Please Help Save Balue Part 2

I posted Please Help Save Balue two weeks ago.  I told you of the love of my dog, Balue, and how he was recently diagnosed with cancer.  His fundraiser at http://www.microgiving.com/cause/save-balue has been absolutely a miracle and everyone who has shared and prayed and donated has helped to almost raise enough money for him to have his life saving surgery, he should be able to have it very soon if the donations keep coming, and live a long, happy, healthy and spoiled life!  As of right now with online donations, cash donations, and personal items I have sold we are up to $2150.  I'm just in awe of how wonderful and amazing people are! 

I made this short video, that you will find below, about Balue for everyone who wanted to see more pictures of him and learn more about him.  I have so many pictures of my baby that it was hard to narrow it down, but here are a few of my favorites!  Please enjoy!

If you are wondering if this is a real cause please note the "Verified" seal on the upper right hand corner of his donation page.  If you hover over it you will see that it signifies that I have provided paperwork to verify this is the real deal, which included a letter from his Dr.  Some people are iffy about inputting their information into the website, I have full faith that you should have no worries, however if you do I can give you either a mailing address or a paypal address to send donations to.  Just email me here if you'd like to send a donation directly to me instead of through the website.  Due to an effort of keeping my personal privacy, even though I do have a big dog to protect me, I will not be giving out my home address.

Please continue to share his story, pray for him, and if you can donate at least a dollar... please donate that life saving dollar!  Help Balue however you can to see his 6th birthday in June of this year!

Once Balue has his surgery and is in recovery I will post again and let everyone know how he is doing! 

I really cannot say enough how thankful I am for all the wonderful people who've gotten involved!  Please continue to post his story on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Craigslist, and everywhere you can think of.  I even have a flyer that I can send you via pdf if you email me here.

Much Love!  And many Balue Bear kisses!

Please Help Save Balue

Save Balue | MicroGiving.com

Hello WORLD!

I know I have not blogged in pretty much forever!  A LOT has been happening in my life.  Mostly good.  =)  I've been so busy, and I've lost touch with writing here.  However I do come to you now with a plea for help.

My beloved dog Balue was diagnosed with Mast Cell Tumors cancer yesterday.  He needs a surgery to have it removed before it spreads to his organs.  If it is removed in time he will have a good prognosis and will be able to live a happy healthy life, however if I'm unable to come up with the funds in time the cancer will spread and take his life quickly.

He's very special to me.  He will be 6 years old in June 2013, less than 3 months.  This boy has been with me through the falling apart of my marriage and eventual divorce.  As well as when I lived in another crappy relationship for 2 years.  He's been with me when men have come and gone, and friends have come and gone in my life.  I've had lows and I've had highs, and the one constant in my life for almost 6 years has been Balue.  He's my best friend, I love him more than I love any person in my life.  If I had the money for the surgery myself I would pay for it, unfortunately I'm a single woman on an income that just cannot afford it in time.

Please find it in your heart to donate a dollar, or more if you can, towards his surgery.  If you cannot donate just helping by sharing the link to his cause and your thoughts and prayers are truly appreciated!

http://www.microgiving.com/cause/save-balue  

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  Balue and I are grateful for anything you can do!

Much love!
XOXO

Dirty Love

There's this super goofy movie, that for some reason amuses me, it's definitely not for the weak at heart or anyone easily offended by... well anything, but it's just I don't know over the top so cheesy it's good.  It's called Dirty Love.  Jenny McCarthy is in search of her soul mate basically and all kinds of madness ensues.  She keeps meeting all the wrong men.  Does that sound familiar?  I know that I know that tune quite well.  At one point as she's sitting on the filthy floor of a jail cell in tears she sees this poem on the wall and it just kind of makes sense for anyone who's been in bad relationship after bad relationship. Most people thought the movie was just awful, and really it was, but still I enjoyed it because it was an over exaggerated version of my life.  Well not really, but kind of.  ;)

So here is the poem, maybe it'll make some sense to you.

The hardest love to learn is that which is dark
The kind that causes the most pain
It is up to the soul to look past that dirty love
and regain the beauty that illuminated so bright before...
PURE LOVE


So many people are in search of that "Pure Love".  One day hopefully we will have the love for us.  In the mean time be good to yourself and love yourself.  If you cannot love yourself alone how can you truly love someone else?

Much love!  And good luck in your search!

Speak Up

I find it super sad that Whitney Houston passed away today, growing up in the 80's she was everywhere.  I know they haven't released the cause of death yet, however I am of course drawn to the fact that she was very publicly addicted to drugs and basically threw her life away for a high... well many highs.  It's very sad to me and I hate to see anyone take that path.  I've had loved ones on that path as well, and have even lost people very near and dear to me due to addiction.  Watching people you love die young that way takes a toll on your heart.  I now straight up tell my loved ones how I feel if they are drastically addicted to drugs or alcohol, which I know many did with Whitney as well.  I do not care if it makes them mad or hurts their feelings.  Unfortunately we cannot force people to change, however we can tell them we love them and we do not want them to die and we do not want to have to go to their funeral mourning the loss of a person we loved who died way too young.  I really hope those in my life, and yours, who are addicted to things that will one day kill them will get their lives together.  Take a moment to pray for them or have a thought or whatever you believe in.  And when you feel afraid to confront them, just keep in mind that maybe you speaking up will be what plants the seed in their heart that will one day drive them to make a real change that will save their life.  You may not be able to change the whole world, but just speaking up may change someone's world.


Much Love!

Please enjoy some of these great songs that I love by Whitney Houston who died way too young, only 48. 1963-2012












Whitney's all time #1 song was "I Will Always Love You" that she recorded for The Body Guard, a great movie that I loved in my youth. I hope that she finally has peace and she will always be loved and missed by everyone she left behind. RIP

Thankful Reflections

Over the past 4 days of Thanksgiving weekend I thought a lot about all of the things in my life that I have to be thankful for.  So many big things and so many many more tiny things. I slacked off was lazy and didn't blog and just enjoyed the time off from work and pretty much all reality.  Which is one thing that I am so grateful that I have opportunity to do from time to time.

I'm currently enjoying a wonderful cup of hot coco, it may sound silly to be thankful for a cup of hot coco but there are so many people on this planet who live in such dire circumstances that they probably have never even imagined that such a simple thing as a cup of hot coco exists.  To them just a drink of the fresh tap water that I conveniently have coming out of not 1 but 3 faucets in my home would be nothing less than a miracle.

Today I participated in more than one disturbing conversation where parents were talking about how much money and the extravagant gifts they were giving to their young children this Christmas.  I posted my opinion on this matter on Facebook...

"People wonder why kids & young adults these days act so spoiled and entitled... I can tell you why kids act like that, it's kind of obvious. I was lucky if I got $10 spent on me at Christmas some years. What is funny/sad is these parents spend that much on their kids and they are gonna be disappointed because they forgot something, or didn't read their minds about wanting something. Tis the season for greed, disappointment and teaching kids that everything they want in life will just be handed to them with a bow on it."

That is a condensed version of the post however the point is still made.  Some of the responses my friends came back with gave me hope that perhaps I'm not the only one left in this world who does not feel like children need to have everything adults have and everything that they want.....

"I agree, and when these kids have to be out in reality, it hits them and they can't handle it. Our kids only get 3 presents - want, need, surprise. Christmas isn't about stuff."

"Maybe they should have taken there kids to the stores and had them pick out some gifts with some of that money for needy kids that aren't going to get presents this year. And then had them donate the gifts to toy for tots! Show them that giving is better than receiving."

"We always had a good Christmas when I was a kid, but I never felt entitled to anything but air. And even on some days that was questionable."

"I'm really proud of my kid; he only really asked for one thing, a bigger gun."

"Some of my best memories involve tall grass, streams and jumping off of the couch"


When your children open their presents do they spend time whining about what they didn't get?  Do they really need everything they ask for?  Is it possible to work out a rewards system and let them actually earn some of the more extravagant things that they want?

This holiday season when you are shopping for your children stop and think what kind of message you are sending to them.  I know too many young adults, and even ones my age, who are mooches, lazy sit at home and expect to have everything given to them and act like it's the end of the world because the life of their dreams is not being handed to them.  I personally cannot respect a mooch.  

I feel like a lot of times, based on certain people I know backgrounds, that this attitude can stem from being raised in circumstances where they had little to no responsibility as a child or teenager, everything was done for them and almost everything they wanted they received.  Perhaps the start to building a better future for our future generations is to stop spoiling them and to start teaching them in the way of love and respect and responsibility.  As one of my friends stated "Christmas isn't about stuff."  Christmas is supposed to be about family and love.  Are your kids more worried about their stuff or are they looking forward to spending a special day set aside for some real loving family bonding time?

As you are looking at your child's Christmas wish list perhaps you will see a thing or two there that you can use as a learning opportunity to teach your child how to earn the things that they want, even if it is just by being more helpful around the home.  And perhaps that will also teach them to be more thankful for what they receive.


As whoever "they" are say... just some food for thought.


Much Love!!

Thank You - Veterans Day 2011

I am thankful to have men and women who fight for the country that I live in. My deepest respect and gratitude for all who have served no matter how long. I really believe that photos can say a million words so instead of writing a long blog I did an image search and made a collage with some of the pictures I found. What our military does speaks for itself.  It was hard not to cry scrolling through thousands of pictures of our military who have served over the years.  Thank you for all that you do!  Much love!!

 

Online Dating?

Online dating… kind of scary and freaky. I’ve done it. Finding strangers online didn’t work out too well for me. I actually formed my last relationship that lasted 2 years from us meeting online. I knew it was over sooner, it just took me awhile to realize what I knew had no option but to come to fruition.


One thing I've learned from my own mistakes as well as from other people is that if you put too much information out there about yourself there is no mystery.  Some people will take advantage of knowing too much about you and put up a false front because they know exactly what it is you are looking for. By the time true colors come shining through you’ve already invested time and heart strings, and then comes the dilemma of dealing with the real person for the love of the one you fell in love with or just moving on.

After my relationship that had formed online ended I decided to try again. Scary. I didn’t put out as much information about myself and what I was looking for this time. I came in contact with this guy who was super and nice and sweet, a little clingy which I find annoying but with time it becomes tolerable. A few days into talking to each other he found me on Facebook and I accepted his friend request.   Then the fun started. Within a day he starts telling me that I am now his girlfriend and he wanted me to delete all the other men on my Facebook page and did not want me talking to any other men at all. Whoa!! What!! It hasn’t even been a week since we started talking and we haven’t even met! Deleted and Blocked.

I’ve known people who have successful relationships from meeting through online dating. Typically it seems they actually talked online for quite awhile before meeting, some for weeks, some months and some years. One of my favorite online love stories was recently posted by my friend Dinosaur Mommy in her post A Borrowed Blog. At first look it is long, but it's so worth the read, even though I already knew how it would end I was on the edge of my seat the entire time hoping they would end up together.


Taking it slow and getting to know each other probably sounds less appealing for some people who are lonely. However a major advantage is people are much more open via online correspondence than they are in person. This works with friends as well. If you are a virtual chatter you probably find that you end up telling your friend who you speak to online through instant messengers, emails, and other services, even text messaging more than what you tell your friends who you spend more time with hanging out in person. This isn't the law for everyone, I just know a lot of people are like this.  And I do not see how actually getting to know someone before investing your time and heart into them can be a bad thing.

In this cyber age I am sure we will all hear more and more stories from our friends about how they met their one and only online. Do you online date? Have you had a success story or find yourself with failure after failure?

Much love and many wishes for relationship success! 


If you are looking for a book to help, you will find that Amazon has many Dating Books for advice and stories etc for great prices, and many qualify for super saver free shipping.

That Blindfold Kind of Trust

Do you trust your lover enough to let them blindfold you?  Many different fun activities can be done while blindfolded… it can be fun for the blindfolded and the blindfolder. 

First rule if you are feeding each other and this game is supposed to end in a hot steamy romp in the sack… do not use anything gross.  If you get to a point where you’ve ran out of things to feed your blindfolded lover do not run to the refrigerator and grab the jar of mayo.  It’s always better to either use your same yummy foods you’ve been using in a new order… or kick things up to the next level and try some light touch or start tasting body parts… but this time the blindfolder gets to do the tasting.  Who can resist a nibble behind the ear?

If this is a friendly game that will end in your friend passing out on the couch because you both indulged in too many shots while playing the Wii go ahead and reach for that mayo, mustard and ketchup.  (I feel sorry for your friend.)

When in the more sexy scenario and you are picking your foods hint around for some ideas of what some of their favorite foods are.  Perhaps they are succulent food lover, or maybe they’d like some spice and wouldn’t mind a hot chili.  Safe fallbacks are strawberries, cantaloupe, small cheese cubes, and chocolate.  Things that are fairly soft and easy to chew, bites that are small enough for your partner to not look like a cow while eating… the last thing you want is for them to be subconscious because you’ve given them a bite so large food is dribbling out of their mouth… not sexy. 

Use bubbly water or their favorite wine, juice, champagne, or shots between each taste test to clear their taste buds of the last thing they tasted so they can fully enjoy the next. 

Want a caffeine boost?  Throw in a chocolate covered coffee bean here and there.  Or there are some really great candy bars out there that contain coffee beans.

Be careful of fresh pineapple.  Fresh pineapple contains an enzyme that naturally breaks down protein and can be used as a meat tenderizer.  If you’ve ever eaten too much pineapple and your mouth started burning… you’ve just had too much and your mouth is being tenderized.  So if you see this awesome pineapple and want to use it in your food game… make sure it’s fully ripe, do not use any of the core, rinse it well, and for good measure you can cover it in some lime juice.  Main thing just do not indulge in too much because the last thing you want is for your lovers mouth to be out of order.

Be adventurous!  Try some blindfold fun to spice up you and your partners romantic time and deepen your trust for each other… after the food portion of the evening ends things really get fun. ;)

Much Love and Have Fun!!