Snow Day Entertainment

While I may be at work today, I know lots of people are home, snowed in.  I decided to help entertain people and keep you occupied - ya know, for your own good.  So here goes: 

1.  Make a donation to the Philly Fight for Air Climb!  Pick any member of Team For Little Debbie (link here).  If you need a reason to donate, please see this, this, or this.  

2.  Order a For Little Debbie t-shirt!!! This is a small fundraiser, but I'm hoping that each member of our team, plus 40 more people will all be sporting our For LD shirts in 44 days.  Short Sleeve are $14 and Long Sleeve are $18.  You can find the order form here. 

3. Thank a soldier.  I'm not picky about organizations, branches of the military, or how you say thanks.  Just Do It.  

4.  Help us decide what kind of car Kevin should buy.  Extra bonus points for ridiculous items such as 'short enough Jessica can reach the roof' OR comes in the same two tone paint job as Emma Jean.  What's that, you don't know who Emma Jean is? Okay, I'll blog about that someday too! 

5.  Guess what church I grew up in.  I'll give you one clue:  my boss is wrong, and try as he might, I will not admit to being Amish.  

6.  Google 'Surprise Military Homecomings' and try to tell me they aren't the most emotional, amazing videos on the internet.  

7.  Go play in the snow... 

2014 - And Here We Go!

Today seemed as good a day as any to get some posting going on!  Less than 100 days until the Fight for Air Climb, and we are right in the middle of training.  So far, training has included cardio, cardio, cardio, and a very wet 5 mile high in Washington.  Each moment I miss Mom is little more motivation to keep pushing myself both emotionally and physically.  We learned so much from last year's climb and have a new focus for this year!

1. Focus on C.A.R.D.I.O. - While practicing the actual stairs is important, it is absolutely secondary to the workout your lungs will get.  This year my plan is to train for 30 minutes of my maximum heart-rate 3 days a week and only do stairs 2 times a week! 
2. Food - Last year I ate a really small breakfast (a banana) before the climb, and that was it.  I wasn't very hungry - and it seemed like some combination of nerves and angst.  I have got to overcome that this year, because I was completely out of fuel by the time we went up the second time.  
3. Fundraising - 2013 was hugely successful for our team (the 5 of us raised $2,995).  This year we're already at 7 people - with hopes to hit 10.  My fundraising goal is $2,000 for our team.  There are t-shirts, a Mary Kay fundraiser, and some general Facebook plans in the works!

Anyone who wants to join team "For Little Debbie" is more than welcome to (link here) - there are still spots available for  both the 50 flights and 100 flights!  Rockstar cousins Morgan and Titus will be climbing and we've got our own personal cheerleading squad started with Maddy being our poster holder/Gatorade Girl.  I am so thankful for this climb - and how the terrible loss of Deb continues to bring our family together! 

Happy Tuesday everyone <3

Fight for Air - Introduction & Information

Today I have a super duper important meeting to attend in Philadelphia after work.  That meeting is for the Team Captains for the Fight for Air Climb Philadelphia 2013.  I am nervous about meeting other team captains, since our team is just Kevin and I - but I know we have as much heart as any 10 person team! I've included some information below to clue you in about the Climb, and have a post in the works for our basic training program and how we're getting our butts in shape for this adventure!

---

Kevin and I are excited to have signed up for the American Lung Associate Fight for Air Climb in Philadelphia.  The climb is on March 23rd, which thankfully gives us plenty of time to train and fund-raise!

Who: Team Little Debbie, which is currently made up of just Kevin & I (and anyone else who would like to join).  

Plus or minus 1000 other participants.

What: Philadelphia 2013 Fight for Air Climb -

Century Climb (This means we are doing the full climb TWICE) 

A total of 100 flights/2176 Steps

When: March 23, 2013 at 8:30AM until we finish or fall over

Where: Three Logan Square, Philadelphia
AKA -------> That building

 

 Why: Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women, responsible for more deaths than breast, ovarian, cervical and prostate cancers combined!  Each year, about 160,000 people die from lung cancer in the U.S., accounting for more than one in four cancer deaths. Also for those suffering from asthma, emphysema, and COPD.



How: We are now officially registered, and are responsible for raising $100 each.  Our goal is to raise $500 each, which seems like a large amount of money, until you consider that is less than $7/day from now until March 23rd.

You had to have known that this part was coming, so please forgive me for asking.  For those of you that knew my Mom, I hope you will consider making a small donation in her memory.  Won't you help us make an impact in Debbie's name and help motivate Kevin and I?  I will not recount all of the wonderful things that the American Lung Association does, but please visit their website if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to learn more about this organization.   
 <hr>
 In case you missed the 42 links included in the post - our team page can be found on the For Little Debbie blog or here - http://action.lung.org/goto/forlittledebbie

Schedule of Events

I know that there is no way to replace such a wonderful lady, but after much planning I am hopeful that we will be able to join together during 2013 and honor the memory Little Debbie has left behind.  The legacy of Mom, Mary, and Mary Elyn is one I am proud to call my own.  I will never do Christmas as well as ME, top Mary’s ironstone collection, or stitch with the likes of mom, but I will maintain my membership at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, visit the Christmas display at Longwood Gardens, and serve multi-course dinners with wine and too many dishes.

Here is my tentative schedule for 2013.  I am hopeful that your feedback will help me expand on the details, and that this blog will give me one place to keep our friends and family posted. As always, please call, text, or email anytime! (Jessica.Gehman@gmail.com)

January - Dinner, Wine, and Gone with the Wind

February - Schwenkfelder Heritage & Library Center

March - Fight for Air Climb (Philadelphia, March 23rd)

April - Stitching lessons & my first sampler

May - Bucks County Designer Showhouse (and lunch!)

June - Relay for Life Exeter (June 1st)

July - Hiking Ricketts Glen waterfalls

August - Wine Dinner

September - Frisbee Lessons & Frisbee Golf

October - Philadelphia Museum of Art (and lunch!)

November - Nemours Mansion & Gardens

December (2012 & 2013) - Lights at Longwood Gardens

This is the first time I've opened the listing up to more than just Kevin, and I am very excited for some feedback!

Thank You & Welcome

First and foremost, allow me to thank you for your interest in Little Debbie.  In a few short weeks this project has gone through many phases, many names, but the aspect that has never waivered is my goal.  My goal of keeping my mom's memory alive, my bonds with her friends strong, and making an impact on the Cancer & Lung Cancer communities.

I have decided to chose a specific event, projector, or goal for each month of 2013.  Over the next several days, I hope to introduce you all to a schedule of sorts for these events, some of which are very specific (Lung Cancer and Relay Events), some ofo which are general dates (Dinner and Philadelphia Museum of Art), and some of which are just for me (my first cross stitch project).

Please consider joining me on one or all twelve of the adventures I have planned for 2013.  I am so excited to celebrate the life of LD with so many of the people most important to her.  I am as guilty as anyone else of letting life get away from me and want each and every one of you to know that you mean the world to me.  I welcome your feedback, invite you to participate in any and all events, and thank you for loving my Mom.

*Please notice there are donation links set up on the right sidebar which will take you directly to donation pages for the Fight for Air Climb (March's Event) and Relay for Life (June's Event).  I will discuss these in further detail soon, but wanted to post the links for anyone interested in joining our team or donating for March or making a donation in my name for June.

Love,
Jess