And there will be sorrow no more

"And there will be sorrow no more" is the motto of this journey! Our goal is to raise enough money so that others don't have to suffer. So, we are doing everything we can to get to our $8000 goal. One of the fundraising ideas we had was to have a garage sale, as many of you already know. And the sale was a huge success; we raised almost $900 toward finding a cure! So, I want to start off by thanking everyone who donated items for us to sell at the sale! We had an entire driveway and yard full of wonderful items to sell, and it was because of you! In fact, at one point, I thought there wouldn't be enough room for it all. And to think, we got all of those donations from one Facebook post (thanks, Phil for posting it!)!

Throughout the day, we had many customers, and even some friends and family stop by to show their support! It really meant a lot to see you Sunday and thank you for all of your support!

The day began Sunday morning, the 21st of March (which also happened to be the first day of Spring, which I think is fitting from a "new life" perspective) at 4:15 am. Yes, I said it! We woke up at 4:15 am. (and that's after an almost 11 mile hike Saturday morning in Lake Elsinore!) We loaded up Phil's truck and arrived at our friend Brandi's house by 5:00 am to set up. It was dark while we set up tables and blankets on the lawn to display items for sale. Eventually the sun came up, and we were ready to sell! No one came while we were setting up though, and I thought, "No one's going to come buy our stuff!" Boy, was I wrong! We had some mad rushes of people at times! Phil and I sold items, and our friend Brandi and her two awesome children helped us sell baked goods. We worked for 12 straight hours that day! But this whole adventure actually began weeks earlier with one simple Facebook post. For weeks, we piled more and more items in our spare room and in Brandi's garage. And the night before the sale, we went to Corner Bakery and Panera Bread to pick up day-end baked goods. Phil went to Corner Bakery where he was excited about the box of baked goods he got. He even sent me a text picture showing me! I was stoked, until I saw what Panera was giving us! 6 trash bags full plus a huge box of baked goods! It was enough to fill the entire trunk and back seat of my Civic! I still can't believe it!

After working for 12 hours, at 5:00 pm finally called it quits! We packed up the remaining items, but weren't sure what we'd do with what was left! We had sold 3/4 of what we started with, but we still had enough left to fill my Civic and Phil's truck. We remembered that one of our fellow hikers was planning to have a sale this weekend for the same cause, so we asked if she'd like our remaining items. She said, "yes! Bring it over!" Our day felt complete: a long day of selling resulting in ~$900, visits by friends and family members, and now it was coming full circle, we'd donated to someone else! We were content, but we had to get all the stuff to Orange.

So, we headed out on the 22 fwy to Orange to a street called Palmyra. The whole way over, I was thinking of our friends who live on that same street, and thought we should stop in and say hi if we are close. Little did I know my friends live about 3 doors down from our fellow hiker. So, we even ended the day with a quick visit with our friends! Small world! And our day was complete!

I'm glad it's over, because now we get to focus on the party to thank our donors! The invitations will go out later today, but you are all invited! Sunday, April 25 2:00-5:00pm at Don Ramon's Mexican Restaurant! Come join us to win awesome prizes!

Thanks again to everyone who's donated to us (either in money or items, or both), who's helped us (Brandi and her family among others), and who's supporting us (in any way)! You are making this adventure possible!

Stacy