Have your kids been enjoying the lunch box jokes this past week? Kristen released 2 pages of jokes today – 20 more funnies guaranteed to make your kid the hit of the lunch table! Not to mention, it’s a “love” note from mom that they won’t be embarrassed to let the other kids see. :)
Go HERE to download your 2 pages for Week 2!
I collaborated with Kristen Duke this past week and helped her design some fun, new freebie printables you’re sure to love. :)
She’s released just Week 1 so far, with more to come…
I’m breaking status quo here on Sprik Space to share something with all of you that I’m head over heels excited about… and I’m running a GIVEAWAY!
Of course, at this point in my life I would love to get my little family professionally photographed… by Kristen. Sadly, she’s in Austin, and I’m in Chicago. I haven’t been back to Texas since the year that photo was taken (layovers don’t count), and when I missed her recent workshop in Arizona by a mere 4 hours, I was majorly bummed.
So, for now, I’ll just have to make do by trying to better my own photo-taking skills. Let’s be honest, for pictures worth keeping and especially framing, auto settings on any camera just don’t cut it, and standard flash usage ruins great photos. I’ve studied a little bit online, but it’s more than a bit overwhelming for a newbie like myself. There’s just way too much information out there, and I don’t really know where to begin.
Enter wonderful Kristen Duke. :)
What you’ll win: A copy of Kristen Duke Photography’s “Say NO to Auto” e-book of your very own!
To enter, you must do one or all of the following:
That’s up to 5 opportunities to win for each of you!
Giveaway closes: Tuesday, August 16th at 11:59pm, central time.
Number of winners: One lucky reader.
Other info: I’ll select the winner using random.org and announce on Wednesday, August 17th.
P.S. If you’re chosen as the lucky winner, and you’ve previously downloaded Kristen’s e-book, she will happily refund your money. :)
P.P.S. Don’t trust your odds in this giveaway and want to get her e-book for yourself? It’s only $10, and you can read more about it here.
P.P.P.S. If there’s a good response to this giveaway, I have a music mix I’m dying to share with a lucky reader in a potentially upcoming giveaway… and it’s seriously gooooood!!
What did we all do online before social media? I hardly remember anymore…
I do have a Twitter account… but I don’t do anything with it. And probably never will. Twitter’s just not for me, and that’s okay.
So that’s all for now… I have several family update posts to write. Grandparents haven’t seen pics of Connor since I don’t know how long. I’d better get those edited and written up before I get in trouble!
It makes my day to see how you have used my printables in your homes!
I submitted her photo and was featured on IShare Printables!
Thanks, Michelle.
Confession: I don’t always get them printed out myself by the time I post them (because I’m too eager to share), so I LOVE seeing them printed by all of you!
I’d be happy to feature your photos of the printables I’ve offered, so please send them to me here. :)
Check it out...
P.S. If you've printed them, I'd love to see a picture of the posters in your home! 
There’s a girl I know named Marisa…
Anyhow... Aimee recently participated/contributed to something I'm a part of, and suggested I write a guest post to let others know about it.
I wouldn't normally do this... but it's for a reason and purpose that's very close to my heart. So I'm going to tell you a story... a long, but very real story.
Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic, degenerative, and presently un-curable disease. In short, due to a faulty gene, sodium and chloride don't pass through cells like they should. The result of which causes thick mucus to build up in the lungs and nutrient malabsorption in the intestinal tract. In 1930, life expectancy of babies with CF was up to one year. By the 1950s, it reached 5 years. By the 1980s, it was nearly 20 years, and today, it's almost double that.
Marisa told me once that growing up, she always had a number in the back of her mind... the number was what she believed to be the age of her last birthday. As the years went on and advancements in treatments and drugs were pushed to market, she kept surpassing that number in her head. To be honest, I know she still has a number and how that weighs on her conscience, I can't even fathom.
(Watch for Marisa in this CF video.)
Life with CF consists of 3-4 times daily hour-long nebulized/inhaled breathing treatments and 3-4 hour-long chest percussion treatments, all in an effort to thin and expel the mucus - enabling you to breathe, function, and carry on with your life. You also can't eat anything (unless you want it to come out in less than 30 minutes) without ingesting 7-10 enzymes per meal so that your body is forced to absorb the nutrients from food, because of how CF affects the intestinal tract.
Until recently, anyone who meets Marisa wouldn't have a clue she has Cystic Fibrosis. You might notice she coughs from time-to-time (well, all the time) but other than that, Marisa doesn't acknowledge to herself that she's sick. She's just Marisa. If you hung out with her for a full day you'd get to see how intense her lifestyle is just to keep breathing. You'd notice how she hides her chest percussion machine and makes it look like an end table, and puts her nebulizer in away out of sight. If you watched closely, you'd see her sneak pill after pill after pill into her mouth. If you hung around long enough, you'd learn she's admitted into the hospital two to three times a year for 4-6 weeks for what she calls a "tune-up".
Outside the hospital, Marisa lives by herself – is very independent, and qualified for "disability" a few years ago which provides some passive income. She’s also found a few awesome families for whom she can nanny that accommodate her (unexpected, unplanned and frequent) health challenges and hospital admits. Combined, she's been able to afford her independence in personal expenses... just like you and me and anyone else because Marisa isn't sick... she's entitled to everything that everyone else is and she's been determined to do just that.
A few years back, I learned (through some brow beating it out of her) that based on affordability, she was choosing NOT to fill some of her prescriptions. Her family and I intervened, changed all the mailing addresses on her medical claims and bills and health plan to someone else's address, and made her swear not to open another bill. We made her promise to fill all her prescriptions when she needed to, and not to worry about how much they were. We've been able to keep the out-of-pocket medical expenses just under $10,000 per year. Yes, yes, that's a fortune… but behind the scenes her extended family and I make it work, and on the surface we tell Marisa the medical fund we established through Bank of America is flush with cash. (In truth it's never flush with cash but we make it work, and it removes the burden of Marisa choosing groceries over medicine or visa versa).
Marisa doesn't let a lot of people into her thoughts (she's tough as nails, and has to be), but a couple weeks ago, we both had a little meltdown. I was staying with her in the hospital and ultimately came up with the idea to write down some very specific questions because we knew the pulmonologist was making rounds the next day. He came by and took about an hour to humor us... through tears and silent moments, Marisa got to talk to those who have become her "friends" (not doctors) over the last three decades of hospital stays, about what's really up. The army of doctors and nurses who treat CFers down in Tucson, AZ, know that this routine isn't new to their patients – it's their life. So, you don't often get bedside consults… because at the end of the day, it is what it is. They do their best to monitor your health and get your lungs feeling better, then push you out the door to see how long you can stay on the outside until you have to come back in.
This time, however, she was pushed out with a fancy new machine – an oxygen compressor that she now uses overnight so that her blood’s oxygen saturation doesn't fall below a certain level. She also was put on a recently FDA-approved inhaled medicine that actually has its own machine to administer it and ions to charge it up, and weird stuff I don't even understand. The manufacturer had to comp it for the first month, because it's insanely expensive (like $5,000/month), but it's showing promise. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and drug manufacturer’s goodwill program are trying to get it into the lungs of lots of CF patients so they can prove it works, get it subsidized by grants and private funding, and distributed widely, so the cost comes down. If you’re keeping track, that's 4 more treatments a day on top of the others to add to her routine.
If you've made it this far, congratulations!
If you read no further, I hope you leave with the impression of understanding that lots of people have lots of struggles in their lives. Some are consequences of previous decisions, some are merely circumstance… but it's how you deal with them that counts. It's how you react to them that defines your character.
If you want to know how you can make a difference in Marisa's life, please keep reading!
Marisa's parents had an idea that they got Marisa to tentatively agree to prior to her leaving the hospital. The proposal involved her changing her focus of balancing work/life/expenses to something more singular. They told her that her new full-time job should be her health, that she should commit to that every morning, noon, and night, and try to have fun along the way. Marisa's stepmom hatched up the idea that if just 50 people contributed a mere $20 per month, that $1,000 per month eliminates her from HAVING to work to maintain her modest lifestyle, enjoyment of life, and independence. 
Marisa sometimes reads this blog so I asked Aimee to bury this post with other posts above it after a day or so, and maybe even yank it (cause Marisa would hit the roof if she found out and pull the plug on the entire thing). Please don’t say anything to her, to make sure that doesn't happen... ummmkay?
Thanks for reading this far and thanks for checking out the website.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s me, Aimee…
Marisa is one of the most beautiful people I know, both inside and out. She has cystic fibrosis, but she doesn’t let it define her… though sadly it has ruled her life. Marisa has always been an amazing friend to my brother and our entire family. We’ve been so touched by Scott’s tireless efforts on her behalf, and can’t think of anyone more deserving.
If you would like an opportunity to directly affect someone’s life, please visit:
Every little bit helps, so please forward this to those who might also be interested.
I love my son… and he makes a pretty good shopping companion. However, I’m not fond of torturing him while I go from store to store trying to find the exact thing I need. Dealing with strollers and car seats too many times in one day gets on my last nerve. And, he still doesn’t get that much exposure anyway.
Enter the internet…
I’m on the hunt for the perfect pair of summer sandals. Something comfortable and stylish, without too much of a heel. I was convinced this search would be the end of me.
Shopping online at Zappos is like traipsing around to 3 different malls… there’s that many shoes! And their search function is great, allowing me to whittle my pickiness down to the last detail.
With their outrageously generous shipping policy (FREE BOTH WAYS!) and easy-peasy returns (you have a full year), when I’m in the need for new soles, I look to Zappos… every time. If you were already planning on buying shoes and paying department store sale prices, Zappos is definitely for you. Their pricing is very reasonable, and for the convenience, I consider it worth every penny.
Because my order is large, Zappos upgrades my shipping to overnight for FREE. So, the very next day, I receive a big box of shoes on my doorstep… seriously – the very next day. (I placed an order yesterday at nearly 7pm my time, and according to my package tracking, my order will be delivered TODAY.)
In the comfort of my home, I take my time trying and evaluating which shoes I want to keep… sometimes its just one pair, sometimes a couple. When I’m all done, I visit their site again, process my return, print out my label, box back up the shoes I want to send back, and drop the package at my local UPS store. For me, I make sure to do all this before my credit card statement closes for the next month, thereby ensuring I don’t have to pay or carry a large Zappos charge on my statement. They’ve always processed my refund and posted my credit within a week of my return shipment.
So seriously, if you’re in the market for a new pair of shoes… you can’t go wrong with Zappos!
Please note: I am NOT being paid or compensated in any way to write about Zappos… unless you consider the fact that I’m about to receive my second dozen set of sandals to peruse. :S I’ve just had a really good experience, and wanted to share the love!
…than to use these gorgeous, FREE, downloadable invitation templates from Download & Print. Every weekday a new template is posted… and the best part is that each template is simply a Word document. So, just download, open up, adjust details and fonts, and print… it’s so easy, even my mom could do it. :)
Shopping at Babies R Us/Toys R Us always leaves me a little uninspired, as well as feeling like I need to dip myself in bleach. I don't know what it is about their stores near us, but they're always junky, germy, and completely disorganized. To be honest, we only really go there when we absolutely have to (ie. to use up store credit). Just about everything they carry can be found at friendlier stores like Target or WalMart. And by friendlier, I mostly mean willing to accept returns. As we've learned the hard way, returning anything to BRU/TRU means a monumental hassle - your receipt must be in pristine condition, the item must have never left its original packaging, much less the bag it was brought home in (I'm only barely exaggerating here). And their honoring of coupons and advertised sales is a total joke. A few weeks ago, we stood in line behind a couple trying to have the $3 taken off their purchase as displayed on the shelf. It took 20 minutes, 3 employees plus a store manager, to finally verify and apply the discount - this effort cost the store much, much more than a measly $3. By the time it was our turn, the frazzled cashier refused to apply my 20% off any BABY item coupon towards the BABY toy I had found in the BABY aisle. Of course, there was no fine print on the coupon stating their definition of a BABY item. At this point, my time and energy was worth more to me than the $2 I should have rightfully saved.
I just figured I would take my little coupon to our favorite store instead...
Previously, I've posted about my own family tree project here. This past year, while nervously waiting through one of Connor's surgeries, I wrote out the names and birthdates on all of the leaves, and my mom helped me complete the placement. It turned out just like the picture, and I love it!
I've been looking forward to attending the
Posts
All Comments
