Today I wanted to share with you another really great program that benefits breast cancer care and support for those that are currently living with the disease. It’s called BeeWell Miles and is sponsored by Bumble Bee Tuna. The site allows you to log miles that you walk/run, and your miles (or cans of tuna purchased) help earn $200,000 for Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization.

You can also win one of 10,000 prizes they are giving away including tennis shoes, spa visits, pedometers, music downloads and more. It’s easy to sign up, and only takes a minute to log your miles each day. There are also lots of other great features and a spot to dedicate your walking to a loved one.

All you have to do is start walking or running and log your miles on this site from May 1 - September 30, 2008.

Your miles and our pink cans will help Bumble Bee donate up to $200,000 to Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization - the only breast cancer organization with a 24/7 Hotline staffed by trained breast cancer survivors.

This will be a fabulous way for me to track my 3-Day training miles, and is also a great way to further support other breast cancer charities out there. I hope that my fellow walkers will also sign up and help out.

For more information about the charity this program benefits, visit the Y-ME website.

Nikki bloged about The Breast Cancer Site awhile ago, and we have always had a link to them in our sidebar. They are the site that gives free mammograms to women in need. To do your part, all you have to do is click on their site daily.

Their sponsors provide the funding for the free mammograms that make early dectection possible for deserving women around the country. This month, June, one of the biggest sponsors, Bare Necessities is offering an extra $10,000 if they get 8 Million clicks to their site. They are 71% there, but with only 9 days left– they need your help! Please click and spread the word (via e-mail or your own blog post). We can help make a difference.

I am definitely not a fanny pack kind of girl. I’ve hated them since the 80s, and I still wince when my mom tries to wear one to the casinos or amusement parks. I’d been looking into buying a CamelBak for awhile and sought the advice of several other 3-Day walkers and blogging friends. I finally made the plunge yesterday by ordering a CamelBak Charm from eBags. Hopefully it will work out perfectly since I still haven’t had the time to go and try them on in a store. If not, they do offer free returns.

Also, they have a program where they give 10% of the purchase price to Susan G. Komen which is fabulous. My bag was only $28 plus tax and shipping. They also sent an eBags coupon code: PICKPINK for free shipping on a future purchase. Too bad I didn’t have this before! I thought I’d share it with all of you in case you’d like to order something too. It might come in handy when we are ready to order our gear bags too. I am still not sure what kind of bag would be best, so I am waiting for the EXPO in August before making a purchase.

Special thanks to everyone who has stopped by our blog to enter our contest for the iPod nano this week. We have received many wonderful donations, and we are so thankful and appreciative to you all for supporting our fundraising efforts. I just received a shipment of Memory Maker Breast Cancer Bracelets. If you would like one, we are asking for a $15 donation to our 3-Day account. Shipping is free. You can read the details below:

Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet. Charm bracelet with 3 reversible photo charms, hold 6 photos total. This encouraging bracelet is accented with a pink ribbon and two heart charms inscribed with the words Strength and Hope. 7.5”, Lobster claw closure, adjustable. Complete with instructions and EZ Fit™ Photo Reduction Templates. Holds photo size: 0.52” x 0.52”. Uses Square template.

If you have any questions or have already made a $15+ donation to either Nikki or myself and would like a bracelet, please send me an e-mail to: laurie_brosius(at)yahoo(dot)com. Thanks so much!

Yesterday I participated in the 18th Annual North Texas Race for the Cure with both of my parents. We walked 5K around the EDS complex in Plano with around 14,000 other people including at least 5000 Breast Cancer Survivors.

It was the perfect day too. It was overcast, but didn’t rain a drop. It’s been pretty hot here the past couple of weeks, so I am really glad that the weather turned out wonderful for the event. D drove us down early in the morning and picked us up near the Shops at Legacy when it was over.

Some wore pink signs on their backs in honor or in memory of lost loved ones.

This was a great practice walk for the 3-Day. Nikki and I have been training and leading walks in that neighborhood, so I was glad to learn a new route that we can try. It was nice that were were able to walk in the middle of the street too. I really don’t like walking in the grass.

Volunteers stood on several corners with signs and cheered the walkers on!

We made a few stops along the way. My dad stepped on my shoe and it came off, and he also had to stop to tie his shoes. There were also several water stations where we ran into “traffic” and weren’t able continue on at a good pace. Also toward the end walking into the tents there were too many people to keep up a good pace.

We finished an hour and 12 minutes at 9:12 AM.

We were somewhere in the middle of the pack when the race began at 8:00 AM. They let the hundreds of survivors start first, along with the racers who wanted to be timed. At the end, we were lead into the tent area where there were vendors with free food and a stage with bands playing. We also went into Elizabeth’s Garden where I picked up the tulip I had ordered in Memory of David’s mom. I am going to place it in front of our tend at the 3-Day too.

I feel so lucky and blessed that I was able to share this experience with both of my parents.

Hundreds of tulips lined the sidewalks in honor and in memory of loved ones.

I am very excited for Saturday’s North Texas Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It’s probably going to be hot hot hot here, but it’s for a good cause. Nikki is out of town with her man, mom and kiddos, so my mom is going to do the 5K walk with me. I went down to register her in person today. The area is full of pink flowers, flags, and hard working volunteers.

I am sure that I will have lots of great pictures and stories from the day. We are getting an early start at 6:00 AM. If you’re in the area, please come by to cheer us on or join us for the race. It’s only $30 to register, and you can do so that morning at the event. You get a free t-shirt.

Want to win a pink iPod Nano? I am jealous of this giveaway, and really want to keep it for myself. None-the-less, I’m offering it up here with the hope that I will get some great donations to our 3-day walk instead. If you simply comment on this post, you’ll get one entry. If you post about this contest with a link to both the contest and this blog you will get ten entries. If you make at least a $5 donation to Nikki’s walk, you will get fifty entries. That’s right, I said fifty entries! Our goal is to earn $6000 total for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and we are 50% there. We need your help to make it all the way by November.

Your odds of winning are pretty good with that considering the last few giveaways have only had a few hundred entries. Good Luck! Please let me know in the comments if you made a donation or leave the link if you wrote a blog post about us. I will draw the winner on July 4th at midnight CST. Help us end breast cancer forever and enjoy a little music as your reward!

edit:
The following fabulous people have made a donation to my walk for this contest and have 50+ entries: Elizabeth L, Vickie G, Karen M, Monika S, Sarah U, Ashley M, Pam B, Jill I, Jenna H, Margot D, Ana Luisa M, Lynne P. Thank you so much! I have met my goal! Please continue to make donations to Nikki’s walk, to qualify for the 50 extra entries. These wonderful people have made a donation to Nikki for this giveaway: Dawn, Beckie G, Karen M, Corrin F, Debby R, Rose R, Gina S, Lori, Shakeia R, Madelyn W, Jada H, Teresa S, Michelle R, Craig W, Maureen D, Leah J, Jess, Tiffany S. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness we have received.

Congratulations to Pamela Newsome who was randomly selected as our winner of the Save the Ta-Tas t-shirt and Gift bag! This is what she said: Please enter me to win this fantastic prize. Good luck with your walk. Thanks, Pamela. We hope you enjoy the goodies.

Come back soon to enter our June giveaway! It’s going to be a really good one. Thank-You so much to everyone that entered, sent me sweet e-mails and comments, and especially those of you that donated to my 3-Day walk. I will be sending all of you a little surprise as well!

While I was at JoAnn Fabrics looking for candy making supplies, I also picked up this really cool cookie pan, made by Wilton: 

The idea of making “cookies on a stick” seemed like a good one to me, because it wasn’t something that Laurie or I had tried yet.  The cookies for these have to be pretty big and thick to support the stick, so I also figured I could sell these for a little more than the cupcakes and candies I had made.  My first batch of cookies were a disaster.  I had read the instructions on the back of package which said that you could simply put the dough in the pan, insert the stick, and bake.  Easy enough, right?  WRONG!  After I couldn’t get the cookies out of the pan, I realized I must have missed something.  I looked at the instructions again, and referred to the recipes on the back of the package.  Those recipes advised that you spray the pan with cooking spray first, and leave 1/8 of an inch from the top of each mold for the dough to expand.  The next batch of cookies came out beautifully.  I made 8 sugar cookies, which I later decorated with pink frosting ribbons, and 8 chocolate chip cookies. I was going to try to decorate the chocolate chip cookies as well, when I remembered something I used to LOVE at Mrs. Fields back in Illinois; chocolate dipped cookies!  Mmmm!  I melted up some of the pink chocolate that I had used for the candies, and I used it to make these fabulous treats-

I decided to sell these for $2.00 each.   I got my first customer, Taylor, before I was even done baking the second batch.  She had been eyeballing them through the glass on the oven door.  Taylor asked if she could have one as dessert after dinner, and I had agreed.  Shortly after she finished eating her meal, she asked, “Mommy, how much do the cookies cost?”.  I told her, and she disappeared into her room.  A few minutes later, she reappeared with her piggy bank.  Tay counted out the $2 in dimes, and then said, “Mommy, I want to pay for my cookie, so I can help too”. 

I was so proud of her for thinking of that all by herself!  I feel so good about what the kids are learning from this experience.  I think one of the most valuable things I can teach them are awareness of other people’s feelings and a willingness to work at changing their world.  It’s also good for them to learn that we can do anything we put our minds to (like walking 60 miles) even if it seems impossible at first.   All sentiment aside, I don’t know if Taylor is aware of the lessons she’s learning, but she was definitely aware of the cookie she got!

My new creations didn’t last the day at work, and several people even came looking for more!  “Cookies on a Stick” were definitely a hit, so I am going to be baking up some more soon.  I think I may even try “Rice Krispy Treats on a Stick” as well.  I’m now up to nearly 600 dollars in earnings, only $1600 to go!  I’ll keep you posted…

Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend everyone! - N

It’s official: I am registered for the North Texas Race for the Cure! This will take place two Saturday’s from now in Plano near EDS and the Shops at Legacy where we have been leading our Training Walks. It is a 5K run/walk. They ask that participants raise $125, but it’s not mandatory to participate like it is to raise the $2,200 for the 3-Day. If you’d like to sponsor me for $10, I’ll send you a cute breast cancer awareness gift.

You can also purchase a personalized pink Tulip for $10 in honor or in memory of your loved one. This does not go toward my fundraising goal, but if you’d like one I would love to pick it up for you and will send it after the race. I thought the garden idea was a lovely one. Read more about it on their website. There is also a pink ribbon section for $2 that you can get personalized with a loved one’s name if you are interested.

These can also be picked up after the race. Something else I love is the Sleep in for the Cure. For $40, you can register and get the t-shirt, special sleep-in race bib, and gift. Again, it doesn’t go toward my 3-Day or Race, but it’s a great way to support the charity.

Thanks again for your support! Let me know if you’d like to meet up and walk with me during this event.