- Good Moms -

I was reading a blog this morning, about this woman who suddenly felt so inadequate after spending time surfing the world wide web. She had pointed the finger at two commonly known websites: Facebook and Pinterest. This lady had such a great point. She said that ladies on these websites really seem to have it all together, which in turn makes us seem to have it all well – all over the place.

I do honestly believe that there is a new Tidal Wave hitting women these days. This wave crashes into you very quickly, usually after you have pinned 1700 different projects and read about how all the suzy homemakers are having great days with their kiddos. It’s becoming more of a trend. We pin all of these projects, read all of these perfect life status updates, and then evaluate ourselves and in my case think “I’m a horrible mother, who has nothing together, who doesn’t decorate with the right color palates, who walks into hobby lobby and needs a Xanax because pairing the perfect décor together is worse than my ACT test.”

I have a friend, who I am actually friends with, who is facebook’s most realistic mother. She loves her children unconditionally. She is one of the best mothers I know. She doesn’t sugar coat a single status update. In fact, I am so impressed with her status’ I want to share one of my faves:

Easter Confession: I have never dyed eggs with my kids. It seems like it would be an exercise in disaster with John, and Jane would rather eat Robin Eggs. Yep, Mom of the Year over this way.

(I changed names for their protection J)

This Self-proclaimed Pinterest addict has surely seen millions of “how-to dye the world’s most incredibly perfect, super crafty, call me Martha” Easter egg tutorials. But she doesn’t lose sight of the fact that a plastic Easter egg, perfectly decorated with stickers is just as good as any other Easter egg tradition out there.

I truly admire this friend of mine. She is a very dedicated stay at home mother. She is an active and hands on mother, who has raised two beautiful children. She works extremely hard, around the clock, right now single handly and she makes things work. Best of all  - she’s not pretending on Facebook that her life is all macramé and cupcakes.

To all the ladies out there who have a stock pile of throw pillows, who have plenty of time for house keeping, crafting, cooking, exercising, gardening and blogging – PLEASE SHARE YOUR SECRETS!

To all of the ladies who can’t even use the potty without one of your children beating down the bathroom door – if you can keep them locked out long enough to finish your business – PLEASE SHARE YOUR SECRETS!

My 60 mile Journey!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start a Journey of a Lifetime? Have you ever imagined that the possibility is just right under your feet?

                When you arrive, the air is crisp, cold, and calm. Looking out of the passenger side window I tell Kirt “I don’t want to do this, no one is going to like me, they won’t want to walk next to me, and they will think I am holding them back.”  Kirt just sat there and stared at me as tears poured down my face. “Please don’t make me get out of this car. I really don’t want to walk 60 miles. What if I can’t make it?” Kirt continued to creep forward very slowly as about 15 vehicles in front of me unloaded there weekend bags. I remember Kirt was really quiet. Then he said “Everything is going to be ok, you’re just scared and that’s alright.” He parked the car, my heart stopped, he opened his door, I stopped breathing, he grabbed my bags, holy crap, he opened my door, omg he is going to pull me out of this car, he looked at me, I looked at him and then my legs began to work. I stood up out of the car and I said “Promise to cheer me on?” He agreed, told me good luck and kissed me goodbye.

                A very kind lady carried my luggage to the moving truck that would meet us at camp later the first day. All I could think was “Holy crap, how am I supposed to pitch a tent!” I thanked her for her hard work and ventured toward the opening ceremony stage. I spotted a 3-Day gear tent and looked at some merchandise. Surprisingly, I didn’t make a purchase. I was too nervous to shop!

Then I saw this:

                My phone rang; it was one of my team members Rebecca! She told me where to meet her, and so began my search for a stranger. When I found Rebecca, she greeted me with open arms. Rebecca had done this walk once before and was very relaxed. It was so nice to already have a friend with me who was physically standing there helping me ease my worries.

                My phone rang again. It was my blister sister Nicole. I had “met” Nicole in January shortly after signing up to walk in Dallas. Nicole was a big help in my fundraising and in my staying sane. I could not wait to actually meet her in person. Nicole was behind the stage. She had the honor of carrying the mother flag for the opening ceremony. Nicole’s mom lost her battle with breast cancer and ever since Nicole has made Breast Cancer Awareness her platform and Research her mission. Nicole and I gave each other huge hugs, tears of joy began to flow, and then I headed back toward Rebecca because Lord knows I didn’t want to get lost!

This is Nicole:

                Once I met up with Rebecca again, I met my last 2 team members, Lisa (a lion tamer) from Dallas and Faye (on tough mamma from Houston). Lisa and Faye were tent mates and they had never walked in a 3 Day before either!  I really think that God had a plan to put comfortable people in my life. Believe it or not, I’m a chicken especially when it comes to meeting new people. God put 4 of the most laid back, fun loving, Starbucks  craving, down home people in my life for that weekend.

                The opening ceremony began with me being hit upside the head at least 15 times with giant beach balls. After being packed in a cage like a bunch of make up wearing, smell good sporting sardines, we had a group stretch. Not even kidding, this was a horrible idea. I got zero stretching done and had a bunch of stranger booty all over my legs. 

 In this picture below.... Notice the inflatable??....  It wasnt alone...

                Dr. Sherri Philips came out on stage, and that’s when you realized all of your hard work to earn your spot in this walk was coming full circle. I watched in awe as Dr. Phillips reminded all of us why were in Dallas. It wouldn’t be until the end of the walk that we would find out that together, DFW walkers raised 7.1 million dollars!!

This adorable little package is Dr. Phillips with the Monkey Curei Osity, who walked in all the 2011 3-Day events:

We gave a salute to the survivors circle, and then we hit the pavement. (some broken sidewalks, lots of curbs, sometimes grass – you know all that fun stuff)

                The city of Dallas is so amazing. They have some of the most amazing people you will ever have cheer for you. Not too many miles in, we came to a school where all the children were able to stand outside and cheer for us. They created signs, they screamed on the top of their little lungs. It was so cool!  I remember this one little chunky guy who couldn’t reach the top of the fence to wave, I had to run across the street and give this little dude a huge hug and high five. Bless his little heart.

(These are the kids from the school!)

              There are people around every corner helping us out. This lady was an awesome crew member who helped us cross the road and always "lied" to us about how much further to the pit stop! (they all lied, ok they probably didnt lie but they always said "ALMOST THERE.")

               

After walking through some absolutely beautiful neighborhoods and wondering if I could ever live in Dallas it was time for lunch. You would be amazed at how quickly you can walk 10 miles. It was like we had only walked 4 or 5. You are so busy talking with other men and women that time rushes right by. Lunch was provided in a beautiful little park, where you were able to eat Panera Bread sandwiches and rehydrate. You could also check in at the medical tent if you needed to. I needed to mole skin some hot spots, so I got taken care of.

LUNCH:

Dallas has some of the most amazing cheerleaders. Training would be so much easier if I had people cheering me on all along the route!

There was this lady, and her Right boob:

Then, there was this guy - he must really understand a walkers pain:

Check out Rebecca and Lisa with this Breast Cancer Awarenes Fan:

 

                After Lunch, you can shuttle back to camp or keep on walking. Camp was at a beautiful college, which I cannot remember the name of now. Once you get to camp on Day 1 you have to pitch your tent right away. You find your luggage, grab a tent, and then walk your happy 
(cranky) buns to the proper camping space. Remember I told you that I was completely panicked over pitching a tent? God sent me the sweetest little boy scout who pitched my tent while I walked my poor feet to the medical tent.

When I entered the medical tent a trainer from UCO in Edmond was there to take a look at my nasty blisters on the bottoms of my toes. He said we really needed to pop them. THE PAIN WAS HORRIBLE! When he looked at my left foot, he asked why it would be so swollen. I lied and told him I had no idea, and that it wasn’t in any sort of pain. Truth is, I was in an excruciating amount of pain but I didn’t want to get a “red” card so I just kept my mouth shut. 

                After my feet received the painful treatment I went to my tent, laid my sleeping bag out on the grass and shut my eyes for a good 2 hours. The sun warmed me while I was resting. When I woke, my tentmate and blister sister forever Nicole was there. She asked if I was ready to get up. I told her I was ready for a shower and so to the portable showers I went. There I was able to take a long hot shower and get my pajamas on. The 3 Day campsite is one amazing place – see everyone eats dinner in their pajamas! How cool is that? I had forgotten a towel and flip flops, but my sweet mother in-law and husband came to my rescue! I was never so happy to see a pair of house shoes in my life. My blisters were still killing me at this point. I mean, so much that I had to walk on my heels.

                We ate a really good dinner. The best mac and cheese ever, then there was a little camp show and it was time to hit the …. Cold ground. I think that it’s best not to sleep too comfortably. Some people brought luxurious sleeping arrangements (which in no way, shape, or form was less than the 35 pound weight limit but let’s not go there) but I really still feel like sleeping on a yoga mat and in a sleeping bag was the best option. I was forced to move and stretch out all night long. My best tent buddy in the entire world wore a forever lazy to bed. She said it was really awesome. I was kind of hoping she would write forever lazy a letter and tell them that she did this, then ask them to sponsor us and provide us with forever lazy sleep wear in pink for next year’s walk.

Nicole in her FOREVER LAZY!

                So, when you wake up its FREEEEEZING outside. Ok, like artic cold. Ok, not that cold but close enough. I wore about 17 layers on day 2. Ok I just had 3 layers on but I’m telling you that it was so cold. You get up and you don’t want to go to the porta-pots (they flushed and that was really cool) because you can’t see. It’s still dark at 5:30 am and you’re cold but you go potty anyways. Then it’s time for a fabulous breakfast that would have been more fabulous if my hash browns weren’t frozen and I’m not even kind of kidding here. If I would have taken a bite of my triangular hash brown I would have lost a tooth.

This is where you get your food at 5am:

               

You have to be ready to hit the trail no earlier than 6:50 and no later than 7:00 am. We were off at 7 am. My feet honestly felt like a million bucks now that the blisters had been treated. All the girls and I hit the trail and off we went to walk 20 (it turned out to be 27 that day) more miles. This day I soaked in a lot of new people. About every 3-5 miles you will find a pit stop. This is where you can rehydrate, use the restroom and get medical attention.

This is also where I met a trainer named Kelly. It was at this pit stop  that Kelly  asked me if I was doing ok, I told her yes I was fine. She asked if my left foot was bothering me and I told her no not really. She commented that she had seen me limping and just thought maybe I would want to get it checked out. Then, I told Kelly the truth. I looked her in straight in the eyes and then hung my head down low. I told her I was in a bit of pain but it really wasn’t too terrible yet. Then I told her that my foot was still fractured, and followed that statement with “Please don’t red card me.” She just smiled and said I won’t, but why would you do that to yourself. Then I told her – My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor, my stepmother is a second time Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor, a kid who works from me has lost his mother to breast cancer, my uncle lost his sister in-law to breast cancer and my husband has two aunts who have both survived breast cancer. Cancer doesn’t stop because you have a broken leg; Chemotherapy is still given if you have a broken bone. I’m not going to stop walking because I have a broken foot, I just cannot do it. She looked at me and said “You be careful” then tears began to pool in her eyes and she said to me “You have really touched me today.” Kelly became my favorite medical staffer throughout the entire walk. Every time she would see me, she would just do a quick check up and off I would go. It was a blessing to have someone so awesome to count on when my feet needed some medical attention.

PEOPLE DRESS LIKE THIS!!! IT MAKES THE WALK SO MUCH MORE FUN!!!

               

Along the way I met the sweetest woman, Barbara, who did not dress like this! She and I walked together the entire afternoon on day 2. We only swept one time this day and it was for just a mile. We had so much fun talking about everything in the world. It was like our pain escaped our bodies as we enjoyed each other’s fellowship. 

Check out these little cheerleaders:

When we got back to camp Barbara and I took a picture by the Day 2 sign and then went to get massages from the Bank of America Tent. HECK YES!

                Then It was dinner time. You have never been so darn hungry in your life. Check out what our “dining room” looked like while we were there:

                Night 2 was so sad. It was the last night you had together. It was so emotional. You had barely known any of these people for 24 hours and you just don’t want to leave them at all. Speaking of emotional, this man whose wife was currently fighting another battle with breast cancer walked. He carried a flag that said “My hero” the entire way. As if that was a big enough tear jerker, he also carried a flag on his backpack:

                Morning of Day 3 I was so ready to kick some ass. Kelly made me tough out the bone chilling pain of icing my broken left foot the night before. Then she scolded me just a little, smiled, and sent me on my way. J She told me that I really needed to take Day 3 easy so that I could finish strong.

                I waited in line forever trying to get on a bus (everyone was shuttled to the starting line) and in the meantime my handsome boy scout came to my rescue and packed up my tent for me! This was the waiting area for the shuttle on day 3:

               

(See what I mean by too dark to want to go potty!!)

I made Faye stop and get some medical attention from my buddy Kelly! But, Kelly wasnt there yet so she had to settle for a cute young medical staff guy. I dont think she minded. (i know i didnt mind!)

 Another Reason Why I walk. This lady is 39 years old and she is a 10 year survivor. Not only is that sad that she was diagnosed at my age - but its inspirational, because we are coming so far.

                Day 3 would take us through a slightly scary part of Dallas. I saw several bums and thought we may have even witnessed a “deal” but we just kept walking and minding our own business. At the time I don’t think I realized the purpose of God routing us through there. Now I look back and I realize that this walk is bigger than we are. Its purpose, goals and missions are to help others. Believe me when I say on this journey, you’re not only helping to fund breast cancer research. It’s much bigger than that. Maybe we inspired someone to reach out to homeless people. Maybe we inspired the homeless people to do something bigger and better too. I was warned that we would be around several bums in a certain district of Dallas. So, I packed my pockets and bag as full of food as I could and handed out meals along the way.

WE DID NOT FEED THE GORILLA!

               
The last couple of miles, I don’t know where you find that last little strength but you do. My feet were experiencing labor pains, my legs burned, my head ached, my body was weak. The team members I walked with all felt the same way. Aches, pains and weakness wouldn’t stop us from our goal. Faye, and her blood soaked shoes slung across her shoulder.  She walked the last 15 miles in socks. This was by far the worst part of Dallas to walk without shoes but she wasn’t going to let a little blood (It was a hot mess of blood, the outsides of her feet were rubbed raw and bleeding ok!) stop her.  We pushed on, and as we walked our last 3 miles it rained for the first time in 3 days. I remember saying “These are the angels who left this earth fighting breast cancer. They are crying because they are so happy that we took a stand, we are fighting for a cure, and we won’t give up.” In that moment we all shed a few tears, walked a little farther and the rain stopped. I remember leaning on my team as they leaned on me. We would pull each other across that finish line if we had to.

 My Hero Faye:

FINALLY!!! MILE 59! We had made it to the mile 59 mark. halllayllllooouuuuuYA! (halleluiah) Technically this was like mile 66 if you remember the extra 7 miles from day 2 – but hey whose counting!

This last mile, is very emotional. You know that you are almost there; you don’t realize how many people are awaiting you. You just push through all of the pain to get to the end. When you embark on mile 60, all the crew, medical staff, and fellow walkers who have made it there ahead of you are there ready to cheer you on. It’s so awesome! A feeling of accomplishment is followed by feelings of joy, love, HOPE, peace, honor and so much more. You did it. You rallied for a cause, you raised much needed funds for research, but most of all you raised awareness. From the community you live in to the community you walk in – you touched a few hearts in this life.

 Nicole, Rebecca, Faye, Lisa and Yours Truly!!

My beautiful team at the finish line! This was such an amazing journey and I am so blessed and honored to call these ladies my friends. Breast Friends Forever! J Love you!

After you cross the finish line you get to go to a closing ceremony. It is so powerful and so moving. Then, you get to meet up with your family. I didnt take any pictures, in fact not many of us did. It was too emotional and you just wanted to be able to be with your new friends in that moment. It was awesome!

Im walking Dallas in 2012. Will you come with me?!

Time to get cookin!

Late last night, way past bloggers bedtimes, I came across a new charity which I cannot wait to dig into! Have you heard of Bake for Hunger?  Well, the organization I am talking about has paired with Duncan Hines to Bake for Hunger. I am talking about Share Our Strengths Great American Bake Sale. No Kid Hungry.

Basically, you form a team (or you can do an individual event) and together your team plans a huge bake sale. Then you pre-heat your ovens, bake up a storm, and sell baked goods – all proceeds going to After School and Summer Reading program grants.

Share Our Strength is a leading organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. Here are some ways the funds you raise can help: (this came directly from thier website)

·         $25 Can help feed one child three healthy meals every day for a month.

·         $50 Can help connect one child with healthy meals throughout the summer.

·         $100 Can help provide 25 children facing hunger with backpacks full of healthy food to feed them and their families over the weekend.

·         $200 Can help buy grocery bags of healthy foods for 50 families in need.

·         $500 Can help reach twelve low-income families with a life-changing, six-week nutritious cooking and food budgeting course.

To find out more about their efforts, please visit: Strength.org.

Obviously, this is going to be a “continued later” post. But, I do promise that I will be working for this organization as closely as possible. God is so cool. For a week or so now, I have been talking to God about creating a Food Pantry that services SWKS. See, there are several food pantries around but here are 2 major problems:

1.    Most are only open every other week. Well, this could mean that families may run out of food before the pantry re-opens.

2.    Gas. Prices. The higher they climb, the less likely families will be able to travel to pantries once they open.

It really doesn’t take much for a human being to purchase a couple extra cans of veggies or an extra box of rice when they make a trip to the store. You’re feeding your future. Kids need to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. I think that they should even have an option for snack. They shouldn’t feel guilty when they eat. “If I eat, my mommy won’t get dinner.” Kids have so many other things that they should worry about while they still have a childhood. We all know too well that once your childhood is over – it’s over.

You know, I think about my children and pray that IF we ever need food assistance that my children won’t have to carry the burden. How unfair.

Please stay tuned, and please let me know if this interests you as much as it does me!! Maybe, together we can make an impact on ending childhood hunger.

Today’s my birthday! I’m loving my day! So many blessings!! :D

Bucket List

Alright, So I have been gone for a while .... but I promise I am back!!!! Woo hoo!!

I really needed to share this: So here we go!

So, once upon a time… I told everyone to start working on a bucket list. I still think you should create a bucket list, but now I have new advice.

First, let me back track a bit. So, once upon a time… I had a bucket list. I was able to cross a couple things off this bucket list in that first year that I had it. Then, we flew to Florida, where I would be able to check off a few more items on my bucket list. But I lost the bucket list in the hotel room. I have called and reported it missing. It has broken my heart, shaken my ground, and rocked my world. I still don’t have my bucket list. But today I’m not sick about it.

Every night, I walk between 2-4 miles. Tonight, I told God that I am very upset that I don’t have my bucket list anymore. I told him that he knows I function best when I have a list no matter what the occasion (grocery shopping, weekly menus, to-do’s, and bucket listing) …..

You know what I think I heard tonight? I think he wanted to tell me that the bucket list I made, that made so much sense to me, that lead me in the right direction, that helped me stay motivated, that continuously focused me – wasn’t as important as GOD IS.

You know, thinking back to when I wrote that bucket list. I was in the lowest of the lowest part of my life. I had no hope, no direction, no idea where we were headed.   I decided if I had goals, and I knew where I wanted to go in life I would be alright. Well, the bucket list helped – but it wasn’t what pulled us through. God was.

I got caught up in the moment, and never asked God if any of my bucket list items were in his plan. Does he want me to swim with dolphins? Or would his list for me have something more like “fund a school in Africa and watch it be built?”

I’m going to make a new bucket list. One that God guides me to write. I am not saying that this will work out his master plan for you or anything like that… I really think it’s important to know what you would like to do in your short life you have – but don’t add things that may be more for you and less for others.

Give.

Secret Millionaire - If you haven’t watched this show - you need too!! It’s fantastic. It brings a refreshing and inspiring perspective to your Sunday evenings. I admire people who are givers. Givers don’t expect anything in return. They are humbled by giving. They understand that other peoples troubles aren’t self inflicted.

There are a lot of people who need attention, most of those people are what I like to call takers. They take, take, take. If they don’t get materialistic things, well then, they want the media attention. It would kill these people to share a thing. They can’t believe there are such stores as second hand stores, and they cannot accept the idea that others live in poverty by fate and not always by choice. Takers have high expectations for the world, yet don’t respect themselves enough to walk away from the lifestyle that has defined there very selfishness. There are every day takers, Hollywood takers, and then there are political takers.

While I don’t believe public healthcare is the answer, I don’t understand why we continue to allow people to die because they don’t have insurance. Autry was in ICU for 9 days - 7 of which he was an uninsured 13 month old baby, intubated and unresponsive, administered between 19-23 drugs per day. Not once was I brave enough to mention that our medical insurance was to expire, and that we would not have any coverage for the majority of his stay. Today I owe nearly 170k in medical bills. Not by choice, by fate. That week, was the most humbling week of my life. I am sure that if I live to be 100 I will still be in massive amounts of debt, but I do not worry about my financial future any longer. I have been to the bottom, I know what its like to not know what will happen next. I know that it’s a struggle that we did not ask for. I wish that people wouldn’t have to worry so much about their health and healthcare. Maybe they could worry more about getting medical clearance for jobs, physicals, vaccinations. I was talking to a friend who was looking for a job. She told me that she didn’t have the money to get to her physical let alone pay someone to tell her that she was “all clear.” Luckily she was able to get to a county health clinic. But it really has me wondering if people really cannot get jobs because they don’t have medical coverage which allows for them to get appropriate treatment before starting…

When you realize that it doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive, where you purchased your prom dress, or where you graduate from college - you will discover the “True. You.” If materials define who you are, you will someday be introduced to a rude awakening. You don’t get to take that expensive gown, those designer shades, or designer tote with you when its time to leave the earth. Some people get rich quick, and its those people who bug me the most. I want to shake them and say “do you not remember what it was like to be grateful, thankful, or humbled by the small things.” don’t ever be too foolish to realize that everything you have can be taken away. I remember a sermon that we need to learn that we must hold everything loosely, because when we grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries our fingers loose and takes it from us!
Recently I was watching this Repo show on tv and these “dancers” were so ticked off at the repo man because he had to take away her brand new corvette. She was so upset that she beat him up, and later went to his office and slapped him across the face when she couldn’t use her “good looks and southern charm” to get her car back.

Do we hold on tight to things that we shouldn’t? Do we cherish our new vehicles more than we cherish our friendships? Does staying out late at a high school party mean more to you than keeping your families trust? Do you let your attitude destroy long standing relationships?

We have a friend whose parents literally lost everything in a house fire last week. I began to think about life in a slightly different way. If my house burnt to the ground. If my pictures, clothing, money, food, decorations, appliances, toys, and keepsakes were all gone too … where would I stand. Will I have lost everything? Or will I still have relationships that not even the widest wild fire could take away? Friends, Friendships, Life long relationships are not built around pick up trucks and name brand attire. Your true friends will be standing there next to you assuring you that what is really important is that you are all ok.

Care for your community -

I went on a walk or tour of our town tonight. I wish that everyone would look around at not only their home, but their neighborhood, their city, and their state and ask themselves “Is there something that I can do to better this place.” Have you ever considered starting a neighborhood restoration program? A community restoration program? Have you ever thought about adopting a highway? Cleaning up around a historical point of interest that is important to you?

There are so many opportunities to make a huge impact in the places you care about the most. What is it that holds you back? Time, money, kids, the feeling that one person cant make a significant impact? Admit the obstacle to yourself. Then decide if that is really what is keeping you from volunteering a service once in awhile.

Let me help you decide what is truly and obstacle. So lets start with money. It doesn’t cost very much money if any money at all to volunteer your time and services. Join a group who cleans a highway. Some groups clean on a weekly basis (I like to call these the super hwy group.) some clean on a monthly, bi-monthly, 6 month basis. You can walk up and down a highway for little to no cost. I used to do this in 4-H and have recently decided that this is one of the simplest ways to get re-involved doing something for the state and earth. The people you pick up trash with are usually in great spirits and will motivate you every step of the way.

Time… when Kirt and I recruited people into ACACIA we used to tell kids who said “I cant join because I don’t have the time.” that it only takes as much time as you want it to take. If you only have a few seconds to make and impact - consider not tossing your trash out of the window. Consider writing a check to an organization that you hold close to your heart. If you have more than a few seconds then you should begin brainstorming some ways that you could volunteer your services. Again! Time is only a factor if you allow it to be! Pick a service that only takes what you can offer. Getting in too deep will make you feel as if you are unsuccessful. Volunteering for something small and manageable is a great start. Once you get a good feel for the organization you will be able to decide if you may have a little more time to set aside. Really, the truth is - making a difference is contagious so you WILL begin to find more time. Promise!

Got Kids? Lots of organizations will reply “Great!” Several organizations love your kids to be involved. Relay for Life is an event that kids are welcomed with open arms! I love having a kid on my team. Why? Well because one person from your team must be walking at all times. So, when its 3:30 am and I am considering taping my eyelids open … I opt for sending a young one out to walk the track. Give them mountain dew, candy, and glow sticks and those kids can walk for hours!

A little bit goes a long ways - so you should never think that a small act is going to be “too little.” You can really talk yourself out of doing things because you don’t think that your idea is going to be enough for the cause you want to help out. I have found out, in these last couple months that a little bit goes a long ways!
Ok so I understand that completely seems vague, let me give you some great examples! :D The simplest act you can do is to donate a little money, sometimes we don’t have money. Consider going to an elderly care facility at Christmas time with your friends. Sing Christmas carols to the residents. The ideas are endless and always remember that simple is sometimes sweetest. Sometimes it’s the smallest acts of love that mean the most.

Your neighborhood, community, and state are all in need of your services. Whether you bag your neighbors leaves in the fall, raise money to start a safe hang out for teens, or begin the task of restoring one of your favorite historical landmarks your services will not go unnoticed.
Make a difference. You can do it!!

　
　

Rollercoaster

Life is an incredible journey. The paths are long, wicked, twisted. The miles are countless. Some people walk an amazingly short life while others have the blessing to endure longer trips. If you have breath, you have purpose. I really believe that we are all here for one main purpose. To enrich the lives of those around us, as a child of God.

This last month has been a rollercoaster ride. Speaking of which. Once upon a time, I turned 21. That weekend, we went to KC to the casino and Worlds of Fun. I took Kirt on his first roller coaster ride. We decided to ride the Timber wolf. It was AMAZING!!! To every rider except kirt. He hated it and hated me.

This rollercoaster month has taken us from meeting a beautiful church family, to losing a very close friend, enrolling in college, to getting news that Autry may have yet another surgery. It seems like if something good happens there is something bad lurking in the background. Let me tell you that it has been a trip. I lost a lot of focus, but I am back!

I want to get back into the blogging groove. It really keeps me focused on my misson! During this rollercoaster ride, I have had a lot of opportunity come to me and I want to share a little bit. If anything strikes you as inspiring I would love to have some help so msg me on facebook!!

This year alone, I am so excited to embark on so many new adventures that will not only enrich my lives both those of others. My biggest honor this year and its only March - is that I was named as an Ambassador for the Three Day For A Cure this fall in Dallas! I am going to walk 60 miles over the course of 3 days. I am going to be surrounded by a family of walkers who are there because they have one thing in common: We all believe that the road will lead us to a cure. You can follow me at
Future plans consist of feeding families at the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City. I absolutely cannot wait to open my heart to families who are in the deepest need that they have ever been in. I have spent plenty of time in the RMH. I have grieved with parents and families, I have been inspired parents, I have been encouraged and shown light to many families.

I am also planning a very awesome event that will consist of an entire community coming together to package meals in order to help save the starving! This adventure will be thrilling, humbling, and honoring. This project is in the works, and there will be plenty of information to come.. . Please stay tuned

God has so many cool plans in store for me. I have really allowed for him to use me. Which has been incredibly fun…. I want everyone to understand something though - just because you open your world and life to God and just because you allow him to use you … it doesn’t mean everyday is going to be amazing and care free. There are still so many trials and tribulations. Some days the load that I am expected to carry seems to be nearly impossible, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. See, allowing god to use me to disciple to others has created amazing opportunities for me. http://letswalkthisway.blogspot.com/