John Green once said, “What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable.” That quote really resonates with me right now. I am at a place in my life that I want to do something remarkable, but we must remember that remarkable means something different to everyone.

For me, doing something remarkable right now is training for, competing in and then completing a Half Ironman in May of next year and with the hopes of doing another one in October of 2019. I was supposed to do one in a couple days, but mother nature had other plans. I have been training hard for it, but I could always have trained more. I might not have been 100% ready, but I would have done it and I would have given it my all, I always do! I can guarantee you one thing though, when the time comes, and the race starts, I will complete that race!

See the truly remarkable, borderline insane things I want to do in the next two years is climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and not only finish a Full Ironman but qualify for Kona. Big, audacious goals. Things that I find remarkable.

These are all dreams of mine, the top bucket list items you could say. The thing about a good bucket list is that you write things down, you do them, cross them off and then add new things to the list. The bucket list is not meant to be a list of things you would like to do but never end up doing. If that’s the case then you will have a long list of things you wished you would have done when you die, basically a list of regrets. I live with no regrets. You can’t change the past, just learn from it and move on.

I feel that the truly remarkable things I do in life won’t really be the degrees I get or my athletic accomplishments. They will be the woman I marry, the family I make with her and the lasting impact that will have on the world. Everything else will be icing on the cake…

Aldous Huxley once said, “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”

I believe in a global education. I believe that traveling the world is the best form of education. I learn more when I am traveling than I ever have in a classroom and I have spent a lot of time in classrooms.

The thing about traveling is you not only learn about other cultures, you learn about yourself. You find out what your limits are, and then you can push them. In order to learn and grow we must constantly push ourselves outside our comfort zones.

In today’s world we have unlimited, instant access to information but that information can and usually is biased in some way. Some of the most amazing people I have met, I met in counties that most people would never go to. This is a shame. These people have full hearts and would do anything to help another human, even though they have very little themselves.

We must travel to discover what really is going on in the world. We then can bring that information back and share. The world is the biggest classroom we have and I don’t plan on stopping my education anytime soon…

So, the past few days my fellow Group 49ers have been closing their service in Ukraine with the Peace Corps. This is bittersweet for me but also a good thing. I have had this feeling that there was something over my head, and this pit in my stomach that I should be somewhere else, doing something else, that I should be in Ukraine with my fellow Volunteers. I haven’t been able to shake it but hopefully that will change soon.

Life gave me this amazing opportunity to take up a challenge very few have ever done but life also took it away when I got injured. Since that moment I have had a part of me that felt like I shouldn’t be doing what I am doing, that what I am doing is wrong in some way.

I say all this because in the last couple days I have decided to do something crazy, insane some would say but I look at it as a way to jump start my life. My Peace Corps service would be done, my physical therapy was done not long ago after almost 18 months rehabbing my injury. My shoulder is as good as it is gonna be, so, it is time for something big, something audacious. After all, big, audacious goals are one of the only ways I will do and complete something. My parents didn’t raise a quitter or a bitch.

My mom threw out this idea and then I researched it and talked it over with my girlfriend and a decision was made. So, with that in mind I have signed up for and started to train for a half Ironman, 70.3 miles. It consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run (half marathon). I will be competing in October, during Fall Break and right after my 33rd birthday.

I am not where I want to be in life when it comes to my health and this audacious goal is going to help get me there. Also, in my top-2 things on my bucket list is to compete in and finish the full Ironman in Kona one day and this will help my qualifying get ready for it. The other thing in the top-2 is to climbs Kilimanjaro!

Underestimate me. That’ll be fun…

I am currently eating lunch at a Thai restaurant in the middle of Knoxville, Tennessee. Actually in the middle of the University of Tennessee’s campus. I am competing in a Questival with my lovely girlfriend Jennifer. I can’t thank Cotopaxi enough for putting this on and letting us explore a new city. Attached you will find a picture of Jennifer and I and the first checkpoint. Remember, Do Good!!!

When one thinks of staging you might automatically think about making a house look perfect before a showing when said house is for sale or maybe something to do with a theatre performance. Staging in the Peace Corps is nothing like this.

Nothing. At. All.

Staging is usually 1-2 days in a major city in America where you and your Peace Corps Group finally come together, meet each other, put faces to names and Facebook posts and learn a lot about your upcoming trip to your Country od Service. This is also a very crucial time to get paperwork done for student loans, and any other last minute forms you need signed verifying you are about to spend the next 27 months in the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps takes this time to show you what to expect upon arrival in country, what life is about to become and go over general rules, procedures and security for Peace Corps service.

I had staging in Miami, which was awesome and different for my country of service, Ukraine. Usually it is done in Washington D.C. However, none of us were complaining. We were able to get a few more days of nice sunshine and warmth before we landed in the cold but beautiful country of Ukraine. It was a little crazy going from 85 degrees to 25 degrees, not going to lie. But you adapt, maybe, not really.

Staging had it ups and downs. My roommate was awesome! I do believe we will be friends for many years to come. During staging we had 2 different sessions where we took in a lot of information, did ice breakers and many other things. At night I went out and checked out an authentic Mexican restaurant, it was amazing!

Finally the day had come to head to Ukraine! I quickly realized that I had massively over packed. Thankfully one of the other Volunteers only packed 1 checked bag and let me use his 2^nd checked bag for my big backpack. I was very thankful for this so I don’t have to carry my big bag all over Europe. My last meal in America before I left, Taco Bell! Had to get that Mountain Dew Baja Blast one last time! Check in went smooth and so did TSA. We had a long wait at the airport but out of nowhere it became time to head to Munich. We boarded, got situated and were on our way to Ukraine. Staging was officially over…