Burnt Out But Still Volunteering

Wow. I've been really absent from this whole blogging thing. I'm going to try and get better at that.

Relay for Life season has begun. And I did something crazy this year. I actually volunteered myself to be the Survivor Event Chair. What was I thinking?! Oh right, I didn't want Michele (our event chair) to have to do everything. We're all burnt out from doing this for so long but a few of us have stepped up to keep it going. I swear, if we didn't, our Relay this year probably wouldn't exist. Leo and Carole have been the event chairs the last few years and when they stepped down, no one wanted to take it on - they were that awesome; big shoes to fill. But Michele stepped up to the plate. Go gurl!!

So this year's theme is Wish Upon A Cure. If you can't tell, it's a Disney theme. This opens up the campsite options really wide. My team has decided on turning our campsite into Andy's Toy box (from Toy Story). It's actually a neat idea. We can build a border around our site to look like a toy box and then fill it with all things Disney. Everything we love about Disney, etc. And on the bottom of our shoes, we will have a piece of tape that says Andy on it, kinda like in the movie. Not sure if everyone wants to dress up as characters, but I won't stop them. I love costumes anyways!

So this Survivor Chair position - I've been trying to figure out what it means for Relay other than planning a survivor event before Relay weekend and manning the survivor tent on the actual event. Apparently I need to plan the opening ceremonies for survivors and make a speech. Awesome. I hate public speaking. Michele hates it worse than me and she now wants me to be the speaker for the whole event. Ha! We'll see about that. Though I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.
Michele doesn't want to do butterflies or doves this year. We started brainstorming ideas and I suggested bubbles. Giant bubble machines to fill the stage and engulf the survivors. In my head it looks really awesome. Kinda like this:

But I fear it might turn out like this:

We'd need bubble machines, not foam ones. That, I feel, would get everyone wet, and I'm pretty sure the survivors wouldn't like that. Especially if it's not hot outside. So the search begins...

Relay Soiree Success

This past Sunday, our Relay for Life community put together a free event for cancer survivors and caretakers. It was amazing. I meant to write about this on Monday, but a little life got in the way. It actually was good though that I waited because I have a couple pictures I can show you! :)

Since our Relay theme this year is International, our Survivor Soiree was too. Imagine a room full of finger foods, desserts, a photo booth with props, international dancers, and music, all to celebrate the lives of cancer survivors and the people who cared for them in their time of need. Those of us on the committee got donations from various restaurants for finger foods or we made something ourselves. There definitely wasn't a lack of food, though some types of food ran out faster than others.
 So what did I do? I helped check people in as they arrived. Then I was able to enjoy the night. My mom (who helped plan the event) woke up with a fever that morning so she unfortunately couldn't make it. I felt so bad. My dad took her place though. He played "customs officer" and made sure everyone had a name tags (meaning that they checked in to their respective tables - survivor or caretaker).
I believe that everyone who attended had an amazing time. The raffle prizes were donated by a lot of our committee members. Last year, my mom won 3 of the raffle prizes and I won one. Unfortunately for me, I just wasn't a winner, but my dad won the raffle prize themed from Germany. He was very happy. My friend, Jessica and her daughter, Julia, made out like bandits. They won 3 baskets, and 2 of them were Dr. Seuss themed. Needless to say, Julia was beyond ecstatic. Jessica told me that before Julia won, she said, "Mama, I feel lucky today." She's just too darn cute!

I'm so blessed to be a part of this organization even in the smallest way. It's events like this that can truly put a smile on a face. I know it did for mine.

Our photo booth pictures - lots of fun!

Me and Ronnie, our resident photographer

Where in the world are you from? Place your pin. :)

Philippine dancers

Philippine dancers

Leo, some Polish dancers, and Carole

Julia helping pick the raffle ticket winners

Cancer Survivors

The German basket my dad won

Julia's hiding behind her new Cat in the Hat