Thank You Wilderness Aware Rafting!
“WHAT? WHAT? YOU ARE KIDDING, RIGHT? OH MY GOSH, SARA, WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW?!?!?!? THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!”
~Sara Kranz, Fantastic Facebook 2-Day Giveaway Winner
Kim, Sara, Andrea and Stefanie
Enlarge the font by a thousand, bold it, put about a million exclamation marks next to each sentence, and then turn your volume up to high. THAT is how we all sounded when we heard the news that we won the Colorado white water rafting trip! I, Sara, put our names in for the rafting trip without telling my girlfriends about it (ok, I finally let on a short time later…they were stoked, but realized that we were up against so many other worthy groups!)
That is not atypical for us, actually. We enjoy pushing each other to “new extremes” and getting each other out of our “comfort zones.” When I found out that we did win (realize I have never won anything in my life), I was beside myself! The reactions from my friends? They were beyond excited! Here is “our history in short form:” Andrea, Stefanie (Suds, Sudsy, Stef), Kim (Kimmers) and I have been lifelong friends. Andrea and I met when I was 2 years old, she 3 years old. Suds, Kimmers and we became friends in high school. Though Kimmers and we lost touch for a time when she left for CA, we reconnected a few years ago and it seems as though time stood still for those years that lapsed. Though we live across the states, we still see each other as often as possible and we get together as a group at least once a year. The last time was to do a half-marathon on Santa Catalina Island off of CA (another “out of the box” moment for most of us!) I’m sure that we had more fun than anyone else there!!!
This Colorado rafting trip is a milestone of sorts for us. First off, we are all turning 40 years old in the next year or two. But most importantly, Andrea and Kimmers are cancer survivors. Kimmers had an extremely rare form of cancer and it’s a medical miracle that she is here with us today. This is her 10 year of being cancer free. Andrea as well is a cancer survivor and the very day that I called her to tell her that I put our name in for the trip is the day that she found out that she as well is 5 years cancer free. We feel blessed to have each other in our lives, and therefore, when we are together, there is nothing but laughs, jokes, some serious conversation, but really just a lot of amazing, fun times!
THANK YOU, Wilderness Aware, for adding to our memories!
