Happy Halloween...and Happy Blog-o-versary!

General Information

10,955 - The # of times in the last year my blog has been viewed (probably by myself more than anyone else, but hey)

118 - Number of posts I have written in the last year

100% - My level of satisfaction with the time I have spent on my blog and the fact that I have kept it 'alive' for one whole year even through the busiest times of my life...and also with people I have 'met' along the way...people who I have learned to care deeply about since I began this blogging journey.

Initially, I started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family...never did I expect that I would meet so many of you who I respect and admire so deeply.  Your stories, every one of them, continue to touch my own life on regular basis.  The following are three people who I have deep respect and admiration for, and who have continued to show my little blog love along the way:

Angie, you are simply an amazing mother...your love for your daughters is beyond what I ever expected any mother could ever have for their children.  You are such an inspiration to me and I want you to know that.

SIF, you know I respect how honest and open you are about yourself.  You truly remind me that we all have our own stories and our own struggles in life.  You have also been here for me during some VERY hard times and I will always cherish your friendship.  I know you will make an amazing mother.

Deborah, you have no idea how much I appreciate your story.  I can't begin to tell you how much I admire your willingness to make changes in your life that my own mother has never made.  Your daughters are so blessed to have you as their mommy.

There are so many more of you like these three women and I hope you continue sharing your stories...each of us has a story to tell...and our blogs should always be a reflection of who we are.

Here's to my first year blogging!!!

Oh, and Happy Halloween!!!!

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Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!!!!!!

It seems like just yesterday that my son was born.

Truth be told, I learned more from my son in his first week of life than I have ever learned as a parent.

When he was born, he had fluid on his lungs and was immediately put in the NICU.  For almost 7 long days, he stayed there...it was so hard not having my son with me during that time  It was insane.

In that week, I learned that through the toughest trials in life, you have to have faith, love and hope...and if you have those things, you will always find your way through even the darkest storm.

Today, we celebrate two wonderful years with our baby boy, who is now a healthy, handsome little guy.  I promise to spend every single moment of my life loving him.  

I feel so very blessed to have been trusted with such a precious life.

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!!  I hope your cake tasted good!  Mommy loves you!!!

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Random Ramblings...

Sometimes, life comes at you rather quickly...over the last two years, life has had some very unexpected twists and turns.  I had a son in the NICU, while I was admitted to a different hospital with post partum pre eclampsia....then, one of my VERY close family members had a surgery with a scare of cancer...after that, my father had a heart attack Thanksgiving morning of last year, followed by another heart attack, a half dozen surgeries and almost 2 weeks of life support....my precious, dearly loved, cherished best friend, Beth passed away...as did Joe's grandma, who raised him from a wee babe...to tell the truth, it just hasn't seemed to end...although, despite it all, I feel as if I have been so resilient the last two years, I have somehow remained so strong.

Just in the last few weeks, I had another life changer which has required adjusting to an even newer normal.  Let me preface this by saying that I completely understand most people have jobs that change every so often...but, for me, I have been with the same company since my Junior year in college (almost 8 years).  Until very recently, I have also had the same boss.  Well, that changed a few weeks ago...and with that, so did my work load and responsibility.  See, I don't want to go into too much detail, but, let's just say, one blog post a month is about all I can find time to do right now.   I am just...too...busy with work.

However, I am excited to announce my littlest babe, my boy, will turn two next week...yes, in one week, I will celebrate two wonderful years with my son...however, I will look back on two years of life coming at me unexpectedly and also celebrate my ability to stay strong during some very hard times...and, I will celebrate one year of blogging.

In one week, my boy will be TWO and my blog will be ONE...wow!  Where does the time go??

I promise, I will post at least one blog post next Friday...even if it is just one picture of my boy blowing out his candles...this was the first picture EVER posted on this blog...almost 1 year ago:

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30 Pints...

I am always impressed when people choose to give of themselves so selflessly.

When people donate blood...they are saving lives while expecting nothing in return except for a few sugary snacks and some soda.

When people donate blood...they are saving lives of people whom they have never met.

When people donate blood...someone, somewhere will appreciate that person whom they have never, ever met.

When I donate blood...I feel amazing knowing that I, alone, helped to save up to 3 lives.

When we held our blood drive Thursday night in Memory of our Dearest, Beloved, Beth Kearse...we raised over 30 pints of blood.

When we held our blood drive...we potentially saved 90 lives.

I am so proud of our girls, our community and our parents....without this group, without Beth choosing to do this last year...none of this would have been possible.

Thanks to EVERYONE who came out in support of our blood drive.  You guys truly ROCK!!!!

By the way, our troop is going to sponsor this drive every year from here on out...I can't help but think if we do this every year, in 10 years we can save at least 900 lives.  What an awesome feeling!

Oh, and if you aren't local, please consider donating your blood today at a local blood drive.

Thanks and I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

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