I was raised by my parents to always “finish what i started” because the sense of completion after accomplishing a goal is so inspiring that it builds your spirit and sets the foundation for success.

Today, i rest in a hotel room in New Jersey a night before the elections; with the background of Obama’s last speech in Virginia broadcast on CNN, after two slices of broccoli pizza, and a heartwarming conversation with my boyfriend all the way on the West coast; I lay in my bed wondering how to be most productive this evening, after organizing receipts from my recent travels and putting my finances in order, after writing a “to-do list” which included laundry, apply for my first credit card, and call my New York friends, i found a gift certificate for kiva.org inside my binder. It was $25 that Cesar had gotten for me while we were on the road.

Kiva was introduced into my life on a cold summer day, after a snow blizzard in Montana, as we rode up a mountain at 4mph and we shared stories about things in our lives which inspired us. Cesar told me about micro-economics; and that is when i first heard about kiva.org. We knew that we wanted our summer adventure to stand for something meaningful, and not even a week passed when we declared kiva.org to be our inspiration for the rest of our journey, we would dedicate our efforts, our challenges, our overcoming, our strength, in honor of this great organization.

So i find myself still awake at 3am in Wayne, NJ, writing this blog. Because i want to finish this journey that, due to an unfortunate accident, came to a premature halt only 700 miles from reaching the east coast of Virginia; I want to jump back on my bicycle and ride through the Appalachian Mountains, not just with Cesar, but with all of our friends who would like to challenge themselves to be part of something amazing this coming summer of 09!

This blog is an invitation to all of YOU to join us as we ride 700 miles form Berea, Kentucky, the Gateway to the Appalachians, up the mountains, through the valleys and to the coast. We ask that you join us not only by riding alongside us (or driving a support vehicle if you cant pedal), but also by joining kiva.org and making a donation that will change someone’s life by providing them with the possibility of growing their business.

My goals are the following:
* that at least 10 of you, our friends will chose to join us this summer for two weeks of both physical and spiritual challenge that we will overcome together, as a team.
* that everyone who joins us on this journey (the whole group that rides with us) will also become a kiva member and will be making loans to entrepreneurs in third world countries.
* that we will learn about teamwork, that we will grow as individuals and with one another, growing closer as friends on this adventure
* that we will do something extraordinary and that we will feel proud and empowered to accomplish more extraordinary things in other sectors of our lives.
* that not just my friends and family, but that all of YOUR friends and families will support our journey and will learn about kiva.org
* that we will have a super fun and unforgettable 2 weeks of summer filled with adventure and laughter and challenge and growth, and natural beauty!!!

So i urge you friends, to start thinking about taking those 2 weeks in the summer, to take your bike in for a tune-up (or just bring it to Cesar!...he’s become quite the expert at tuning and fixing bicycles), and to start setting things up in your life so you can make this happen for yourself!

Check back to this site for updates, because we will hopefully have dates in mind soon, and if you think that this adventure is one you would like to be a part of, then send us a comment on this blog so that we can get an idea of how many of our friends might be interested.

I am so excited to share this with all of you!

love.love.love.

Change my World, by the Agape Children's Choir.