giving back

Life: Taking a Facebook break

Facebook, giving back, Life, Living, Love
With my birthday fast approaching and after watching this amazing video I have decided to take a break from Facebook.  Don’t get me wrong I love social media but I think that I need to spend more time looking at my daughter’s face while I’m breastfeeding than I do at my phone.  Ironically the only reason I saw this video is because a few of my friend’s posted it on Facebook.   

Hopefully I’ll have more time to blog now and to get in touch with friends on a more personable level.

Enjoy the video and the rest of your night.

Note: Visit here for more information on how to donate to Zach Sobiech’s fund. 

Giving Back: Raising Money for Steven Spencer

giving back, Steven Spencer

Last night I was contacted via Facebook by one of our friends who is trying to raise money to help his brother-in-law Steven Spencer.  Being the emotional pregnant person that I am right now I haven’t been able to shake his story out of my head. I can’t imagine the frustration this family feels not knowing what is exactly going on with Steven.  They are raising money to take Steven to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to see if they can diagnose what’s truly wrong with him.  He has seen several doctors in Southern California but they still haven’t pinned down what’s wrong with him.  Please read his story and put yourself in this families position. If you’re able to donate any money to this family please do so. If you’re able to pass this story on please do so.

If you would like to help out please do so HERE!!

Giving Back: Why I’ve decided to be a bone marrow donor?

Bone Marrow, Donating, Donor, giving back, Life, Love

One day as I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I came upon THIS link that one of my friends  had posted. After clicking on the link and watching the heartfelt video I broke down crying and once I composed myself I began thinking about how horrible it would be if I was in the same position. I would hate to find out that someone in my family or one of my friends had only 2 months to live and they could be saved if we were able to find a donor. This seriously woke me up and I realized that although I might not be the perfect match for Janet Liang I might be a match for someone else’s child, friend, family member, or loved one. My parents have ingrained in me their motto which is, “Haz el bien sin ver a quien” roughly translated to “Do good without seeing to whom.”

Right after watching the video I headed out to a local drive that I found through Be the Match but unfortunately the drive ended before I was able to get there. I ended up ordering a kit from Be the Match which I received about two weeks later and today I will be sending it off. Both my parents and the hubby have their reservations about me become a donor but when I began to explain to them why I was doing it they felt more at ease.

The kit comes with great instructions and it is very easy to use.  All you have to do is swab the inside of your cheek four times and send it back.  It takes about two months to process everything and that’s it.  Once you have registered you will be in a system and if they ever find a match they will call you up.



I’ve decided to share this story with all of you guys since I believe that the more people hear about it the more people might actually go register. I believe we are all connected to each other and we need to stop being so selfish. If you can’t or don’t want to go register then share this with everyone you know someone might be touched enough to go do the same thing.

For more information on Donating Bone Marrow please visit BE THE MATCH

For more information on Janet Liang please visit HELPING JANET

“REMEMBER 10,000 PATIENTS NEED BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS HALF RECEIVE ONE” -Be the Match


Update 4/2/12


I got an email a couple of weeks ago saying they finally received my kit.  It will take about a couple of months to put me in the system. 

Life: Let the season of giving begin

christmas, giving back, Life

If you didn’t know by now my favorite holiday is Christmas, a time of the year when people open up their hearts become selfless and make dreams come true.  What can I say sometimes Santa needs a little help. Anyways, as I was sitting watching my local news I found out about the LAUSD Homeless Education’s sponsor a family program.  According to their website, “There are currently over 16,000 identified homeless students in the Los Angeles Unified School District — up 3,000 from last year.” They need individuals and families to open up their hearts and sponsor a family.  The cost incurred by the sponsor ranges from approximately $130 to $280 depending on the size of the family that one decides to sponsor.  If the cost is too much for you to handle then you might want to get your friends and family involved.  If you’re interested in starting out this holiday season in the right foot please register here.  The hubby and I choose an organization each year to sponsor and this year we have decided on this cause.  As the season progresses I will share with you more worthwhile causes.

If you do not live near Los Angeles then you might want to contact your local school district and find out if there are similar programs in your area.

Please note I’m not affiliated with this organization or with anyone that works there. 

Update:
I requested a family yesterday and I’ll keep you posted on how long it actually takes and what it entails. I’m so excited to go shopping for them.

Update:
I finally received my packet with the information on the family and the directions. We’re sponsoring a single mom and her 5 year old daughter. I so excited and I can’t wait to go shopping.

Update:
I delivered the goods on December 5th and I really hope our little family has a fantastic Christmas.  Merry Christmas to everyone please don’t forget what the true meaning of this holiday season is.

Update:
We received a thank you card from the mom and it brought tears to our eyes. I can’t wait to get involved this year again.

Blogging for Jennie (#afundforjennie)

#afundforjennie, giving back

I know I’ve been out of the blogging world for a few months now (as a matter of fact my husband just gave me a puzzled look as I left the living room and I told him I was going to write this post) but I’ve still kept up with my favorite blogs.  Last week I noticed that a lot of the food bloggers that I follow were baking peanut butter pies and I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence especially since I kept seeing #piesformikey attached to the recipes.  It turns out that a beloved food blogger named Jennifer Perrillo from In Jennie’s Kitchen suddenly became a widow and a single mom to two adorable little girls.  I cried as I read this post and was touched by how the blogging community reacted.  I said a little prayer for her and her family and kept them in my mind for the remainder of the day.  Her tragedy had an affect on many bloggers out there and a list quickly grew for Pies for Mikey.  The blogging community has taken this a tad further than simply baking pies and desserts in Mikey’s honor. Bloggers without Borders has set up a donation site where one can donate or bid on different items that are being auctioned.  I urge you to read her story and try to donate as much as you can by clicking on the banner below.

Donate to Bloggers Without Borders
Thanks in advance!! 

Life: Giving Back through Sewing

giving back, Life
I know there are lots of crafty people out there that are willing to put their mad skills to good use.  Craft Hope is asking for your help in making pillowcases for terminally ill children.  I’m not very good with sewing (more like I’m not really into it) but I am going to take on the challenge either way.  Please check out their post Project 9 for more information.  The deadline for the pillowcases is September 15, 2010 so please take on this worthy challenge and spread the word to all your crafty friends.

Recap: Guess Who’s Back and with a New Look!!

giving back, Re-cap, Wedding, Wedding dress
I'm finally back. I hope you've missed me because I come with more wedding photos. As you can recall from this post I've already reviewed my vendor and I hadn't shown you photos of the whole thing yet.  Just one thing to point out one thing my dress hanger is not the wooden one I had bought but the plastic one they gave me at the bridal store. Oops I completely forgot to change it until it was too late.

More loveliness here »