friday pretties

There is a harmony
In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Inspiring Wheelchair Athlete

When checking my kids in at the Aeroflot ticket counter at Lax (huge, scary airport by the way!) the most gentle man helped us out. Because of all the time we spent together repacking things to fit weight restrictions, we came to hear his story:

Darryn Brooks was an amazing teenage basketball player. So amazing, in fact, that professional teams began scouting him out when he was just 17. Three years later one of those teams, the Lakers, were preparing their offer for him when tragedy struck. Being mistaken for someone else, he was shot in the side. He was left paralyzed from his chest down. Watch this 2-minute video and see if you aren't inspired!

Stroll With Me

A big thank you to all you wonderful blog friends! Your comments and sweet words have kept me smiling all day ... And a special welcome to my new followers. I now promise to stop whining :)


On the 605 headed to LAX ...


My son, Trevor, the driver ... From LAX they board Aeroflot for the Ukraine.


Trevor's beautiful wife, Caci and their oldest, Jace ... All packed in.


3-month old Cali, all packed in. Next time she rides in this car she'll be way to big to pack in so many possessions around her!
I'll miss the kids (my daughter, Brooke, and her family will be heading off to the Ukraine in 6 weeks to join them) but am so excited for their upcoming adventures!

What's the most unique place you've traveled to?

- Posted using BlogPress from iPad

Big Bummer

Anyone else feel a huge let-down when someone stops following your site?

It feels so personal!

Or maybe none of you have anyone quit following.

It's happened a few times and I feel like I felt in 3rd grade when the popular girls all gathered at the playground in a tight circle that obviously excluded me.

Pathetic, isn't it!

I'll get over it.

But know this:

I feel a friendship with all of you!

You know how there are friends you don't talk to in ages, but when you see each other again, you pick up right where you left off? Well, I may not hear from you, or I may not comment on your blog ... time may pass before we actually "talk" again. But it feels like the friendship continues. Thanks for being my blog friends!

Yakisoba

Oh YUM! Our dear friend, Yayoi, visited tonight and treated us to a Japanese dinner of yakisoba.



I know its trendy to eat Japanese now; let me just say that we ate Japanese way before it was popular.

So here's the real Japanese process:


Stir fry our veggies in a wok ... Start with the carrots because they take the longest to cook. Make sure you get a tablespoon or so of oil hot first.


Add cabbage ...


... Mushrooms ... And tofu or meat ...


... And scallions. Then transfer the vegetables to a bowl, but don't wash the wok. You want the flavor of the vegetables to permeate the yakisoba. (ps: it's redundant to say yakisoba noodles: soba means noodles in Japanese. Yaki means to flame-cook).


Throw the soba in the pan and steam according to directions.
Add the flavor packets ...


Then mix it all together and enjoy!


"itadakimasu!"
what food makes your mouth water just to think of it?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Make a Wish Monday

As per Kevin Hall's mention of "Inspire", by believing in others, my wish today is to find someone who needs a boost of belief, a lift of esteem, a bump of desire; and to find a way to give it to him/her.

What do you wish for this Monday?

Cheeseboy's Silver Strand

Cheeseboy's great.

If you have a Silver Strand you'd like to share, please email me the video or the link and I'd be happy to post it!

Everyone have a GREAT Thursday!

oxoxoox

hallo, halloween!

The grand-kiddos are starting to pick out their costumes,

the leaves are starting to change,

I'm starting to crave milk duds, smarties and tootsie rolls.

Must be time for Halloween!

And now the most important question, of all time:

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Make a wish Monday

My wish today is to simplify and focus so I can see results. This week I will memorize the following quote from Goeth:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”



What's your wish this Monday?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

nourish the children

So, a couple of days ago I shared my great experience getting on the bone marrow registry.

And I mentioned that there are so many good causes out there that's it's hard to choose.

Nourish the Children is one of those truly worthy causes.

This video can explain it way better than I can:

Purchase & donation of a $25 food pack provides 30 meals! 30 meals to starving children.

What I like most about this program is that we're not paying administrative fees or anything else - we're actually buying the food that goes right to the children.

If you want to participate, please send me an email lovely.silver.strands@gmail.com or call me at 702.856.6962

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, if you're looking for a way to show gratitude this may be your perfect choice. It's mine.

friday pretties

I just gotta brag a little here ...

Our local high school does an American Idol thingy ~ my middle daughter, Sierra, made the cut to be one of the 10 contestants.

She had a blast and was voted the Audience Favorite

(this got her a $50 gift card to our mall!)

So anyway, I think she's pretty, I think her voice is pretty, and she makes me feel "pretty" good.

Happy Friday everyone!

hope & routine

How's your daily routine? Are you like me and when school starts, routine returns? I'm certain that even once the kids are all grown it'll be the same. My parents told me that the year their last child left home, when school started the two of them went school supply shopping anyway. They loved walking the aisles with the fresh smell of new pencils and notebooks ...

There's just something about routine.

Part of my routine has included beginning Loa's fitness program. Yesterday I turned on my iPad to help get me through my eliptical exercise and I listened to something that really lifted me.

Want to read an inspiring message? It'll take you about 10 minutes, but is well worth the time. It's called "The Infinite Power of Hope" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf and can be read here.

A couple of excerpts that have inspired me:

"Hope ... is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances."

"We learn to cultivate hope the same way we learn to walk, one step at a time."

"The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity."

Ok all my friends ... big smiles and lots of hope today for all of us!

be the match

So I did it.

I signed up to be on the bone marrow registry

and it wasn't intimidating or scary, and it didn't hurt :)

Just filled out a paper and swabbed my cheeks.

And as I did it I was filled with one BIG QUESTION:

Why didn't I do this 30-years ago???

There's a little guy here in Nevada who has been on the waiting list for bone marrow for 4 long years. He's finally been matched up and will get his transplant in a month. It's not that there aren't any donors out there ... there are millions on the registry. It's just hard to find a match. So the more there are to choose from, the better the chances of finding a match.

Here's what BeTheMatch.org says:

A match for every patient. Hope for every family.

We have a registry of millions. But we still do not have matched bone marrow donors or umbilical cord blood for all patients, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse communities.

We need more people to join the registry and expectant parents to donate umbilical cord blood. With your help, more people will receive a transplant. And more families will have a future filled with hope.

Here's hoping my DNA matches someone who needs me!

make a wish monday

This weekend I got to help out at the

Danny Gans Memorial Champions Run for Life

event in Las Vegas.

This is a great event that not only benefits the NV Childhood Cancer Foundation

but also gives kids with life-threatening illnesses an opportunity to be showcased.

They each get a chance to run around the baseball diamond with someone special to them.

Included in the "special" helpers were Pirates from Treasure Island, the UNLV cheerleaders, Donny Osmond, lots of parents and friends, the kids' doctors....

(yup - I got to interview Donny Osmond! {just ask my kids how many times in the last 2 day's I've said, "guess what kids? I interviewed Donny!"} Anyway, having worked at the Osmond Studio about a million years ago, interviewing Donny and Marie has been on my bucket list for years. Yay for me!)

There were over 2,000 people participating and cheering these kids on.

What a great community!

Anyway, my wish today is to be more involved with NV Childhood Cancer Foundation.

So I've contacted them about volunteer opportunities and am going to get on the bone marrow registry this week. I'm so excited.

I know there are good causes everywhere - so many, it's hard to choose who to join forces with!

Tell me about some of the things you volunteer for ... I'd love to hear!

Friday Pretties

Anyone else out there a total sucker for All-things-Christmas?
Never mind that it's only the beginning of October ... It's cooled down enough to open the windows at night. Plus, who can be expected to stand firm when there's a whole household of people begging for Christmas decorations to go up? (it doesn't help matters when they start blasting holiday music through the house).



So I admit it. Our Christmas village went up today.



But I'm holding firm. Stockings are NOT going up till after Halloween!



- Posted using BlogPressbb from my iPad

gratitude

My family has taught me that the cure for any ill is gratitude.

It's true. Any ill ... heartache, regret, frustration, physical illness, loss ....

Just this past weekend, God's spokesman for the world,

Thomas S. Monson said:

"To express gratitude is gracious and honorable,

To enact gratitude is generous and noble,

But to live with gratitude ever in our hearts

is to touch heaven."

Today I am grateful there is a prophet on the earth to remind me of this. I am LDS, or Mormon. We are Christians, and we believe in continuing revelation. I embrace my blogging friends of all faiths and those with no faith. I believe we are all brothers and sisters on this earth to lift each other and enjoy life together. I hope this post hasn't offended anyone, and I hope you feel my gratitude for each of you.

CheeseBoy on google ads

Lots and lots and lots of people in blogworld know CheeseBoy. I was first introduced to his blog, The Blog O Cheese, by Marla over at Butts and Ashes. Both of them are hilarious! If you ever need a good laugh, want to get-away-from-it-all, could use a little nonsense in your life, check out CheeseBoy and Marla.

So, if you're already a fan of CheeseBoy, let me ask you this:

Have you ever wondered if he really looks like his profile picture? I got to meet him and his darling family not too long ago and I can tell you that he does. (just kidding ... wanted to see if you were paying attention)

With such an entertaining and popular blog, I couldn't help but wonder about all the income he's surely generated. Here's what CheeseBoy has to say about it:

Now, not to worry ... more from CheeseBoy on future posts.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

make a wish monday: KEVIN HALL on Silver Strands

Kevin Hall, master of words, is also the author of Amazon's most reviewed book:

Aspire.

Here's what he has to say about Silver Strands:

Which brings me to my wish today.

You know when you're excited, but you don't know why?

That's the feeling I get when I'm really living life in crescendo, as Kevin Hall describes.

It's my wish that we all not only experience that this week,

but that we make it a habit and this week of living in crescendo creates a fabulous month.

human again

Hi friends. I've been AWOL for a few days ...

It's nice to be back.

I have strep throat and because of my stubborness I didn't see a doctor till yesterday.

This is the first I've felt human for nearly a week.

Ahhhhh! antibiotics!

I'll have a great new inspirational video post up for Make a Wish Monday.

Till then, here's hoping you all have a wonderful weekend!

(and that none of you are as stubborn as I)