National Start! Walking Day Is TODAY!

Today (Wednesday, April 6) is National Start! Walking Day, from the American Heart Association.

Did you know that just one hour of vigorous exercise will increase your life expectancy by two hours?  The American Heart Association invites you to make the pledge to start walking, become active and heart healthy.  Wear your sneakers to work on Wednesday, April 6 and take 30 minutes to get up and get moving.

Encourage your family, co-workers, and neighbors to participate.  Have fun and get a group to walk on a lovely spring day.  Or change one of your indoor, sit-down meetings into a walking meeting.  Walk more and eat well to live heart healthier and longer.

Heart issues are something very close to my family now, after my mom’s double bypass and valve replacement. It’s something I’m much more aware of now. Less than two days after my mom’s surgery, they had her up and walking around. No excuses. Her and I have started trying to walk more. She’s doing better than I am 🙂

So get up and walk, even just 30 minutes. You’ll be glad you did!

Long Beach Giving Project Progress!

On Monday, Mom, Michael and I went to Joann’s to choose the fleece blankets we’re donating to Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach. We choose some really cute patterns, and a good balance of boy and girl designs. Michael had a great time putting his two cents in LOL

 

On Tuesday, Mom and I went to Affordable Treasures to purchase the baby items for our church’s Food Pantry. This was going to be the difficult part! We had $136 left to purchase items. It was a 50% sale this week, so it took a pad, a pen, my phone’s calculator, and about 2 hours to get it right. And we did! I spent $135.86. These bags, in addition to the 4 bags from the Long Beach Giving Project Dinner & Presentations, will be going to the Broken Loaf Food Pantry at Lakewood First United Methodist Church. I’m so thrilled. Both of these projects are close to my heart. It’s alot of work, but sooo worth it 🙂

  

Bday Week #6: Perfect End To A Perfect Week

Saturday, a good day despite some health issues. Mom and Michael were my guests for the Long Beach Giving Project Dinner and Presentations. I was… Scared. To. Death. Hard to imagine, but I’m not a fan of public speaking. Let me rephrase that. I loathe public speaking with a fiery passion. But this was something that meant a lot to me.

My grant proposal was to use $125 to purchase 4-5 No Sew Fleece Kits, make 16-20 blankets to donate to Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach. Then I’d use the second $125 to purchase 100-250 baby items and donate them to my church’s Broken Loaf Food Pantry. We have a Clothes Closet, where our food pantry recipients can take clothes with them. We are always running out of baby clothes, so I wanted to help them.

We got our seats, got our food, and the presentations started. There were 31 semifinalists chosen out of 100+ submissions. So I was pretty thrilled to be there. I was so so nervous, and nauseous. So naturally I ended up being near the end LOL Most people just spoke from memory. I had written my speech, simply because I knew I’d forget something. I did my speech, then after the $250 mini grant semifinalists all spoke, the $1000 recipients spoke. They were “competing” for an extra $1000. The judges went in back to deliberate, and they asked the semifinalists to line up onstage. I thought I’d pass out! Justin called 15 names, and mine was not one of them. “Oh well,” I thought to myself, “it was still an amazing night!” I had met a couple of people who were interested in donating to the Food Pantry. So I considered the night a success.

Then Justin called my name.

My stomach dropped. I couldn’t figure out WHY he was calling my name when the 15 recipients had already been called! I was in such shock that I didn’t answer, I could only look at my mom and Michael, who were shocked and giddy. He called my name again, and this time I answered and stepped to center stage like he asked. He used “the power of Facebook” and collected two large trash bags, a grocery bag, and a brand new gift bag with brand new items for the Food Pantry… and I received the $250 grant!

I got emotional at that moment, and again the next morning when I told my church about it and they all cheered. It was the best end to one of the best birthday weeks EVER!

  

Bday Week #5: Party!

Friday was an absolutely insane day! I went into work, and had a bit of a surprise from my coworker. She felt bad that she had missed my Birthday Lunch on Wednesday, so she left gorgeous tulips on my desk! I had a very odd attack, I got dizzy and sick, so my boss let me leave early. On my way home, I missed being in an accident by about 30 seconds… literally! I made a u-turn, and there was an accident right as I parked at the curb! On my way home, I got an email that I was a semifinalist in the Long Beach Giving Project! I was told I had to present my idea on Saturday at the Awards Presentation and Dinner. No pressure right?!

My friends and I started at Fuddrucker’s for dinner. Quite a few of my awesome friends showed up: Lisa & Chris, Jen, Eddy & Matt, Heather, Jonathan, Guitar Tom, Bridget & Chris, Tracy & Matt, Suzanne, April, Dina, Dad & Larry… it was fabulous! After Fuddrucker’s some of us went to Flite Room. And it was insane LOL Bridget surprised me halfway through the night with a very large and very yummy chocolate cupcake with curly q candles! Eddy made a little speech and had the bar sing Happy Birthday to me. It was a crazy crazy night, filled with laughter, fun, and a bit of drama. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday dinner.

And how did the night end? My hubby took me to the park for our First Dance. For various reasons, we didn’t have a First Dance at our Reception. So he took me to the park and we danced to Lucky (the Glee version of course) while Kaylee looked on from her car seat and giggled. Absolutely perfect.

Bday Week #4: Cupcakes, Singing, And Mexican Lasagna!

My actual birthday was March 23. I was woken up by my family. We have a long standing tradition: mini cake and a song on your actual birthday! Michael led the singing, and instead of a mini cake I got six cupcakes. YUMMY! I had to work that day, and my boss took me for a delicious lunch at Alegria in Downtown Long Beach. He took me last year, and I fell in love with their meat lasagna concoction! He had also gotten me Glee concert tickets a few weeks ago! He got tickets for me and Ryan, so we’re going in May. WOOHOO!

Bday Week #3: A Big Change, And Our Vow Renewal

March 22: Two (not quite equally) big things happened that day.

 #1 I chopped my hair off. I had wanted to grow it out for Locks Of Love. But I’m Native American, and if it gets too long, I get migraines. So off it went! I ended up getting about 4-5 inches chopped off, possibly more since my hair is layered. It’s short and cute, I love it!

#2 March 22 was me and Ryan’s 3 year wedding anniversary. We got married on the Queen Mary. But this year, I wanted to get married in my church. It never meant a lot to me until my mom’s surgery. So that was Ryan’s gift to me. Pastor Ken did a beautiful quick vow renewal, and yes I cried 🙂

Afterwards, Ryan, me, the kids, and Mom all went to dinner at Denny’s. Yum!

Bday Week #2: Giving Back

March 21 was a busy busy day. I opened up my Birthday Charity Auction at Brianne’s Basics on Facebook. It was my first time running an auction, and we ended up raising about $50 for Ride For Kids, which benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

BIG thank you to all my vendors!
4th Street Deli * A Navy Wife’s Creation * Anchored Heart Designs * Bear Haven Boutique * Bot’s Knots Blankets * Brianne’s Basics * His And Her Secrets * Jessica’s Artwork Jewelry & More * KT Designs * Little Girly Things * microfiber-products-online.com * Military Love Jewelry & More * Scentsy by Dina * Secret Passages Bookstore * The Littlest Sweet Shoppe

Monday was also the day I submitted my idea to the Long Beach Giving Project. I submitted an idea very close to my heart. But I’ll talk about that later 🙂
“Inspired by Oprah’s “Big Give” and “Idol Gives Back,” Rudd said $20,000 plus in goods and services (not cash) were given locally to those who needed it most during this 4th annual project.”

Bday Week #1: A Glee-ful Start To My Bday Despite RAIN!

My 32nd birthday was on March 23. And boy was it a year to remember!

Sunday, March 20, I went to see Bonnie Dune perform at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. Corey Monteith from Glee, my absolute favorite show and new obsession, is the drummer for the band. He’s actually an amazing drummer! I drove down to SJC, but on the way I stopped in Los Alamitos to pick up 4 BIG bags of beanie babies, a donation from a local woman for Operation Gratitude. Then it was time to head out there. Unfortunately that was also the day a huge massive storm hit So Cal. I couldn’t see past three car lengths in front of me for most of the trip! I arrived out there, got a little lost and thirsty, so I stopped at Albertson’s. I head back to my car, and realized I locked my keys in my car. Noooo! I called my insurance, who called a tow truck guy, who at 6pm said it’d take an hour. Not good, since my ticket said the concert was starting at 7pm! I called the venue, they said Bonnie Dune wasn’t going on til 9pm. Whew! I finally arrived, and the host sat me right up at the front of the stage! The band was awesome, though their set was kinda short. After their set, I got to talk to Josh, the bassist, and explained why I needed an autograph so bad from Corey, for my Birthday Charity Auction LOL Josh told me to wait and hang out, he’d see what he could do. So I hung out, and the bouncer kept trying to kick me out LOL But I ended up being able to meet the entire band, including Corey. All of them were really really nice and sweet. And Corey thought it was hilarious that Kaylee knows all the words to Rocky Horror Glee! I was on Cloud 9 the entire way home, which is good since the storm got worse, I had to pull over, and the CHiP kept slowing us down 🙂

Lessons from a blogger

I’m relatively new to blogging. I’m still a toddler 🙂 But I’m learning. Write what you know. Write about your life, because you won’t get this time back. Don’t jump at every blogging opportunity. I’ve learned the hard way that many companies really don’t care about you as a person. There are some who do. One in particular, the owner has become a good friend of mine. But hey, a business is a business. They care about money first. But the biggest lesson I’ve learned is stay true to yourself. If it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t. Trust your gut with everything. Blogging is no easy feat. But it helps you learn more about you, and sometimes you get lucky and meet the real gems in this world 🙂

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