Random Act of Kindness ~ Water for the Homeless

As the summer heat approaches, please join St. Joseph the Worker in keeping homeless individuals hydrated. Consider hosting a water drive or donating bottled water.

• Summer temperatures will reach 120 degrees.
• In 2007, there were 50 heat-related deaths in the Phoenix area.
• Homeless individuals are especially susceptible to heat-related illness and death.
• Water will go to St. Joseph the Worker and the Human Services Campus, which provide services to over 1,000 homeless individuals each day.

Water donations are welcome throughout the summer. Call 602-417-9854 or e-mail info@sjwjobs.org about donating bottled water.

My aunt has committed to collecting 200 cases, I just purchased 6 cases @ Smart and Final. If you are in the Phoenix Area, please considering donating to this cause. If you are interested in a pickup, we can arrange a meetup!

Read about Thirst Aid HERE

Kierra's Courage

I met my friend Christy many years ago through a Mom’s Group that we were both involved in. She had 2 boys, Gavin and Kevin. About a year later, Christy and her husband who is in the Air Force announced that they were expecting a baby and they found out it’s a girl!

I attended the baby shower for baby Kierra and I came to see her at the hospital the day after she was born. I remember holding her thinking she’s such an adorable baby. At about 7 months old Kierra would experience something that would change her life and her family’s lives forever.

While her dad was deployed to Korea, Kierra had to be rushed to the hospital. She had been born with a Metabolic Disorder which meant her body could not process and break down fats. While at the hospital, Kierra had stopped breathing and had spent time without oxygen or a heart beat. After this event, the doctors informed Kierra's parents that she would be in a vegitative state, and at some point told her that Kierra would not make it. 2 years later, Kierra and her mom Christy are still fighting. Her full story can be read here: http://www.kierrascourage.com/

At one time before Christy was pregnant, we happened to be talking about my daughter who has seizures. I remember Christy saying to me “I don’t know how you do it, it seems so scary and I would not know what to do in your situation”. Today I look at Christy and it honestly brings tears to my eyes of how strong of a woman she is. She is such a powerful advocate for her daughter Kierra by making sure she can do everything for her that she can possibly can.

Today Christy works hard fund-raising for a Handicapped Van for the family. She works countless hours writing letters, contacting potential sponsors and taking care of Kierra.

Please check out the following sites that Christy has created for Kierra:

Kierra’s Fund-raising Facebook page is HERE
Kierra’s website is HERE
A recent article published about the family can be seen HERE

Please take the time to read her story and if you can, please donate. If you “like” her Facebook page you can view the upcoming fundraisers that are happening. On her webpage you can find the paypal donate button. Any and all amounts are appreciated.


Please pass this on to others, thank you.

Another reason I am writing this is to nominate her for a Makeover at Dolce Salon. If you are interested in writing a letter to Dolce for Christy please contact me, she deserves this more than anyone I know.

Random Act of Kindness Week ~ Moving Past the Pity Party

Last week I posted about how I was having such a hard time with balancing kids and life in general. Well over the following two days, I broke down in tears, I was truly feeling just how hard it was to do everything. Towards the end of the week my perspective started changing and I was realizing how fortunate I really am.

I may be a single mom but I am fortunate to have such a great Fiancé to help out when he can. He’s always there and offers help in every aspect of my life. My kids are extremely busy with activities but I am so fortunate to have 2 beautiful kids who get to participate in activities. I’m so blessed to have a mom that will finance the activities that my kids participate in. I may be unable to purchase things because of other financial obligations but how fortunate are we to have a steady income and a house with a low mortgage that we can afford. I may get frustrated that I have so much “crap” in my house that I have to organize but I am fortunate enough to even have stuff to organize.

This week I am going to feature some people who truly need an uplifting presence in their lives by either making a difference in others lives or by falling on hard times due to an unfortunate event. I’ll be passing on my blessings through blogs for others.

I know that this blog has a very tiny following but if you wouldn’t mind passing on the posts this week to others I would greatly appreciate it.

Help for a Blogging Mentor

If you are a blogger more than likely, you have a Mentor. Someone successful in writing in the "Blogosphere" that you look up to and hope to be as successful as one day. One of my mentors is Melissa @ www.Consumerqueen.com. She rocks the money saving posts!

Recently, I had the honor of meeting her @ Bloggy Bootcamp and she is one of the sweetest people out in the "Blogosphre" (in my opinion).

That’s me on the right and Melissa is on the left.

While she was at work today, Melissa's house had flooded and everything her and her family owned (including her recently purchased home) is ruined. Her family is safe and that is the good thing, but starting over is never easy physically, emotionally and financially.

Check out what Monica over at Mommy Brain is doing to help raise money for Melissa and her family here: http://www.mommybrainreports.com/helping-out-a-friend-in-need

If you can donate anything, please do so. Also, please pass this link along if you can. Thanks so much!

Manic Monday ~ My Balancing Act of Motherhood This Week

I try really hard to not over-commit to things as I have been known to take too much on. Well the week had barely started this morning and I was already in tears by 9:00 A.M. In an hour I woke everyone up, made breakfast, made lunches,applied sunblock to kiddos, filled waterbottles, got everyone dressed, remembered to get myself dressed, picked up my baby nephew, saw my daughter off to camp, took my son to his rec camp, got a call that my daughter was not appropriately dressed for camp, went home to find her clothes then ended up at a mindless coffee session with my friend that started with tears.

This week I will be:

Watching my baby nephew,Taking my Son to Rec Camp daily,Taking my Daughter to horse camp daily,Taking my Daughter to Swim Team practice daily, attending 2 doctor appointments, going to my daughters Swim photo shoot, church on Wed, swim meet on Thursday and hoping to get out of town by Friday. This of course is the "readers digest" version.

How do moms of many kids or kids in a lot of activities do it? Even better, how do blogging moms that have all of this going on manage to get blogs in?

I'm feeling overwhelmed and ready to nap before it's even noon. I am lucky to have Brian help me out when he can but since he travels for work, it's hard to juggle it all myself.

I'll do it, it can be done this is just my self pity party for today. I guess lucky that baby E will nap for about an hour allowing me to either clean or blog, today it's the blogging that makes me feel better. And yes, it could be worse, I've been a full time single mom before, I can do it part time for now.

I am desperately seeking a clone, if you know of where I can find one please let me know.

-Sara, living in the land of Chaos