So Excited!

I got a surprise in the mail today...it was the DKMS Bone Marrow Donor Registration Kit I had been waiting for!  After reading a heart wrenching story a couple weeks ago about a young boy and his fight with leukemia, I knew right away I needed to register to become a donor!  There are so many children and young adults out there fighting this battle and are just waiting for a donor match that may never come along.

Before requesting my registration kit with DKMS, I did a lot of reading up on what DKMS does and how the whole process works.  I had heard about bone barrow donation quite a number of years ago, but just the sound of it had always been intimidating, along with people telling me stories of needles collecting samples from your back.  Boy am I glad I read up on the facts!  Trust me when I say its really not scary at all!  In fact, most donations are simply done by blood donation over the course of a couple days to collect what is needed.

What motivated me most was reading the young boy's story and thinking to myself "What if that were my child needing a donor?".  I am hopeful that I may be that perfect match for someone who is waiting.  I encourage my readers to at least read up on donating bone marrow with DKMS, and if you are interested than great!  If you want more information you can visit the DKMS website HERE!

If you are feeling inspired and are ready to jump on the donation bandwagon, click the widget below and get registered!

My Newest Hobby

With all this beautiful sunny summer weather, I have been taking more leisurely drives in the country than usual.  I'm so close to some wonderful country back roads, that taking a drive through the country starts not even a mile from my house, which I love!  While I've always enjoyed these scenic drives, I ran across something I had never noticed before, which has led me to a fantastic new hobby! 

What did I notice you may ask?  An abandoned house of all things!  It caught my eye right away.  I started thinking about who might have lived there before, the general history of the house, and why it had gotten to this state.  When I got home I began to research abandoned homes online, and to my surprise, there are actually a good number of people that are intrigued by them just as much as I am!  There are even some wonderful Flickr groups out there dedicated to the photography of these abandoned homes. 

So the next day after this house caught my eye, I headed back out to snap my own picture of it.  Now I am NO professional photographer. Just your average digital camera toting mom!  Below is the picture I captured in black and white, which I think adds to the nostalgia of the scenery.  You can also look in my previous post (Wordless Wednesday), where I captured a photo of an old abandoned youth hunting camp.  Now I keep my camera handy in my purse at all times, just in case I see anymore abandoned homes to capture. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Wordless Wednesday!

Back And Better Than Ever!

So I'm back from my blogging break and I am feeling recharged and ready to go!  Past visitors may notice a new look to the blog, which I am loving btw!  I'm going to be cleaning up the blog a little more and get myself back on track to some wonderful and crazy blurbs of my life...which should be interesting since it's summer and I'm being held hostage by four hyper active girls (eek!).  I'm also going to be scouting for more reviews and giveaways to start up so check back soon!


xoxo