Relay For Life

Last night was Relay For Life (annual American Cancer Society fundraiser). It was a lot of fun, but I am so glad it is over. I was one of the Event Co-Chairs this year, so it was a lot of work, time, energy, etc. I was also a team captain, and I feel like I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with my team as I would like, but it seemed like they had fun.

Also, as event co-chair, I spoke during the opening ceremony. In front of lots of people (we had 700+ registered), as well as two mayors and one Illinois State Representative. But, I told myself that considering how many cancer survivors were there, if speaking in front of a large group is the hardest thing I had to do that day, I should consider myself very lucky (which I do, every day).

Some photos:

My team:


Gennie's 8 months pregnant and still participated! What a trooper!




Luminaria Ceremony


My Dad participated in the Miss Relay contest (he's wearing the hat)


All of the Miss Relay contestants


Around 4am, I took a nap in the jumpy


Sunrise (I stayed until 5:30am, which was pretty much the end)


The rest of my pics are on Flickr (link above).

Overall, the event was a success! It rained a little bit, but not too hard, and only for an hour. My team raised $1,802 and overall the event raised $158,000+ for the American Cancer Society.