summer is... here?

well, here i sit on memorial weekend watching my husband assemble a bbq grill and my dog dig holes... while it is raining. i am in long pants and sweater. this is not the way it should be! we weren't living here last may, but we hear this is not normal for this month. only time will tell.

at any rate, here is a photo of the new grill and of our pooch contemplating all the juicy steaks that will be cooked on it...!

on the road again... i start running again on saturday!

for those of you that don't know, i have signed up again for team in training, this time to do the portland marathon (yes, the full 26.2 miles - i must be insane). i am doing it for a reason bigger than myself - to raise money for the leukemia and lymphoma society to help people like our honored teammates emily, karin, mark and caleb. caleb was diagnosed with burkitts lymphoma in july 2007 at age 9. thankfully, it is in remission, but not without him having to go through chemo and all the awful things that come along with it. unfortunately, 7 months after he was diagnosed, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. nine months after that, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. what a horrible thing - i just can't imagine.

i bet you didn't know that blood cancers are the leading cause of death of children in america. the leukemia and lymphoma society (LLS) gives $1 million a week to fund blood cancer research. in fact, they funded the research of a doctor at OHSU who created the drug Gleevac. people who were previously told they weren't going to live very long are now able to take a little orange pill. this one little orange pill targets the bad cells as compared to chemo which can't tell the difference between good cells and bad cells. that all happened right here in Oregon.

there are 11 support groups for people with blood cancers in the portland area, including a group for young adults and another for spanish speakers. funds from LLS support these groups.

LLS also has a co-pay assistance program, which means a patient can get up to $10,000 from LLS to help pay their medical bills. LLS can contributed $15 million per annum to this program.

they have a program called first connection which pairs up cancer surviors with newly diagnosed patients for information and support.

finally, LLS is involved in advocacy. because of their efforts, health insurance in Oregon now has to cover your standard care if you participate in a medical trial. previously, insurance companies wouldn't cover medical trials.

and so, for all of these reasons, i am running a marathon on 10/10/10. i would appreciate your support by tax-deducible monetary donation at my fundraising website. my goal is to raise a minimum of $1,250 and my friend kim has gotten the ball rolling with the first $50 donation. $1200 to go!!! please help me help LLS.

nikon d90 - i have my eye on you

one of my goals for 2010, aside from doing my "running trifecta" is to save up money to buy this guy:
a nikon d90 dslr camera

oh, and to learn how to use it! i just bought a book on amazon called "understanding exposure" and it sounds like i'll get another one for my birthday entitled "the adobe photoshop cs4 book for digital photographers."

for a long time, i have secretly coveted beautiful photography and pored over photography blogs on a daily basis. i will be the first to admit that i've never been the "creative type," but i'm very excited to start a new hobby! thinking long term, i eventually want to learn film photography and have my own darkroom - but that may be a few years down the line.

every time i go into portland and see the urban area in all its splendor (and the folks up there that definitely aren't afraid to express themselves), i wish i had a camera in hand. same goes for living in beautiful oregon wine country - the green hills, the vineyard cycles, the people working hard in the fields - it's an absolutely stunning place to be. oh, and of course, the coast, where fife likes to run wild on the beaches and chase after seagulls. my camera phone just ain't doin' it anymore!!

speaking of which, here is one of the wee girl at cannon beach this last weekend:

so, watch this space. maybe you'll see some photos here sooner rather than later!