Tuesday... Wednesday... Thursday... FRIDAY

From raising money to raising awareness to raising my heart rate on long walks, I have been living and breathing 3DAY for the past five months. And here it is, Monday night the week of the 3DAY. I am giddy with excitement. I'm scrambling to get all of my work done for this week and the beginning of next (cause lets face it - I'm probably not going to get much done next Monday). I have poured over the message boards getting tips from 3DAY veterans and trying to find out as much about this weekend as I can. Weather.com is predicting an amazing weekend for us and the 3DAY site has a general route map posted. If you are in the area and interested in going to one of the designated cheering stations along the route (you can cheer in other places, these are just spots that you'll be guaranteed to see the walkers) head out to one of the locations listed at the bottom of this post. The closing ceremony will take place at: City Center Lot900 9th Street NW Washington, DC 20001 and will begin at 530 PM on Sunday. Cinnamon and I will have very limited cell phone access on the 3DAY so if you have questions about it be sure to call us before Friday. Thanks again everyone for all of the encouragement and support!!! Its almost here!



Friday, October 3rd
10:30 am - 1:00 pm Dale City Fire Station 1313511 Hillendale Drive Dale City, Virginia 22193
Saturday, October 4th
10:00 am - 1:00 pm Crosspointe Animal Hospital8975 Village Shops Drive Fairfax Station, VA 22039
Sunday, October 5th TBD

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... FRIDAY!!

Here it comes! Here it comes! The 3DAY is almost here and I can't wait! This morning I made 3DAY sized pillows for us (we're each only allowed one bag so smaller sized pillows are a must) and then created the best ever WalkyTalky pink tutus. Seriously, what could be better than WalkyTalky bright pink tutus? I've started a huge container in the middle of our den as Duncan 3DAY central. I'm trying to pack as I think of things and will transfer everything into a backpack later this week (the container keeps my curious and devious cats from inspecting my gear). I'm scrambling to finish all of my work for both this week and next so that all I have to concentrate on is enjoying the much anticipated 3DAY. With only a few days to go I feel as though I might burst of excitement before its even here! WHOOP!

ONE WEEK!

With one week to go Cinnamon and I spent Friday afternoon (and well into the night) preparing for one of the most important parts of the 3DAY... our costumes.

First we headed to Target where we dined on popcorn and cokes but had no luck finding anything pink and inexpensive. So we headed out to AC Moore crafts and hit the jackpot!Pink shirts were actually on sale!

We wandered around the store to check out everything PINK. Cinnamon found this: We weren't sure what it would be good for besides a tail or making a poodle costume... until Cinnamon found its value as a backpack (no, we didn't buy that).

After a successful trip (shirts, paint, hot pink feathers, hats, ribbon) we headed to JoAnns sewing to get toole for some fabulous tutus - I'm in charge of making the tutus... hopefully I'll make them this weekend!

Finally we headed home where Chad and Chris had Valentinos waiting - which equals: yummy pizza the size of your head.

Chris modeling the pizza.

After pizza we convinced the hubbies to head out for ice cream and got started on our shirts. First we covered cutting boards with foil to slip in the shirts: also good for catching some rays

Then we had a blast painting away!

Only after finishing this one did I realize I had put "WalkyWalkys." SIGH.

A Cinnamon Original

By the end of the night we had the beginnings of some fabulous 3DAY attire:

offical walkytalky homemade hats? check.

"brest in show" and "flat and sassy" sashes? check.

To the Eastern Market

Cinnamon in front of the White House.  

Today after church Chad and I took an easy little walk down to the Eastern Market.  From St. Paul's K Street one can basically walk all the way down Pennsylvania (with a couple of detours) to Independence and then back on to Pennsylvania SE.  One walks past the White House, the Newseum (which we've heard is worth the $20 entrance fee), the Capitol, etc.etc.etc.  There was some sort of bike race going on, and we noticed that, according to the sign on the FBI building, the FBI turns 100 this year.

Chad's Head and the FBI sign.  Chad is so thrilled to be in this picture.

It was a nice afternoon--minimal sweating.  Oddly enough, once on Capitol Hill we ran across a few seminarians!  No, really!  This town is already too small!  We didn't really buy anything at the Market (except that smoothie at Ben & Jerry's), but it's always fun to just browse.  We added a few things to our list of "DC must dos" while walking:

* the double decker bus tour--in October or November

* the Newseum

* gelato at the National Gallery--many, many times

All in all--a decent afternoon. :)

Never, never, never...

We are less than one month from the 3Day. And we are still raising money! E-mails have gone out into that great void; requests for publicity have been made; publications have been published (see Casey's previous post). We will continue to raise money until we walk in the event, and we don't plan on "going quietly." We just won't stop!

During yesterday's training walk I noticed early fatigue--"not a good sign," I thought--yet I persisted. Today my mom and I were joshing about me whining in order to get what I want. I simply commented that I just usually don't give up. I'm excited about the 3Day. But I'm also, truth be told, a little nervous about the inevitable...shall we say "discomfort" we will feel after walking even 20 of those 60 miles. I'm nervous about being up to snuff with the thousands of people who are walking because they've lost a loved one to breast cancer (as opposed to me). Heck, I'm nervous about sharing a tent with Casey Duncan! Ultimately, though, I won't give up. I just won't stop. And if I do, there will be thousands of others who do not.

As promised...

For those of you who have not yet opened the latest edition of the Texas Episcopalian and for the benefit of those who have not yet left all else behind to live in the splendor that is the Lone Star State:Okay, so those of you who know us will notice that some of the details are spotty (as in... Cinnamon would rather die than have people believe she is a native Texan...) but the important details are correct and accounted for. AND we even got our own fancy box with a photo - much more eye catching than just text! Woo hoo!

Texas Episcopalian!

The WalkyTalkys are in the latest edition of the Episcopalian!! How exciting! The Episcopalian is a great newspaper-style publication that circulates in the Diocese of Texas. The best part - people actually read the Episcopalian (it isn't one of those "straight to the recycling bin" mail outs). News of the WalkyTalkys is spreading and raising awareness about the battle against breast cancer!! If I can find a scanner I'll get a copy of it onto the blog. Yippee!

The Last Frontier

Fishing and pleasure boats in Seward

Chad and I have been in Alaska for the past week.  Needless to say, it has been fantastic. 

Cars must be plugged in in the winter so that the engines don't freeze!                 

A "lady" moose in the wild near Girdwood, AK.        

We've had a chance to spend time with my best college bud, Becca, and we've seen everything on our checklist:

*moose

*bear (on a glacier, no less!)

*bald eagle

*salmon

*glacier

Chad stands in front of Portage Glacier.  We had the RARE privilege of seeing a black bear ON the glacier.

Since everyone here is so out-doorsy, and since there are just an amazing amount of things to do outside during the 15 hours of sunlight per day in the summer, there are always opportunities for hiking and walking.  

Cinnamon survived climbing Flattop Mountain.  It was scary.  I'm not going to lie.

All in all, a good time was had by all!  And a great deal of walking was done. :)