Archive for March, 2014
“I was a senior in High School when my father was diagnosed with cancer”
Most of us has read or at least heard this statement, or you may have even said it yourself, I just never thought my youngest son would be uttering these words…
Yes, my husband of 23 years was recently diagnosed with Colon Cancer, actually, the cancer is located in his small intestine. Small intestinal cancer is an uncommon cancer that comprises about 1% to 2% of all gastrointestinal cancers. As you read this post, he and I are meeting with the physician who will be performing the surgery.
Ironically March is Colon Cancer Awareness month and although it is recommended you start having a colonoscopy at the age of 50, I ask that you consider beginning it earlier, especially if you have any symptoms. My husband never smoked, drank or ate “bad” foods, he stayed active and continues to workout on a regular basis but cancer doesn’t care!
He started having colonoscopies at the age of 45 and although he had many of the symptoms it was only recently diagnosed with a endoscopy. I trust and believe that the surgery will remove all of those cancerous polyps and ask that you pray for him and our family. I will keep you posted as more information is gathered.
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
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Hello Friends and Happy Saturday, I hope it’s sunny and warm where you are.
Remember the warning to Julius Caesar by the soothsayer, “beware the Ides of March” in the first act of Williams Shakespeare’s play? Well there’s no need for you to beware, unless you are afraid of Avon products, more importantly FREE Avon products!
In honor of my Blogoversary which is on the 29th of March, beginning today, the Ides of March and ending at midnight on the March 29th you can enter to win this fantastic Spring Collection from *Avon.
This is a non-sponsored giveaway, but is a personal gift from me to one of you!
- http://youravon.com/ablake48 ~ for more info
- 8.4 fl oz Naturals Body Spray – Cocoa Rose
- 8.4 fl oz Naturals Body Lotion – Cocoa Rose
- 5 fl oz Naturals Shower Gel – Cocoa Rose
- 1.5 fl oz Naturals Hand Lotion – Cocoa Rose
- 1.7 fl oz Avon Passion Eau De Parfum Spray
- 6.7 fl oz Avon Passion Body Lotion
This giveaway is just in time for the blooming of Spring to have you smelling as sweet as a rose or it would be a perfect Mother’s Day gift, so enter today to win.
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
*Basket and flowers are not included
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Hello Friends and Happy Fri-Yay
This has been a week of highs and lows and I am not even going to talk about the zany weather. Life is so very fragile, I am asking each of you to tightly hug and tell someone that you love them tonight before the clock strikes midnight! I also want to say, “thank you” for being part of my life, I will probably need to borrow some of your strength as time goes on…but we’ll talk about that later, in the meantime. please say an extra prayer for the “Blake Family”.
Can you believe that this is the 10th Weekend Wind-Down Party? It has been so much fun, reading, sharing and laughing at all the wonderful posts each week.
BTW – this is the last weekend to enter to win the $50 Gift Certificate to Midnight Velvet!
Enter to Win $50 Gift Certificate
Congratulations to last week’s Featured Bloggers!
Product Review Mom
The Casual Craftlete
Mums Make Lists
Kennary Ideas For The Home
From this Kitchen Table
view from the fridge
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This weekend I look forward to sitting back chillaxin, reading and commenting on your posts (only if I see that you have linked back to the #WWDParty)…oh and doing my income taxes – yuck!
Thanks you for stopping by and sharing, have a fantastical weekend and think Spring!
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Hello Friends and Happy Fri-Yay!
I don’t know about you but I am still dragging from last week’s change to Daylight Saving Time, I need a nap! This week’s feature is another non-Crock Pot dish, but that doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned them, as a matter of fact one of them is home cooking dinner right now.
and the recipe is on the back of the jar.
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless chicken breast – I used 2 packs of tenderloins
- 1 jar Ragu Cheese Creations Creamy Mozzarella Sauce, divided
- 1 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumps
- 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
- 1 Tbsp. basil leaves / Italian seasoning
Pour 1/2 cup of Mozzarella sauce into a bowl ~ coat chicken with sauce and then with dry bread crumbs.
Place coated chicken into 13×9 baking pan, spray with cooking spray for easier cleanup. Bake in preheated oven 450 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.
Spoon remaining sauce around chicken in the pan, bake another 5 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly done.
I cooked a package of Knorr Pasta Sides for chicken which complimented this dish perfectly as would a side of mac n cheese!
This was another family meal that my men loved and no leftovers!
Top cooked chicken with tomatoes and Italian seasoning for an easy breezy mid-week meal.
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
*Don’t forget to come back at 6:00 pm for this week’s #WWDParty where I’m sure there will be some great St. Patrick’s Day recipes and crafts!
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Hello Friends and Happy Thankful Thursday
If you’re married, I’m sure you’ve heard, “never go to bed angry”, but I disagree, sometimes I think you should go to bed angry – you need the rest.
Yes, communication is important in a marriage but there are times when you don’t want to talk you just want to go to sleep. Who really wants to stay up late talking, arguing or trying to compromise, go to sleep, you need your rest, unless of course, it’s a life and death situation.
I met my husband at the age of 28, he was 32, we had both graduated from Delaware State College and each had our share of relationships. We’d disagree on certain things because we were not raised by the same people in the same house, city or state, so having different upbringings made us think differently. Getting married and combining two lifestyles can be rough but that doesn’t mean we don’t love each other and can’t work together.
In the beginning our biggest arguments occurred after the death of my sister; giving birth to our oldest, a 3 month preemie who weighed 2 1/2 lbs and then moving my grandmother into the home, all of this was before our 2nd Wedding Anniversary.
We would argue, or he would get moody, I call it male PMS, (MMS) and we wouldn’t talk to each other for days. We’d go to bed angry and I’d sleep like a baby because I needed the rest and having him stay on his side of the bed and me on mine made for uninterrupted sleep.
There were many times that I wanted to kill him and I’d lay in bed thinking of ways to do it and how to hide the body without getting caught. The fear of going to prison always stopped me, I knew my sons would rat me out once they found out that their daddy was buried in the backyard under the tomato plants!
Once hubby finishes his MMS cycle, after a couple of days of complete silence, I’ll walk by him and he’ll grab me for a kiss. Later on that night it’s on and popping and I’m fine with that because am thankful for having those few nights of rejuvenating rest.
Going to bed angry isn’t the end all, if you can’t agree or compromise just go to bed angry, you need the rest and hopefully in the morning you’ll feel better.
This works for us, but it may not for you, so if you rather stay up all night to talk and argue that’s fine, but for me, I go to bed angry because I need the rest!
BTW, we have been married for 23 years and for that I am thankful!
Have you ever gone to bed angry at your significant other?
I am also thankful for my family, you my bloggy friends and of course my faith, how about you, what are you thankful for this week?
Stay Blessed ~ No Stress in 2014!
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Hello Friends and Happy Hump Day Wednesday
Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Can you hear it? Spring is right around the corner and the temps are rising, the air is clearer and the birds are chirping louder! Spring fever is definitely in full effect.
Last week I wore this totally thrifted outfit which was perfect for that in-between weather going from winter to spring.
With a little snow still on the ground, I opted to wear tights to keep my legs warm. I am anxiously looking forward to shedding them and breaking out the open toe shoes and then the sandals!
How cute are these ankle strap wedges, and the patent leather reminds me of my Easter shoes as a kid. Did you ever have a pair and they squeaked when you walked and you would shine them with vaseline?
In addition to the shoes and tote, these Goodwill goodies includes the skirt, top, belt, and blazer – an entire outfit for less than $20.00 ! #winning
The fact that this outfit matches the bench makes it even better, now let’s just hope we don’t get any more snow this winter! Today I’ll be blog hopping with Whitney Nic James, Thrifter’s Anonymous and DC Goodwill Fashionista.
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
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Women are mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunties, cousins, friends, nieces, teachers, preachers, sisters, neighbors, educators, caregivers, employees, employers, owners, entrepreneurs, guidance counselors, creators, inventors, investors, investigators, helpers, wives, girlfriends, lovers, singers, divas, dancers, actresses, artists, disciplinarians, mediators, physicians, schedulers, chauffeurs, bankers, buyers, cooks, chefs, cleaners, household managers, coaches, bloggers, shoppers, shapers, innovators, magicians, money managers, doctors, lawyers, judges, jurors, justice seekers, writers, survivors…
We as women wear so many different hats that it would be nearly impossible to list them all here. You don’t have to be famous or popular to be recognized because we all have made history by touching someone’s life and that’s cause for celebration.
Like you, I am sure there were women in your life that were very special and deserves to be celebrated. For me it was my grandmother, Nina Margaret Midget – she is the one who made me the celebrated woman that I am today!
Who are you celebrating this month?
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
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Each year, 19,000 new cases of breast cancer occur among African American women. That’s 19,000 too many.
According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate of breast cancer for African American women is 77%, compared to white women’s rate of 90%. In addition, African American women are more likely to develop breast cancer at a younger age, and we tend to develop more aggressive tumors, which are harder and more expensive to treat.
Enter Dr. Kathleen Arcaro from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She studies breast cancer by studying breastmilk, which is full of breast cells key in figuring out how breast cancer develops. Over the past ten years she’s worked to improve our understanding of breast cancer risk, and her findings may lead to new screening, prevention, and treatment strategies.
The problem? Black women are underrepresented in the research. As a result, findings that work for white women or women with less aggressive forms of breast cancer, don’t work for the majority of black women grappling with the disease.
To ensure her findings are applicable to women of all races, she has been working to recruit African American women for the Love/Avon Army of Women, a project aiming to recruit one million women to sign up to participate in breast cancer research (if they choose to do so). By signing up, participants will receive an email newsletter with breast cancer research opportunities. Some research is as simple as a questionnaire or a phone interview.
Having African American women well represented in the breast cancer research is key, for her research and many others.’ So Dr. Arcaro hopes black women will sign up for the Army of Women (and be sure to select “breast milk study” as the referral type to help track the impact).
You can learn more about Dr. Arcaro’s work, and see if you or other women you know might qualify for one of her studies, at the website of the UMass Breastmilk Lab, and follow the lab on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
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Hello Friends and Happy Saturday!
I know most of you are out and about enjoying these beautiful Spring-like temps, but I just wanted to pop in to remind you to set your clocks up an hour before you go to bed tonight.
Daylight Savings Time (DST) begins at 2:00 am, so “Spring Forward” and have a wonderful weekend.
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
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Hello Friends and Happy Fri-Yay!
This month is running wild and flying by way too quickly, there has been a whirlwind of activity in my life and that’s not even including the last snowstorm of the season. (fingers crossed) All of it has definitely been wonderful and exciting, some I can speak about, others not just yet, but it’s all good news!
- I lost my 2005 Hyundai Sonata due to engine failure and replaced her with a 2010 Hyundai Accent.
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- Hubby completed his retirement paperwork, so on July 1st, he will officially be retired from the State of Delaware – congrats, I’ll give you the “honey-do” list on the 1st of August, a few weeks before our 24th Wedding Anniversary.
- The 2014 Goodwill Runway Show was fantastic, I hope you had an opportunity to read the post, if not, click here. I twisted my ankle a few hours before the event and had to change shoes 3 times, but thankfully, it wasn’t worse and I made it through the night with a smile!
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On Tuesday I taught a Blogging 101 Class which is sponsored by The Money School of Delaware and there were some awesome attendees whose participation was great.
Tomorrow the temps are expected to reach the upper 50’s, so if you are getting a jump on your Spring Wardrobe don’t forget to enter to win a $50 Gift Certificate to Midnight Velvet.
Now, let’s get this party started!
Congratulations to this week’s Featured Bloggers, please check the #WWDParty Pinterest Page as they are posted there as well.
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simply fresh dinners
For the Love of Decorating
I’m Perfectly Human
view from the Fridge
True Blue Baking
Carrie This Home
Jordan’s Onion
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I look forward to relaxing, reading and commenting on your posts (only if I see a link back to the #WWDParty). Thanks you for stopping by and sharing, have a fantastical weekend and enjoy the warmer weather if you are in the MidAtlantic area!
Stay Blessed – No Stress in 2014!
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