My beautiful friend Shannon is guest posting for me today. She is a fellow writer and blogs at Wandering through the Words. I spent a long, amazing weekend with Shannon and a team of crew members for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day in Boston. The amazing thing about crewing Boston was that it was the kick-off to the 2009 3-Day nation-wide event. I loved working at the first 3-Day 0f the year.

Please consider Shannon’s request and pray about what you can do to support this worthy cause.  Thank you so much.

Hallee

---

---

I want to begin with thanks to Hallee for hosting me on her blog. Hallee and I met over a year ago in Boston at the 2009 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day for the Cure event there. What a way to get to know someone, standing in freezing, pouring rain at 4 am. For those of you unfamiliar with a 3-Day, it goes like this. Each year, in fifteen cities across the United States, thousands of women and men come together to walk 60 miles in three days. They walk through rain, wind, sun and heat. They walk through quiet suburbs and busy cities. They walk in funny costumes like feather-encrusted bras and, yes, even tutus. They walk all day so they can sleep in a field of tiny pink tents each night. They walk in the hope that one day there will be a cure not just for breast cancer, but a cure for all cancers.

In order for these thousands of walkers to make it from opening ceremonies through three days of walking to closing ceremonies, they need a little help. That’s where the volunteer crew comes in. Hallee and I met as part of that crew, which means we were up at 3:30 in the morning and working throughout the day and in some cases into the night doing a large assortment of odd jobs. It’s a rough gig, but I’m always honored to join in.

I participate in the 3-Day each year in memory of my oldest friend who passed away after a nine-year fight against ovarian cancer at the age of 32. This year, I am crewing in Washington, D.C. Walkers must fundraise $2300 to be able to participate. Since I walked last year in D.C., I decided to take a year off from heavy fundraising and crew again. The crew is not responsible for fundraising. Somewhere along the way though, I started feeling like I should be doing more than offering my time, so I here I am crewing and fundraising. My goal is to raise $500.

In an effort to fundraise, I found this wonderful company that sells the most delightful pasta. It is called Fun Pasta Fundraising and sells everything from alphabet pasta to penguin party pasta. There is pasta for every holiday and fun mixes for girls and boys. They even sell officially licensed collegiate pasta with over 25 universities to choose from. All the pasta is made with natural ingredients, using vegetable purees to color pastas (the exception is collegiate pasta because the fans want the colors just right so they use small amounts of food coloring in these) and certified Kosher. Since pasta has a shelf life of 24 months, you can purchase enough now to last. They make fun and quirky gifts that are useful (big must for me) and healthy. And the themes make matching pasta to your favorite people easy. So my kids’ music teacher is getting music note pasta for Christmas, while the soccer coach gets soccer pasta, and the dance teacher gets . . . you get the picture!

I asked Hallee if she might mention the fundraiser on her blog and she offered me the time and space to introduce it myself and hopefully get you all excited about it. You can order yourself by visiting www.funpastafundraising.com/shop/yourgirlsandmine. Shipping is free for $100 orders. I know that sounds crazy, but I did it just purchasing Christmas gifts for neighbors, teachers and coaches. I placed my order and realized I need more for us at home! Still, I’m glad my Christmas shopping is nearly done, and I know they are gifts with heart since 40% of the cost is donated to Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.

At the online checkout, after entering your shipping/billing information, you’ll be asked whom you support. Now, you can pick a name at random and it all goes to the cure. Or, select Shannon Alexander and let me know you read about the fundraiser on Hallee’s blog in the comment section so I can send you a personal thank you.

I promised Hallee a recipe to go along with this guest post, in the spirit of her blog. So, here goes.

I like to eat locally, which during the summer equates to walking out my back door and scavenging the garden. This Greek Pasta Salad is fresh from my garden! The recipe can be found here.

Thanks to everyone who can help me reach my $500 goal this year. You can read more about me, my 3-Day journeys and all the small things that entertain my wandering mind on my blog Wandering through the Words at www.wanderthewords.blogspot.com.

Shannon

---

I’m so grateful for your visit, today.
You would bless me if you added me to your feed reader or subscribed via email.
You can also become a fan on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. I would love to see more of you!

---

Pin It