Monday, January 17, 2011
FEAR NOTHING...
My boyfriend shared this video with me and I found it to be truly inspirational. When you think of college football players especially the quarterback you think of the star, the leader, who is noted for how well they can throw the ball and who possesses great feet on the field. But Scott Tolzien, the quarterback for Wisconsin, is all of these things and much more. He is a friend, a mentor, and a hero to one special little boy, Jaxson Hinkens who was diagnosed when he was 6 with stage four neuroblastoma, a high-risk form of cancer. But don't think for once second cancer would stand in the way of this little boy and football. Jaxson also happens to be Tolzien's biggest fan and critic coaching him after each game and letting him know what he could have done differently. See for yourself.
Friday, January 14, 2011
You Be the Judge...
Majority of the time when dating a guy you get the whole dating package which more than likely includes his mother. Blessing? Or burden? Previously in my blog you got the chance to meet the candidate who could possibly be in the running. Should I be apprehensive or consider myself lucky? I will let you be the judge. :) Everyone.... Let me re-introduce you to Sue...
In reference to last year's blizzard. The one in which I was snowed in with her for 5 days without my boyfriend.
"Oh and lizzy remember this year first snowflake you are to go home. I can't take another blizzard of having you stuck in our house for that many days. It causes me to have to find "coping medicine".
The time she made me help decorate her entire house...
"okay I feel compelled to clarify a couple things..It is true I did put her to work assisting with tree decorating and then a couple other things because she was kicked back in the chair doing her puzzles, watching all of us work. I asked her to put some ornaments in a dish, took her 20 min and three "start overs"..
Talk of my Christmas present/eviction notice...
"She does face eviction if she doesn't walk the line..The Christmas gift wont be bought until the morning of the family party. Just in case she's not around ..lol.."
"You're getting a recycled Christmas gift..."
My birthday...
"Lizzy I am a few hours early...but I wanted to wish you a very Happy 21st Birthday!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!! We love ya.."
Bring your child to work day...
"By the way, today was take your child to work day. It was for kids ages 6-12. If you were home you could've gone with me. You could've had pizza, small gifts and done my work. No one would've known you weren't 12, actually you could've bonded with Trevor. People would've thought you were his classmate."
The time I grounded her...
"I am grounded? You mean like in my room I can't come out and do chores and stuff???? YAY!!! When can it start? Today? And how long a week? A month? I need the full punishment, but lizzy, you will have to pick up my slack..cooking (ew we'll all lose weight)..cleaning (don't think so)."
Her response to when I was being my usual sweet self...
"Aw..lizzy thank you..now wait you were being sweet..Whats wrong? Do you have a fever? allergic reaction to something??"
When I was left out of a shopping trip...
"Yes lizzy we're going shopping..should be fun times. Aw. You are little, but I could go with you to Chucky Cheese while they are shopping if you could go..We'll miss you tho.."
After someone put something in Spanish on my wall...
"ok liz I know you don't know what Joel just said so copy and paste it and put it online so you can find out. A 'Hernandez' that cant speak Spanish? Gets me...lol"
The encouragement after I got an e-mail from my professor that the class was going to be conducted 100% in Spanish...
"Omg. You need to take a translator with you. You might as well bring a comic book.."
When I said I was pushing snow with the boy...
"Lizzy, you're going to do MANUAL labor?? And early too? Oh my goodness..You ARE bored. You do know pushing snow requires more than sitting in truck on your Nook. You have to get out of the truck if you're going to really help.."
When I opened my NOOK color for Christmas...
"Yes but you do have to know how to read to enjoy it."
When someone told her I was pretty...
"Yes she is and she's nice too...but I dont let her know I think that. Lol."
Talking about when the boy had stuffed animals when he was little...
"Now lizzy I'm glad we both agree that Shane is a precious angel, however I don't have the bear or the dog I wish I did. Probably all the stuffing came out of it or something and got discarded. Now he has you. Oh my where is that dog or bear???"
The struggle for her to be nice...
"Ok here it goes..God help me...Okay Lizzy you do sweet things, you care about people and thats it..nothing else am I saying..ALL DONE!!"
In reference to last year's blizzard. The one in which I was snowed in with her for 5 days without my boyfriend.
"Oh and lizzy remember this year first snowflake you are to go home. I can't take another blizzard of having you stuck in our house for that many days. It causes me to have to find "coping medicine".
The time she made me help decorate her entire house...
"okay I feel compelled to clarify a couple things..It is true I did put her to work assisting with tree decorating and then a couple other things because she was kicked back in the chair doing her puzzles, watching all of us work. I asked her to put some ornaments in a dish, took her 20 min and three "start overs"..
Talk of my Christmas present/eviction notice...
"She does face eviction if she doesn't walk the line..The Christmas gift wont be bought until the morning of the family party. Just in case she's not around ..lol.."
"You're getting a recycled Christmas gift..."
My birthday...
"Lizzy I am a few hours early...but I wanted to wish you a very Happy 21st Birthday!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!! We love ya.."
Bring your child to work day...
"By the way, today was take your child to work day. It was for kids ages 6-12. If you were home you could've gone with me. You could've had pizza, small gifts and done my work. No one would've known you weren't 12, actually you could've bonded with Trevor. People would've thought you were his classmate."
The time I grounded her...
"I am grounded? You mean like in my room I can't come out and do chores and stuff???? YAY!!! When can it start? Today? And how long a week? A month? I need the full punishment, but lizzy, you will have to pick up my slack..cooking (ew we'll all lose weight)..cleaning (don't think so)."
Her response to when I was being my usual sweet self...
"Aw..lizzy thank you..now wait you were being sweet..Whats wrong? Do you have a fever? allergic reaction to something??"
When I was left out of a shopping trip...
"Yes lizzy we're going shopping..should be fun times. Aw. You are little, but I could go with you to Chucky Cheese while they are shopping if you could go..We'll miss you tho.."
After someone put something in Spanish on my wall...
"ok liz I know you don't know what Joel just said so copy and paste it and put it online so you can find out. A 'Hernandez' that cant speak Spanish? Gets me...lol"
The encouragement after I got an e-mail from my professor that the class was going to be conducted 100% in Spanish...
"Omg. You need to take a translator with you. You might as well bring a comic book.."
When I said I was pushing snow with the boy...
"Lizzy, you're going to do MANUAL labor?? And early too? Oh my goodness..You ARE bored. You do know pushing snow requires more than sitting in truck on your Nook. You have to get out of the truck if you're going to really help.."
When I opened my NOOK color for Christmas...
"Yes but you do have to know how to read to enjoy it."
When someone told her I was pretty...
"Yes she is and she's nice too...but I dont let her know I think that. Lol."
In response to this picture...
"Um lizzy you were struggling very much..I had all I could do to supervise your attempt..Can you imagine the tragedy if that BIG snowball rolled over your little body? We'd never find you other than pink gloves sticking up..lol.."
Talking about when the boy had stuffed animals when he was little...
"Now lizzy I'm glad we both agree that Shane is a precious angel, however I don't have the bear or the dog I wish I did. Probably all the stuffing came out of it or something and got discarded. Now he has you. Oh my where is that dog or bear???"
The struggle for her to be nice...
"Ok here it goes..God help me...Okay Lizzy you do sweet things, you care about people and thats it..nothing else am I saying..ALL DONE!!"
In Response to this picture...
"As usual Lizzy, you couldn't just savor the moment you had to be flipping your lips even while slow dancing..oh and don't try to tell me you were "attempting" to be singing to him either..lol"
When I told her I was going to the gym and tanning...
"Now by intense gym attendance, do you mean intensely watching others that are there or perhaps will you be participating?? I think tanning booth is more important for you at this point. lol..guess who loves ya."
Her advice on my drive home...
"Be careful driving home. Its mating season and the deer are horny. They are trying to get a piece and wnt stop at anything."
In response to this picture... (Mind you I had to wear the boy's clothes to help pick vegetable in the garden..)
"Believe it or not, she did pick tomatoes. Now I had to tell her to pick the RED ones and to put the GREEN ones back but she caught on after that. Lol jk."
Just for the record... Even without anyone's opinion... I already know the answer to my question. I am blessed and I love her with my whole fist-sized heart. I consider myself extremely lucky to have such an easy-going future mother-in-law with a sense of humor like my own. :)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Something I Would Like to Share
This is a truly remarkable story that I had to share. It touched my heart that a 13-year old could be so selfless. It also made me stop and think about all the things I am grateful for in life. Do read it and take time out of your busy schedule to tell the people you love how much you appreciate them. Rest In Peace Jordan Rice. You will always be a national hero.
How Jordan died to save his brother
Peta Doherty and Nikki Phillips
January 13, 2011
IT IS almost unimaginable the fear 13-year-old Jordan Rice would have felt as the car he and his family were in was pummelled by a wall of water.
But as it began engulfing the vehicle, Jordan, who could not swim himself, insisted his younger brother, Blake, 10, be rescued first.
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Young hero ... Jordan Rice, 13, insisted rescuers should take his 10-year-old brother Blake first. By the time his turn came, it was too late.
It was a heroic gesture. One that cost him his life.
And, like so many others who have risked their lives to save strangers, it almost cost the life of one of the rescuers, Warren McErlean.
Mr McErlean thought he got it wrong when he saw a water gauge on a street in Toowoomba rise 20 centimetres in 10 seconds on Monday afternoon.
Five minutes later he was clinging to a pole, dodging cars and wheelie bins after he risked his life to try to save the Rice family.
While Blake was rescued, Jordan and his mother, Donna, 43, perished when they were swept away in the flood.
''When I first saw the car the water was up to the number plate,'' Mr McErlean, 37, a Toowoomba builder, told the Herald.
''I thought I would push it backwards but by the time I walked 20 metres, it [the water] was up on the bonnet and coming up the windscreen.''
Mr McErlean grabbed a rope, tied one end to a post, the other around his waist and set out to rescue the woman and two boys but the fast-moving water swept him downstream.
Another rescuer, known only as Chris, pulled Mr McErlean to safety before tying the rope to himself and approaching the car to grab Jordan.
But Jordan wanted his brother to go first so Chris took Blake, handing him to Mr McErlean part way across before heading back to the car.
''I had the boy in one hand, the rope in the other. I wasn't going to let go but then the torrent came through and was pulling us down,'' Mr McErlean said.
''Then this great big tall fellow just came out of nowhere, bear hugged us and ripped us out of the water.
''When I got back I turned to look at the guy [Chris]. He looked at me and we knew it was over. The rope snapped and the car just flipped.''
Chris, who had been holding Jordan's hand until it was torn from him, flew metres in the air before locking his legs around a post in the centre of the road, said Mr McErlean.
''The others were just gone, just disappeared,'' he said.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A Bond Never to be Broken
Our Relationship: A Bond Never to be Broken
Glaring out my window, staring at the gloomy grey skies I study the rain striking the road. I reach into my purse in the secret zipped compartment for a folded piece of paper. In my tiny hand lies the words I have grown to cherish. As I open this folded treasure, a tear begins to trickle down my flushed cheek and I am overcome with unhappiness. I miss my mother.
Linda Pastan's "To a Daughter Leaving Home" is written on the aged torn paper. As I sit clutching my pink blanket that I brought from home, I can still smell the sweet smell of fabric softener my mother used to wash them. I start thinking of the many miles between my mother and me. I chose to go away for college. I have this poem memorized, but I still choose to read it aloud as if the words were new to me. Memories of home begin to flood my mind. I remember waking up on Sunday mornings to the smell of my mother cooking pancakes, or every afternoon snuggled up in her bed watching all of our favorite shows. Then, the memories of my senior year begin to flash through my head. Everyday I would go to school and dream of one day getting out of Delaware to experience a new innovative and thrilling lifestyle. All I wanted to do was stroll across that stage, diploma in my hand and depart. I would leave this small state and never think to look back. Fear and uncertainty by no means crossed my mind. Neither did the thought of my relationship with my mother changing.
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.” Relationships are comprised of fear, uncertainty, pride and so much more than that. I will always be my mother’s little girl, but by going away to college on my own has developed a new sense of understanding in our relationship. Children eventually grow apart from their parents, wanting to expand their experiences by themselves, but this does not mean one should lose their relationships. This poem, folded in even amounts, also remains in a small pocket in my mother’s purse. I open up my cell phone and dial my mother’s number, ensuring her that the relationship we share will never be broken despite any distance between us.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
CAA Blood Drive Challenge
I once signed up to be a member of the Blood Bank because they were giving out free t-shirts. This is a true story. That was my only reasoning behind doing this. Well come to find out being a member involves a lot more than just getting a t-shirt. I now have to donate once a year, pay a fee, or find someone to do it for me. Who is going to willingly donate blood FOR ME? And I am a starving college student. There is no way I am paying close to $50 when I could just donate for free. So that is the route I have always taken. And I must say... It has been an unsuccessful one the past 4 times I have donated.
But because of my wonderful roommate Chelsea, why not donate for a 5th time? She informs me that she signed me up for the CAA Blood Drive Challenge. This came as a minor shock to me. Let me recap just what happened last semester when I participated in this challenge.
I was sitting there in the chair... squeezing my stress ball every 10-15 seconds as my pint of blood filled up. All of the sudden I start feeling nauseous so I politely inform the lady. Then BAM! I was gone. I regained consciousness and had ice packs down my shirt, my uggs were off my feet, and I was completely reclined. So the fact that I was about to sit in the chair AGAIN made me a tad queasy.
So this year...
We go through all of the questions together and then onto the physical. Chelsea and I had the same appointment times so she was right next to me going through the same process. It is finally my turn to go find my chair where I will be drained of my blood for the next 45 minutes. Iodine covers my arm when I glance up to see Chelsea standing there with a pouty look on her face...
"I can't donate," she says.
"Excuse me?" I say back.
Turns out you can't give blood when on antibiotics which Chelsea had been on for the last week. Awesome. So the person who signs me up for this can't even give blood. Go figure.
I am stuck with the needle and passed with flying colors. No thats right. I said passed. Not passed out. Not even the slightest bit of nausea or lightheadedness. Must have been the Snickers, lifesaver, fruit bar, and kit kat I consumed moments before. All in all my blood donation today became a success story. The one success story I have under my belt.
Donating blood is free and you become a hero. Having the power to save someone's life. Plus you get awesome snacks in the end. :)
Read more on how important it is to donate at, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/50439/donating_blood_important_factual_information.html?cat=5
And find out where the next blood drive is in Delmarva so you have the chance to be someone's hero.
http://www.delmarvablood.org/
But because of my wonderful roommate Chelsea, why not donate for a 5th time? She informs me that she signed me up for the CAA Blood Drive Challenge. This came as a minor shock to me. Let me recap just what happened last semester when I participated in this challenge.
I was sitting there in the chair... squeezing my stress ball every 10-15 seconds as my pint of blood filled up. All of the sudden I start feeling nauseous so I politely inform the lady. Then BAM! I was gone. I regained consciousness and had ice packs down my shirt, my uggs were off my feet, and I was completely reclined. So the fact that I was about to sit in the chair AGAIN made me a tad queasy.
So this year...
We go through all of the questions together and then onto the physical. Chelsea and I had the same appointment times so she was right next to me going through the same process. It is finally my turn to go find my chair where I will be drained of my blood for the next 45 minutes. Iodine covers my arm when I glance up to see Chelsea standing there with a pouty look on her face...
"I can't donate," she says.
"Excuse me?" I say back.
Turns out you can't give blood when on antibiotics which Chelsea had been on for the last week. Awesome. So the person who signs me up for this can't even give blood. Go figure.
I am stuck with the needle and passed with flying colors. No thats right. I said passed. Not passed out. Not even the slightest bit of nausea or lightheadedness. Must have been the Snickers, lifesaver, fruit bar, and kit kat I consumed moments before. All in all my blood donation today became a success story. The one success story I have under my belt.
Donating blood is free and you become a hero. Having the power to save someone's life. Plus you get awesome snacks in the end. :)
Read more on how important it is to donate at, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/50439/donating_blood_important_factual_information.html?cat=5
And find out where the next blood drive is in Delmarva so you have the chance to be someone's hero.
http://www.delmarvablood.org/
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