From VLOG

August 20, 2012 was my 4-year cancerversary, and to celebrate that miraculous milestone, while simultaneously kicking off the countdown to my fab 5-year cancerversary/not-a-chemo-cocktail-party BASH, same bat time next year, I started this video blog of a year of living sincerely. It’s in honor of my beautiful friend Vanessa and her www.thelivesincerelyproject.com. Check it out to learn more about V, her excellent adventure of living sincerely—despite having had to literally fight for her life against stage 4 breast cancer mets to her brain. Damn cancer. I hate it. But I love V, and so will you. Come be inspired with me. I dare ya to take the plunge and take the live sincerely pledge. Cheers, love, and here’s to living sincerely, y’all!

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Me & My Mini Me (a short history of some of the videos we made)

August 22, 2012 Before the VLOG we just texted back and forth and I superpower wish I had those old videos, but this is the first time I VLOGGED about Maya.

2 We had a thing about sock monkeys. This is a video I made for her September 14, 2012

3 Sept. 15, 2012 that time i interviewed Maya for my VLOG in which she shares her superpower: that smile. aka the day when Maya stole everybody’s hearts on my VLOG (not to mention the heart of my VLOG and the VLOG itself).

4. Mason Arts Festival Sept. 17, 2012

5. Oct 2, 2012 the first time Maya hijacked my vlog and i knew it was time to dust off the old resume and start hitting the pavement looking for a new job

6. Oct 4, 2012 that time I literally had to picket even for a cup of coffee when my sweet mini me Maya the Magnificent hijacked my VLOG for the Taking Down Cancer segment of the show, for a second time. Despite the loss of my non-existent wages for my VLOG “job” these were my most fave times in the history of my VLOG not to mention some of the most precious moments of my life.

7. Oct. 10, 2012 Just another time Maya took over my VLOG—had me dragged away even, LMFAO!

8. Nov. 30, 2012 Maya’s laugh on #helium. Best. Sound. EVER. in the history of the world.

9. Dec. 10, 2012 Maya aka the Claw Whisperer

10. feb 5, 2013 Hijacked again! Maya takes over my VLOG and takes down cancer #mayacraft style

11. feb 17, 2013 that time maya came with me to get my dragonfly tattoo and her mama brought mimosas.

12. March 7, 2013. that time i ran the jerusalem half marathon with maya in my heart and her name on my shirt.

13. march 20, 2013. That time i prayed for maya at the wailing wall.

14. April 29, 2013 Maya, her purple crayon, and my purple mane.

15. April 30, 2013 Maya’s Magnificent Idea: #RAK the best kinda antidote to random acts of violence.

16. July 12, 2013 Like Mama like Maya

17. August 10, 2013 that time Maya’s magnificent mama jumped on the bed to wake Maya and her sister Anna up for me.

18. Aug 20, 2013 Pink & Blues sisters. once upon a time when we got our hairs colored together.

19. Aug 26, 2013 my rainbow sock monkey twin my mini me gave me

20. feb 24, 2014 reality bites. my fist attempt at spoken word. i wrote this after my friend vanessa died. she is the inspiration for my vlog. that same week maya’s mama and i went to the funeral of a little girl. this kills me to watch it. missing v. but also knowing that i could say it all again with maya on my mind. i’m wearing the stupid cancer tshirt maya gave me.

21. april 14, 2014 the flight of lovely dragonflies That time Maya, our friend Suleika Jaouad, and I were conspiring to do an epic event for The Dragonfly Foundation. Cancer doesn’t exactly cooperate, and the event didn’t go down but damn we had fun dreaming. Suleika is a beautiful soul who has dealt with the same kinda #AML#fuckcancer that Maya dealt with. She chronicled her battle in her “Life Interrupted” column for the The New York Times. And won an EMMY for her NYT video series. Maya adored her. She was one of her sheroes. And is one of mine.

22.  June 1, 2014 A video I made for Maya cuz URANUS gas. In which she (and savannah) once again hijacked the taking down cancer segment of the show by kicking cancer’s uranus gas.

23. June 13, 2014 That time I caught up with Suleika and 1)score an EMMY 2) prove the detour sometimes IS the destination 3) muse upon the notion of sprinkling kindness.

24. Aug 23, 2014 That time Maya and I did the ALS #icebucketchallenge and Anna Awesome Sauce dropped almost all of the ice freaking cold water on my head!

25. Oct 14, 2014 This is one of my faves. Just a day in the life. Maya and me. Goofing off and sending videos back and forth.

26. Feb 16, 2015 At the Dragonfly gala with Maya and crew

27.  Feb 24, 2015 just a video exchange with maya once when she was bored in the waiting room at the dr’s office.

28.  Pie Day 2015 Maya’s not in this one but I did it for Dragonfly.

29. Sept 1, 2015 Dear Cancer, a spoken word retrospective on my 7 year cancerversary, in which I speak of my purpose of being a cancer activist, especially when it picks on kids.

30. July 4, 2016 A taking down cancer I made with Yoss and Freddy for Maya shortly after she went back to the hospital for her 3rd damn battle with AML.

31. July 15, 2016 Another video exchange with Maya while she was at Children’s in the thick of her third damn battle with AML, in which she gave me a tour of her room!

32. Another taking down cancer video I made for Maya, and also I gave her a reciprocal tour of my balcony.

33. July 18, 2016 A video I made to send Maya with a bunch of my friends at a local storytelling event in Cincinnati called Bespoken Live. It’s an evening of crafted storytelling riffing off a four letter word. Kinda like The Moth. The word of the evening was FREE.

34. Aug 11, 2016 A video my Redheads and I made for Maya in which we take down cancer in a pool and then Amanda sings the Cancer is a Bitch song she wrote for me.

35. August 14, 2016 Maya and I made this taking down cancer video when I visited her at Children’s Hospital, right before she went to St. Jude for the 3rd bone marrow transplant.

36.  sept 12, 2016 a play it forward challenge video I made for Maya’s magnificent mama and Maya

37.  March 16, 2017 just a video dave and i made for maya cuz we lava her

38. Oct. 8, 2017 And last but not least, the video I made for her at the queen bee 1/2 marathon this year, which i ran in memory of her.

 

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MASK

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This is a #fbf to a superpower freaky Friday I had two weeks ago, in which I did a superkaPOWer scary thing and go up ON A STAGE at a storytelling event in Cincinnati. The event was produced by my friends at Rebel Storytellers. These BESPOKEN events are seriously one of the funnest night’s out in #Cincy. (Save the date: the next BESPOKEN event is January 15, 2016!) The storytellers (and the band) (also there is improv) all riff on a 4-letter word. Previous words have been: KISS last Valentines Day, HERO this past summer, and MASK was the one we just did the week before Halloween. None of the storytellers know what any of the other storytellers are riffing about. It’s pretty magical how it all fits together and unfolds.

Here’s a selfie I took from the stage to remember that time I channeled my inner #littlebravetoaster and did a superkaPOWer scary thing. (As you can see some of those scary peeps are obvi zombies getting ready to jump the stage…or break out the thriller dance;)

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Here’s a video the hubcap made of my MASK story:

Click HERE to read my MASK story. So superpower STOKED to have it up on my friend Jen Pastiloff’s most uber fab Manifest-Station!

To sum up: doing scary things ROCKS!

My next BIG scary thing is the #Route66 marathon/world’s shortest ultra in Tulsa later this month. I signed up before I got sidelined during August and September, when I had to have Operation #outdamngolfball #golfballectomy #hysterectomy #oopherectomy #wholeshebangectomy surgery. I feel like I’m back at least 75%—which is way better than when I wondered if I would ever be able to run again without my insides falling out! I ran the #cincinnati #queenbee #halfmarathon a few weeks ago to gauge where I was in the #comeback process, and whether or not I thought I could/should go for the full at Tulsa’s epic #route66marathon. My conclusion is: #ithinkican #tulsaorbust #okiedokie. It may not be the fastest or prettiest marathon in the world, but the finish line and obvi the BLING will still taste superpower yummy! I will run, walk, CRAWL to it if I have to! #turtlepower #slowandsteadyeatsthebling #cowabunga! And also obvi, I’ll be instagramming it UP! So make sure you follow me there @joulesevans if you wanna get some kicks on Route 66 by taking a virtual run on #themotherroad with me!

What’s a scary thing you’ve done recently and what’s the next scary thing on tap for you? Post below. #ithinkyoucantoo!

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Sticks, Stones, & Rubberbands #word

A year of living sincerely. Episode 274. I made this one last week, on my #lucky7 year cancerversary, but #chemobrain and also #squirrel…i forgot to post it. A reflection on the power of words and how freaking lucky I am to still be standing. Here. Now.

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pfffts the word!

A Year of Living Sincerely. Episode 273. In which I have a fartblaster kinda day and decide to pass it on aka “How to enter to win your own fartblaster”. Here’s the link to my book: SHAKEN NOT STIRRED…A CHEMO COCKTAIL on Amazon. To celebrate my #lucky7 year cancerversary, the Kindle version is FREE this looooonng and cheers-y-est of weekends of 8/20-8/24. Please help me flip off cancer by downloading/sharing/writing a reveiw and I’ll choose a random winner next week! Here’s the link to my book. Cheers and all the love, joules

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Gonna fly now.

A Year of Living Sincerely. Episode 272. In which I bust outta the hospital after my surgery! #OperationOutDamnGolfBall #FORE! #imarunnernotagolfer #postcardfrommysurgery

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1 Runner Grrrl 2 Feet 3 States on the 4th

A Year of Living Sincerely. Episode 271. Here’s what I did last summer. Last July 4th. I was on my epic #roadtrippinroute66 #bucketlist roadtrip. And I ran the Kansas leg. Which is 13.1 miles. From Missouri through Kansas to Oklahoma! I was running 6 halfs last year to celebrate 6 years cancer free and this was one of them! Best July 4th EVER!

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Racing Stripes and Dragonflies

A Year of Living Sincerely. Episode 270. Getting ready, getting set, getting stripes for this weekend’s Run Under The Stars All Night Endurance Run in Paducah, Kentucky. Getting a little advice and cheerleading from my little warrior sister Yosselin the Awesome and her brother Freddy the Photobomber. Hoping to check off a major bucket list goal and finish a full marathon over the course of the night. With such a crazy cool tribe of peeps like this cheering me on I’m feeling pretty lucky and super pumped! I’m running this race by myself but I’m running for Team Dragonfly! Especially Super Riley and Izzy Pop who are both rock stars in hard places right now. Please pray with me for them! Also I will be wearing the names of all my cancer peeps on my shirt so if you’d like to take a walk on the wild side with me, on my shirt, lemme know. #ididitfordragonfly @dragonflycinci

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All in a Daze Move

A Year of Living Sincerely. Episode 269. Some clips from moving day at the Evanshire. Especially for Amanda aka @anafterwave aka @loonydaray, since she couldn’t be there/do that. It’s obvi a little lengthy for posterity sake. Cuz I wanted to capture ALL the memories. #postcardfrommovingdaze

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Ripple Effect

A Year of Living Sincerely. Episode 268. Part 3 in a series of interviews I did with my friend Emily Kimball about the documentary she’s making about ordinary peeps doing every day but extraordinary things to combat human traficking. Part 1 was an interview with Emily about the history of the film. Part 2 was an interview with a sweet little girl named Vanessa about a lemonade stand she had to fight human traficking and help support the making of the documentary: Heart. Beats. Slavery.