time in our lives mainly because we recently moved to Colorado and didn’t know many people. . Tony was my backbone, strength, laughter and so much more. He was by my side every step of the way. Literally every step of the way…

I never let the cancer slow me down. During my chemotherapy and radiation therapy Tony and I took on the challenge of hiking the highest peak in Colorado, Mt. Elbert. As we hiked up the trail the last few hundred yards proved to be the most difficult. Tony helped by carrying my backpack and I would take 2 or 3 steps then stop and take deep breaths. Then I would take a couple more steps and repeated this process until we were finally at the top of the mountain. When we made it to the top of the 14,433 foot peak we were overwhelmed with joy and tears. It was the same joy I felt when my doctor told me 5 years after starting my treatment that I was cured and we could start a family. Within the next year we were blessed with a happy and healthy little boy. Aiden is now 3 years old.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has been a big part of my life since being diagnosed. I’ve been honored to be involved in a number of events to help raise money and awareness such as Light the Night, The Volvo Regatta and now TNT. You never know who would get involved…you just have to ask. We were at a concert and asked our friend Brian (as a joke) if he wanted to run a marathon and he said yes. Then he asked his girlfriend and with their help we raised another $10,000 for the L&L Society.

In August I received a flyer from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We originally thought about doing a ½ marathon but then I saw the full marathon was on January 11th.
This Sunday on race day will be the exact day I will be ten years in remission. Life to us is a celebration and that is why this year on my 10 year anniversary and our 15 year anniversary of when we met we have decided to run the Disney marathon.

So again, congratulations – we are part of an elite group of people! We now are prepared for an amazing race, just remember on race day – STOP, take a deep breath and look around – take in the amazing number of TNT participants just like yourself – we have all come together for one cause and you all have made a huge difference to so many people. Lets spread our TNT spirit onto our fellow TNT’ers – as we’re running give out a few “GO TEAM” shout outs it helps so much to hear those words!

My mantra in life has always been: Mind over Matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter. "

Angie made this sign for the parents to hold...Go Team STAB! (Shea, Tony, Angie, Brian) We are heading back to our hotel, Coronado Springs from the Walt Disney World Marathon EXPO at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex These pictures were taken the morning of the marathon. We had to get up at 2am to begin preparing for the big race. We got dressed, ate breakfast and met up with each other for some pre-race picture taking and ego-pumping. From here, we headed to the hotel lobby to meet up with our fellow marathon runners.
Angie’s legs say “10 Years Cancer Free”!

It’s 3:15am and our entire team is hanging out in the hotel lobby, waiting for the buses to arrive and take us to the start line at Epcot. Some of the people ran in the 1/2 marathon the day before and were getting up to give us support from the sidelines. It was amazing that we were all so awake considering most of us probably didn’t sleep much that night. I guess game-day nerves and anticipation can take you a long way (26.2 miles to be exact)! Here’s Brian displaying his Goofy side right before the fireworks went off, pre-start.
A picture of the start line. It took about 10 minutes to get thru that banner from the time the gun went off to the time we walked under it. The nerves were on-end!

Here we are coming up on mile 7, heading into the Magic Kingdom. You’ll notice that Brian isn’t in any of these pictures. He was in “the zone” at this point and totally ran by Tony and Angie’s parents. I wasn’t too far in front of Tony and Angie so I managed to stop and take a quick picture, then I continued running, trying to catch up to Brian as fast as I could. Tony and Angie stopped and said hi and gave out hugs and kisses to their son Aiden.

We finally reach the Magic Kingdom! We stopped here to take pictures with Cinderella’s Castle in the backdrop. This was a really exciting part of the race, as Main Street was filled with lots of spectators and fans cheering us on. There were quite a few opportunities to stop and get your picture taken with a Disney character here. Some of the characters I saw were Frontier Mickey, Frontier Donald and Frontier Goofy as well as Captain Jack Sparrow and some other swashbucklers. We did not stop to get pictures here other than the Castle...the lines were just too long!

Here we all are at the half-way point, Mile 13, and we’re just outside Magic Kingdom and right next to the Grand Floridian Resort. We still have smiles on our faces and we’re feeling pretty good, though we know we still have a long way to go! We met up with our LLS team coordinators, Cathie and Anisa, at this rest stop and they made sure we were doing okay and didn’t need anything, like water or Tylenol. They also kindly took these pictures of us. Brian and I changed into fresh socks (a lifesaver for me!) while Tony and Angie kept running towards the goal.
Mile 14 was just up ahead and it proved to be a very valuable milestone for us as we were given bananas to eat at that stop. Considering we had been running for 3 hours or so and all we had in us were gels and goos, the bananas were very appreciated. They would help to sustain us for another 3 hours of running. We are heading towards Disney’s Animal Kingdom and some of the toughest miles of the day!

We finally found some characters that we wanted to take pictures with and the line wasn’t long—SCORE! Launchpad McQuack and Scrooge McDuck are two of our favorite childhood characters from the cartoon DuckTales. It was a very exciting moment, as you can tell by Brian’s face! We are just about to enter Animal Kingdom and we are somewhere around mile 16.
Tony and Angie decided to briefly stop in Animal Kingdom and get a shot with the very scenic backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The run through Animal Kingdom was tougher than expected and was definitely the most difficult park to run through. The path was made of stones and winds around all of the attractions with lots of up and down sections. I was ready to get out of there!

We finally made it out of Animal Kingdom and pressed on towards Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The miles between those two parks seemed to go on forever! Once we hit mile 17, the running got a lot more difficult. We were running on a highway with hot asphalt blasting the days heat into our feet, bodies and faces. It was now around 10:30am and the temperature was around 70+ degrees—way hotter than what we were used to training in. Angie and Brian were both powering through this section while Tony and I were having a harder time. Our feet were our weakness and I managed to develop a blister around mile 19. Luckily for me, a random guy running next to me had one last band-aid that saved my heel until I could get to the next aid station at mile 20.

Brian, Tony, Angie and I regrouped before we entered Hollywood Studios. We walked and ran for the next 5 miles, stopping for pictures and taking turns on who was the leader of the pack. The most brutal part of this park was the hamburger smell being pumped from the eateries into the streets—we were starving and tired!

After a minutes worth of rest at mile marker 25, we decided collectively to finish the marathon as runners. So, after pumping each other up mentally and with our last burst of energy, we ran the last 1.2 miles to the finish line. It was the fastest mile we ran that day, with a pace of 10 minutes and 30 seconds. However, it was also the LONGEST mile of the day. As we wound through the boardwalk and back into Epcot, there were lots of people, friends, family, strangers, all cheering us on. It was quite a sight to see and was incredible to experience! Victory was just steps away! Once we saw the Finish line, our legs never moved faster. All four of us joined hands and crossed the finish line together, as a team. We started this journey together and it was more amazing than I ever imagined it would be!

My marathon experience was better than I could’ve ever imagined it to be. It was not only an extremely physical challenge, but it also tested my mental endurance. While training, there were times when I thought to myself, “I can’t do this” or “I don’t know how I’m going to make it”. But when it came to race day I never once had any of those thoughts. With the help of my 3 teammates and numerous LLS coaches, mentors, staff members and supporters, I made it through the finish line with a smile on my face. I proved to myself that I can do anything!

Here are our finisher’s pictures as well as a map of the route we ran.