The Days of Fall

I cannot believe that it's the end of September, the beginning of fall. In 2 weeks, I will be running the Army Ten Miler with fellow AWN member, Star, and so many of you out there. I am thoroughly excited. I have been training hard - sustained some injuries even - but I'm excited. I ran with the other AWN ladies last year, but I feel more prepared and more ready for the race this year. Part of that could be because I know what to expect from last year. I love that the temps are falling a bit - a perfect run temp is in the 60's, in my opinion. Here in Cincinnati, it's been even chillier than that as of recent though. I went looking for cold weather running gear and had a hard time fining it, as the stores haven't put it out yet.

As the seasons are changing, so are the seasons of life. I am changing in ways that I didn't even know or expect. I am back to being a substitute teacher, after the district I worked in cut all elementary music classes due to budgetary issues. I'm ok with that - I've been subbing almost everyday this school year. I even have some long term sub jobs lined up. I am looking at changing up my career path, though. I am going to be auditioning for several summer opera companies and music festivals for next summer. Not a path that I mind! It's just something I always thought was out of my reach, but in all reality, it's in my reach. I can do this!

I am also taking over as the FRG leader for my husband's company. This is going to be interesting. I've been second in command for awhile, so it's nothing new. It's just a change.

Today is also Sept. 15. Today would have been my friend Ashley's 42nd birthday. In my last blog post, I think I told you all about how she had just passed away from Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer on August 17. Since then, her daughter had her 9th birthday. Yesterday was the Komen Race for the Cure in Cincinnati, which so many of us walked with her last year on her birthday at. Today is hard. Tomorrow is a fundraiser for her family, and I will see her husband and children for the first time since the funeral. From what I've seen on Facebook and heard through friends, they are struggling to get through each and every day. Our beautiful warrior lost her battle. The rest of us are pushing to find a way so that many others don't.

I am thankful that I have such a wonderful husband. I know that if I were to struggle like Ashley did, that he would be there every step of the way. When I went through a breast cancer scare 2 years ago, he was there every step of the way. He took me to get tests done, he fought when the tech didn't want to do a mammogram because I was only 27 years old at the time, he is on my side always. I am very blessed to have an amazing husband like I do.

He and I trekked 90 minutes to Louisville a few weeks ago to watch Troy Yocum, his wife Mareike, and their two dogs, Emmie and Harley, cross the finish line after having walked over 7800 miles across America. Mr. Yocum is an Iraq War vet who walked across America to raise money for the Wish Upon A Hero foundation. They are trying to help so many struggling military families that are out there. Being a reserve family, we see a lot of this. So many of our soldiers are out of jobs on the civilian side. We've had some soldiers that the only income they've had is their Reserve pay. Times are tough. We have families struggling to put food on the table and to have a roof over their head. I am SO thankful to hear of wonderful organizations such as Wish Upon A Hero.I took some pictures (that I have to download and post later) of Troy and Mareike with the doggies at the big bat when they crossed their finish line. What an amazing day!

This last month has been a bumpy road. I have had some joys and I have a lot of concerns. I also have great faith and know that I will get through everything.