Face it - I'm too weak.

Aside from barely keeping up with Xanga and Zoodango, I cannot handle any more! On the positive side, this really is a great networking tool - and for reconnecting with old friends~

I didn't make it home to Seattle for Christmas, so to all my dear friends: Hope your Christmas was full of Joy and your New Year full of unexpected breakthroughs and surprises! Hope to see you sometime in 2008. God is SO Good.

Once : Wiltold Owski, Kate Haugh, Markéta Irglová, and Senan Haugh (DVD - 2007)

Spread the word!

Bella is a 2006 film directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde starring Mexican actor Eduardo Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard. The film is about one day in New York City and its impact on three people's lives--Jose, a former soccer star; Nina, who is unexpectedly pregnant, and Nina's unborn child. The film unexpectedly took top prize at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival by winning the "People's Choice Award".

It's because of movies like this and people who, against all odds, want to make movies in Hollywood that display integrity and a message of hope - that I'm inspired to do the same.  It's a subject matter that resonates close to my heart.

You can support his movie by watching it and encouraging everyone you know to go watch it too. Visit the site to find a theatre nearest you and see how you can actively rally support behind this film. www.bellamoviesite.com

How you can Help Bella: The Mission: There are 86 markets showing Bella this weekend. The goal is to mobilize at least 300 people to watch Bella in each theater/screen in your market. By having 300 people watch at each theater, we reach the near $3,000.00 minimum goal per screen which will keep Bella in theaters. Go for broke, and believe to recruit more than that goal. Your Objective: 1) Volunteer as a Bella Champion  2) Recruit a team of student Team Captains each to be assigned and responsible for a different theater in your market (you want at least 1 Team Captain who can mobilize for each theater/screen showing Bella in your market). 3) If each of your Team Captains can recruit 10 others, who will each recruit 30 people to watch the movie that is 300 tickets sold per screen, if this happens, we will make Bella a success! 4.   Find Out which Theaters Bella is Playing: go to this site: (www.bellatheaters.com) to find out which theaters and times Bella is playing in your city/region. This way you can identify a "Team Captain" to be in charge of each theater/screen to recruit local churches, campus fellowships, family and friends closest to that specific theater to watch the movie this weekend. 5.   Recruit Your Network First: The first step to recruiting is to recruit your immediate network of friends and family to watch the movie. This can be your campus fellowship, local church, networks of influential friends to watch the movie this weekend (Fri-Sun).     -Set up a www.facebook.com events group to invite all your friends to watch the movie this weekend! 6.   Recruit Broader Networks Second: The second step to recruiting is to recruit at local churches, campus ministries, youth groups, LIFE groups & any other network that would support Bella (pro-life advocacy organizations). The goal is to mobilize these people to attend the film on Sunday so that there is an increasing in attendance from Friday to Sunday    -Contact the main leader to ask if you can make an announcement to their members or large group meetings or at their services to watch Bella this weekend     -Print out the flyer attached and pass it out to their group @ (www.bellafaith.com)     -Ask the main leader of the org to send an email blast to watch Bella to their database Promote & Rate Bella Online w/ Good Reviews: Remind all those who watch the movie to then go online to the following web sites to give Bella A+ reviews. Ask them to recruit others to do online promotions and ratings. This is critical as the box office will look to the audience reviews to either support Bella or take it out of theaters. Right now, there are many "pro-choice" activists who are purposefully putting up bad reviews to take down Bella, but this will not happen. Bella right now has broken records for all time highest user reviews on Yahoo Movies & Fandango.com IMPORTANT-- GET PEOPLE TO RATE BELLA ON THESE SITES -Visit Yahoo.com and give Bella an A+: http://movies.yahoo.com/mvc/top10;_ylt=Ao0x5ipranZtakd_ZcI0W0tfVXcA -Visit Fandango and give Bella the top rating! http://www.fandango.com/top10fanratedmovies -Visit RottenTomatoes and give us 5 stars. View at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bella/reviews_users.php -Visit YouTube.com and view all the videos and rate them because this will help us improve our YouTube ranking: http://www.youtube.com/BellaTheMovie -Visit AOL and view our trailer to get in the top viewed trailer list: http://movies.aol.com/movie/bella/27497/reviews#m_memberreview -Visit and vote at: http://movies.go.com/readerreviews/movie?name=bella_2007&genre=drama -Visit and vote at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482463/ Bella Online Resources: To get all the movie promotional materials (videos, flyers, posters, web banners, post cards, images, press kits, movie trailer, exclusive interviews, etc.) to market Bella to your networks go to: www.bellafaith.com www.bellafaithnews.com Send this Email to As Many People As Possible: Bella needs as much help as it can get. Please ask people to recruit others who are influencers and can market the film to as many people/organizations/movements as possible. Post up good reviews on blogs Post up the web banners, posters, etc on websites Get the word out on social online networks (myspace.com, facebook.com, orkut.com, friendster.com, virb.com, etc) Pray for Bella: More than anything else you can start helping Bella by getting on your knees in prayer.  It is through prayer that miracles happen. It will be a miracle that Bella stays in theaters past this weekend and into the Thanksgiving break which is the most crowded time for movie-goers.  If it does, there is a good chance the movie will go mainstream nationwide.  Pray that Bella gets into 1,000 theaters. Nothing is too hard or impossible for our great God. Pray and obey. Make Bella a success. Why? Because God is using this movie to save the lives of many.  There have been at least 7 reports of people not going through with their abortions after being convicted by this film. Those are 7 powerful testimonies of miracles! Please post banners all over your blogs, tell all your friends. Let's join together to flood the nation with the Bella phenomenon. Don't just read this.  Be a part of the revolution and revelation. PS. In the same vein as a miracle, I wait in great anticipation for the arrival of my nephew into this world!  I can't wait to be a second time auntie.

Currently Listening As I Am By Alicia Keys As I am, Go Ahead, Superwoman, No One, Where do we go from here, Sure Looks Good to Me see related

Superwoman

It's been a rough couple of months, but I am a Superwoman. 

Alicia Keys Rocks. 'As I Am' Rocks. Was never into her music until this album. It's got more funk, stronger beats, some big band sounds, and channels a little Tina Turner soul (whom I love). That's why I'm not into Norah Jones and Vanessa Carlton. Too mellow. Makes me sleepy.

She seems to be a woman of Faith too. Not the, insincere - podium hugging, trophy toting, 'Just wanna give props to God', kind of Faith - but a Strong, Independent woman who knows how to lean on God, kind of Faith. This is what she says on her album:  "This year...how can I explain it?  It has simultaneously been the best and worst year of my life! (Me: Amen sister) God - Thank you for every single thing you have done, every gift you have given, every lesson you have taught.  Thank you for making me strong enough and giving me faith unparalleled." (Me: a resounding Amen and a here here to that).

God is truly Faithful.  The Father's Love - Incomparable. It gives me the Strength to be a Superwoman, Yes I am.

Currently Reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder By Richard Louv see related

Chaffed once again....

The state that I live in is burning down all around us....  It's been such a dry and hot summer.  It started with Griffith Park catching on fire twice this summer. Now practically all of San Diego to the border of Mexico is on fire. 500,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Areas surrounding greater LA are on fire too - and the smokey orange haze is all over. It smells like a huge campfire outside. It's snowing ash~ I just did a service project this last Saturday in Topanga Canyon, and now that area is in danger.  Craziness.  Please keep all the fire fighters in prayer!

There's no graceful way to transition from that to the results of my first half marathon - well, except that Long Beach (where my marathon was) hasn't been affected by the fires...yet.

If you ever pick up running as a hobby, you'll understand the nature of it's addictiveness.  Granted, I've been running for many many years (and didn't really enjoy it all that much) - but training for, and actually finishing a race gives you a kind of satisfaction that is highly addictive. Therefore, I am looking very forward to my first full marathon. My good friend and I were aiming for the LA marathon in March- but after doing Long Beach, you get a little spoiled.  I only want to do very beautiful and scenic runs now- or for a big city one, I'd like to do the NYC marathon. Plus, we were pampered with VIP parking and at the VIP booth before and after the race. We loaded up several times on custom omeletes made on the spot, gourmet pasta and cheese salads, fruit, pastries, and a bar - complete with bellini's, bloody mary's and more! We're thinking about the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon in June of 08 (though now with the fires....). The Long Beach marathon is supposed to be a great 'first time' marathon and is truly beautiful. A lot of people do this marathon to qualify for the Boston Marathon because it's one of the more easier ones.

I was aiming for a time of 2 hours or less, but I got pretty close:

Place Overall:	1877	out of   6090
Women:	677	out of   3449
F 30-34:	116	out of   553

AgeGrade:

50.84%

Place:  1926

FINISH:

2:08:36

pace:   9:49

10K:

58:33

pace:   9:26

Chip Time:	2:08:36
Gun Time:	2:12:40

So my Final time was 2:08:36. The Gun Time was 4 minutes more because there were over 6,000 runners and it took us that long to actually cross the start line with our timing chips. If you can imagine, it's like a bottle neck and from the get go, we were weaving in and out of runners in the beginning. Actually, at the pace that I held - there were a lot of people running at the same pace, so I  was literally weaving in and out for what seemed like the entire race. For a little perspective - the first full marathon runner came through the finish line not too long after I got through. Wowzers.

It was a beautiful day and warmer than I would have liked. The course is fairly flat for most of the way except for some hills/bridges in the beginning and middle of the run. I was a good girl and slowed down for ALL the water and powerade stations.  I was well hydrated. I was seriously hungry by mile 10.  Around the same time, I realized that I had been chaffed once again. I passed the 'vaseline' station (people holding big huge boards with slabs of vaseline slathered all over it) thinking that 'wow, i'm doing ok!' As soon as I passed it, I felt the burn under my arms!  As soon as I felt it, the salt from my sweat burned it even more. I was panicking inwardly a little bit. I started lifting my elbows (like chicken wings) and felt pretty silly, especially if I'd be doing this for the last 3 miles. At one point I had my hands on my hips and concerned runners asked me if I was ok, thinking that my sides were hurting.  My response was, 'oh no - I'm ok! I'm just chaffing....'  Thank the Lord - at mile 11, there was another vaseline station and I swiped a hunk of it and relieved most of the pain. All in all - my first race was as perfect as it could be. 

So to answer your question AAhn, No - I didn't chaffe in the same place as Andy. I never did :)  And to my good friend, Mr. Music Man - this is now the second installment of my chaffing chronicles.  I hope it doesn't become a trilogy.

They provide this really cool individual break down for the runners too:

		NAME: Jean L. EVENT: Half Marathon DATE: Sunday October 14th, 2007 BIB/DIV:   F30-34 TIME: 2h:12m:40s (gun) / 2h:8m:36s (net)

Result in Entire Field - 1874th place 4207 finishers behind. About 31% of finishers ahead. Result in Gender (Female) - 676th place 2772 finishers behind. About 20% of finishers ahead. Result in Division (F3034) - 117th place 439 finishers behind. About 21% of finishers ahead.

LEGEND The location of the figure on the line shows your position in the finish order of the race. The closer the figure is to the right, the closer you were to the winner. Overall   Gender   Div Use the images to visualize your achievement 3 ways: compared to all entrants, within gender, and within division (F3034). FACTS Who's who Of the 6081 who finished, 57% were female and 43% were male. Opposite Sex For the record, you were ahead of about 55% of male finishers. Timing Info This page is based on CHIP times. Click on images for alternative timing result.

YOUR SPLIT TIMES		YOUR SPEED

           YOUR FINISH - a bird's eye view

Jean Lim     Female runners not your division      Runners in your division (F3034)       Male runners

Currently Listening Move Along By All American Rejects Move Along, 11:11 see related

Chaffing is not pleasant

Since my last adventure (the 8K meter hiking challenge - which I have yet to update on), I've been diligently training for my first half marathon in Long Beach.  I ran 10 miles last night in approx 1hr 25min- 3 times in a row around the outside track of the Rose Bowl. My goal is to finish the half in 2 hours or less. Since the beginning of summer, after doing the Danskin Triathlon - I haven't stopped. Spinning, TKB, resistence training, climbing, mountain biking, hiking, you name it.  Around 2 hours, 5 or 6 days a week. It's nice to work for a company that gets comp entries for all the events that we sponsor. I'd be broke - more broke. I'm ultimately training for the LA marathon in March and the Seattle to Portland Century bike ride. It's a very long story, but it's not about being a physical wellness journey.  It's been a spiritual one, and a challenging - emotional - amazing one at that. I'll share on another day so I don't bore you to tears.

In any case, along with training comes many other little 'perks'.  I've got two completely black toe nails that I mask with polish (as a result of the 8K meter challenge - think toes jamming the front of your sneakers on extremely steep, rocky terrain for 26 miles straight) - another one about to fall off (I hope not, but inevitable), tender arches and knees, calluses, and yes - chaffing can now be added to that list. Did anyone catch the season premiere of the Office?  I'm probably logging 20+ miles of running a week, so this episode hit the hilarious spot for me.  Because of a freak office accident, Michael organized a  'Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro Am 5k Fun Run' to help raise money and awareness for an employee that he hit in the work parking lot, with his car. As a result of being put in the hospital, this employee discovered that she had rabies, so Michael of course takes the credit for putting her in the hospital and essentially saving her life. (By the way, if this is a cause you are very passionate about and want to display, you can purchase your very own 'Save the Rabid' bracelet right here).

Anyway, my point - I always tangent - is that also in this compelling documentary, there was a certain employee who had severe nipple chaffing from this 5k (3+ mile run).  By the time he was finished, he was bleeding and reeling with extreme pain.  I almost fell off the couch at this point. I don't know anyone who chaffes that easily - but after my 10 mile run last night - I can say that chaffing is painful.  It's preventable, but sometimes - you just don't even think to prepare for it.  I won't say where (it's in a very respectable place), but essentially it's like a rug burn. 

After this half marathon is over - I think I'm going to pull back a little and take in the scenery.