Surf's Up Dude

Tomorrow I embark on another adventure as I participate in my 3^rd race in Perth. I will be running the 4km portion of the Cityto Surf with a friend from church. This race is incredible in the fact that it has grown immensely over the years and continues to bring newcomers each year. Participants come from all over Australia as well as all over the world. The total number of participants this year reaches well over 40,000. Should be a spectacular sight! *On a side note, as I was writing this, I thought that it would be quite amusing if they used this event to create a huge flash mob! :)* I initially was planning on running the 12km portion of this race, but I as I began training for the 12km my knee started acting up somewhat horribly. After that I kind of forgot about the idea of participating until I discovered a friend from church was training for the race. I soon found a running partner. :) City to Surf is huge not only in the numbers that it pulls in, but also for the fundraisers that it raises money for. As a participant you can choose to raise money and ask for sponsors and from there you can choose from dozens of different organizations to fundraise for. It’s a pretty phenomenal city event!

In the next few weeks, I have some pretty spectacular events happening. In addition to City to Surf this weekend, I’ve been invited to join a bunch of friends at a chocolate party (yes, there will be tons of chocolate because my friend won 10kg of chocolate!). In just under two weeks, I will be celebrating my birthday (the big 2-3! Haha) and thinking of my bro on his “unbirthday.” :) I’m bummed out that I will be missing out on my nephew’s upcoming birthday (he’s going to be 3!!), but there will be plenty more birthdays. *Nikki, I already call dibs on making the next two birthday cakes for Andrew and Sophie. :)* Then a few days after Andrew’s birthday, I will be participating in Light the Night.

Light the Night is a particularly special event to me as it a night supporting those that have blood cancer and continue their battle and remembering those that have lost their battle. The Leukemia Foundation sponsors this event and it is used as a fundraiser for the fight against all blood cancers. This year has been a time of growth for me, a time of loss, and a time of change. With that, I feel that this event will help me bring some closure regarding my grandma’s passing in May. Since I wasn’t able to go home for her funeral, I wanted to do something to remember her in my own way. So I started a team in her honor and now have a few friends to join me on that night. My choice to create the team was quite timely with some events going on at church as we lost a young mother recently to blood cancer. This event has been a way for me to connect with others in the church and hopefully bring awareness for the fight against leukemia, multiple myeloma, and all blood cancers. If you are in Australia and want to join me on September 21^st for this great event, please join my team. However, if you unable to join me please consider sponsoring me. Any donations are greatly appreciated and they certainly go to a great cause. Just visit my Light the Night page and it will direct you to the area for sponsorship.

As many of you know or have to come to find out, I moved to Australia for a year for a bit of soul searching and figuring out what I want for my life. These last 7.5 months have been amazing but by no means a breeze. I’ve had my fair share of trials and tribulations, heartache and sadness, frustrations and confusion, but I’ve realized that what I have learned this year far outweighs any of the bad that I may have come across. This year is the first time in my life where I’ve had to completely depend on myself 100% for getting things done and figuring out where to go next. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I’ve learned and grown so much from all the choices I’ve made and the things I have done. I have really come into my own while being here and I couldn’t be happier with the independence I have found and the growth that has happened in my life. I really feel like “me” here and it’s a great feeling. I’m not living for anyone else. My choices aren’t based on anyone else. I am completely me. In some ways it’s scary realizing the growth and change that has happened in my life, but it’s so amazing at the same time! The best feeling I have come across while being here is absolute contentment with my life. Though it is not always easy being away from my family, I am content with the life I have created for myself in Perth. Sometimes it’s difficult being a decision maker, but I’m content to have that responsibility completely and fully now. I still don’t know exactly where my life is headed, but I am more than content to put that all in God’s hands and trust him fully to lead me in the direction he sees fit for my life. By far one of the greatest things I have learned from all of my Aussie friends is to be flexible and not let the little things get you down. No worries, mate. She’ll be right. :) Such a blessing this journey has been for my life! Bring on the next 4.5 months – I cannot wait!

~A