World

Why we love the Y

by Stacy on October 25, 2011

There’s something you probably don’t know about me and its about time I let you in on what I believe is the secret to my success … it’s our local YMCA, my home away from home. I spend anywhere from 8-12 hours there a week. It is my saving grace and the place I KNOW I owe my sanity to.

You know that old saying, It takes a Village to raise a child? Well, I think about that phrase every morning when we walk into the Y. They have become our community, like family and I could not imagine life without them.

Each morning, we’ll chat with our friends on the way in and spend a few moments with the men & women behind the counter. They’ll give Little a High Five, ask Sweet how she’s doing, and rave about her outfit and accessories choice of the day. We’ll grab our spiritual vitamins (inspirational quotes), read them aloud together and then make our way to Y-land (the child care center).

The kids are eager to go and always happy to see their teachers. We’re lucky to have an amazing group of seniors who volunteer their time reading and interacting with the children. Sweet will often come home, line up her stuffed animals and pretend to be one of her favorite storytellers reciting the stories they read that day. Nine out of ten times, when I ask Little what his favorite part of the day was, he will tell me “Treehouse” that’s 2 year old for YMCA. He tells me this even on days we don’t go, he loves it that much.

I use the Y not only as a place to workout, but also to relax and stay on top of things. I take as many of the classes as my schedule allows, they are all fantastic. I highly recommend any of the Les Mills. I run, I lift weights, I use their business center to study, work on Etsy stuff and catch up with old friends.

We are a poster family for everything the YMCA stands for, they have done so much to help me raise my children in the positive environment I want for them, to bolster their confidence, keep our family healthy and active and to make us feel like an integrated part of our community.

There is little I could ever do to repay the YMCA, but I can ask you to vote. Vote for families like mine and the other 21 million Americans involved in YMCA’s across the country. All you have to do is visit the San Antonio Cadillac Facebook page and cast your vote for the YMCA to have a chance to win $150,000. You can vote daily to improve their chances.

Disclaimer: This is post 4 of 7 in a series of sponsored posts for Team Escalade Texas. Six well deserving charities are competing for the chance to win $150,000. I’m highlighting each charity in a post of their own and hoping you’ll take the time to find out more about them and vote on their behalf. All the research is my own and any profit garnered from my posts is going to my sweet friend Kim, of Hope Whispers. Thank you for your time.

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Help Heroes Win!

by Stacy on October 22, 2011

Tonight’s charity spotlight is on the Ronald McDonald House and this short video clip they’ve created really brightened my day. If you have a child at home battling any kind of illness, you will want to share it with them again and again.

Heroes really do come in all shapes and sizes and tonight you can be a hero too, just by donating a few clicks of your mouse. Visit the San Antonio Cadillac Facebook page and cast your vote for the Ronald McDonald House tonight. While you’re there, read up on the other 5 deserving charities or watch for their shout out here. Did you catch the last post on the Love Hope Strength Foundation? Four more deserving charities to go, please take a quick moment to vote for each of them as I spotlight them with you and then continue to vote daily for your personal favorite until then end of the month.

About the Ronald McDonald House:

Many families travel far from home to get treatment for their seriously ill or injured children. Often, it can be a long time to be away from home, or to divide a family. And, for children facing a serious medical crisis, nothing seems scarier than not having their mom and dad close by for love and support.

The Ronald McDonald House exists to serve and sustain families when serious illness or injury strikes the most cherished part of their lives, their children. In an effort to lessen the burden, reduce stress, keep the family intact, and enhance the quality of life for these families, the Ronald McDonald House provides affordable housing in a caring home-like atmosphere. The Ronald McDonald House program was built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on healing their child – not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal, or where they will lay their head at night to rest.

Disclaimer: This post is part of a series of sponsored post for Team Escalade Texas. Six well deserving charities are competing for the chance to win $150,000. My job is to showcase each of these charities in hopes you will connect with one or more of them and vote on their behalf. All the research is my own and any profit garnered from these posts will be donated to one of my very own heroes, Kim of Hope Whispers. Thank you for your time.

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Saving Lives, one concert at a time

by Stacy on October 20, 2011

The Love Hope Strength Foundation is the world’s leading rock & roll cancer foundation, hosting concerts in the most extreme locations on earth in hopes of raising awareness on a truly global level.

Founded just a few short years ago (2007), their goal is to make sure all people, everywhere have access to early detection and cancer care. They’re off to a truly remarkable start sending radiation and mammography machines to Nepal, opening the first cancer center in Tanzania.

Their GET ON THE LIST campaign encourages concert goers to sign up to become international bone marrow donors. Over 10,000 people have signed up and 5 matches have already been made.

Each year the Love Hope Strength Foundation collects the names of people who have been touched by cancer to be turned into prayer flags. These prayer flags will be carried to high points all over the world. In 2007, they carried 40 flags to the top of Mt. Everest. In 2008, there were 400 prayer flags. 6,000 prayer flags made their way to the top of Mt. Kilamanjaro and last year there were 10,000!!! of them on Mt. Fuji.

Is there someone in your life who has been touched by cancer? Create a prayer flag in their honor here and watch it travel around the globe.

Disclaimer: This post is part of a series of sponsored post for Team Escalade Texas. All the research is my own and any profit garnered from this post will be donated to Kim of Hope Whispers.

If you’ve made it this far then you probably share some sort of connection to the Love Hope Foundation? If that is the case, then why not take a few quick minutes to help them win $150,000 from Cadillac? I should tell you now, they are way behind and could really use your vote.

All you have to do is visit the San Antonio Cadillac Facebook page and cast your vote

VOTE ONCE A DAY TILL THE END OF OCTOBER

Thank You!

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Texas Cadillac Dealers launch Team Escalade

by Stacy on September 23, 2011

Cadillac debuted the 2012 Escalade yesterday and made an unprecedented move. Instead of investing all their money in a huge advertising campaign, they took a different approach.

One that I am happy to be a part of.

Escalades are made in Texas, by Texans and since everything is bigger and better in Texas! They decided to use the launch of the Cadillac Escalade as a platform to raise some Texas sized awareness for six charities supporting the Texas community.

The participating Texas charities are:
CureDuchenne
Gift for Life/Taylor’s Gift Foundation
Love Hope Strength
Ronald McDonald House Charities (Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio)
Special Olympics Texas
The YMCA

I’ll be telling you more about each one over the next few weeks, but please don’t wait until then to start voting! One of these charities will win $150,000 at the end of October. Head on over to Facebook and vote for your favorite charity. There is a short video clip to introduce you to each one if you need more info about them, then please vote for the team you feel is the most deserving. If you have any special connection to any of these charities, please share your stories here. We would love to hear them. If you are interesting in doing a guest post sharing your story about one of these organizations, please let me know! I am happy to arrange that too.

INSIDER TIP: You can actually vote for your favorite charity 4 times a day by visiting each of the Cadillac Facebook pages for Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

My gorgeous blogger counterparts!, from l-r: BlahBlahBlogger, MommaDJane, Melissa Stuff, TexasHolly, pretty blonde I’m trying to ID and Smockity Frocks. We will all be working together to help spread the message and raise awareness for this voting campaign. There are several events planned in each city, so hopefully I’ll get to meet them at one or two of them.

Disclaimer: I was asked to join Team Escalade as the blog ambassador for San Antonio, my job is to help spread the word about this voting campaign. I am being compensated for my tweets and posts, but since this is a cause I would have happily supported for free. I am donating all of my earnings to my friend, Kim. The money will be used to offset her families tremendous medical expenses and to raise money for organ donation awareness. We are participating in a Donate Life 5K together next month and would love to have some team shirts made for our team. If you’re in teh lcoal area, I welcome you to join us and be a part of team Hope Whispers. Please support me in this effort by voting from time to time and listening to the stories I hope we’ll all share here. Thank You!

All Photos by TexasHolly

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Hello World, this is Kim.

by Stacy on September 21, 2011

I’ve met a lot of inspirational women since I first started blogging back in 2008, women I am totally and utterly in awe and pure amazement of. Kim, is one of those women. She is extraordinarily kind and her love for her two boys just shines right out of her. I’d like to give her a moment to tell her story, and then ask that you do something life-altering for you & 8 others and become an organ donor. Hers, is the face you could be saving.

Meet Kim, from Hope Whispers

If someone would have told me years ago I would be this thankful to turn 29, I would have laughed and made some smart comment about how that’s almost 30! But the truth is, I’m blessed to have made it this far. I’m married to a wonderful man, and our boys are healthy and full of life. We just bought our first home. My friends and family are the best.

But then three years ago, just two months after my 26th birthday I was diagnosed with Budd Chiari Syndrome. A very rare liver disease, and also with a blood disorder that makes me more likely to get blood clots. I was put on blood thinners and was told that I would need to have a liver transplant. I was 18 weeks pregnant at the time.

My whole world was turned upside down. I had so many questions. Scared doesn’t even come close to how I felt. I was beyond terrified. The big life that I had dreamt about, the life I had all planned out was being pulled right out from underneath me. I slowly lost the energy to play with son. I hated that part and he hated it more. And then there was medication. Every morning and every night I sat in my bathroom. Trying to convince myself to get get over it and give myself those dreadful lovenox shots. But at least now I’m not afraid of needles anymore. But I put on my smile and stood strong.

My pregnancy was very carefully monitored. There were months where I had Drs. appointments all 30 days. I got to see my baby every Friday when I had my ultrasounds and stress tests. Aside from all the worry, everything went fairly smooth. On January 12th, we celebrated the birth of our second son. He was perfect. As we all celebrated, deep down I remember being so afraid. I had just been given a miracle. And I was going to need another.

On May 25th 2010 one more name was added to the UNOS transplant list. Mine. It became real to me then. This was really happening. I needed a liver transplant. So I waited. And more than a year later, I’m still waiting. The option of a living donor is not an option for me. The damage is not only to my liver, but the vein that carries blood to my heart. And obviously they cant take that from someone who is still alive. So why am I still waiting? Because sadly there are not enough registered organ donors in the United States.

Every day an average of 18 people die while awaiting organ transplants because of a critical shortage of donors. Today there are 112,173 men, women and children awaiting heart, kidney, liver, lung and pancreas transplants. When you register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor you sign up to be a hero. Through the miracle of transplant you could save up to 8 people. And enhance the lives of up to 50 more. What reason is there not to!?

We don’t get to choose when our time is up. But we can choose to give life when ours are lost. Are you an organ donor? If not, please take a moment to become a donor. It only takes a few minutes and you could give someone a life time.

You can find Kim and her adorable boys on her blog, Hope Whispers. If you sign up to be a donor, please let her know — she’s got a goal for the year and I want to help her blow it out of the water!