It may be quiet on AOK these days, but you should head over to AOK "summit for wishes" and check out my latest posts there...

(3) I continue to be touched and humbled by the display of support from family, friends and colleagues. Some serious donations on Thanksgiving weekend brought my fundraising total close to $13 000 and the kids of some good friends planned their own little fundraiser "breakfast for donations" this past weekend...
Click here to read more...

(4) And most recently (as in yesterday) I headed down to hike Mt-Washington with some of the gang from Make-A-Wish and Summit for Wishes. A big DAY trip for sure... but lots of fun. There's a short video of the crazy wind that kept us from going further and reaching the summit. Click here to read more...


What a great project!

A.

As I prepare to undertake the challenge of hiking to the summit of Kilimanjaro in January - which rises 19,340 feet (5985 metres) above sea level - my biggest fear is how my body will acclimatize to the altitude. It's not really something I can prepare for, other than taking some necessary precautions (like climbing slowly, taking the longest route to the summit and having some trusty meds on hand).

With that said, someone told my SIL recently to tell me that if I start to feel sick I need to STOP because otherwise I might DIE. My goodness. Uh... What am I getting myself into? I was happy to be able to respond that the owner of the company that we'll be climbing with is actually joining my group for the treck and that after hearing some recent "climbing" stories, I know that one of the most important things is going to be to swallow my pride and admit if I'm not feeling well so that I can get help if I need it and increase my chances of making it the summit should something go wrong. This is me staying positive and hoping that NOTHING goes wrong... and that I am just naturally made to be in the mountains... at high altitudes.

But, while the chances of me actually dying during this little adventure are very small - they`re still probably a little bit higher than if I stayed home and lived my regular life in January 2011.

It's the kick in the butt that Brandon and I need to finally take the time to do our will. Ugh. What a chore... what crappy conversations... "so if we both die... then who gets the girls?" being at the top of that list of crappy conversations that we need to have.

For some people I'm sure that it's an obvious decision. It isn't for us... which is a large part of the reason our will isn't done (pretend it won't happen and it won't?--- probably about as safe as the rhythm method of birth control --- I should know, I have 2 beautiful results of using that method!)

There are so many things to think about...
- Should they go to extended family? Should they go to friends?
- Do they already have kids? Would an extra 2 be a ridiculous thing to ask?
- Would they be able to love our kids as their own?
- Would they share our faith and our values with our girls - whether they are their own or not?
- Does it matter if it means a big "move" for the girls?
- Will they still see extended family if we don't actually choose a family member?
-  ...

...And all of the questions are almost fictional because the chances of Brandon and I BOTH dying before the girls are 18 (and hopefully long after that) are not very high (at least according to our life insurance policy the risks aren't that high!).

So this is what`s on my mind this week (along with fundraising, work projects, meal planning, laundry, home reno lists, and every other "to do" list I've got going up there).

I don't think I'm going to die in January - but I guess I need to plan for the possibility? How morbid is that?!

A.

Another one down... more than half way!

Dad has too much hair on his face to have it painted... so...

The last few weeks of my life have been busy. Mini-vacations, sickness in the family, my first "hike", my first yard sale, regular life, regular work, a fundraising weekend at IGA... and now... the final preparations for my ladies brunch fundraiser. The number of to do lists floating around in my head is finally starting to decrease and I feel like I'm regaining some sense of normalcy. Sort of. ;-)

Aside from the lessons learned from my most recent fundraising activity - I'm really excited to announce that we have passed (by far) the 1/2 way point of this crazy project. With less than 5 months to go to Kilimanjaro, the total amount raised stands at $ 9600 - pretty exciting if I do say so myself. I'm not done yet - but I feel like I've made it far enough that I'll be able to start sharing the focus between the fundraising and the physical training aspects of this adventure.

Which brings me to my next announcement...

(READ MORE...)

(written yesterday afternoon)

I spent this morning baking for the bake sale portion of the fundraiser I'm organizing at the local IGA Grocery story this coming weekend. It's going to be a busy weekend... and if you're in the area, it would be awesome if you stopped by (click here for details).

I have lots of help for the bake sale thanks to the following lovely ladies (and gentleman!): Aimée, Arlene, Sylvia, Calvin & Carolyn, Charlene... and my special helpers this morning, Rachel and Layla. There should be a pretty great assortment of baked goods. Muffins, cookies, brownies, rice krispy squares, rocky road bars... and maybe even some mini-cheesecakes.

I've limited my own baking to some pretty simple stuff but it was a good opportunity to try a new muffin recipe - APPLE MUFFINS - the result being a definite "do again", especially with apple season right around the corner!

So this morning we made: Blueberry muffins , Apple muffins (see recipe below), Rice Krispy Squares (a classic bake sale favorite) and Ghiradelli chocolate brownies (this is a mix... don't turn your nose up because  it's fantastic... I made over $80 selling these brownies at a bake sale at my work place and they are a new staple in our home!) 

Now it`s time to make some posters and make sure I have everything I need for tomorrow (and then it's girls night out tonight too ... busy day!... busy weekend!)

Apple Muffins (original recipe)


2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup apple juice*
*I didn't have any apple juice on hand so I supplemented 1/2 cup of apple sauce & 1/4 cup water.
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup apples - peeled, cored and finely diced

Directions

1.Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
2.In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine apple juice, oil, and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy.) Stir in chopped apples.
3.Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.

FACE PAINTING
A "Summit for Wishes" Fundraising Activity

Pizza is the perfect food to serve for any kind of gathering... a game night, a last minute dinner, cooked ahead for a picnic lunch or cut up small to serve as an "appetizer-type" food.

When I was planning my food for my party, I was originally thinking I would run out and pick up a couple of the fresh (not frozen) pre-made pizzas at Costco. They've actually got a nice range of different toppings (from 4-cheese, tomato and provolone to bacon, ham and pepperoni), are super quick to bake (8-10 minutes in the oven) and are quite good and cheap ($12 for two). However - since I was hosting the "event" to raise money, I thought it would be a good idea to keep my costs as low as possible. A quick calculation told me that by using the ingredients I already had on hand to make my own home-made pizza (dough and toppings), I would save at least $12.

And I decided to try and make my own pizza from scratch for the very first time. There's really nothing like a gang coming over to entice me to try something new in my kitchen...

What will you be having for breakfast this mother's day? If you're in my close circle of friends I'm hoping that your answer is pancakes and that those particular pancakes are made from the home-made pancake mix that you bought from me this week to support my first Kilimanjaro/Make-A-Wish fundraiser (which was a truly incredible success - thank you very much!). Whether you bought pancake-mix or not and whether you'll be eating it this weekend or not, the home-made "Bisquick" mix that I used is definitely worth sharing.

Saturday morning breakfast is almost always "pancakes" in our house. This is mostly thanks to Brandon's love of maple syrup and his willingness to actually put the yummy things together and cook them. Have I mentioned lately that I love my husband! Well I do.

But seriously... who doesn't enjoy pancakes?!

... It is with this in mind that I am kicking off my fundraising efforts for Kilimanjaro 2011.
 
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It's official. My spot is reserved. And I bought my first pair of real hiking boots a couple days ago. Whew!

I, Andrea Matte, am going to climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2011 to raise $8,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!

In doing so I'm going to help make at least one child's special wish come true… A child who may not have the opportunities that I've had. A child who is suffering from an illness that threatens his or her life. A child that might not have the luxury of saying “someday”…

It is very exciting. It's also very humbling.

{Read more}