Ding dong the storm is dead!!

If you have been paying attention to the news at all lately, you most likely heard about Tropical Storm Emily (one of these days, they will start naming storms with less common names).  This storm made everyone at the World Wide Village office mightily nervous.  Why?  It was headed straight for Haiti!  An island country that has already endured more in the past few years than any geographical region should be allowed to endure was about to get pounded by a natural disaster...again.

Ever heard the phrase "Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!"?  

There is more power to that phrase than you know!

We were nervous.  We checked news reports, blogs of people who were on the ground, checked in with WWV interns who are on the ground, whatever we had to do in order to stay on top of the most current news.

AND we told the storm how big GOD is!  

So here's something to think about - how often do you think "all I can do is pray"?  Oh c'mon be honest, you know you have at some point (I said the same thing to my husband the other day while stressing about the storm).  All I can do is pray.  Why is that an "all"?  Praying is tapping God on the shoulder and saying "Hey, I can't do this but I trust you to."  It is letting the Creator know there is something distressing happening that He needs to deal with.  Praying is telling God "Hey dude, that thing that is breaking your heart?  Well, it's breaking mine to.  Now that we agree, can you do something about it?"

At World Wide Village, one of my privileges is to publish our weekly newsletter.  This newsletter covers many things, from the latest thing we are fundraising for to focuses on individuals impacted by our work, to successes and joys about working with God in Haiti.  This particular week it was hijacked to ask for prayer.

Thanks to Veggie Tales, we all know that "God is bigger than the boogey man".  Well, yesterday we counted on God to be bigger than a storm.

AND HE WAS!!!!  AND HE PROVED IT!!!

There were hundreds of people praying for Haiti yesterday.  The result?  Tropical Storm Emily reached the mountain range of Hispaniola (the island that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share) and fizzled out!  I'm going to make a Star Trek reference here (blame my hubby -- he's been watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation" like its going out of style): it was like Haiti was cloaked!!  The storm got to where it could do significant amounts of damage and then suddenly dissipated. 

I DARE you to explain that without bringing God into it.  Oh sure, the storm hit a mountain and you scientists out there are going to try and say that mountains kill winds.  Sure.  But plenty of tropical storms/hurricanes have gone right over those mountains.  Sorry, but my God is bigger than your doubt too.  

After hearing that the storm had lost its power, I could almost hear God whisper "I've got it handled."  

Now, Haiti did not get off completely free and clear.  Torrential rain still fell and wind still whipped its way across that gorgeous country, but nothing compared to what was expected.  Right now the concern is that the rain that did fall will make cholera spread further (it is waterborne, after all, and extra uncontained, contaminated water = extra cholera bacteria).  

BUT hundreds of people DID NOT die from flooding. Children were NOT ripped out of their mother's arms by huge waves.  Mud slides did NOT take out huge swaths of tent city.  Tropical Storm Emily (I have a coworker named Emily, hence I cannot just say "Emily" here) hit a wall of prayer and God's power and was stopped.  One thing I saw said it might reform on the other side of Haiti, but that very little damage is expected.  Take that, weather.  God created you, God can stop you too!  [insert appropriate kung fu reference/sound here]

Now, please excuse me while I very gracefully go do a happy dance.  = )

Attitude/Goal Adjustment

At the start of this summer, my goal was to run 300 miles.  Then I tacked on an extra month and thought, what the hay - I'll do 400 miles.  Um, so to slightly misuse an analogy, my eyes were bigger than my legs...in that meaning that in order to accomplish this task, I need to run 5 miles every single day between now and the big Twin Cities Marathon.

This girl is whooped.

I've only been running since last summer, and school is starting again soon (I'm in grad school), couple that with work and some of my volunteering commitments, and 5 miles per day for the next two months is a little too much.  As much as I hate to admit it, there is no way that I can get another 300 miles logged between now and the Marathon, particularly as there is a nagging injury in my leg that is making running really painful.  Now, pain has never been something to stop me (except when my tonsils were removed two years ago, then pain kind of put me right in my place for two weeks), especially when I'm raising money for the kids in Haiti, but realism must take its place.

So, the gist of this message is that I am going to have to drop my goal back down to its original level - 300 miles between June 1 and the marathon in the beginning of October.  For all of you who think it should not be a problem to run 300 miles in four months, consider that you have to build in rest days, and remember that I'm still a relatively new runner.  And took a week out due to lost toenails.  Murgle murgle murgle.

So yeah.  A goal that is actually achievable...for this summer anyways.  There is another goal in mind for next year, but I'm not yet releasing that info.  Too valuable.  : )

Warrior Dash was AWESOME!!!!!!!

"You are far too excited about this."  Here I quote my hubby, Dahmon, in something he said while we were driving to the Warrior Dash in Hastings this past weekend.  In complete fairness to the very patient man, I was happy dancing/bouncing in my passenger seat as he drove.  Warriors can squee, right?  = )

In case you couldn't tell, I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST at the Warrior Dash this past weekend.  Got to hang out with the 27 World Wide Village volunteers - a fabulous group made up of people who have gone to Haiti with us, Theta Chi gentleman from the local Beta Kappa chapter, and people affiliated with those mentioned.  It was absolutely amazing to be able to spend time with all of them - thank you thank you thank you to all of the volunteers!  You guys rocked!   AND our volunteers had a pretty sweet gig--most of them were manning obstacles or handing out water and bananas to race finishers.

AND we got to talk to a bunch of people about Haiti and meet all kinds of people from all over the place (there were even some people from Italy who flew in just for the race!!).  World Wide Village had a booth at the race, and Ali Funk, Emily Cargill, and I had a grand time interacting with people, giggling over the more hilarious costumes, watching the shoe pile next to us grow (a group was there that collects old shoes and refurbishes them), and making sure the nutritious sodas we were giving away didn't disappear too quickly.  It. Was. Awesome!!

My time was 39:33.  murgle murgle murgle...for someone who can run 3miles in 28ish minutes, I was a little dissappointed - but I blame the intense humidity that day.  = )  We had true MN weather, clear one minute and then they closed down the course for a little bit because lightening isn't an obstacle approved by race coordinators.

You should totally do the Dash, whichever one is closest to you!  You will get muddy...oh just you wait for the pictures that will follow as soon as I get permissions and pics from everyone.  More details about the race (and some favorite costumes) will follow.

Mud was the word of the day.  Everyone got mud on them--participants and onlookers alike...it was AWESOME!!

Just a reminder why I'm running 400 miles for a cause this summer, this article almost made me start crying (please consider clicking the "Donate/Sponsor" link above and helping send water purification units to Haiti) :


http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/186008/20110724/cholera-haiti-epidemic.htm

Warrior Dashing!!!!!!!

The race that got me into adventure racing...the Warrior Dash....is THIS WEEKEND!!

I am so beyond pumped, you have no idea!  Oh sure, I love the adrenaline rush of overcoming obstacles in a race, and races themselves, but there is another reason I am super excited...

World Wide Village is sponsoring the Warrior Dash!  We will have a booth and everything at the event! WWV will be there the entire weekend, talking to people about what WWV does and trips to Haiti (both our regular standard trips and our ADVENTURE TRIPS...more details forthcoming at a later date).  We have a group of people who are volunteering between 12:30 and 8:00 on Saturday, the 23rd and helping WWV raise money for Haiti!  You see, event organizers have said that they will give WWV a $1000 donation if we bring 25 volunteers to help staff the event.

Volunteering has rarely been more fun!  Volunteers for World Wide Village at the Warrior Dash will be responsible for overseeing obstacles (calling in medics if someone gets injured, bandaging boo boos, etc), helping in the parking lot, staffing the information booth, etc. It is going to be a blast!!


Have you gotten the hint yet?  We are still looking for volunteers!  If you are interested in volunteering and having a great story for your coworkers on Monday, let me know: nromness@worldwidevillage.org.  


Event organizers have also told me they are seeking people to volunteer 6:00-1:30 on Sunday...we'll get an even bigger donation in addition to what they are giving us for Saturday!!  DEFINITELY LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN DO THIS!  Yeah, I know it is super early, but I also know that a coworker and I will also be there at that time.


So yeah, come find us, say hi, volunteer at the event, and try not to laugh at racers too much when they splat face-first in mud!  =)

By the way, I promised pictures from the Go Commando race.  I've ordered my set, it isn't here yet, but I was able to locate this picture in the Facebook albums for the event -->

See what I'm wearing?  That's right--its a World Wide Village jersey!  The lovely people at PK Strong can print these jerseys for you for less than $30 (including shipping and handling).  They are awesome...I wear mine every time I run outside!

The Warrior Dash is coming!

So I learned a valuable lesson last week--make sure your brand new running shoes fit properly on both feet.  Due to new shoes that do not fit correctly (definitely asking for help from the store clerk next time), I got a massive blister on the back of one heel and lost my big toenail on the other foot!  Needless to say, I was out of commission for running for about a week as my poor footsies healed up a bit.

Okay, so switch to different shoes, right?  Maybe--I switched to a pair that is well-broken in and now have blisters on other toes.  Hmmm, maybe shoes just have it out for my poor feet!

BUT are a few blisters going to stop me?  Heck no.  Not when I heard this afternoon that clinics in Haiti are being swamped with more cholera patients.  Not when this running is to raise money to bring water purifying systems into areas where the spread of cholera can be slowed drastically, if not stopped altogether, by access to clean water.

Can you motivate me to run?  Can you sponsor my running, please?  Just click on the "Donate/Sponsor" button above for instructions on how to do so.

P.S. Apparently the only place more humid in the Western Hemisphere day before yesterday than MN was somewhere in a jungle in South America.  We even beat Haiti for humidity levels!  Phew, no wonder my parents said people where they are living called this state "Mini-sauna".  Pretty fitting.  Yet there are certain goofy people who are still running outside in this soupy humid atmosphere, running because they made a commitment and refuse to back down.

Oh come on, won't you sponsor me?  : )

Change is a good thing....right?

Howdy folks!  So I finally figured out how to make the blog look more like a webpage.  If you see some silly things happening here, that is because I'm attempting to make this blog more user-friendly and easier to navigate.  In the meantime, it may look all goofed up, but there is a method to the madness (I promise) and the end result (by the end of this week) will be much more navigable and easier to understand.  AND you won't have to "ctrl + f" whatever you are looking for.  Feedback?  Just let me know.  I might ignore it, but it might make a difference. :)  Blessings to you all!

"Go Commando" Race!!

Okay peoples--the morning of June 25th saw a certain WWV employee careening over hay bales, getting down severely steep hills w/o incident, kangarooing over fire, wading through the end of a lake, and going down a huge water chute thing that flung people into a wet, muddy, sandy area.

Words to describe it?

IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!!!  

Pictures will follow later, unless you want to like the Go Commando race page on Facebook, then you can see a bunch of pics right there.  =)  For now, the official picture-takers of the event (Marathonfoto), are still sifting through thousands of pics, getting the sorted and put in the right place.  Have been able to locate a few of me...but you'll just have to wait for a few weeks.  

If you have never done an adventure race, please consider doing so!  You do not have to be in spectacular shape--the Go Commando was a race for all people.  There was a fire pit, water chute slide, mud pit, two water pits, a maze thing on the side of a hill, a hay bale mountain, a lake to wad through, cargo net crawl, etc.  

So. Much. Fun!!!

So much fun, in fact, that I went through the course three times!  I mean, how often do you get the chance to go down a water chute while people are laughing at the expression on your face (okay, so maybe it got me down the hill just a smidge faster than expected...lol).  How often do you get to duck over those giant spools found in fields and such??  

Add to the atmosphere free hotdogs, and awesome band, and the opportunity to meet new people and have a blast doing so--'twas great.  Definitely an even to repeat!  =)

On my third time around the track (don't worry, I asked several people if I could go multiple times--given that this was not a chip timed event, no one minded), a volunteer asked if I was repeating the track for fitness or because I was training for something else.  Answer?  Yes.  Fitness is wonderful, but there are four more races on the horizon.

Why?

Because I went to Haiti in January and had my heart stolen by cute kids.  Cute kids right now who are worried about drinking their water because they know there are germs that might make them sick.  : (  

ALL of my running this summer is dedicated to those kids.  They thirst so I run.  They are worried about clean water, so I run.  

So what do running and kids worrying about water in Haiti have to do with each other?  Well--with supporter help, WWV can buy water systems that provide clean water to thousands of people per day!!!  Pretty neat, huh?  WWV, however, cannot grow money on trees--we depend on supporter help to bring these water systems into Haiti.  That's where you come in.

Go to the donation page of our website by clicking HERE, and either sponsor my running on the appropriate line, or put money towards water systems.  People are getting sick now.  People are dying now.  People need water NOW.  And so I run.

Oh, c'mon--what are you waiting for??