Celebration 4 Life

I owe a big thanks to Jacki Donaldson. Over the past couple years, she has passed along to me several great opportunities. The most recent has been with a gentleman from A Celebration 4 Life™, a company I had never heard of until a couple weeks ago. So, let me start off by telling you a little about the company, then products they carry.

Life™ products are an expression of a State of Mind. The symbol was developed after Victor had lost his Mother to pancreatic cancer. As this is HER symbol, he ensures that all Life™ products are of excellent quality. The products focus on celebrating life by spreading positive and hope-filled statements.

The Life™ symbol offers: Hope, Optimism, Gratitude, Abundance, Empowerment, Vitality, Energy, Freedom, Possibilities, Joy, Aliveness, Purpose, and Perception of Endless Potential.
It reminds us that there are always options. It gives us Belief in Possibilities versus beliefs in tragic outcomes. It allows us to Celebrate each precious moment of Life and it helps us recognize the importance of these moments.

I am so honored that Jacki recommended me to Victor, and thankful to be a part of this. I like the message these products send, and what the Life™ symbol itself stands for. Victor graciously sent me a sampling of his products--which let me tell you were far more superior than what I expected.

My favorite is this Cancer Sucks t-shirt. I like the message it sends, plus I am totally a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. You can pick up the t-shirts for $13, which is really quite reasonable given that they're 100% pre-shrunk, silk-screened cotton.







I'm really excited about this Keep Cool Bandanna. It's going to be great for my afternoon bike rides, since it is still pretty hot and humid here in Louisiana! It's just $5, made from 100% cotton, it cools body temperature for hours and it's reusable.









This hat, which is just $13 will also come in handy for my evening bike rides since it has reflective strips on it. The mesh will help keep my head cool, and it's completely adjustable. But best of all is the embroidered logo on it. I love the raised surface of it.





Oh, the best part of all, is that most of these products are also offered in other 'cause' colors, so it's not just breast cancer stuff. You can pick your color when you place an order (toll-free at 866-756-8078 or online).

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is almost here!! I know in many areas The Race for the Cure coincides. Even though I don't plan on participating in any races this year, I do still try to support them.

My 'sister-survivor' Christina in Texas is participating in her local race in 10 days, and had these great custom t-shirts printed up. Obviously, I cannot be in Texas for the race, but that didn't stop me from making a donation and buying one of the awesome survivor shirts - which I am waiting patiently for the mailman to deliver. I do believe I ordered the black one, but upon further examination of the fine print on her Facebook Fan Page, only the pink t-shirts will say survivor on them. So I'm actually not sure which I am getting, since I am in fact a survivor. Oh well, it doesn't matter much cause it's supporting the cause which truly matters. Either way, are these not some cool shirts?












Today when I went in for my doctors appointment over at Ochsner Baptist Hospital, there was a woman near the check in desk that was signing people up for the race. She had this awesome shirt with her, but I was afraid it would only be available to those who signed up. So I asked about them, half expecting to have to enter. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the shirts had nothing to do with the race, but were just items for sale. All proceeds to benefit Ochsner's Cancer Services. Now, I've never dealt with Ochsner's program before, as last year I saw an MD Anderson affiliate over at East Jefferson Hospital, but I have heard wonderful things about Ochsner's Cancer Services. I really like this shirt because it incorporates the fluer-de-lys that is a integral part of Louisiana. What about this shirt, isn't it just great? I just LOVE the slogan!


















So, with Breast Cancer Awareness Month right around the corner, I just wanted to make an announcement that sometime next week I will be making a special post as I am participating in a giveaway for Celebration 4 Life. Stay tuned for details!!

The Funniest Video I've Seen in a While

New Moon Trailer

While I'm still looking forward to seeing New Moon, I'm not anticipating it nearly as much as I did Twilight. Perhaps it would help if I had someone to go see it with, rather than go by myself on opening day like I did last year. There's no way my husband would be caught dead in the theater. Hell he'll barely even admit to watching Twilight in his own home. If asked, he will say that he was forced to endure it. I'll admit these films are a bit on the cheesy side, and honestly, they don't really do the books any justice at all. But they're not all bad. Yeah sure, I don't really care for the way they did the whole wolf thing....it looks cartoonish, and the acting and dialogue can both be bad at times. But hot half naked men certainly makes up for all the faults - or at least it does in my book. Enjoy!!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Never Forget

Where were you 8 years ago today?

I remember being in my car, on my way to work, listening to KOMP. It was just after 6:30 when they made an announcement about the first attack. I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. I thought it had been some kind of cruel joke. So I called and woke my husband up, who had just went to bed a few hours earlier cause he was working swing shift then. I made him turn on the news to see if it had been true, and was saddened to learn it was. Once at work, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the news. A co-worker of mine had brought a little portable TV with her to work. Most of us had gathered around to watch the breaking news reports.

It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years already, as it still feels like it was yesterday.

This Kid Has Some Moves....

I found this video over at VP's blog, so I had to share it with y'all. Enjoy :)

I couldn't resist doing this :)

Ruben's going to kill me for this!

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Car Lust

I'm trying my damnedest to talk my hubby into letting me buy a new car!

Kicking it into Overdrive

As many of you know already, in May I began a crusade to lose weight. I've been working pretty hard for the last 4 months, though in all honesty I did not lose any weight while Ruben's mom was here visiting or while at Disney World. It took all I had not to gain weight then!

I started off walking 2 miles a day and restricting my calories to 1500 or less. It was kinda hard at first. I had to give up all my favorite things....steak, soda, junk food. I'd like to think I am living healthier now, though I am by no means the picture of perfect health. I was even able to get Ruben to give it a try. I switched from walking to biking a couple miles. A couple miles then turned to 4, then 5. Last night I biked 7.5 miles and it felt great. So I decided to mix it up a bit, and added 500 crunches and a mix of pelvic thrusts and butt lifts prior to bed.

Sure, I woke this morning feeling a little bit sore, but that didn't stop me from repeating the regimen this morning. It feels good, and I think that somewhere along the lines I've kinda become addicted to working out. Or at least I hope that's the case and I'm not just pushing myself harder, trying to achieve too much too fast. I know that if I stick with this I'll reach most of my goals by my birthday.

I told you how I wanted to lose weight for my trip. Ideally, before going back I'd like to be the size I was when I left. Ultimately, I'd prefer the size I was before we moved to Hawaii in 1991, though I'd be happy to settle for the size I was when my first husband and I split up in 1994 and I moved to Vegas.

Anyway, in the 4 months since May I have managed to lose 30 pounds and a total of 30 inches from my bust, arms, waist, hips, thighs, calves. The biggest loss has been the 7 inches I've taken off my hips, with a 5 inch loss from my waist coming in at second. I still can't really see the difference. I can tell that my panties are too big cause no matter what they are ALWAYS uncomfortable. Even my smaller size shirts can be a bit roomy, but there hasn't been a real major difference. At least not one that I can see.

Ruben's closing in on about 28 pounds now and is wearing pants that are 2 sizes smaller. He's catching up with me FAST, which means that I'm just going to have to work harder cause I'd imagine that I'm probably about to platue here real soon.

Any suggestions as to what to do to keep it going?

Post Op Recovery

I think this has probably been the easiest surgical procedure I've had done yet. Either that or I'm getting too used to it all. I had my surgery on the 24th, which lasted a little over 2 hours. They took me back just after 11am, and I was in my room eating a turkey sandwich by 2:30. By 3pm we were already headed on our way to the grocery store on our way home. I came home and didn't even take a nap or anything. Not just that, but I was up and alert the very next morning. Ruben says I was running up and down the steps, which is a bit of an exaggeration. I wasn't quite running. I truly felt great though. Even the dreaded drain didn't even really bother me much this time. But he placed it somewhere other than my side this time, which made a HUGE difference in my level of comfort.

Yesterday I had my drain and staples removed. I was a little worried going in cause my whole left breast is yellow. But I was told that it is doing real good. The yellow should be the last phase of the bruise. It was bruised because he did a little lipo on one area to try and remove the lumpy tissue. I'm still pretty swollen, but it feels as though I still have some lumpy areas. It's never going to be perfect, but it does look 100% better than it did before, because it's now in the correct position. Not only do I look even, I look like I have so much more volume even though the size of the implants did not change.

So since everything was ok, I was even given the okay to go ahead and resume biking or walking as long as I didn't over do it. So last night I took a 4.5 mile ride. It actually felt really great to get back on the bike again - which means that I have gone completely mad. I mean, who ever would have thought a day would come that I actually look forward to exercising? But I'm glad that I'm actually getting there and not despising it so much. I've lost a couple more pounds, which brings me to a grand total of 40 pounds lost so far. Though, I still for the life of me can't tell where I've lost it at. Yeah, my new pants - which are 4 sizes smaller than what I used to wear, are starting to feel a little baggy. But not quite enough to go down to the next size yet. I'm looking to start doubling my biking miles. I think I'm going to add about a mile a week. I'm planning on going back to see some friends in Illinois sometime after my birthday. It's what I told Ruben I wanted for my birthday, though what I really want is a new Camaro - but I know realistically, I cannot ask or expect him to buy me a $45k car as a gift. So instead, I'm going to fly back for an extended weekend - not sure which just yet, meet up with some friends, have some drinks, reminisce and have a good time. Part of my prerequisite for going is to get back down to the size I was when I left - or at least close to it. I'm pushing towards losing 60 pounds in like 23 weeks. Wish me luck, cause it won't be easy!

Ruben has also done a fab job of losing some weight. He's at like 25 pounds now, but still has a ways to go to get that motorcycle he wants. The only problem is that he just started his first class towards his Bachelors last week, and he's got to figure out some time management cause school is kicking his ass and he needs time to walk, spend with his family, and of course watch football.

Speaking of football, we'll be at Thursday's pre-season game between the Saints and Dolphins. I'm really excited about it. I still don't have a clue about the game or how it's played, but I like being there. Ruben is trying to teach me all the terms. We'll see how much I actually pick up!