I HATE cancer - Be Thankful - Choose Joy

This post isn't going to be all mushy, or depressing, but more like an eye opener AND a daily reminder to be THANKFUL for all those that are HEALTHY in your life. Including your own health, and if there is anything you think you can do to improve it, DO IT NOW.  Oh and P.S. I HATE CANCER!



Amy's journey with breast cancer was the first cancer blog I ever really followed. This is Amy, I think she's beautiful as can be, and while I could have picked a "non cancer" picture of her, I think it's important to share just what cancer looks like, for this was, and IS her reality.Click HERE to go to NEW NOSTALGIA and read all about her Journey with Breast Cancer.
Amy was so young when she got diagnosed, I just couldn't believe she had breast cancer. How did that happen? I immediately felt a connection, and her posts about faith were always soooo very inspiring to me. I was just moved beyond belief at everything that she was going through, and her strength, which I'm sure looked a whole lot different in REAL life, but non the less, her outlook on life was contagious, and I just wanted to have her spirit if even for a moment. I truly love this gal, and have enjoyed her blog for a long time.
Amy shares tons of healthy eating tips on her blog too which I love. MY ADVICE to you is DON'T WAIT until you have cancer,,,, :(   Take advantage of your health NOW, and start to take care of your body while you have the CHOICE to do so. 
Btw here's 9 reasons to juice your greens.
She also shares lots and lots of other cancer fighters struggles, victories, and sometimes loses. It's always an eye opener reading those posts. I especially wanted to share this one with you. I'm sure EVERY cancer fighter and their families out there can relate, and for the rest of us, what can I say. 
BE THANKFUL for your health, BE THANKFUL, and again BE THANKFUL. 
Not as I Pictured a film by John Kaplan has just left me speechless, and I only saw the trailer. Take a look, into the REALITY of cancer!
"Not As I Pictured" trailer from Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar on Vimeo.
To wrap up Amy's mission through her entire journey, please read THIS post where she talks about
BREAST REDOS and NIPPLE TATTOOS
She just wants to educate EVERY SINGLE woman out there YOUNG and OLD, that this can happen to anybody. Please read her VERY important post, and I'll leave you with this VISUAL of Amy comforting her daughter after her head shaving party. (My heart hurts) I just want to hug her!!
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Then not long ago, I visited another blog I adore, BUT hadn't really visited for a while, and COULD NOT BELIEVE my eyes when I saw that Ashley from Lil Blue Boo was struggling with cancer. What, SAY WHAT?

This is not happening, HOW can this happen. That was my question all over again. I spent literally the entire weekend catching up on EVERY SINGLE post of what she calls :

READ all THE CANCER CHRONICLES HERE
I loved pretty much everything about Ashley before all this happened. She was always so CHEERFUL, JOYOUS, CREATIVE, TALENTED, FUNNY, PRETTY, and INSPIRING.
Guess what Cancer hasn't changed her. 
I can't even begin to tell you how enjoyable her daily blog posts are, (is it terrible of me to describe it like that?) It's true though. I do realize she is sharing things that are NOTHING but enjoyable, and that there is NOTHING funny about having cancer, BUT this girl can write, and she can share something as terrible as cancer, and turn it into something beautiful, and even funny. I can't help but LOVE that about her, sharing all these intimate details of her life, and body, and openly poking fun of it, because you know what, I CAN RELATE to some of those things, even though I dont' have cancer. 
Things like being SCARED TO POOP!!!
Read all about  how EVERYONE POOPS. It was a joyous event, and I know just how she felt. After each of my kiddos, I had tons of pain in my bumm, because of the dreaded H word, Ashley also talks about HERE. So the thought of pooping, just scared me half to death, and when I finally did, I basically celebrated just like her, so I LAUGHED OUT LOUD while reading that post. 
AND she IS BEAUTIFUL, still, no matter what, and maybe EVEN more so now than ever before.

I also want to (NEED TO) remind myself and all of you, that you can CHOOSE JOY every day!

Something that was born after her father died last sumer. Again I can relate because I too lost my dad, although I was much younger, but I do know exactly how she felt. I miss my dad still.  


Rite of Passage - Shaving my Head from Ashley Hackshaw on Vimeo.

You can choose to let the small things bother you, OR you can CHOOSE JOY.
Tell me honestly, could you watch that video without crying, or in my case bawling. I just cry at the look on her husbands face and the way he lovingly shaved her head, and kissed her throughout.

I am telling you, I would have been a HOT MESS, she is such an inspiration, and an example for us all, dang it, JUST CHOOSE JOY people.

Ashley hands out these Choose Joy bracelets to people every day, and I'm sure that EVERY SINGLE person that ever has the pleasure of meeting this fine lady will NEVER forget her, EVER.

I'm telling you I am just beyond inspired by these ladies, and by my little lady friend.

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Meet Arianna (in her most recent phtoto shoot) by the awesome Matt Whytsell an amazingly talented TN photographer. He did such an amazing job capturing the pure joy in these girls eyes. Their love for each other, and for life, and the colors are so bright, and cheerful, and I adore them so much. 

Last July I shared with you the story about a little girl named Arianna in THIS POST and how she had just relapsed with her cancer. 
Seven Months later, she's still with us (THANK YOU LORD) and still cute as can be. I have been following along with her family's journey through her moms facebook page. You can go check them out too, they are all the SWEETEST people and your heart will just melt seeing this little girl, and her sister. The family is VERY involved with St. Jude hospital and if you've ever thought about donating to these kids, JUST DO IT ALREADY... they need all the help they can get. Enough said right?
Here's a link where you can get all the info on :

ST. JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL.
So there you have it my friends. That was a lot to take in right, BUT ohhhh sooooo important. 
Please GO NOW, and say a small prayer, THANKING the LORD for all the healthy people in your lives, and then say another prayer, one for all those who are struggling, and hurting, and scared, and sick, and even dying. 
They all need our help, our support, and our understanding, and why not go show them some love by visiting their blogs, saying hello, and sharing their stories with ANYONE who you think could use it. 
What they don't need is our sympathy, because as you can see, they all are better examples of what it means to live then any of us. We need to learn from each of them, just HOW TO LIVE, because even if they (technically) are living with the reality of mortality on a daily basis, only GOD knows what is in store for any of us. They teach us that every day is SPECIAL, and it is. 
Thank you ladies, for letting us be a part of your lives, I will NEVER be the same :)

P.s. I'm linking up to these awesome parties ---->>

All the blogs I link up to can be found in my blog rolls in my sidebar. Go see what my favorite bloggers are up to :)

P.p.s If you host a party, and don't like the way I link back, kindly let me know, and I will be happy to make it right. I think having all the parties I link up to in my blog roll in my sidebar is a wonderful way for my readers to see whats new with your blogs, as it's always being updated. No need to wonder which party started, now you can see exactly what everyone is up to right away :)

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I HATE CANCER ~ and NEED YOUR HELP

My friend Stephanie from Luxe Blvd, sent me this email yesterday. After crying my eyes out, and being mad as hell, about how much I HATE cancer, I knew that I had to share it with everyone, and then you will do the same, and somehow, we will all make a difference for this sweet little princess. 

Last year, I became very attached to several children with cancer. After reading a forwarded facebook message about a little boy named Noah, who also wanted as many Christmas cards to open as possible. He just loved getting mail, and his mother knowing her son would not make it until December, also did Christmas early for him. 

Within a couple weeks, the message spread literally all over the world, and they ended up getting MILLIONS of cards. Needless to say the power of networking is unmatched, and I really hope we can make this little girls (possible) last Christmas with her family, as special as can be. 

She is a girly girl, princess, LETS make her feel like a REAL LIFE princess. Will you all help, and spread the word, so others can join in too. 

LOVE to all of you, squeeze your little ones TIGHT, and hug them extra long. 

You can read more about Arianna HERE, and also make a donation.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stephanie McDonnell
Date: Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 9:26 PM
Subject: Help for Arianna



Hey all!
I'm coming to every one of you with my heart in my stomach and my eyes full of tears. I'm reaching out to all of my favorite artisans, asking if you would be willing to donate a little something special for Arianna Rae Ramirez.
Arianna, an amazing five-year-old little girl, and her family have just found out that she has relapsed from cancer. (A five-year-old with brain cancer ... my mind can hardly wrap itself around the idea.) The Ramirez family is VERY close friends with my best friend, their daughters BFF's! Candace (my bff) is trying to make the days the Ramirez family has left together wonderful and memorable, setting up this surprise for them.
In July 2009, Arianna was diagnosed with Atypical Teratoid Tumor, aka AT/RT. It is the rarest form of cancer, accounting for the 1-2% of children who get brain cancer. It is very aggressive, and as of right now, doctors are telling the family it is time to start making as many memories with Arianna as possible. (It is words like that that send chills down my arms and make me want to grasp my babies as tight as I can.)
In November 2009, the Today Show ran a segment on Arianna, telling her story, talking about AT/RT, and St. Judes. You can view the video here:
http://www.azwebscapes.com/Today_Show.html
The segment was taped while Arianna finished radiation treatment, just before starting chemo therapy. Doctors had declared her to be in remission in April 2010. The Ramirez family took Arianna to St. Judes the week of July 11, 2011 for days worth of testing. The tragic news came back on Thursday, July 14.
Arianna's favorite holiday is Christmas, so they are trying to surprise the Ramirez family with a Christmas in July. If you do not have time to make something, there are two registries open (which I did since I don't have my stitches out yet; I took my daughter and we picked out a fun Barbie toy!), one at Target and one at Toys 'R Us under the name "Christmas July" (first and last accordingly; it says the list was made for Arianna).
Arianna was dubbed "St. Judes Little Princess," has a love for anything frilly, princess-y, or just plain girly. Her and her three-year-old little sister are two peas in a pod, and love to do everything together!
Santa will be making a special delivery to the Ramirez family on Friday, July 22 at 6:30. I know this is very sudden. But the sad truth is, Arianna could be here today and gone tomorrow. Days are precious.
If you would like to send Arianna a little something, email me and I will get you the addresses where they can be sent.
Also, Candace really wants to be able to surprise the Ramirez family with a family vacation to Disneyland, so if you know of any flight attendants, pilots, or anyone who works for an airline and can provide stand-by tickets, please let me know so I can forward you over to her. She is also looking for donated tickets to the Disneyland theme park (2 adults & 2 children), and hotel stay. Anything at all would be a blessing. We really just want Arianna to have days full of smiles and pretty rainbows.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. God bless each and every one of you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

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