LOTS O' STUFF

GAIL! This one is for you!! We walked 10 miles this morning. It was a tad humid, but bearable. It's OU/TX weekend & the runners, walkers, and bikers were showing their team spirit. Mom & I almost gagged when we saw a girl wearing a Texas longhorn jog bra. I seriously wanted to give her a gentle "shove" off the path. Is that wrong? (hehehe). Mom would have totally backed me up on it!

We were a little slow on our time today. Both of us acknowledged that we just weren't "feeling it" today. It's great to have that out of the way BEFORE San Francisco. I woke up with the beginnings of a cold, popped a Zicam, and sweat out a fever while we got our miles in. (Is this too much information? Sorry). We're just giving you the HIGHS and lows. We also opted not to walk the bridge/dam area. It was just TOO WINDY last week, we didn't want to feel like Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day...again! Plus - it can really smell up there! Anywho - it was fun to see some of the 'winter event' people today too. Winter events are Disney Marathon, PF Chang's Rock N Roll Marathon, and a bicycling event that I can't remember the name of right now.

I'm now showered, refreshed and about to start on some afternoon projects! One of them is a FUN thank you gift that we'll be sending our FABULOUS, PRECIOUS, AWESOME donors!! So, I'll work on that & a new knitting project while watching OU kick some Texas butt!!

Thanks for checking in (PS, we're at 92% of our new goal of $26,200!) Thank you for helping us kick some LEUKEMIA BUTT!!

Touched by your support

Oh precious friends and Team WillDu supporters - although we've felt your support all along this journey, we have TRULY felt it today. We've had so much incredible feedback since our latest update (September) went out. Just today, we received 6 new donations - and 3 of those were REPEAT DONATIONS. One of our sweetest girlfriends sent her THIRD donation. How precious is that?! I wish you could understand the impact that we feel from your support. It truly leaves us speechless - and if you know us, you know that's practically impossible.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your financial support, your encouraging notes, and your amazing prayers. Thank you for your friendship, for your belief in us, in this cause, and most of all...in the support of this fight against Leukemia!!! WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!!!

I wish we could have you all at the finish line in San Francisco!! We couldn't have asked for better support. We're honored to represent such precious loved ones who've been touched by Leukemia. Thank you for your sharing your stories with us.

WE LOVE YOU!!! Love, Jennifer & Candy

TOP 25!!

WOW! WOW! WOW! Friends, we are just weeks away from the BIG event! We just learned this week that TEAM WILLDU is among the Top 25 fundraisers in the COUNTRY for the Nike Women's Marathon!! Can you believe it? And, our friend Sherry is in the Top 25 too!!

We've got a BIG Saturday ahead of us! We're walking 22 miles this weekend - oh, mama!! I earned some fabulous blisters on our 20 mile walk 2 weeks ago - so, I'm better prepared for this training! The closer we get, the more excited we all are. We've been working on this so long, and you've been with us on this amazing journey!! We're ready to see (and CROSS) the finish line! YIPPEE!!

GOAL, update, etc.

WOW! First of all, my apologies for going SO stinkin' long without an update! Needless to say, life has been a skosh crazy! Right after my last post, I headed to Michigan to see Mom, Tom, and the "girls" (Molly & Lily). The weather & scenery was sooooo incredible. What a fantastic place to walk!! Much prettier than the track at Lake Hefner. We spent A LOT of time working on our August letter. We hope you enjoyed it & gained some good insight into Leukemia stats!

Now we're both back in Oklahoma, still training, still raising money and trying to balance life! For me, work has been crazy - in a good way! Just honestly never been busier, cranking out contracts for new customers! YEAH!

Last week we hit a MAJOR milestone!!! We reached our $20,000 goal. I think we screamed for about 10 minutes that day! Seriously - we couldn't do this without each one of you!! Your generosity inspires us! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

We're already talking about next year! And the exciting thing is, so are some of you!! We are so thrilled that several of you are interested in walking next year!! We promise, it's addicting!

RECOMMITMENT!!!

No, we're not being "committed", but mom & I did fill "officially" recommit to the Nike Women's Marathon (an official part of the process). This is SO exciting!! It's so REAL now! We're thrilled that our "Honey" (my grandmother) is going with us. For those of you who are "in the know", you know that mom, Honey, and I are very close! We're blessed to have each other & it wouldn't be the same without there in San Francisco as we cross that finish line! We're also BEYOND pumped that our dear sweet friend Sara Swanner Northwood & her darling sister-in-law Janet Swanner (our honoree Stephen Swanner Jr.'s mom) will be coming to San Francisco to cheer us on! We cannot begin to tell you how much this means!!

If you're on our growing mailing list, you'll be getting an update letter from us next week. Mom wrote it (my apologies for the length - ha!). There truly is so much that we want to share with you (our gratitude, appreciation, VERY IMPORTANT stats about leukemia).

I can't believe that 2 months from now, we'll be finished!

Let me close this with 2 HUGE thank yous: First - THANK YOU to Stephen Swanner Jr. for being our honoree and allowing us to share his story and fight with this horrible disease with each of you. You are our HERO and INSPIRATION!
Second - to each and everyone of our friends and supporters! We couldn't do this without your financial support, emotional support, encouragement and prayers!

Thank you , thank you, thank you!

I'm about to board my last flight to Michigan! I finally get to visit Harbor Springs. Mom has enjoyed some fabulous weather while training for Nike. (Our Oklahoma team has had to battle the nasty Oklahoma weather - heat & humidity!). I'm looking forward to walking with mi madre (and playing with my "sisters" Molly & Lily (yorkies).

Blessings, Jennifer

Oy with the heat already!

Wowzer - where did the heat come from? Mom is enjoying the 58 degree mornings in Harbor Springs - FABULOUS for training. While in Oklahoma...it's almost 80 by 6:30 in the morning. Oh well, to quote Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) from Vacation, "It's all part of the experience." I'm on the road again this week, so I get to try another hotel treadmill in the morning. Considering how small this town is, I'm just grateful they have a gym!

Yesterday we reached a huge milestone...81% of our fundraising goal!

We couldn't do it without all of our amazing friends & family. Thank you for helping us make a difference!!!

Only 6 miles?

This Saturday at training, we'll walk 6 miles. Last week it was 12. Monday at work, two of my marathon teammates (Shea & Patty) & I were commenting on the fact that we're "only walking 6 miles" this Saturday. Then we laughed & thought back to our first day - 2 miles. Then we thought about the first time we walked 6 miles - now we're up to 12. Who knew 6 miles would feel like a cake-walk?!
We met with our CEO this week to ask for a corporate sponsorship. As we discussed the "who, what, when, why, where" of the marathon & the cause, I realized how committed & passionate the 3 of us were about this. We talked about our honorees and how fortunate we feel to have our own good health. Some days during those long runs/walks we focus on our honorees and the struggles they went through (chemotheraphy, bone marrow transplants, etc). That kind of battle puts a little blister on your foot or a pulled muscle all into perspective.
Thanks to research, the survival rate of children diagnosed with leukemia & lymphoma has increased almost 30%!! The money we raise for this event (and other Team in Training events) goes toward research. LIFE SAVING RESEARCH!! Thank you to all of our dear friends & family for your financial support, emotional support, and prayers. We couldn't fight for a cure without you!!!