Hoop-A-Thon

The Des Moines Hoop-A-Thon for HD was last Saturday and was more successful that I expected. What is a Hoop-A-Thon? You shoot free throws for 5 minutes. And the top 3 shooters in elementary, jr. high, high school, adult categories win prizes. We even have a Little Tikes hoop for the younger ones! 

All of the running around we did for donations paid off and we had some great items to bid on. There are a few things I would do differently for next year....better raffle items for the top shooters in each age group for sure! An amazing raffle prize so that if someone came with only a couple dollars that they could still buy a $1 raffle ticket and have a chance at winning something great. The silent auction items were great, but you had to spend close to $50 to win anything and especially in today's world, not everyone has an extra $50.

And in my opinion, the Hoop isn't only about raising money for research, but it is also raising awareness for HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE or you can read about it here. What is Huntington's Disease? Huntington's disease is a progressive, brain degenerative disease that causes certain nerve cells in your brain to waste away. As a result, you may experience uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances and mental deterioration. Huntington's disease is an inherited disease.  

It is a horrible disease that Terry's cousin Tami is living with (her dad also had the disease). That means one, or possibly both, of her sons could also inherit the disease. You see, Tami is a 38 year old, divorced, mother of two boys. She was an active, college graduate, taught a few community college courses, and was the mother figure to her 3 younger brothers (their parents are both deceased). I wish I had a picture of her back then so you could compare it to today. Today, Tami lives in a nursing home in Storm Lake, cannot eat solid food and needs to be fed, she drinks from a sippy cup because she can't control her movements and she needs assistance walking. Soon Tami will be confined to a wheelchair, she will have to be fed intravenously, you won't be able to understand her when she talks and likely within the next 10 years complications of the disease will take her life. And yet, through it all, she remains positive for her boys. She knows it is too late for her, yet, she remains hopeful that a cure will be found and her boys won't have to go through what she is. 

Please say a prayer for Tami to continue to find peace as she goes through her battle, for her boys to stay strong, and I ask that if you have the chance to participate in a fundraiser or have a chance to talk about the disease, please do. Awareness is power. Look at Susan G. Komen, Lance Armstrong, Michael J Fox....there is an awareness for those diseases and it makes a difference. If HD isn't your passion, if it's breast cancer, diabetes, leukemia, Parkinson's, or whatever it may be, I encourage you to get involved. Volunteer, if only for a few hours a year. It matters. It matters to the person suffering, to their family, to their friends. 

Damon and Uncle Tim goofing around :
Some of the silent auction baskets :
More silent auction baskets :
Terry's cousin Tami and some of his other cousins :
Tami and her youngest brother, Gary :

I can't end this post without a HUGE thank you to HeyJenRenee...you can find her rad, creative stuff on Etsy here and here and she blogs here....And also to Mandy Miller Photography for their donations. Your items added to the success of our event and we cannot thank you enough!!!

Minted. Great ideas!

Check out this site for cute ideas http://www.minted.com/kids-birthday-invitations.

Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

My parents came for a visit on Sunday, they were at our house when Damon and I got home from church. We went for lunch and then bowling. My dad looked a little stiff, but got in to the swing of it again during our second game. I was in the same boat....I started off the first round with 4 gutter balls. How embarrassing that the 10 year old girl next to us was kicking my butt. I am just going to think that her parents drag her to the bowling alley while they drink too much during their adult league at the other end of the bowling alley....yep, I'm not afraid to admit that makes me feel better about my skills.

As a bonus to my parents visit, mom brought homemade ice cream sandwiches. If you don't know, or if I've never shared my mom's cookies with you....she makes the best damn cookies ever. They are so soft and delicious that Pepperidge Farm or <> should be scared if my mom would decide to ever go commercial with her mad baking skills....she would easily put them out of business. Anywho, she used to always make them for our biggest MCSC* swim meet in the summer in mass quantities! My basic diet at a swim meet were ice cream sandwiches and Hardee's frozen orange juice! Delicious and always brings back such great memories. 

I would love to share the ice cream sandwiches (made with soft, yummy chocolate chip cookies), well...maybe I wouldn't actually share, but I would love to share a photo..........but, my family inhaled them so fast there isn't even a crumb that remains. Better luck next time.

(* MCSC is short for Mason City Swim Club)

New Venture?

I had a nice day off yesterday (actually, I had a great day with a great friend!)! My friend, Heather, came over and we attempted to make soldered charms! Which is a lot harder than it looks for the record and now I understand why they are priced at $20+ each. Anyway, we took a break at noon....by break, I mean we both were frustrated and needed to walk away. Nothing Mexican food, beer, Target and Hobby Lobby couldn't fix! HA HA! Anyway, I am not going down without a fight....and I still have supplies left to use! So place your orders now and we'll see if my mad soldering skillz improve as I go. Here is the sample of the first one I did (yes, I've only one I've done so far!). It's not too bad for my first one, right?!? Ugh. More photos to come...hopefully!

A new favorite saying.

It's proven to be a stressful week already. My friends, Heather and Holly, lost their grandpa Monday. It is hard to see their hearts hurt, but is amazing to see the love that these two sisters and their brother have for each other. They are truly blessed to have such a family. 

We lost more business at work again this week. Big business. It's starting to get scary, I mean really, really scary. I'm a worrier by nature, and this is not helping. Tomorrow we have a team meeting with the President of our company. That can't be good. I would be willing to take a day or two unpaid if it meant saving my job. Seriously.

I needed a little smile and found this....thought we could all use a smile these days (can someone tell the media to add a little positive news in to their reports, geez.). 

Twilight Series -- Check.

I don't consider myself a reader. I probably haven't read a book from cover to cover since high school and even then I'm sure I skipped a page or chapter or two. I mean really, what do you think they make cliff notes for?!? Anyway, with a little (by little I mean A LOT) of encouragement from my friend, Heather, and with a little coaxing from Terry's Aunt Nancy I finally gave in....and by little coaxing from Nancy, I mean she handed me a book when we were visiting one weekend and said, "start reading." Anyway, it took until about half way through the the book and then I was hooked! Thanks to Heather's niece-in-law (is that a word?) for letting me borrow each of her books and bringing them to DeMo as soon as she could....I finished the last book tonight at 11:45 p.m. and of course now, I can't sleep. The books are well written (this from a person who doesn't read), but they kept my attention (miracle). I will undoubtedly marry Edwar...I mean buy the movie(s) when they come out on DVD and I think everyone should read the books of course (but don't wear the t-shirts if you are out of high school, it's just not right...even if you are a V.I.L.F......**clearing of throat** uh-um, Heather.)

Grandma Pete

I am wishing we had more pictures like these, because of this and because of this and this. I am wishing I had more pictures of my grandparents, more pictures of me with my grandmothers, more pictures of Damon with Grandma Stahl, more pictures of Damon with his grandparents. I just simply didn't take enough pictures back then and I regret it. Today we visited Grandma Pete and took her out to lunch. It's the first time she's been out of the house since she went to the hospital. It was a nice day and she very much enjoyed it. She said it felt like being freed from prison...which is funny since I'm pretty sure Grandma has no idea what that's like! She walks with a walker now and her knee gives her "fits" and sometimes she has to talk to it to make it go where she wants it to. It's fun to listen to her stories and for her to remember when Damon was little and they used to play cards a lot. She remembers everything, her body may be slowing down, but her mind is sharp. It was a good day.