Training week 2!

So this week I got up to 5 miles, and I have $250! (YAY!) My week went (day by day starting with Monday) 3,3,Rest,4,3,5. The last day was by far my easiest day this week. I don't know why my early shorter days were so hard but I was really struggling. I would have to sit there and pray over and over in my mind that God would give me the strength to get through it.
I don't know if I told everyone the story behind my doing this run. I had been thinking about doing a half marathon for a little while and someone mentioned the Disney runs, so I looked into them and saw the Disney Princess run. It looked fun to me but I didn't have anyone to do it with and they didn't allow dogs to come so I decided not to do it. Then in church someone said their friend was doing a mini triathlon so I thought ooo, that might be fun plus its not just running and if I find a local one I bet I can bring the dog. So I looked up local triathlons and the first thing that popped yo was the Disney Princess run... not the Disney runs, the Disney Princess run specifically. I thought that was peculiar since I had just looked at it earlier and again thought about doing it but again I talked myself out of it by arguing that while training, my longest runs would be when I was in school so I wouldn't really have time to do it. Then the very next day my boss said he heard about the Disney Princess runs in Orlando and thought I might be interested in. Well here I finally started to get the message. Someone was putting this run in front of my face way more often than for it to be just a coincidence. So I prayed. I told God that I didn't know why he would want someone to run for him, that seemed a bit random, but that I really felt like he was trying to tell me to do it. So I asked him to give me one more push if it was what he wanted me to do and that I would do it even though I still didn't understand why the God of everything would want me to do something as simple as run. So I waited and sure enough a couple days later I heard about Team Freedom on my radio and I heard about Abolition International (IA) and I just started to cry. I wasn't sure why I was crying but I knew this was God telling me to run. I looked up how much money I had to raise to be a part of team freedom and I was definitely daunted but I knew God would provide it. As I started writing my letter of support I started looking up information on IA and the statistics associated with human trafficking and I started crying again. It broke my heart to hear about all those little babies existing day after day after day in a living hell and then I thought how much pain it must cause God, the one who loves children so deeply, to see this happening in our world to his favorite little ones. And then I knew why God wanted me to run for him.
So that's why I run. And when I have hard days I just pray He always gives me that extra push to finish. So that's my story and that's really why I'm doing this.
Thank you all for the prayers, my knees are pain free and my asthma has not once given me problems so praise the Lord for that. The only pain I have is in my ankle although it usually goes away pretty quickly. Next week I should be up to 7 miles so wish me luck!

Training week 1!

So what I've decided to do is post every week and  with updates about how training is going and how close I am to my fundraising goal. So far were at $0 but I know that number is only going to go up!
So week 1 of training has come to an end. It wasn't too hard this week, all I had to do was pretty much establish I could do 3 miles with out too much struggle. I've been mostly trying to get my time down. I'm at about an 8 minute mile right now which so I'm anticipating running for about 2 hours on the actual day. I'm hoping I can get my time down to 7 minutes but I'm not stressing about that too much.
I'm excited to finally have a running partner though. Bullet is great motivation. He stays right by my side on the way there but then once we turn around he takes off. Practically dragging me back home. Which is good, the run back is always the hardest part and I get tempted to slow down, but Bullet has none of that. I swear this dog is part husky. I'm thinking about entering him in the tractor pull at the state fair.
But other than that its going well. My knees are a little sore but nothing distracting. My ankle hurts a lot though. I'm pretty sure David broke when we first started dating and it healed wrong, lol. (Long story, but basically he pushed me into the corner of a shelf :) ) I'm keeping it iced and hoping that it just doesn't get worse.
Continued prayers are appreciated! Hope everyone's week has been fantastic!

XOXO

My first half marathon!

Hey Everyone!

As some of you may know I’m starting training for my first half marathon! This February I will be taking part in the Disney Princess half marathon in Orlando. I’m running as part of Team Freedom, a state wide team started by one of our radio stations here in Florida. They are running and raising money on behalf of Abolition International (http://abolitioninternational.org/) which is an organization fighting to end domestic and international human trafficking. Once I heard about Team Freedom in the car and I heard why they were running and who they were running for I knew I had to join in the fight.

The average age of girls sold into prostitution in the world is 12. The number of sex slaves now is higher than it has ever been in history, and no country is immune. About 1,000,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders yearly, 80% are women and children and 50% are minors. An estimated 200,000 American children alone have been forced into the commercial sex trade in the United States. Human trafficking is arguably one of the worst evils in existence which is why I am running for the freedom of those enslaved.

I am trying to raise $600 with a deadline of January 10^th. What I’m asking is for each person to donate $10. I have to send one check on that day to Abolition International so donations can be sent to me by that date, cash or check. If you send a check please write Abolition International in the memo line. You can send them to this address:

4634 SW 45^th Ln.

Gainesville, FL 32608           

(They are a 501(c) 3. All donations are tax deductable.)

If you can’t support financially I would greatly appreciate support in prayer, specifically that my knees will hold up and that my asthma (which oddly after almost 5 years of consistent running and no problems is giving me grief all of the sudden) will subside. I’ll post updates on my blog as I go so keep a look out on that.

I can’t go out and rescue each child who is suffering, as much as I wish I could, and I can’t give bags of money to make it stop either but I can run and with your help we can make a difference.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up for the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9

-       Princess Joanna Thomas

Horses Helping People...

So I realized its been a while since I updated people so I figured I'd go ahead and try and make a post, my first post, in fact, as a 22 year old (...wow I'm 22, I definitely don't feel old, but at the same time I have become acutely aware of how fast time goes by.)
So I went out to the equine therapy program today... finally! And it was wonderful. Not only to be around the animals which was so uplifting to my spirits but to see them interacting with the kids in the program and vice versa. The horses were so patient with the kids allowing the kids to kick them, poke them, throw balls at them, and they just stayed slow and steady. Then they would stand still while the kids 'washed them down,' which they certainly tried to do with as much gentleness as possible but some of these kids weren't as aware as perhaps they could be and the horses just waited with the patience and gentleness of a saint. It was quite inspiring, and comical in a way because their whole attitudes changed once the kids left. They became much more cheeky, trying to sneak in a bit of grass, nibbling on their harnesses, being a bit pushy for attention, and a little less patient; it was very cute but also very awe inspiring because you could tell they new when it was time to work and they new the needs of the individuals riding them. It was a wonderful time, apart from coming home with what looked like chicken pocks from all the bug bites!
Apart from that there's nothing really new going on. I would appreciate continued prayer for sleep and a better job situation. My insomnia is getting really bad, along with the nightmares I'm getting about 2 hours of sleep a night and its really starting to effect my judgement so prayer for that would be greatly appreciated. David, bless his heart, has been staying on my couch to help wake me when I'm caught in my dreams so unfortunately his sleep has been suffering also but god bless him for staying with me. Prayer for him would be appreciated also. His job situation is going much better than mine so thank you, Lord for that blessing.
Alright I think thats pretty much it. Sending love to NC. xxx

Temporarily hijacked...

Well, I am officially a car salesman. I sold my first car, a 2011 BMW 328i to be exact. Black on black. I am loving my new job. They have a ceremony for the new salesmen where once you sell your first car they cut your tie, so today my tie was officially cut. Needless to say I'm hopeful that there are many more to come but I'm very excited to get the first one out of the door. I'm also hopeful that this is the beginning of my career. It took a lot of searching and thought and push from Jo for me to find this new path but its certainly an exciting one filled with potential. And happiness for that matter. I actually enjoy going to work every day which is something I don't think I've ever been able to say. Plus when Jo and I are married and move to TN it'll be a job that I can continue there, so I guess what I'm saying is its flexible. Its just full of possibilities and like I already said I'm excited. So if anyone needs a car, I'm your guy. Wherever you are and whatever your price range I can hook you up.

Until next time,
David Weaver
BMW & VW of Gainesville
(919) 819-0414

The video...

So apparently the video didn't upload because its been removed from the Internet. You can still read about the court case that resulted from the video (which ultimately brought no injunctions against the facility). But it was from Carolina Biological. And it showed various clips which I'll tell you about but probably wont have the same effect. First you saw a chick grabbing a cat by its scruff and when it tried to crab the cage she said 'Go ahead, grab it so I can rip your f****** claws out' and proceed to allow the cat to grab onto the cage and yanked it off the wires. There was also a video of a monkey who was forced into a clear tube barely big enough for it and had to stay in there..... you can see it panicking I'm sure due to the claustrophobia and the fact that it doesn't understand why it cant get out. You also see them spraying dogs with very powerful hoses and the dogs cowering in the corner unable to escape. The woman spraying them yelling and cursing at them the whole time. Then you see them restraining a monkey and forcing a tube down its nose and evidently missing a couple times because you can hear them laughing about it and the under cover agent says 'your going to kill it' and they laugh and someone says 'yeah I'll stuff it down its f******* throat!.' You also see a bunch of animals in very small cages just walking in circles (With blood on the walls). A symptom of OCD which can result from prolonged entrapment with out stimulation and can lead to mental instability. (Which the monkeys at the Primate Sanctuary clearly exhibit). Its painful to watch. Truly painful.

Monkeys, Primates and Apes.... Oh My!

Soooo last week I started working at the Primate Sanctuary which is a lot of fun. Its really a lot easier than the work I did at the tiger rescue, if for no other reason than the monkeys are all on vegetarian diets so we don't have to handle meat (or gut deer or skin baby goats or make blood ice cubes or chicken gut jello). So I'm enjoying it. I've met a lot of lovely people and some really remarkable primates. Almost all of their little guys are rescues (a couple were born into their facility due to inaccurate information about the 'vasectomies' of some rescues). A lot of them were private pets who were given to the center because they became to much to handle for the owners (shocker!) but some of them were rescued from testing facilities.
Its heart wrenching to see these monkeys. They seem to have gone crazy. There is nothing natural about their behavior. It really got me to thinking. Whats unfortunate is that a lot of the tests that were done on them were tests that don't seem to make sense to anyone. A lot of the people I talked to were in agreement that its understandable that sometimes you have to subject animals to discomfort and testing to help develop cures for people. For example, we get that you have to sometimes give an animal cancer in order to help develop successful treatments and cures but a. when you have to test on an animal why cant you provide them with kind, sensitive and trained caregivers and comfortable and adequate enclosures  and b. why does our government allow our taxes to be used for other testing that makes NO SENSE!
For example, there was a test that was done at a university (which for legal names wasn't named) which was being funded by the government for an amount of $2 million. What they did in this test was impregnate 4 chimps, 2 they fed healthy food and two they overfed with very unhealthy food. They terminated the pregnancies of 2 of the chimps half way through (one of each) to study the fetuses. (Which is very traumatizing for apes since they are extremely maternal and understand pregnancy and have been seen to extensively mourn in the wild if they experience a miscarriage of some sort and seek comfort from their family members) The other two they allowed to come to term and give birth and the removed the infants the second they were born. (Which again is even more traumatizing to a mother chimp, and of course the baby) Next they proceeded to submit the baby to tests designed to create acute fear in the baby. They did this because they wanted to see how a mothers diet effects a baby's fear response.............
Let me remind you that $2 million of our taxes funded this, not programs to help educate women about the positive effects of a healthy diet but to see how a chimpanzee reacted to having the wits scared after it moments after it was born and ripped from its mother. This makes no sense and I think most people would agree that this kind of testing is just pointless. There are some other stories of pointless testing relating to the monkeys at the sanctuary but this blog is already long so I wont go into those.
But the more I hear about these and the more videos I see where the handlers are just being mean to the animals and their living conditions are horrendous the more it makes me want to work for PETA to advocate for some changes in the regulations regarding animal testing and to push for regular inspections. Right now the law does create some regulations for animal treatment but all of the regulations are followed by 'unless for scientific necessity.' I think this should be removed from some of the clauses especially the ones relating to the treatment of the animals by the caregivers and the environments they are exposed to.
Here's a link to probably the worst video I've ever seen. I know a lot of you probably wont watch it because you don't want to know about the things that go on in the animal testing world mostly because you don't know what you can do about it. But just because you don't know doesn't mean your not accountable. I understand if you don't want to see the images of what happens that's fine, its overwhelming, I know, just as long as you still take action. It seems hopeless but its not. There are so many resources out there that will give you instruction without you having to have the horrible images in your mind of what happens, just please don't just sit around, do something, most things you can do are simple.
For example, if you must eat fast food eat Chick-fil-a. Up to now I'm unaware of any violations at their chicken plants. DO NOT EAT MCDONALDS OR KFC they are the worst offenders. Which makes no sense because if Chick-fil-a can do it, a store that's open 6 days a week and only serves one type of meat and can make a profit then there's not reason an international chain like McDonald's that serves all types of food and is open 24/7 in most places cant do it too.
Alright, I'm climbing down of my soapbox.

Miss ya'll!!

Come dress yourself in love...

Well after hours of searching, more phone calls than I can remember and a 2 hour drive I finally found my wedding dress! I definitely had the 'this is the dress' moment when I put it on. Now its just a matter of ordering it which I've decided to do once I get a job. I've still got plenty of time :)
Other than that I've officially settled into my new home. Its pretty great here, I'm not gonna lie. Don't get me wrong, I miss everyone but I'm really enjoying myself so far. I'm still praying for a job, I have one but its not for the pay I want nor enough hours so I'm still lookin, but considering how well God has provided for me I trust he'll continue to do so. David and I have found a church called Kanapaha Presbyterian Church. Its so pretty. So far we like it a LOT but we've only been there once so we'll see how that goes.

Also, I'm so obsessed with this song right now. I think everyone needs to hear it :)
http://youtu.be/1vh7-RSPuAA

Trying on the dress/skype instructions!

Ok folks, so the details for the trying on of the dress: The date is going to be the 12^th, so one week from now, and the time is going to be 2:15. What I need for people to do who want to be part of the call is

a)      Let me know you want to join in

b)      Add me as a friend on Skype jo.thomas369 or give me your ID and I’ll add you (if you do it this way you have to confirm me as a friend otherwise I can’t add you to the call group) no later than Saturday since I’m driving to Orlando Sunday morning which is where the dress shop is (http://lilysbridal.com/)

c)       Make sure you are online by 2:00! (I’ll start the call at 2:10 and make my friend Chelsea hold the phone while I change J )

d)      I’m not one hundred percent sure how the talking is going to work but I’m pretty sure everyone will be able to hear everyone.

e)      You don’t have to have a camera, but if you don’t I won’t be able to see you L, but you have to have a mic of some sort if you want to be able to talk to me.

I may try on some other dresses but the main one I’m most excited about is the Maggie Sotero Poppy gown. They have a number of other Maggies also though so I’m certainly going to look through those, but I really love the Poppy gown. J

Also, as an aside my goal is to have all the big wedding things organized before school starts in January, so if we can get this Skype thing coordinated then I can include whoever is interested in whatever they want to be included in.

Getting super excited!!!!!

Durm roll please...

So as some of you may know, David and I had to change the date of our wedding to accommodate my school schedule and after much deliberation we decided on September 21st 2013 for the date of our wedding. We picked this date because 9/21 is the international day of peace so what better day to celebrate the union of two people :). And 2013 because that's the year I graduate. So mark your callender's!

Fare thee well my fairy fray...

So I am taking a moment out of the day to do one last post from NC. I’m leaving in the morning at 5 am… sucks. But then I will be on my way. I’m really excited to be following my dreams but I am going to miss a lot of people. I am completely at peace about it though. No nervousness and no anxiety. I just feel like this is truly the path God wants me on and so I have nothing to worry about. I am really starting to appreciate the verse that says “if God is for me, who shall be against me.” He has continued to make my transition effortless on my part so I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy the journey he’s taking me on. But anywho. I have my new mailing address so if you need it email me. We also got our engagement pictures done! I’ll post some on Facebook soon.

Also I’m trying on a wedding dress in like two weeks, yay! And I’m going to try to set up Skype so that people can see me try it on. I’ll let you know the details on that in another post a little bit later so if you are interested in being a part of that then be sure to look on here and send me your Skype ID so I can include you. My Skype name is jo.thomas369 so feel free to add me so we can talk.

 And I think this is the design for my wedding cake:  4 octagon tiers and on alternating sides a black and white picture of David and me (and the kids) and quotes/versus/sayings we like.  And then sunflowers and sugar crystals randomly sitting around on the edges with blue ribbons. For the topper were going to have probably silver animals surrounding a silver W but were not a hundred percent sure on that one since I may not change my last name.  J Ok that’s it for now, david is here with the U-Haul so we gotta go load it up.

So long NC!

If I ever were to have a dream job...

http://www.elephants.com/ this would definately be it.

And to think that once I graduate this dream could become a reality... Just a year ago I hated my school, my degree and what I thought my future was going to be and now I'm literally just a few short years away from having everything I ever dreamed. I'm blessed beyond words.

P.S. David and I have taken up trail running! Its super duper fun but a killer on the legs. Were enjoying finally having an activity we can do together though.

He has provided

Some of you may know that David and I were more than a little concerned with how we were going to afford moving down to Fl. We knew we wanted to move at the same time since that would be much cheaper but between the rental van, our respective pet needs, the deposits, we each had to have the first months rent, gas going down and a list of other things we just didn't know what we were gonna do. But as is his way God has provided which certainly takes a load off! Yay!
... as an aside I sometimes I really think he puts me in situations that seem completely impossible just to remind me how incredibly powerful and amazing he is... I also wonder how many times he has to show me that for me to stop stressing out over things when I know he will always provide for me lol, But I'm workin on it, (Psalm 18!) Fortunately his patience, grace and love is infinite...
anywho I officially signed my lease a couple days ago so my move-in date is the 1st of June! (not the 31st like I had previously thought.) Only 5 weeks left, so I definitely wanna make the rounds and see everyone one last time before I leave so expect phone calls!
P.S. I have a new email: zoogirljo@gmail.com

Projected wedding date and determined wedding location

So I thought I'd let everyone know what's going on with the whole wedding date/location thing. First of all we want to wait a while so we can save a little more and also after finding out that I literally will not get any breaks longer than a couple of days while I'm in the program David and I decided were going to wait til after I graduate to get hitched. Soooo in order to avoid having a birthday month overlap an anniversary month we figure September of 2013 is the best month to do it in plus it'll give me about a month out of school to get organized. What this also means is that we will definately be getting married in Florida. Ok I think that's it for now.

xoxo

So I'm moving to Florida

OK folks, its as official as it'll ever be, I'm going to Florida. In about 5.5 weeks to be exact. So I decided to go ahead and set this up for a variety of reasons. 1. So people who are interested can stay updated with whats going on in my life without me haven't to call everyone all the time because I know I'm terrible at that 2. To share with everyone my experiences at the zoo with the animals (and in Florida in general) 3. and finally to keep everyone posted on any wedding dets. that come up. The posts will be short and sweet I promise, so for anyone who is interested here you are. I'm super duper excited!

<3