Fight Cancer, Save a Life

On December 4, I'm going to register to save a life; and I'm inviting you to join me.  I'm going to go to Midvale, Utah, where the tutoring company I work for is holding a drive to get people registered on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.  They are going to swab my cheek, and in the 8% chance that they call me because I'm a match, I can save a life. 

When I was in high school, the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore years, I lost both my great-grandma Harkins and my step-grandfather Bob to cancer, within just a few weeks of each other.   My grandma (dad's mom) has had a recent battle with breast and skin cancer, currently, she's in remission.  Just this past February, my husband lost a dear uncle to leukemia. Cancer has really taken it's toll on my family in many ways.  This past Saturday, I ran my first 5K to benefit a family in my previous church ward who's husband/father has Stage IV Melanoma.  Last week, another friend found out that her 6 month old son has leukemia.  I love all these people so much. 

 That's my Great-Grandma Harkins and my mom, the summer before she passed away form cancer.

I want to do what I can to save a life from cancer.  I can't say I won't be scared if I ever get a call telling me that I can save a life.  I know I've heard that donating bone marrow can hurt; but that pain can't be worse than losing someone you love. Please join me on Saturday, December 4.  Get registered to save a life.  Maybe you're not in a place in life where you can donate now; don't let that stop you from registering-- because when they give you a call, if they do, you'll likely be somewhere else in life.  You might be able to when you are needed.  And if you're not, you can say no, and no one will think less of you. All you have to do is get a cheek swab.  It's painless to register.  I'll even carpool with you if you want to join me.

My husband's cousin-in-law was able to donate blood stem cells a few weeks ago to save a man's life because she was on the registry.  She registered 8 years ago, and just got a call.  I know that person's family must be so grateful for her sacrifice.  She blogged her experience here: http://deshazerland.blogspot.com/

Here's the info I got from work on the Registry Drive:

The Huntington Learning Centers in Utah are hosting a bone marrow drive and fundraiser to encourage more Utahans to register with the national bone marrow registry.

On Saturday, December 4, 2010 we will be hosting a Bone Marrow Donor Drive and Fundraiser in partnership with the Rich Cronin Hope Foundation from 11am-4pm at our Midvale office.

The fight against cancer goes on and it touches may of our lives or the lives of our family or friends. Cancer  affects mothers, fathers, children, and it does not o overlook victims  based on social status, race, or age. The mission of the Rich Cronin Hope Foundation is to register people to be on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Without people registering, there is no chance for many who need a donor to find one. In addition to registering people to save a life, we will be raising money for this wonderful foundation.

We would love if you would confirm a number of people that are willing to come out and be registered onto the National Bone Marrow Done Registry on December 4, 2010. The person that brings in the most registrants will win a gift basket! You can confirm these on the attached page and return to me via email or fax. Registering is quite simple (AND COMPLETELY painless-we just swab the inside of your cheek!) and takes roughly 15 minutes of your time. Please help us reach our goal of 150 new potential donors added to the registry through our drive! Anyone in good health between the ages of 18-60 can register!

Being a registered marrow donor means being registered to save a life.  It means providing the potential to save another person's life from your own.  It means potentially providing a person with the opportunity to win THE GOOD FIGHT.

Thank you in advance for your support!

When: Saturday December 4, 2010
Time: 11am-4pm
Where:Huntington Learning Center   

719 East Fort Union Blvd.      

            Midvale, UT 84047

New Look, New Acomplishments

This past Thursday, I got a haircut. It was quite a big change... but I LOVE it!
My good friend Sandy came to Utah over the weekend to visit before she moves to England for awhile. She is such an amazing woman; she made a big difference in my life when I was a young, confused, angry, and very sad teenager. And she continues to be a blessing in my life even when we don't see or talk much. Thank you, Sandy!

Saturday, I finished my first ever 5K! It was a benefit race, called Five to Fight Cancer, to benefit the Leo Teemant family. They are a family that lives in the church ward that Brad and I lived in last year. Such am amazing and wonderful family! One of their children were in our nursery class last year when Brad and I were nursery leaders at church. The father was diagnosed with Stage IV Melanoma, and was told he had less than 1 year to live. The family's story can be found here: www.fivetofightcancer.com

I can start crying anytime I think about them. They have a baby that's only 5 months old, and two other children, about 5 years and 3 years. It makes me wonder what would happen if something like this were to hit my family. If I or Brad were to die young, would our children remember us? What would they remember? Would Naomi remember how much we love her?

As I was about half way done, my asthma was making it very difficult for me to keep going. Utah air is dry, and it was a particularly cold morning when the race started. Cold, dry air is the WORST for my asthma. I didn't know if I could finish, but as I'm struggling to breath as I fight my way up a hill, I see Leo Teemant run past me. He just had his last chemo treatment 1 week ago. And I just start crying. This amazing man is fighting for his life. To stay with his family on this earth for just a little while longer. He is so strong and courageous. I could finish the race for him. Instead of trying to go faster and go into a full asthma attack, I get out my inhaler and decide that I will finish the race. I may not finish very fast, but I will finish without killing myself. I walked most of the race, stopping when necessary going uphill to use my inhaler, and walking/jogging in downhill areas. I finished with a time of 59:29. It felt amazing! I never thought I would do any kind of race, but I'm so glad I did!
Oh, and there was also a craft sale that same morning; all proceeds went to the Teemant's to help pay for medical expenses. I finished crocheting 4 scarves. Two of them sold for $20. I still have the other 2, and would be willing to sell them. Any money made from them will be given to the Teemants. Pictures below.This one was my favorite. I made it from leftover yarn from a few years ago when I made a Steelers' scarf for my then soon-to-be father-in-law. The yarn was inexpensive, but very soft. It is also the first time I made crocheted flowers. I was very pleased with them.The yarn for this and the other 3 was exquisitely soft! A wonderful woman donated this very expensive yarn to me for the purpose of making scarves for the sale. It was my second favorite, and is still available to buy! All proceeds will go to the Teemant family.
This one sold first. Made of the same exquisitely soft, very expensive, donated yarn; just a black instead of cream color, with a matching red crocheted flower.

There is a 4th scarf, not pictured, but still available. It's the super soft, expensive, donated yarn, but in a rich purple color and 2 cream colored crocheted flowers sewn on the end. Very beautiful, soft, and still available to benefit the Teemant family. I'll try to post a pic soon, when I get one.

A Happy Halloween Weekend

Well, that Recapturing Beauty Challenge was great. I've started a little project now with it; I've put all my blog posts about it in a word document, and am fixing it up and designing it into a little book. I'm going to add pics and colors and make it look super pretty. Then I'm going to save it as a pdf, and print it out like a little book. So I can always look back at it and remember the challenge and what I learned from it. I'm excited. Luckily, I learned how to do so mildly creative book creating when I was in my classroom management class. We had to do a "Management Plan" that we created into a little handbook. I think I learned more about designing books in word than about how to manage a classroom in that class, but it's paying off now!
(Photo courtesy of Lauren Barnes-- our awesome upstairs neighbor!)
Brad's cousin, Joanna, came through Provo and we got to visit with her. I really love that girl! She is always super nice. Example: she took graduation pictures for me on Sunday! And you're thinking, "didn't you graduate, like, 6 months ago??" And yes, you'd be correct. But since I gave birth only 3 days before graduation, I looked stoned out of my mind, my milk came in, had gotten no sleep after one day home with a baby, and was still in quite a bit of pain on graduation day-- I didn't feel like walking around campus with my 3 day old baby, fighting crowds to take pictures. You could not have paid me enough to do that. But 6 months later, I was feeling sad that I didn't have pictures to commemorate that major accomplishment. So Joanna, being her awesome self, took the pics!!! I'm so excited to see them!(Taken at the Provo Library with my phone-- too cute!)
We also had a Halloween party at Megan and Todd's (another of Brad's many awesome cousins). Munchkin stole the hearts of everyone with her cuteness as a little pumpkin. And I rocked at Just Dance 2; it's a Wii game that is now on my Christmas wish list. ;-)(I Love my pumpkin!!!)
Pictures coming soon! But here's some just to keep you coming back for more.(Thanks, Lauren, for the awesome pics! This is Brad's favorite!)
(Another Lauren Barnes masterpiece.) And this is my favorite!

Happy Halloween, from the Neeley's!