Tonight is one of my last night's back home and I spent it curled up in bed watching Rumor Has It and cuddling with Hello Kitty. This is what I call a good night.

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This past weekend I finally moved into my new apartment. It was a real pain in the butt to get all of my stuff moved out of my storage unit and into this place but in the end it will be worth it. My friend Kayla and I got a 2-story, 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhouse just across the street from Grand Valley State University and we already love it!

 Here are pictures of our living room, kitchen, my bedroom and my bathroom, which is located in my bedroom.

       

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my_new_apartment.zip (1550 KB)

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Wish-A-Mile^® 300 Pedals for 22nd Year and Grants 250 Wishes

More than 800 dedicated cyclists, 100 volunteers, six semi trucks, 5,000 bottles of Gatorade, 10 bicycle mechanics, 30 volunteer massage therapists, 15 volunteer medics all made the three-day, 300-mile journey from Traverse City to Chelsea July 24-26. And it was all to grant 250 wishes to deserving Michigan wish kids.

The Wish-A-Mile 300 Bicycle Tour, affectionately known as WAM, pedaled for its 22nd year. It is the largest single Make-A-Wish fundraising event in the United States, garnering $1.52 million this year.

“WAM, and all the dedicated, compassionate riders and volunteers never cease to amaze me,” said Susan Lerch, President & CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan. “Michigan has the worst economy in the nation – we have had for a long time. So the fact that we can all come together every summer and raise this kind of money for wishes is really incredible. We bring joy to the kids, and in doing so, receive joy ourselves.”

Warren Wisner, a cyclist from Chelsea, Mich. was proud to return for his fifth year on the tour. “If I had one thing to say about Make-A-Wish and WAM, I’d say you need to try it if you haven’t. It’s an experience everyone needs to be a part of, whether you ride or volunteer or just donate. Whatever the case may be, it’s a really worthwhile cause for some kids who really need help.”

As always, exhausted riders found the journey more than worth it in the end. Their friends and families greeted them as they crossed the finish line, and their wish heroes – wish kids whom they’d been riding in honor of – proudly placed medals around their necks.

“Thank you for all the time, support and making wishes come true for kids like me,” said wish hero Nella, 10. “If it wasn’t for all the Wish-A-Mile riders, our wishes and dreams would never come true.”

The funds raised through 2009 Wish-A-Mile 300 helped grant the 6,000th wish in the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan’s 25-year history. Three-year-old Amanda, who was diagnosed with metastatic hepatoblastoma, a cancer affecting her liver, wished to meet her favorite character from Sesame Street: Elmo.  Click here to read Amanda's Story. 

Read daily recaps of the tour and view photos and videos from each day at www.wishmich.org/onthetour.

Pictures from the tour!

We were the Safety Stars because we were the Safety Captains of the tour.  Our job was to drive the route each day and make sure that we had police officers directing traffic at intersections that could possibly be dangerous for our riders.  When we found out that we had to decorate our van we had no idea how much people got into it!  Here are also some random pictures from the tour.

                                                           

Click here to download:

Make-A-Wish_Foundation_of_Mich.zip (14269 KB)

To view the pictures taken by our professional photographers, visit kpiphotos.com and bryanmitchell.com.

Merideth and I

My "Wish Hero", Alexandra -- the child I dedicated my 3 day journey to.  At the finish line she awarded me with a medal.

       

Click here to download:

0Make-A-Wish_Foundation_of_Mich.zip (1999 KB)

It truly was an amazing experience... especially when you get to meet the person at the end that you dedicated all of your time and hard work for.  This was definitely a time in my life that I will never forget.  I cannot wait to volunteer for the tour next year!

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This is a wish that the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted during the 3 day, 300 mile Wish-A-Mile Bicycle Tour that I attended as part of my internship this last weekend.  I'm so excited and happy that I have been able to work for such a wonderful organization for the last 10 months!

Amanda's Wish to Meet Elmo Marks 6,000th Michigan Wish 

Combine the largest Make-A-Wish fundraising event in the country with a brave little girl who loves Elmo, and you have the makings of magic.

This year, in conjunction with the 22nd annual Wish-A-Mile 300 bicycle tour – a fundraiser that garnered $1.52 million - the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan celebrated its 25th birthday and granted its 6,000th wish!

The milestone wish was that of 3-year-old Amanda, who lives in West Michigan and was diagnosed with metastatic hepatoblastoma, a cancer affecting her liver. She was born prematurely, weighing less than 2 pounds, and doctors kept her in the hospital for almost four months. According to her mom, Merideth, with Amanda's many health challenges, she has spent almost half her life in a hospital.

Yet, ever since Amanda was 18 months old, Elmo could always make her smile. “She liked to watch Sesame Street, but there wasn't nearly enough Elmo in it, so I bought all the Elmo's World DVDs and that satisfied her much more,” Meredith said.

Upon hearing Amanda’s wish, Kevin Clash, Elmo’s “muppeteer,” canceled a prior engagement so he could fly to Michigan to meet Amanda. When Amanda entered the room, Elmo was waiting on the couch, waving and calling her name.

Amanda ran into his arms in a flurry of astonished giggles. The pair spent the next 90 minutes singing, dancing, chatting and laughing. Elmo even called hisSesame Street friend, Abby Cadabby, to speak with Amanda on the phone.

Amanda paused every few moments of the visit to hug and kiss her new friend.

“You’re fuzzy, Elmo,” Amanda said, patting his head. “I’m fuzzy too,” she added, patting her own hair, which is beginning to grow back after chemotherapy. Midway through the visit, she threw her arms around Elmo’s neck and said, “Thank you, Elmo. I love you.”

When it was time for Amanda’s nap, the new friends reluctantly said goodbye, and Elmo presented Amanda with a basket full of toys and videos as a memento of their day together.

Later that night, Amanda and her family took the stage at the Wish-A-Mile awards ceremony and were greeted by a standing ovation from 1,000 cyclists and volunteers – all of whom raised funds to help grant the heartfelt wishes of kids like Amanda.

“Amanda’s wish exceeded our wildest expectations,” her mom, Meredith, said at the Wish-A-Mile 300 awards ceremony. “We’re overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support and can’t thank everyone enough. Today was a day none of us will ever forget.”

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan began 25 years ago, with the granting of a single wish in 1984. It was a dream vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort for Joshua, an 11-year-old from Tecumseh who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Today, our Foundation serves every community in the state and has granted 6,000 wishes to courageous Michigan kids.

Watch Amanda's Wish Come True!

Photo Credit: Andrew Knapik

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Expect a huge entry soon!

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The old "Kreu" got together at the beginning of the summer and made a list of things to do this summer since it is really the first time we have all been living in the same area for an extended period of time since we graduated three years ago.

There are hundreds of things on the list some simple (yoga, camping, movie nights), some are expensive (road trip, week in Chicago), and some are just weird (clog dancing, make a lemon powered clock)... then there was "make a drink called Summer Girls by LFO".

   

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Summer_Girls.zip (87 KB)

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Late last week by busy busy schedule started up once again.  It's times like this when I rely heavily on my planner. 

         

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busy_busy_busy.zip (2123 KB)

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As of right now, my summer is 10 times better than it started off.  It started off slow but now it's really getting going.  I'm just really happy that we got my headache situation figured out and my allergies are back under control so now I'm not bothered all day with those things.

I have been babysitting and working for my uncle a lot.  Him and my aunt sell their own line of jewlery and in the summer they travel all over the state for art shows and such.  So I either go with one of them to a show or I babysit my cousins.  I'd rather babysit because then I can go swimming all day!

My internship is busy busy busy and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.  Maybe it will though after the bike tour which is July 23-26.

Last week my parents and I went out to Grand Rapids to drop off furniture in my storage unit and I just wanted to stay.  I still can't wait to move back.

And last night was the Wyandotte fireworks.  I felt like I went to a circus freakshow, not the fireworks.  I'm amazed by people sometimes.  Lots of rednecks and scene sluts... oh, downriver you've gotten so much worse since I moved 3 years ago.

In other news... I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the midnight premiere (it was real good) and I am now the proud owner of a venus fly trap.

I have a plethora of pictures on my phone from the summer as of last night, so here you go.

                   

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summer_so_far.zip (4396 KB)

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gone.zip (276 KB)

going, going, gone.

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For some reason over the last year I've had this weird obsession with owning weird plants. I have a lot of really really tall bamboo plants, a spikey indoor tree, and a "air plant" which requires no water or soil to grow. Then today I bought a venus fly trap.
 
It is the weirdest plant ever! So as a Father's Day activity, my dad and I decided to mess with it by touching the inside of the "mouths" and watching it quickly snap shut. Then my dad decided he wanted to feed it... as if it was a pet. So he got a fly swatter and hunted down a fly outside and fed my plant. Feeding it wasn't too exciting because you can still see the fly in there. Apparently it will take a few days for it to digest the fly and reopen. It's so crazy.

     

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feeding_time.zip (1239 KB)

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