Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Only 49 days until the Opening Ceremonies!

I can't believe there are only 49 days until the Opening Ceremonies and only 47 days until I will compete at the Olympics! Training is going very well, I'm savoring every minute. I am already tired, but I'm determined to enjoy every day regardless of how exhausted I am! : )

This experience has been amazing! The strangest thing happend the other day. I got a call from a good friend of mine who was at McDonalds with his kids and after about 10 minutes he looked accross the table at his son who was taking a drink and saw me on the cup. Crazy, I'm on a McDonald's cup! Such great exposure for womens weightlifting!

We are actively fund-raising so that my coach, chiropactor and family can come to Beijing. We've now raised enough money take my coach John Thrush. I'm so glad he will be there. It's been a long road for him as well. After coaching for 35+ years and at the age of 63 he finally has his Olympian!

There were these wonderful clowns BeepBeep and Glitterbug at the Pep Rally last week who donated the days proceeds from the sale of the cotton candy and popcorn to our travel fund. Then on Sunday, former Secretary of State Ralph Munro turned his birthday party with a "no gift" request into a fund-raiser for our Beijing trip. Needless to say we recieved several checks in the mail today. I'm so impressed with the efforts of our family and friends to make this such a memorable experience.

The kids are out of school now which has been quite exciting. I've enjoyed spending more time with them but have forgotten how much energy they have! They have been doing summer camp down at our gym; Roach Gymnastics and so hopefully we can keep them busy this summer.

I spoke at a fireside for our church on Sunday about goals. I challenged them all to write down a goal they want to accomplish this summer and to make each day count!

Here's to making it count!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The City of Bonney Lake welcomes the Today Show in style!

Yesterday, the city of Bonney Lake threw a wonderful "Pep Rally". It will be one of the highlights of my Olympic experience!

Once Mayor Johnson found out the Today show was coming to town to tape a story about my family he quickly went to work putting a "Pep Rally" together at the local Allan Yorke Park. The city went all out! With Lake Tapps as a back drop I arrived in a black Hummer with a police escort. The fire truck siren went off and the high school band played music as I got out of the Hummer!

There were nearly 200 people there with homemade signs cheering as I arrived. I was in tears before I even got out of the car. It was the most emotional I've been since the Olympic Trials. I really enjoyed every minute.

Thank you Mayor Johnson, David Wells and the rest of the city for making it such a memorable day! I'm proud to represent the United States and the great city of Bonney Lake!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Blog...up and running

This is my first entry so bear with me as I get the hang of this. Thanks for stopping by!