Pink-a-licious

You may recall from an extremely early post that I bought a pink phone in hopes of adding joy to my phone calls. Well, this phone was stolen, but now I have purchased a new pink lap top. I find the internet to be far more entertaining on a pink computer. Well, that and my old computer no longer tunrs on so it was a little difficult to do things on it :)

Now I will cut and paste an email that I had sent to people earlier this week that is an update of what's going on in our lives. This email is lacking in fun or humor... it simply "is." I'll add some pics from camp.. then again this may be an over zealous thought and I'll actually do that at another time. we'll see. OH, and I start my new job on Friday.... YIKES.

"As most of you know I'm taking on my 2nd event with Team in Traning and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This time, though, I THINK I may run the FULL marathon!! I had a fundraising event that was sponsored by Chipotle, and the famous beer of Ben Black at the beginning of July. We invited friends and family over to deat and drink away cancer for a small doantion. It was a success, though I still have quite a bit of $ left to raise. This training group has been such a wonderful experience for me. I have met a TON of girls that I really enjoy being with, I'm pushing my body further than I thought was possible, and I'm helping those who feel the affects of cancer. I ran further than I have EVER run before last saturday, a full 14 miles. I thought perhaps my life was ending at mile 12, but turns out, I made it through :) I then was concerned I had hip displaysia, but again, it turns out that I was just sore :) I am so thankful by the amount of support that I have recieved from so many of you, both financially and emotionally. Don't forget that every amount counts... $5 $10, $10,000 they all make a difference to someone. Please visit the website to donate (or send a check). You can visit my fundraising website at pages.teamintraining.org/ctx/rnrsa08/amandaeblack or send a check made out to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to 6808 Luckenbach Ln. Austin, TX 78729. My goal is to complete my fundraising by the end of August! Please help me reach my goals! Last week Ben and I traveled to Bridgeport, TX--to the very place we met 10 years ago. I have been going to this camp for 18 years, crazy. For the last 4 years I have been a co-Director of the Senior High camp for the north Texas conference. This has been a wonderful experience for me to give back to youth what others have given to me. This place holds a very special place in mine and Ben's lives--and not just because we met there in high school! Ben hasn't been able to volunteer the last couple of years due to finishing his PHD, luckily, he was able to take some vacation time last week to be able to go. He loves working with kids and we both love being in that environment. Is there a better way to spend time with one another and also to be present for others? I am not sure there is! Now we are back and Ben is jumping straight back into a crazy week at work, NI week. This means lots of night time work and entertaining important people. NI week is a week of sales conference meets a normal conference. The entire company shuts down to market their new products, launch new ideas, and schmooze with their clients. This will be Ben's first time at NI week as an employee and not a student whom they are sponsoring. It is Thursday-Thursday, hopefully he'll get some rest! I'm having a brief few days off before I start... my new job (on Friday.) I'm going to be the Director of Ministries at the Texas Methodist Foundation. What does this mean? I'm not entirely sure, but I think it sounds great. I'm really looking forward to working with others in Ministry and helping them to find personal success within themselves and as part of the larger clergy of Texas. I suppose it's now time for me to have a real Mon-Fri grown up job... with benefits! I'm excited about this :) We can't believe we have been in Austin for a year, now... and we just got curtains! Slowly this place is beginning to become "home." We have traveled a lot in the last year visiting all of our friends and family in the great state. This has been wonderful, but we are looking for it to slow down quite a bit and spend some good quality time here. We hope to hear from you and know how all of you are doing! "

Much love, me