I just registered for the Bridge to Brisbane 2013! You should too! http://t.co/LjoeeKzJG4 via @bridge2brisbane

— Sandi Hicks (@sandihicks_au) August 20, 2013

'City 2 South' 14km Walk

Post walk - Everyone received a
participation medal.

Yesterday saw me finally put my sneakers on and participate in the 14km 'City 2 South' - walking the distance to raise funds for one of my favourite charities, 'South African Youth Education For Sustainability'.

I was thrilled to pass my $500 target on Friday morning, and gave me extra motivation to walk this course to the best of my ability. The official website had said that to prepare for this course, that participants should be doing 4 sessions of cardio and 1 weights session a week. I had this covered already in my regular gym activities.

The worst part about this walk, was the 5am wake up call on a chilly winters morning (with a Chest Cold).

Everything else about this walk was an absolute delight. 14km from Queensland Parliament House, through the city, across the river, down Coronation Drive, around to the University of Queensland and then back up through Highgate (HEARTBREAK) Hill before the final 1km downhill stretch to the finish line at Musgrave Park, West End. Can't complain about the event at all.

The course was gorgeous, the weather was perfect and the company was wonderful.

Approaching the 11km mark, preparing to pass Kevin Rudd
Ex-Prime Minister of Australia.

My lovely friend (and fellow SA-YES Supporter) Nicole walked with me, and helped me set the pace.

I had given myself the goal of around 2 hours 10 minutes for completion. I didn't tell Nic that. ; ) In previous years we have walked the 10km 'Bridge To Brisbane' course in 2 hours one year, and 1 hour 50 minutes last year. This course (an extra 4km longer than Bridge to Brisbane), we set a cracking pace of approximately 6.5km/hour throughout the 14km which saw us complete the course in 2 hours and 7 minutes.

I would like to thank everyone for their encouragement, their sponsorship and their support throughout the months leading up to this event - and I will be leaving my Justgiving Sponsorship page up for a little while longer if anyone has any spare change they would like to throw SA-YES' way.

I'll be participating in the 10km 'Bridge To Brisbane' on September 1 and will be looking for amazing sponsorship and support again. This will be the first year that I have participated in not one, but two charity walks. I'm even contemplating jogging the next event if I can get my fitness level up. 

Finally, good luck to Team SA-YES who are running the London 10km in July! :-)

Walking 24km for SA-YES

Over the next few months, I'm going to be participating in two separate charity walks and trying to raise as much money as I can for my favourite charity, "South African Youth Education for Sustainability".

Next month, (June 15) I walk 14km in the "City To South" race. You can sponsor me for this race HERE.

September 1st I will walk 10km in the "Bridge To Brisbane" race. This will be the third time I have participated in this event, and am hoping to complete the course in 1h 45m and beat my last time by a good five minutes. You can sponsor me for this race HERE.

To learn more about my chosen charity, please visit their website sa-yes.com. They do remarkable work!

Shocked. Stunned. Amazed.

The fact that I didn't even get the chance to blog about this portion of my latest fundraiser, speaks to the level of success that it has had. 

In December I bought 200 wristbands for my favourite charity, SA-YES (South African Youth Education for Sustainability). 150 wristbands were sold to fans in all corners of the globe, at a low price of $5.00 a wristband.

Less than 48 hours ago I received 50 wristbands back, signed by the delightful Ms Gillian Anderson.  Selling them for a set price of $30.00 each (with a certificate of authenticity), these wristbands sold-out in approximately 39 hours, with fans desperately trying to get their hands on them even after the website ceased selling them.

Thank you SO much to everyone who has made this such a successful charity endeavour (especially Julie from SA-YES). I am truly grateful for all the support.

Gillian's Autograph on one of the fifty wristbands.

Selling progress - so many orders to fill all at once!

SA-YES Wristbands

They're here! Finally they arrived from the supplier and they look GREAT!

At $5.00 a wristband, here is a very cost effective way that you can support SA-YES this holiday season. 

Head to the Aussie X-Files Fans @ Facebook SA-YES Wristband page to get your hands on some today. 

Countdown to 2013

It's that time of year where we countdown the final days of the year, and generally express what we are thankful for - or complain about how quickly the year has gone - or grumble because we haven't started our Christmas Shopping. 

I'm one of those people. I haven't started my shopping, the year has gone way too quickly, and OH BOY has the temperature gone up a notch in the last month. It is going to be a bloody scorcher of a Christmas. My friends in the Northern Hemisphere who find this hilarious that we have a hot Christmas, I challenge you to come down here one day and experience it for yourself. You will not want to have the traditional Hot Christmas Dinner... I'm telling you.  

This time last year, my fiance and I were on a plane bound for Canada. I cannot believe that a year has passed since we went to spend a month in gorgeous Vancouver/Whistler, British Columbia. I have missed it, (and our friends) every day since we have left. The more we plan our wedding, the more time we keep adding to our 'next' journey there. Currently, our trip stands at around five weeks!

I anticipate amazing things for 2013. I can sense it. It's going to be an amazing year.

I am super thankful to my family and friends (old and new) who have been there for me throughout the year. It's been a year of tremendous highs and really crushing lows - but it hasn't changed the person that I am. My Buddhist meditations have also helped more than I can even express.


Also - everyone out there reading my blog MUST dig deep, and buy one (or more) of the SA-YES Charity Wristbands that I'm selling.  At $5.00 a wristband they truly are a bargain, and help to empower young people in South Africa through the amazing 'South African Youth Education for Sustainability' program. To learn more about this amazing charity that I have supported since it's inception, please visit their website.  They truly do amazing things.

I anticipate that my next blog will be Christmas Lights photos. Perhaps even some touristy photos as my sister and soon to be brother-in-law will be arriving from Wales to spend 6 weeks with us. :-)

Wristbands for SA-YES

In what may be a crazy move on my part, I have just bought 200 wristbands to sell for the SA-YES Charity Drive happening throughout November. While I doubt that they will all get sold before the end of November, there's nothing stopping me selling them all by Christmas and then having a nice donation to give to them for the holiday season.

I hope that I can count on all my friends, family, and fellow SA-YES supporters to help me in this endeavour.

New Auctions to benefit SA-YES

Julie Baron from SA-YES has listed some amazing new auctions! Dig deep, and bid high! : )

It's awesome to see my name as a Friend of SA-YES. Was over at the website checking on a few details for our upcoming Bridge To Brisbane walk (happening in under two weeks now!) and saw my name flash up.

Love seeing a little reminder that I'm doing my bit to help South African youth every month.

If my blog readers have a few dollars spare, I'd love it if you could sponsor myself and my team as we walk the 10km course on September 2nd 2012. 

Please consider sponsoring myself and my team for the upcoming #BridgeToBrisbane event happening September 2nd. uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web…
— Sandi(@sandihicks_au) August 19, 2012

A gorgeous blog post from my friend Agent Summer -  'Your Daily Impact...'

#FML - This is my most hated hashtag on Twitter. Why? Because no one should ever hate themselves that much that they say 'Fuck my life'. Life is a gift. Sometimes we aren't happy with our lives, but hey - we have the opportunity in ourselves to do everything that we can do change them. 

Yes, I've been complaining a lot recently about the Gaga injustice, and I know that a lot of my readers think that it's probably pretty trivial (and it probably is, but I won't give up fighting for something that I believe is right) ... but I've seen people complaining that their life sucks, that they hate their life.

If your life sucks - fucking do something about it! We are all in charge of our life path, and our own destiny. If you're not happy, you are the only person who can do something about it. No one else.

Honestly, if you have a roof over your head, you have a job, you have an education and you have a little bit of money - you have nothing to complain about. If you have a family who loves you, you have friends that would do anything for you, you have nothing to complain about.

Why not take a moment to stop and think about those who don't have money, those who go hungry every night. Those that don't have access to an education. Those who will never even leave their city, or their own country, let alone travel the world. Those who live on less than $2 a day. Those who rely on the generosity of people who have a salary that donate money to charities around the world so that they can just have a meal at night, and a place to rest their worried head.

A very wise woman once said, "Be of service. Whether you make yourself available to a friend or co-worker, or you make time every month to do volunteer work, there is nothing that harvests more of a feeling of empowerment than being of service to someone in need." (Gillian Anderson) - honestly if you could get into these shelters, or even use your money to travel to Africa to see some real human struggles - then you could tell me that you have something to truly complain about.

How much money did you donate to charity last year? If your answer is none (because you had no money) - then that is the only acceptable answer I will take. If your answer is none, because you spent it on other trivial things that made you happy for a little while, and then went back to being unhappy with your life... my advice to you, donate a portion of that money to a charity and help change someone elses life.  It may not make you happier, but it will empower you just a little, knowing that you are bringing happiness to someone else.

[ Fandom ] Looking back...

I've been lost in my YouTube feed this morning. Watching favourited videos, watching uploaded videos from events, watching things that I have sent people. I just can't believe how much has been achieved since I started AXF back in 2008. Sure, I can believe it because I've spent a HUGE chunk of my free time doing it - but I also can't believe the size and scope of the achievements.

Our last fundraiser in 2011 for SA-YES generated $13250.00 which was all sent to the charity.

Not bad for a fan group on our own Unremarkable Island. 

 

 

 

Bid on the auction. Get a cool piece of memorabilia. Help a charity out. All parties happy! fb.me/X2sB8fF8 #XFiles #MillenniuM

— Sandi (with an I) (@sandiscully) March 26, 2012

Wear a hat on March 30th and support Brain Tumour Research. (via GillianAnderson.ws) gilliananderson.ws/cgi-bin/news/v… #WearAHatDay

— Aussie XF Fans @ FB (@AussieXFiles) March 20, 2012