Living this LIfe I've been Given: Ever wonder??

So....I know some or maybe even most of you think I'm crazy for all the stuff I do. Or maybe you just think it's annoying...all the emails you get from me. Some of you have tuned me out (it's okay I can handle it). Some of you have told me that you appreciate my emails and my dedication to this mission. Do you really know why I do this? What reason do I have to continue to do endurance events and raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society?

Yes I have a connection, in fact, I have many connections to blood cancer. Does it suck? It sure does. Would I like to see the end of blood cancer, and indeed all cancers....I sure would. Am I happy to be apart of the change....probably more than you know. I don't think I know one person that hasn't in some way been effected by cancer. Is there anyone out there that doesn't have a friend, a loved one, even an arch rival, that has had to go through the cancer hell? It isn't anything you wish on your worst enemy.

From a very young age I knew, I just knew I want to be a pediatric oncologist. I knew the words for it, I knew this is what I wanted to do. Why? What made a 3rd grader who at the time had no connection to cancer (that she knew of), want to be a kid doctor specializing in cancer? I honestly don't know. If asked when I was younger I would gladly tell anyone that I wanted to be a pediatric oncologist, or a hair stylist (you know cause kids are never really sure). Was it an omen, or a prediction on my life that I would know so many people effected by cancer? Ehhhh....did you all have the same aspirations?? So growing up, I KNEW this is what I was meant to do, except....uggghhh school was not my most favorite thing in the world. By the time I finished high school (which was a specialized high school, in which I did health occupations, and had to have a major and everything), I was really sick of school. So I did not become a pediatric oncologist, I became a dental hygienist. Hmmmm, very very different things. I think that TNT and I were brought together for a reason!

I started training for my first TNT event (a sprint distance triathlon) in the winter of 2005. I completed my 2nd (my first was while training for the 2nd) Sprint distance Triathlon in the Spring of 2006 with Team in Training...and it was AMAZING! I still have friends from my first team, and that is just amazing to me. In the beginning of 2007 my Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, and I was hit full on with knowing someone with a blood cancer. And it wasn't just someone, it was my MOM!! In September of 2009 my second cousin was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, hit again. In December 2009 one of my scrapbooking friends found out that her son David has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, another hit. Not to mention all the connections I've made through friends and teammates with their personal stories or stories of their loved ones.

So this 100 mile bike ride that I'm doing around Lake Tahoe, is my 7th TNT event. It's my first cycle event with the Team. Do I think what I'm doing by, putting myself through the training for "crazy" endurance events and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is really making a difference? YES, yes I do! Check out this video about mission day to understand part of why I do what I do (it's long, but worth it).

So that's the deal with me, and part of the why. Hmmmm. So now...what can you do? Go ahead and click on the link to my fundraising page, and make a 100% tax deductible donation. Or if you'd like a little something for your donation, see me for a coaster set, or a cool bracelet. Or you want to do something fun? Sign up for the Wake Forest Wine and Design Red Poppy class on April 14th, and come have some wine at Wine 101 before painting, then hang out with me and let Wine and Design help you paint something you can be proud of. No joke you don't know how to paint, they make it easy!

Ohh and something new: I have tickets for the Belk's charity sale. On April 21st from 6am-10am Belk's will open it's doors for this AMAZING shopping extravaganza. For your $5 ticket, you get in, you get 20-70% off rarely discounted items, you get $5 back on your purchase (so basically it's free). Let me know if you'd like a ticket! This can be used at any BELK'S on April 21st!!

Together we CAN find a cure!

Chrissy Harlow, RDH (registered dental hygienist)