Have you missed me? Well, I’ve been busy!! I’m very proud to say that I’m up to 10 miles with Team in Training!! I’m quite impressed with myself. It’s funny how when I’m driving around town, 10 miles feels like quite a distance, but when I’m out there on the trails with everyone, those few hours go pretty quickly.
Thank you so much for your donations. You’ve donated $1,890 so far!! Only $60 more ’til I reach my minimum for the VA Beach Half Marathon! Once I hit that mark, I’ll be in full fundraising mode until I raise $2,650 more for San Francisco. Pass along my page (http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/rnrh10/jmatthews) to whomever you like, share it on Facebook, ask your company if they would consider doing a matching donation…any help is greatly appreciated! I plan on organizing a local happy hour too so stay tuned for more details.  And speaking of fundraising, I came upon this article while looking through my google alerts for breast cancer at work: http://www.thedailytell.com/2010/08/brits-ride-rollercoaster-naked-for-breast-cancer-research/…perhaps I’ve been going about my fundraising the wrong way!  Anyone up for a nude coaster ride?! hahahahahaha
As you can see from the photos below, the past couple months have been full of activity…a friend’s wedding, a moonlight kayaking tour, the Gipsy Kings concert, a sunset ceremony at the DC Marine Corps barracks, a trip to Richmond for Katie’s TNT fundraiser, lots of fun dates with “Perfect Pete”. :) Two years ago at this time, I was preparing to head out to Seattle and I was dreading it. Little did I know how much I would come to love the city! Neither could I have imagined walking ten miles, exposing myself to the dirt and bugs in a kayak trip, sitting in a crowded room to celebrate a wedding, enjoying the Lawn at Wolf Trap, dating a wonderful guy. I am not surprised I’m able to go out and do all these things now, but I am very grateful. Thank you, Laura, for the gift of life!
And speaking of, Laura is going to give someone else the gift of life soon! No, she’s certainly not sharing her marrow with anyone else–I stake claim to that–she is, however, going to have a baby!!!!!!! That’s right, folks! Come March, there will be a little Tiso running around! Well, it probably won’t be running around in March…that would be weird. It takes a while before they can walk, you know. Nevertheless, there will be a baby and I will have my first niece/nephew! Don’t laugh, but I googled “how to be a good aunt”, you know, just to see if anything came up that I might not think of. It’s pretty self-explanatory though…spend time with them, that’s what builds the strongest bond and it is what they will remember the most. Of course, I just had to look at my own aunts (and that of course includes you, Aunt Bitsy!!) to know the answer.
By the way, I think if the baby’s a girl, Julie would be a beautiful name, don’t you think? I’m just saying. Laura and Tiso, you will be wonderful parents and I can’t wait to meet the little guy/gal! To read more about Tiso, check out his blog, which is now up and running: http://bentiso.com/. He will be leaving for Iraq very soon (he’s been training up in Wisconsin), so please keep him (and Laura AND little baby Tiso) in your thoughts.
In health news, I’m heading in to see Dr. Kales next week for a bone marrow biopsy. Yes, I requested it! I’ve had some headaches, minor random bone pain and some cramping, and the only way I can achieve some peace of mind is to hear the words “Everything looks good”…not just in terms of blood counts, but deep down in my marrow. I honestly don’t think that the leukemia is back, but of course I worry. I’m encouraged by the fact that I do not get short of breath when I do my long miles with Team in Training on Saturdays. When the leukemia came back, I remember feeling out of breath while just playing with the dogs in the front yard.
I discovered today though that I have shingles. I know, gross. It’s on the right side of my stomach, and I noticed it a little bit Saturday night, and it’s gotten progressively worse since then. My mom told me not to post a picture of it online. I was all ready to show you what it looked like–you know by now that I bare all (remember the shots of my bone marrow biopsy?)! I saw my dermatologist today, and she is 99% sure that it is shingles. I was worried about graft versus host disease (GVHD), and I insisted that she biopsy the area just to be sure. We should get those results in 10 days or so. In any case, she started me on Valtrex, so hopefully I can kick this and avoid the severe pain that so many people get with shingles. Right now, it’s just incredibly itchy and slightly uncomfortable. It’s right where one fat roll folds into another one when I’m sitting which does not feel good.
Anyhoo, I’m hoping upon hope that the shingles disappear and the doctors allow me to continue Team in Training. I will keep you in the loop! In the meantime, enjoy the photos below and have a wonderful rest of the summer!
Lots of love,
Julie
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Gipsy Kings 2010!! Kristi and I.
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Laura and Lisa...Lisa came all the way from Colombia!
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Kristi and Katie.
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Katie and I...aren't we cute?
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Katie and Sue...and that does it for Gipsy Kings 2010...it's always a fun evening! Looking forward to next year.
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I love this one...Pete and I went to Gobind's wedding, a wonderful two day affair!
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Gobind and family (click to make it larger)...the Sethi family is a favorite neighbor and they are very special friends. (They also happen to be Husky and Max's owners!--remember the dogs I watched?! You've seen many a photo of them!)
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How adorable is she?
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Even the horse is all decked out!
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She looks mesmerized, doesn't she?
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Pete and I take a li'l self-portrait.
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Look at these cuties!
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Before the ceremony, the families exchanged gifts.
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All the women wore beautiful saris.
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Look closely and you'll see one little girl holding who I assume is her little sister.
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I like the lighting in this one.
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Pete, you look so serious!
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hahaha Yes, my purse does indeed resemble a bow!
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Both days had some serious dancing!!! I love the Indian music!
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I look ridiculous here, but hey, it's all in good fun!
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And Pete shows off his skills! :)
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OK, now it's the second day of events...a beautiful reception, and somehow Pete got locked into one of the rooms.
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This is his serious, intimidating look.
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hahahaha and this is not. :)
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We had a fun little photo shoot...I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here!
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hmmmm....ummmm....yah, I don't know.
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My cousin, Jeff, once informed us that some Indian tribe uses their lips to point...I find it's much more fun than plain ol' finger pointing.
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hahahaha Pete tries it out for himself.
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This is actually a nice one of us (if I do say so myself!) if you enlarge it.
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As you can tell, we were having a good time doing the photo shoot! I'm sure the other guests were starting to wonder.
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Don't do it, Pete!
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We thought it'd be funny to pose with my mom as though she were the godfather or something.
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Dinah and Ed relax before the reception.
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Doing my best to imitate the following painting -->
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hahahahaha
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hahahaha I love it!!!!
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I'm doing my talented lip trick here, you just can't tell.
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I love this one of them.
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Steve and my padres...he grew up with Ronnie and me, and I hadn't seen him in forever!
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Pete and I took a cab home...I thought this turned out kinda cool...looking through the sunroof.
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Proper Pete. hahaha
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Someone brought hula hoops to training the other week, so of course I picked it up and did a li'l hoopin'! Everyone was impressed by my skill, and I was quite surprised at how long I was able to keep it going!
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So cute..."I don't know how this happened to the toy...it just kind of fell apart!"
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I like this one of Pete...we're on our way back to VA from PA after visiting his family...we had a wonderful time!
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Jameson approves of Petey!
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Maya and Brant's little boy, Connor, sure is a happy baby!
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And now you're in for a treat! We're getting ready to go out on our moonlight kayak tour!
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It was the perfect evening, and Pete and I happened to be the most advanced kayakers in the group...granted, there were only six of us, but still.
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I liked this shot with the antique color.
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It was a two-person kayak, which allowed me to take lots of photos while Pete did the work...heh heh heh, pretty tricky, huh?
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Hey there, buddy!
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A little advertising for Atlantic Kayak.
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A blue heron greets us as we head out in the creek.
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Beautiful sunset!
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"Get to work, Julie, you lazy bum!!" hahahaha Just kidding...that's not what he was saying.
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A paddle, some water and a sunset...talk about peaceful.
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Look at those stragglers! hahahaha
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Look how calm the water is.
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This makes for a wonderful date if you like kayaking!
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My favorite shot of the evening.
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There were no other boats on the water except for our group.
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Do you like this one better?...
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...or this one?
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Hey, I may not have done as much paddling, but I got some good pictures!
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We worked hard for this shot, trying to catch the water spray from the paddle.
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Our guide kept encouraging me to stand up for a picture, so here you go!
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Look...no hands! Thanks for balancing the boat for me, Pete!
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Just gorgeous.
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Our guide, Steve (at least I think that was his name!).
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You ready for the moonlight?
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These pictures aren't quite as clear (obviously, I mean, it was getting dark people, so don't criticize!), but you can still get a sense of how peaceful it was out on the water.
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That's a huge house over there, and apparently there are no roads to it. Sounds like a good place to go to write a book (or just get some peace and quiet!).
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I love this shot...Pete's lighting up his cigar! It of course reminded me of Thanksgiving. :)
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Blurry, but I still like it...enjoying a puro and doing a little paddling!
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I would absolutely do this tour again...I bet it would be gorgeous in the fall!
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This was pretty...there was some tall grass out in the middle of the creek. Can't you just hear the chorus of bugs and the gentle splash as the paddle goes through the water?
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Aren't we a cute couple?
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hahaha not so cute, but I figured you'd like a photo of me having a puff of cigar!
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Now...meet Cheeto!!! This is Lori and Tim's awesome cat. He's waiting for a fax.
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A pretty flower in Pete's front yard.
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Little Cheeto again!! Isn't he a handsome little guy?
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He even uses the toilet!! No litter boxes for Cheeto!
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He also has a well-developed palatte...here he is munching on some mint.
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He has a great view from his perch on the couch.
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I cannot believe I had never heard of this before...I went to the sunset ceremony at the Marine Barracks in DC with Pete and his family. It was amazing! This beautiful house is the home of the Marine Corps Commandant. To read more about the ceremony, visit http://www.marines.mil/unit/barracks/pages/welcome.aspx#
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Notice anything usual about the flag? Only 15 stars because there were only 15 states when the Marine Barracks Washington was built.
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hahaha This would be Pete's fake smile.
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The house looked even cooler once the lights were all on...too bad all those people were in my shot.
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We were sitting in the courtyard on some bleachers, perfect seats for the show!
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I wish you could hear the music...it was absolutely beautiful. My favorite was "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" played by the drum and bugle corps. It gave me goosebumps.
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I thought the blurriness gave this a ghostly look.
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Can you imagine how hot that poor guy must be in the furry British hat?
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And now...moving on to our next activity. Katie had a picnic fundraiser for Team in Training this weekend. I drove down to Richmond with all three pups (I was watching Indie for the weekend)...boy were they happy to see Kathy!
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Katie had reserved a beautiful shelter in Byrd Park.
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I think they're hot!! Good thing Katie was thoughtful enough to bring a fan!
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I think Katie would be the ultimate event planner. She had delicious food from local Richmond favorites, water, sodas, all kinds of games, tablecloths, pretty plants on the tables. She thinks of everything and she did a wonderful job with the fundraiser. I can't wait to do the VA Beach Half with her! It will really make the event extra special.
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Smile!
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They got a serious game of Phase 10 going on here...apparently, it's similar to Uno, but it takes a lot longer to play.
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Katie, Jake and Jonathan...I really like this one.
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He's one handsome dog, if I do say so myself!
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This is one of my very favorite pictures. Ronnie and Katie.
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I think we have some tired pups.
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Sweet baby Indie!
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Guinny was very excited to get to see some of his favorite people. He tired himself out!
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Such a simple toy, yet the fun never ends.
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I think this one turned out well too! I'm so glad Laura couldn't come....I mean, I wish Laura could have come! :)
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My baby Jamie.
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Time for some bocce ball!
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These next few pictures are pictures of little beggars...staring at Katie's pizza.
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"C'mon, Katie...just a li'l bit!"
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Well, they tried their best, but the stares did not earn them any pizza.
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On the drive home (which took almost 3 hours, by the way! It usually takes an hour and a half.)...Guinny's quite tired.
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Indie, who never sleeps in the car, had no problems snoozing on the drive home!
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Sleeping with her head up. :) I couldn't get a good shot of Jameson, but he too was fast asleep!
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Looks like a storm's comin'!
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Happy pups.
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When we got home from Richmond, I took a nap and Jameson was more than happy to hop up there with me...I think he was in the mood for cuddling!! He cracks me up. :)