pictures coming soon

The Lake, The 4th of July, The Beach, Buffalo Bills Cornhole set, house getting hit by lightening..... pictures coming soon!!

love Katie

Buffalo Bound!

The lake vacation was wonderful! the lake was a lot closer than I expected - it only took about 45 minutes! The house blew our minds, it was spacious and just so comfortable. We could not have done any better! We brought tons of good for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the crown jewel was our boat. We loved the boat - this is where i was tricked. I realize now this was a fishing trip disguised as a lake vacation. I don't enjoy fishing but everyone else did so that was good - Ijust laid in the lake and got burnt while enjoying some tunes and a great book! On the last night I grabbed Jeff's pole and cast it out and caught a fish right away!

It's been waaaaaaaaay toooooo long since we have been home. Almost a year since we were home for the wedding! We are getting in late Thursday night and going out separate ways to hang with our families and friends. My sister and the kids are also heading home we are planning on visiting with our grandparents and a few aunties on Saturday. On Sunday we will help with set-up for the T's 4th party then run off in the early afternoon to attend the fabulous wedding of Evan & Yo down at Harry's Harbor right on the lake! Should be a fantastic night with friends - we are really looking forward to it. Sadly we head back to Atlanta on Monday night but REALLY looking forward to the big family vacation July 17-July 23 on Hilton Head Island off South Carolina. This time I will wear sunscreen!

Lake house ready

It's true, we are lake house ready! We leave in just about 6 hours with the Tudini family to a wonderful little lake house about an hour north of Atlanta. I could not be more ready! This month has been so crazy with hosting Selam and finishing work on the kitchen/living room. We haven't had any type of vacation since our honeymoon and we deserve one after the crazy spring we had! This past weekend was a lot of fun, it's been hitting record highs here so we spent much of the time in doors -buts thats what summer is like in GA! We worked on finishing the kitchen and living room Saturday and Sunday we shopped for food to prep meals for the lake and made sauce.

We have a very busy July in front of us, home for a long weekend for the 4th of July to see my family and go to a wedding, then a few weeks later we will be off to hilton head island for the beach vacation with my family. Im signing off but wanted to let everyone know what's going on and how much we miss everyone back home! I am going to force myself to take lots of pictures this weekend so hopefully I wont disappoint!

love

Katie

How the Tri went down

I wanted to talk about the Triathlon and since my family and friends supporting me I figure you may want to hear all about it too!

Renee & I headed to Lake Lanier at 5am on Saturday morning June 5th, and it was super foggy! We arrived to the Lake Lanier Island Resort at 6am and headed to checkin, where we starting to get really excited! We received a packet and our numbers, Renee got 747 so of course we starting saying she was a 747 JET plane! We headed into the bike transition area to set up our station - there was not many people there at first but the lot filled up really quickly. Before we knew it nervous first time triathletes were swarming around like bees!

At 7:45am we decided to walk down and take a look at the beach which was also the start of the swim. We realized it was going to be longer than we envisioned - time to panic! We went and got our goggles and made our way to the beach with everyone else. I started to get really nervous as we stood on the beach and saw the "next-timers" get into the water and the whistle blew. We ended up in the last group to leave the beach because of my age group so this was a relief. When the swim started I had a little panic attack because I got pushed out to a 6ft deep water level and couldn't see Renee. Once i was able to get towards the beach the swimming started. Jeff has this part of video but it was HILARIOUS. I was attempting the backstroke but kept hitting people and getting hit by people. I did my best to swim as much as possible but at one point Renee just said "start running!" and i put my feet into the sand and started running through the water!! haha

When we got out of the lake we really started losing time - we walked when most people ran to the transition zone. We took our time in transition and got our bikes and headed out for the 12 mile bike ride. We were fairly confident that the bike ride would be the easiest but we were WRONG - it was the hardest. We did not practice on hilly roads and this of course was full of hills. The weather was also a problem - high 80's. We were definitely tested during the bike ride - it was the hardest physical challenge i've ever had. I pushed through so many hills it was intense! On our way back to the transition zone I saw a few cars leaving with their bikes and realized people were already done with the race and we had yet to finish the bike ride - i started feeling really upset and down but Renee zoomed by me on her bike and I realized it didn't matter and we just needed to finish!

Coming into the the bike to run transition was a little anti-climactic because no one was there!! hahaha We dropped our bikes and headed for the run and thats when we saw our "fans". Im so happy we saw them when we did - we both realized that many athletes had finished the race and we were just starting the 3.1 mile run. I remember saying to Jeff "Hey, we like last!!!" and he just said it was fine and we could do this, also he made sure i knew he was so proud. That was just the boost we needed!

We set off for the 5K run and i wish we could say we did a lot of running but at that point our legs were jelly and we were just excited to be able to walk! The walk was reaaaaalllly long and soooooo hot. Of course there wasn't any water left for "runners" so we had to be tough and focus on finishing. When we turned the last corner we knew we had to finish strong and thats when we ran full speed - at this point we also saw our fans again at the finish line - this was the most rewarding experience. finish that race with my big sister was amazing and it ended up being exactly 1 year from the day we got on a plane together to Ethiopia. Amazing experience and I hope to have many more with my amazing sister!

Gwennie in Asheville

pictures!

New ride (still awaiting a name...any suggestions?)

love watching them work - Jeff & Selam

Jeff & Selam

Our First Triathlon! (we are not in this picture haha)

Brady Kidus

Spring has Sprung on Highview Ter!

The boys love Selam!

George, Mimi, Natan & Selam

Maryn Tsiggy & Selam

Katie & Selam

We found out who was sleeping on the couch at night

Keller & Katie in Asheville

Jeff, Nick & Andy in Colorado

Meeting Pioneer Woman!

Bills Games

Pulling down cobwebs

I have been a major slacker. After the wedding there seemed to be so little to talk about. We have been working on the house which has been slow and steady, nothing too exciting. I do realize this blog was a great way to keep our families and friend in on our little happy life in Georgia so I am really going to try to keep it up. This summer will be the test to see if the blog is back or dead for good.

Let's start with the house, we have taken down the way between the kitchen and living room. This has really opened up the rooms and we love it! We also finished the bathroom and Jeff did a great job -we love it!

I have changed jobs and I am really loving Georgia Tech!

We are currently hosting a young man from Ethiopia, Selam. He is such a sweetheart. He had open heart surgery on June 1st and will be staying with us until July 11th. I've already created such a strong bond with him, I'm going to be very sad to see him leave. It has been such a test of patience but I have learned so much from how strong and brave he is.

I squeezed in a great visit with my bestie, Ann. She stayed with us for about a week and was able to meet Selam!

I ran my first triathlon this past weekend and raised $450 dollars for an incredible movement called Run for Congo. It was the hardest physical challenge I've ever faced and was so proud of finishing with my amazing sister, Renee!

At the end of June we are heading to Lake Arrowhead with the Tudini crew for a much needed vacation

We are heading home for the 4th of July weekend to visit family/friends and attend the Smith wedding, we are really excited to get one after 1 year away!

At the end of July, the O'Brien clan is meeting up on Hilton Head Island for a beach vacation.

Here's to a summer full of posts & pictures!!

love and miss you all,

Katie

Swim, Bike, Run for Congo!

Dear Friends and Family
I am writing to ask for your help.

Almost no one knows (because the press rarely reports on it) that:

• More than 5 million people have died in DR Congo since 1998 as a result of what has been called "Africa's First World War".
• 45.5% of those deaths have occurred in children under the age of 5
• Women regularly endure savage gang rapes, torture and mutilation, forced cannibalism, being forced to watch family members brutally murdered, and are held as sex slaves by militia
• Women who survive have no means of supporting their surviving children, which accounts for the staggering death rate among small children.

An expert recently reported that conditions for women in DR Congo are the worst she has ever seen anywhere. Yet, there are very real, simple things we can do to save lives and help women to regain a foothold for life for themselves and their surviving children. Women for Women International, an award winning non-profit, operates a year long sponsorship program that provides these women:

• Direct cash aid
• Healing group work with other women who share similar experiences
• Training on how to operate a small business
• Literacy training
• Rights awareness training
• Seed money to start a business when they complete the program

I will be running my first triathlon on June 5th "My First Tri" consisting of a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3 mile run in support of Congolese Women. My goal is to increase awareness for the people of Congo and raise enough money to sponsor one woman for a year. I would love to have your support. It costs only $354 to support a woman in the Congo for an entire year. Your donation can make this possible. I am hoping to raise 25$/mile and there will be a total of 15 miles!

Please help me reach my goal of raising $375. Our simple efforts have a huge impact on the women and children in Congo. To a mother who has nothing, sponsorship provides a lifeline by providing her the means to support her children. Please pass on this blog to anyone and everyone you think might be interested.

Thank you for helping me to reach my personal goals and to make a difference.

Love,
Katie Tudini

Want to learn more about the Congo?
Run for Congo
The War
Children in the Congo
Women in the Congo
Oprah's: Postcards from the Edge
Falling Whistles


My Website: http://www.active.com/donate/runforcongowomen/KatieTudini