Featured Blogger: Meet Terra ~ Better Late than Never!

Okay, so last week I joined a Blog Party over at Coo Coo's Cachoo (silly name, huh?)and we were paired up with a person to go and meet and then come back to our blog and introduce them to our friends!  I am so sorry I am late with my post, but better late then never, right?

I was paired up with Terra of Heck of a Bunch.

Terra is wonder woman! 

She is a mother/step-mother of six children. 

She works full time as a 911 Telecommunicator!  I can't imagine the stress of being a 911 Telecommunicator!  (Much less the stress of being a mom/stepmom to six children!)

She is a wife to her husband of seven years!

Her blog is full of useful information for other moms! 

She must be something because she has people send her items for review and then she post about them.  (I wonder how that happens that people send you free stuff!)

She also hosts quite a few giveaways and hosts freebies!

Also, if you are looking for an online holiday event, you can find it on her blog.   I am not quite sure what these holiday buttons on the right side of her blog actually are yet but maybe someone can comment and give me the heads up!  After this post, I will go back and check some of them out! 

She is obviously a great supporter of the blogging community!

On a personal note, she has posted some fun pictures of her family Halloween activities that I enjoyed looking through! 

It is nice to see her kids so happy and out having fun with friends and family!

Considering Terra has over 200+ followers, I gather that she must have been blogging for a while now!  I would think if someone was just beginning to blog and wanted to learn about different things you can do with your site, Terra's site would be a good place to take a peek and follow! 

I am sure that she would be more than happy to answer any questions for you!

This is my first time I have ever featured a blogger, if you want to read the post from the person who featured me, check it out here!

Teresa's Random Act of Kindness and Giveaway!

For inviting me to your blog party and allowing me time to visit and make new friends, I would like to send the hostess, Kristin and my new friend, Terra a package of tealights from my Gold Canyon Candles website, www.mygc.com/tolvera.  Please comment me and let me know what fragrance you would like to receive and email me privately your mailing address!

I'm Going to Be Pop U Lar!!!!

  Okay, so I went to lunch with my bff today to watch the San Diego Charger game and I told her, you know, I think I am addicted!  I told her that I believe that I am suddenly addicted to reading blogs, creating blogs, finding new blogs, posting about blogs, however, not so much about writing new posts on my blogs!

Now why is that?  Well, everyone posts such fun pictures and they are so creative when they write and they make me really lol (laugh out loud! I know I didn't have to type it out, I know you know what lol stands for, but it seems pretty silly to only put the initials when you are using it in a sentence, dontcha think?) 

Well, there I go again, going into a long story when I really just need to tell you what this post is really all about and why there is a Getting to Know You button on the top of all of this gibberish!  lol  (<<< There!  Now that is the proper use of "lol" HA!)

Well, my new friend Lynnette Kraft (I can call her friend right? even though we have never met? and we have never talked on the phone? I can call her friend because I go read about her life and I have so much empathy on how much she has gone through, she does seem like a friend, a blog friend I should say! Right?  Remember I am new to all of this!

Oh wow, there I go again, going off on a tangent, well, let's try this again!  My friend Lynnette Kraft hosts a Getting to Know You event each Monday and she does the following ~

From her own words ~ on my friend Lynnette's blog ~

"**Every Monday AND Friday, I'll randomly feature a blogger! I'll link to YOU and tell about YOU and YOUR blog That way, you'll get more visitors! I won't tell you I'm coming (don't you love surprises!) - so keep your blog updated and interesting!**"

So, hmmmm, if I follow all of her rules, which can be found here, she may come by my blog and she will feature me and then I can become Pop U Lar!!!  Yes, that is right, Lynnette can make me Pop U Lar!!!  She can help me find new friends ~ just by writing out this little blog!  Don't you want to be Pop U Lar too???  Well, I have been told we can never have too many friends, so why don't you join me, but you have to click here to find out the rules!

In the meantime, I think I will just sit and watch this video while you go get Pop U Lar too!!! 

(Oh be sure to scroll all the way down to the music player and on the right hand side towards the upper right there is a MUTE Button, you will want to make sure you mute the player before pressing play on this video!)





***UPDATE***Oh today is not really my day to be "Pop U Lar", it is Stacy's Turn!   She definitely deserves it much more than I ever would!   Go check out her Love Shack!    (See this is why I am addicted, I tell you ~ so many wonderful people out there just waiting for you to discover them!)

Please Pray for Laurren Smith!

What a very special Saturday morning! 

I would like to introduce you all to a very special young lady who is currently in the 8th grade fighting for her life.

THIS IS LAURREN'S STORY!

Laurren is a 13-year-old blue-eyed doll with lots of cute freckles and a BIG personality! She loves to sing, dance and play funny jokes on people! She is always smiling and loves to make others smile! Lauren has a fighting spirit like no other!

Laurren was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Osteosarcoma on August 22, 2007. She underwent surgery on November 19, 2007 to remove the tumor and replace it with a prosthetic knee and titanium femur. She had nine grueling months of chemo which should have been completed in April 08, but the chemo caused heart failure in January 08, so she was not able to complete here protocol.

Laurren’s cancer returned to her right lung on June 2nd, 2008 and she underwent another surgery on her lung June 4th, 2008. After surgery she began 2 additional chemo therapy treatments which lasted five months and she was given a weekly research drug for nine additional months. This treatment completed March 2009. New CT scans were taken on April 6th, 2009, which revealed 5 new tumors in both lung. (Heart-broken is the only word suitable.)

The doctors at Children’s Hospital have recently told us that they can no longer help Laurren with conventional treatment. So we have now been faced with the decision for an alternative treatment that is not covered by medical insurance. With God’s plan and His miracles, this treatment will save her life!

The treatment center is in Santa Barbara, California. Lauren started her treatments on Monday, July 27th and will continue the treatments for three weeks. We are hoping to extend her treatments in Santa Barbara with the Fundraiser proceeds.

So after reading all what Laurren has gone through in her life and knowing the pain and emotion of having my own daughter in the hospital this past summer, this is how Shop In Your PJs for Laurren Smith became to be!

For those of you that personally know me and wonder how I got behind Laurren and how I learned of her, this is how I was introduced to her, I was on Facebook and first, I found Jana Alayra. Since I loved taking my daughter to see Jana's performances when Holly was younger I was excited to find her on Facebook. (Remember my earlier post when I tell long stories to get to the point, well, here is a perfect example!)   HA!

http://www.janaalayra.com/

On Jana's page, I discovered "Pray for Laurren Smith"  I read the above story and instantly became a follower.

Last week, after reading several messages from Lauren's family, her story touched my heart to the point that I wanted to help!  I contacted the Smith Family via a message on Facebook and asked Laurren's father if it would be okay for me to create an online holiday shopping boutique for Laurren and I would donate all but 5% of my commission to their family. I also left my telephone number. Within just a few minutes, Brian, Laurren's dad contacted me and he said that he would appreciate the kindness and also told me that it was his heart's desire that Laurren's story get reached all across the country.

I immediately thought of my many friends online and Kelly of Kelly's Korner Blog and how God has worked with her blog to reach many people's hearts and I just knew that I wanted to help in any way that I can.  I thought that maybe that this could be a special talent that God would like me to do with my businesses, help others!

I wanted to share a few links with you and will pray that Laurren's Story will touch your heart and you will feel it in your heart to help in any way that you can right now.

Pray for Laurren Smith's Facebook
Laurren's Official Site and Journal
My Site for Laurren ~ Shop in Your PJs for Lauren
Laurren Smith Foundation

Some things that I am currently in need of ~

1.  I would like a Pray for Laurren Button and Shop In Your PJs for Lauren Button designed for our blogs, websites!  If you could create the button with the code so that others can take the html code to share with others would be greatly appreciated!  Please email the html code to teresalolvera at sbcglobal dot net!

2.  I am also looking for other wahm moms that would like to share their business websites with us and would agree to donate a share of their profits/commission to the Smith Family.  Please email me at teresalolvera at sbcglobal dot net for more information.

3.  Shop for Laurren in your PJs!  You can do your holiday shopping right online from the very place that you are reading this!  Even if it is one or two small gifts, little things add up to big things!  Please visit here to find the companies to shop with!

4.  Share This Blog and Shop In Your PJs for Lauren with Others!

5.  Pray, pray, pray for Laurren!!!

Thank you so much for reading, please pray and share Laurren's Story!