Relay For Life

Wow.  Now that it is TUESDAY, I will finally blog about Friday night!  Haha.


Seriously, though.



Friday I didn't go to school.

I skipped the senior picnic.


I went to WalMart with my mom and Teresa and we got gas and went to the elementary school to pay for a t-shirt for my sister and just spent the day together.


Then, on Friday night, I filled my arms with "Super Cooper" and "Cure Cancer" and "Go Layla" beads and went to Wayne Community College for Relay For Life.   I knew I was going to meet Cooper's mom, but I wasn't sure if I was going to get to meet him, and I really had no idea if I'd get to meet Layla and her family.



Little did I know as I was getting out of my car that I was about to experience something truly amazing. 


I have followed kids for over a year now, and I even know Olivia and her family and run her twitter account, but I knew Olivia before she was diagnosed.  Please don't get me wrong.  The impact that seeing Olivia for the first time after her diagnosis had on me was extreme.  It was so different, though, because I knew Livi before she was diagnosed with the monster called cancer, and so seeing her after that diagnosis and after she had fought her battle and her scans were clean really had an impact on me.  She was and is still so strong and I remember noticing the wisdom in her little eyes that is still there almost a year later. Olivia was diagnosed July 5, and September 1 her scans were clear.  I saw her September 4 for the first time after her diagnosis. I kept up with her fight through her mom, but I never made it to Greenville to see her while she was in the hospital.  To be honest, I'm not sure I could have handled it.


 Anyway, so Friday night.

I didn't know about Cooper during his actual battle, but when Sydney's mom, Donna, told me about Cooper and his Relay For Life team, I found his mom, Renee, on Facebook and began communicating with her and, like many other kids I follow, little Cooper and his story just stole my heart.  I made lots of "Super Cooper" and "Cure Cancer" beads for his fundraising tent, and the first thing I did when I got to Relay For Life was go and find the tent so I could pass on the beads. 

I walked up to the "Super Cooper's Troopers" tent, and immediately was greeted by Mrs. Renee.  She is so awesome.  She gave me money for the beads, but I handed it right back to her and got some "I'm A Super Cooper Fan" t-shirts.  After she took the beads off of my arm, she pointed to a precious little boy getting his face painted just a few steps from me and said "That's Cooper right there".   I looked over at him and my heart totally melted.  He was even more adorable than the pictures!  Mrs. Renee handed me one of the necklaces and I put it on Cooper and he gave me one of the most powerful hugs I've ever gotten.  The effect meeting people you feel like you already know might not sound too powerful, but I promise it is.  His little smile could light up a room and he is so sweet!  I asked if they needed any help at their tent, and they said they were okay, but we exchanged phone numbers just in case.   As I was walking away I thanked God for healing Cooper on earth and for the blessing of getting to meet him.  He and his family are truly awesome.


I have been following Layla for a few months.  Keeping up with how she's doing, looking at her pictures, and communicating with her parents, who even have asked me to babysit her.   But I never met her, or her parents.  Until Friday night.   When I left Cooper's tent, I decided to walk some laps for the kids, and for papa and Mr. David.    Halfway through my first lap I saw them.   I don't know where I got all this courage from, but I walked right up and said hello and then we just stood there and talked for a few minutes like we had seen each other every weekend for years.  It was amazing.  I gave them their beads and then I got to play with Layla for a minute.  Holding her little hand and getting a picture with her are the two things I remember the most.  It really had an impact on me finally getting to see her for real.

I wish I could meet all of the kids that take my heart. 

After meeting them, I did some more laps and visited some more tables until it was time for luminaries.   I ended up in front of Layla's and watched her parents light them.  Then I stood there thinking about the blessings in life, and I thought about Madison Rachel and how her battle with AT/RT had just ended.

Layla's family knew the Rachel family and Mrs. Jenifer even held little Madison Rachel.  I cannot comprehend the way I felt realizing that four-year-old Madison had the same cancer as Layla, and Layla's mom held her in her arms, and now she was gone from this earth.  How difficult must that be?

Cancer is a monster and I hate it.

I took off the beads I'd made for myself to wear in memory of Madison, and I gave them to Mrs. Jenifer.

We talked for a few more minutes, and I gave her a big hug before going to see Cooper's luminaries.



Cooper's luminaries were in the shape of a heart.  When I got to them, he was standing there with his mom looking at them.  I spoke with them for a few minutes and then knelt down to give Cooper another hug.



After that, my emotions finally got the best of me, and so I went back to my car and cried. 


I talked to God all the way home.

I thanked Him for Cooper, and for Layla, and their families, and for the many many many blessings all around.

I prayed for the Rachel family, and I prayed for all of the fighters out there, children and adults.



Last year I was only at Relay For Life for 30 minutes, and that was to see a friend.

This year it had a serious impact on me that I will never forget.   That event means something.  It means a lot to a lot of people and families, and it means a lot to me.



The only way to describe it?


Relay For Life 2011 was one of the best eye opening experiences I have had in a long time.

Until my next post,

Stormy <3

I Was Down and Out and Now I'm Altered

Down and out.  That's what I have been since Monday afternoon.

I was feeling a little tired Monday when I got home from school, so I took a nap.  When I woke up, my ears and throat hurt, my nose was completely stopped up, and my head felt so heavy I thought it was going to roll right off of my shoulders.

My mom poured some stuff in my ears for that pain, and I went back to bed.


Tuesday morning I felt even worse.   My neck was sore and my back too, and I had this pounding headache.  It was terrible.

So I decided I wanted to go to the doctor.  Anyone who knows me will tell you I hate going to the doctor.


My mom made me an appointment with the pediatrician and, on Wednesday afternoon, I drove myself to the doctor.

I got there and they told me they couldn't see me because I'm under 18 and I didn't have an adult with me.  My mom was on the other side of town getting her hair done.  I was miserable.   It. Was. Terrible.

So I texted my grandpa and he came straight there to meet me.  When I told the secretary he was on the way, the nurse called me back and I was seen.

After having a strep test and a mono test come back negative, I was diagnosed and treated for Sinusitis and Tonsilitis.   My very strong (tasting) antibiotic helped immediately and my symptoms faded away and today I am back to my normal well self, which brings me to Altered.





Altered is a youth rally that two teens from my graduating class held tonight in our gym.  Leia and Spencer put together this rally and there was praise and worship led by the band from our church, an opening prayer from a guy named Cody from a church I went to when I was a kid, a drama by our church drama team, testimonies from Marieke and Sydney, and messages from Spencer and Luke.   It was absolutely amazing to just be in that dim gym and see all the youth that showed up.  Some kids that don't even go to church anywhere.   There were barely any adults there at all.

It was really moving to be in a place that wasn't even church, all of us together like that, just talking about God and worshiping Him. 

A few people got saved and we talked about the party in heaven that happens every time someone accepts Christ into their lives.

There is no love greater than the love of the Lord for His children and I hope and pray that everyone's eyes will be opened to that someday.  Someday soon.

Anyway, so it was really amazing to be gathered and having those discussions about worth and reason and chances and how He loves every one of us, no matter what is in our pasts.


I am altered.  I know a lot of people who are and some that just made the decision tonight.  I hope everyone will be altered.  We are supposed to be altered.

Are you altered?
Romans 12:2






Until my next post,

Stormy <3

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is one of the most important days of the year - a day to honor our moms!



I have a few moms!



First and foremost, my wonderful biological, or "real" mom, Wendy Kelly!
Thank you mommy for everything you do for me and Savannah.  YOU are the bestest mom EVER!
We could not ask for a better mother.  You listen to us and you make sure we have everything we need and we appreciate that more than you know.  I would also like to thank you for being much more than a mom.  Over the years you have become my best friend.  Thank you for making me feel like I can come to you with anything. I love you!




Next in line, my beautiful grandma!
Grandma you are a huge part of my life.  I love you so much. Thank you for bringing me along on trips and letting me stay at your house whenever I want to.  Thank you for making sure I always have money, no matter what I'm doing.   Thank you for listening to me complain, for taking me shopping, but mostly for loving me unconditionally.  There is no love like that of a grandmother, and I will never outgrow you.




Next on my list, Jessica Smith!
From the very day I met you I started calling you "mom".  You make me feel so welcome and I seriously couldn't dream of a better "mother-in-law-to-be".  You just let me come right in your house and you gave me the keys and told me to move in if I wanted to.  You treat me like you've had me forever. That means so much to me.  Not only are you a wonderful "mom" to me, but you have raised two beautiful and wonderful kids of your own.  I am blessed to know all of you.  I love you!




Next, Nancy "Nanny" Parlette!
Nanny you remind me so much of my own grandma it is crazy stuff!  You welcomed me with open arms and I have nothing but love for you.  Thank you for already being someone I can count on.  I will never forget how you and pop came and got me and Kayla when we were scared of the storm and you just let us crawl right up in your bed and cry 'til it was over.  I love you for treating me like one of your own grandkids.  Thank you.




Next, Loretta Burton!
How could a girl have a best friend like Kelsey without gaining another mom? You just let me right in and took me with you to the beach and you liked me enough to invite me back again!  You gave me one of my favorite nicknames, "Stormsurge"!  Congratulations on your recent graduation, and thank you for raising my long lost sister to be who she is today.  Thank you for everything, mostly all of our wonderful memories from dancing in the living room to screaming at a roach.  I love you "mom".





Last but not least, Tamera Kreh!
Since I was 12 years old you have let me into your house and watched as Marieke and Kirsten and Kayla and I made a huge mess and then fell asleep.  Thank you for allowing us to come into your home and have fun and make the memories that we have made.  Though we have all grown up now, I hope we will come and make many more.  I am still looking forward to making those eclairs.  It WILL happen.   I love you for taking us in and for raising Kayla to be as awesome as she is today.  She's a wonderful friend, with a wonderful mom.






Happy Mother's Day to all of my fabulous moms!  I'm pretty dang blessed if you ask me!







Until my next post,

Stormy <3

Busy Saturday

Well today I woke up at 7 something and talked to Jordan before he went to work.  As soon as I knew he was there safely, I was out again.


Savannah woke me up at 11 and we got ready and went to the spring carnival at her school with mom and Sabrina and Tabetha and Ashlynn and Ross.


We got there and bought ten dollars worth of tickets and some snowcones and we walked around for about an hour.  Savannah wasn't interest in doing anything except talking to the deputy and checking out the emergency personnel and equipment.  She crawled up into the ambulance and she walked around the helicopter and she stared at the police dog.   Then she decided she was hot, so we gave the tickets back to the people at the ticket table and we left.


We went to the fruit stand and then to WalMart and picked up a few things and then to the Food Liner to get hotdogs and then we came home.


When we got home I played dolls with Savannah and then we started watching Lemonade Mouth and I fell asleep.

I slept for about an hour and then she woke me up for dinner.  

I came down to John and Sabrina, Ross, Tabetha and Allen, and baby Ashlynn.

We had hamburgers and hotdogs and Tabetha and I cleaned the kitchen.

Then I went to get my phone charger because Jordan had just gotten off work, but before I made it upstairs I heard the baby crying, so I went and picked her up and Tabetha made her a bottle and I fed her and put her back to sleep.


I love that little girl so much.  Kids are wonderful. 


Now I'm blogging and watching the Darlington race.  Jordan and his dad are at the movies seeing Thor.


One of the kids I followed passed away today.  Rest in peace Vinny.  I'll miss you.
Childhood cancer needs to go.  I'm so sick of it.  
Lindsey's condition is unchanged.
Ugh I hate cancer...



ANYWAY,

Savannah eating her snowcone after the carnival.

Ashlynn waiting for her bottle!

So that was my busy Saturday.  Probably going to make some beads and watch the rest of this race and wait for Jordan to get home so I can talk to him.  We've got a little over another week before we see each other again.  Sometimes I still can't believe how lucky I really am.   Goodness I love that guy.  :)



Until my next post,

Stormy <3

NOmonia!

Today was pretty interesting.  I had to drop my car off at the middle school and take my mom's to the elementary school to drop of my sister, and to the high school for me.   Mom put gas in my car when she was finished with her morning bus route and she switched our cars back while I was in school.


In first period, Mrs. Humphrey gave me a whole box of beads and a box of string for Awareness Beads.  She ordered a bracelet that I gave her yesterday.  It was really sweet of her to get supplies for me.  She's a really sweet lady and definitely one of the people I'll miss next year.

Beth and I were doing some Latin this morning, but then I asked her to pray for Lindsey (www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindseysteltenpohl), and she asked me about DIPG. 

I didn't really know how to explain it, so I googled it and came across www.reflectionsofgrace.org.

We read all about DIPG, and an amazing little girl named Grace.  I e-mailed her parents for permission to use her name for Awareness Beads.   I encourage you to read her story.  It's very touching.



I can't really say much about homeroom because we seniors in chorus are working on a surprise and some of the people that the surprise is for might read this.



In second period, we looked for and tried on costumes for Wicked.  I'm going to be a munchkin, and you can sure believe there will pictures of that!



I got home around 12 and napped and had lunch and then I picked Savannah up early from school to take her to the doctor.  She's had a cough for what feels like months now, but hasn't really had any other symptoms.  We've gone through two bottles of cough syrup with no change, so it was time for a doctor visit.


We got there and the doctor said he couldn't find a thing wrong except some noise in the left side of her chest, and since she's had pneumonia, he sent us to get a chest x-ray.

Savannah was scared.  She didn't want to have an x-ray.  She didn't even want to go the doctor.  She just wanted to go home.  And she certainly didn't want to have pneumonia again.

She got two pictures taken of her chest, and they were normal.  Her doctor told us just to watch for a fever and if she gets one to give her some Tylenol and call him next week if she's not any better.

We thanked the Lord above and came home.


We babysat Ashlynn for a little while because Tabetha had to work, and then I took a nap for a little over an hour.  When I woke up I watched the Nationwide race at Darlington, which Kyle Busch won, ew.  Then I had dinner with my family and now here I am!

We're going to the spring carnival at the elementary school tomorrow..  That should be fun.  :)

Savannah waiting in the x-ray room.  Not a happy kid.

Savannah in the waiting room waiting for x-ray results and eating a sucker the x-ray lady gave her.  Doesn't take much to get her smiling again!

Until my next post,


Stormy <3

Even Bad Days Are Good For The Heart

So yesterday wasn't the best day I've had, and I whined and complained and cried over stuff that, now looking back on it, doesn't even matter just 24 hours after it all happened.  The whole day was just a roller-coaster for me, up and down, up and down, from the time I got up to the time I went to sleep.

It all started when I woke up around 6:30 yesterday morning.  I tried to wake my little sister up to get ready for school, and she wouldn't budge.  She's seven and stubborn and she was still sleepy.  When I finally did get her to get up at almost 7, she was just dragging and being a slowpoke and I was in a hurry so I got impatient and yelled at her and she started crying.  I know she's a little kid and she wasn't happy to be awake and she probably forgot all about it before lunchtime yesterday, but it still made me feel terrible about myself for making her cry.

It had been raining off and on all morning and it was raining when I got to school, so I sat in my car for a few minutes longer than I usually do waiting for my friends to get there.  At 8:05, when none of them had shown up yet, I went ahead in to my first period online class.  Mrs. Humphrey is the DLA in there and she doesn't mind if we have our cell phones out because we have to call and text our teachers, so I checked my phone and had a text from Marieke telling me she wasn't coming to school.  A few minutes passed with me sitting at our table alone, and Beth finally walked in about 15 minutes late.  She ran off to talk to our counselor about something and then when she came back we logged on to our Pronto, the instant messaging service for NC Virtual High School classes, and we talked for the rest of the class period about some things that kind of hurt my feelings and put me in a worse mood.  Sure, we could've just talked, but I wasn't feeling well with my sinuses and all, so we just used the Pronto.

Homeroom lifted my spirits a little when Spencer showed us the DVD of his Hamlet project.  His English class had to perform scenes from the play and record them like a movie.  Spencer, being the person he is, added humor to the project and it was funny to watch.  He did a great job and I'm thankful to him for showing it to us and lifting my spirits for that few minutes.

In second period, which is Show Choir, my spirits fell again.  See, I have been in chorus since seventh grade (I'm now a senior), and when I started high school, I was introduced to the musical Wicked.  I have been asking our director for years to let us sing something from the musical.  Finally, this year we are singing a medley of some of the songs from the show.  There's a big solo in the medley for Elphaba, the wicked witch.  I worked really hard on the solo before the audition, and when I tried out, many of my friends and peers told me it was my best audition yet!  I didn't get the solo, and I was disappointed, but I congratulated the three finalists and moved on with life.  It was just one solo.  It wasn't that big of a deal.  Well, already feeling bad yesterday, physically and emotionally, having to watch the finalists re-audition pushed me over the edge and I just cried.  Cried over making Savannah cry, over the things Beth and I talked about, over the solo, over not having any scholarship money, over every little thing I had bottled up inside that was bothering me.  And to top it all off, I hadn't heard from Jordan yet, and it was almost 11, and I knew he had a work meeting at 8 or 9 and he had to be awake...


Come to find out, Jordan wasn't awake.  He didn't wake up until 10:40, when he texted me very disappointed in himself for oversleeping and missing his meeting.  Everything was fine, but it was just NOT a good morning for either of us.






Later on that afternoon, I picked Marieke up from her house and we went and ran some errands and just hung out for a few hours.  We picked up Savannah and Marieke's little sister, Saskia, from their schools.  They are only a year apart in age and they had a great time spending the afternoon with us.  We also went to drop off a project Marieke had due, give Lexi's dad some Awareness Beads for their family, get some more beads from the Goldsboro WalMart, and then we took the little girls for lunch at McDonald's before going to the Rosewood WalMart to pick up some medicine for my dad.

It was fun to hang out with Marieke and to see our little sisters have such a good time together.  They reminded us of ourselves.

When we were at WalMart, they put our change down this really cool donation container for Children's Miracle Network.  It had these neat little coin slides and stuff and it was a really fun way to donate.  We also donated money at the register and added some "bricks" to the Yellow Brick Road To Miracles.  It made me smile to see our sisters excited about donating to the kids I care about so much.



After we picked up the medicine, I dropped Marieke and Saskia off at their house and Savannah and I came home.   It was a little after 5, so I started getting ready for church.  I left the house again at 6 and picked up Marieke and Sydney and we went to Main Event, our Wednesday night youth service.

We saw Mr. David there, which was really great for me and my mood.  I hadn't seen him since he told us he was going to start chemo again.   Sometimes I feel like cancer surrounds me....  Anyway, it was great to see him.  I hugged him a few times.


Marieke and I walked over to the kids' church building before service started and we saw Olivia and her friends.  I gave her an Awareness Beads necklace with her name on it and she absolutely loved it.  Then Marieke and I walked back over to our building and got milkshakes and sat down with Syd and Kristal to hear the message.

Pastor Jared didn't speak last night.  Instead, Pastor Josh from the middle school ministry did.  We started a sermon series called Obsessed, and the first message was on pride.  It gave us a lot to think about. The two things that stick out in my head from the service are "God doesn't make junk, you are an original masterpiece." and "You can never be too humble."

At the end of the service, Olivia came over to our building and she was talking to me about how she's been and her horse, and her beads, and she told me she's going to the beach with a bunch of other cancer kids and she wanted to take them beads like hers.  I made about 20 last night when I got him and I took them over to her house today for her to take to some of the kids.


After church I came home and had a late dinner with my family before going upstairs to make the beads Livi asked for and going to bed.  I hadn't talked to Jordan since he got to work at 4 and it was now after 11.  He usually calls me at least once from work and since he hadn't,  I was a little worried.   I finally heard from him about midnight.  He said they were really busy.  We talked until we fell asleep and he reminded me to count my blessings by telling me to think about all of the kids we follow and all of the tornado victims and earthquake victims. He said he understood that the things bothering me felt important to me, and then he just listened to me tell him everything.  He's a wonderful listener.  Just one of the many many things I love about him.


This morning I woke up still feeling a little down, but then I remembered all the good things about yesterday.  Like Savannah and Saskia donating to CMN, and seeing Mr. David at church, and seeing Olivia smile and her little eyes light up when she talked about handing out those beads.  And I thought about how lucky I am to have my friends and family and my amazing boyfriend and his family.  That's what's important at the end of the day.

Sitting on my bed in my pajamas this morning, I realized that even bad days are good, because when you think about them, most of the time you can find at least one good thing about them.  I found a lot.   My heart was overwhelmed with happiness this morning thinking about that.  And then, when I got to school, two kids asked about my beads, one girl bought a bracelet, and Mrs. Humphrey even bought some.  Then in chorus, even though I was disappointed about the Elphaba solo, I got up and tried out for more.  And this afternoon I took those beads to Olivia and I got to see her beautiful little face light up again. I am so blessed to be able to go over there and see her, a true miracle, light up over some simple beads.  Even if I did run out of gas on her road and Marieke had to come give me some gas to get home.  Hey, look, another blessing.  I have a best friend so caring that she came immediately to help me when I called. And to add to the blessings, the stuff Beth and I talked about that hurt my feelings so bad yesterday? it doesn't even matter because it was all a big misunderstanding.


So when life gets you down, count your blessings, because even bad days are good for the heart.

Saskia (left) and Savannah (right) with the coin slide tube after making their donations to CMN

 Until my next post,

Stormy <3

A New Life, A New Blog

A lot of the people reading this know that I used to blog.  I blogged about a lot of things, but then life got too fast for me and other things started to consume my time, and well, my old blog just kind of died, for lack of a better word.


Since I started a blog for Awareness Beads, I decided to start a new blog for myself too.

Why not just start posting again on the old one, you ask?  Well, because my life has changed a lot since I last blogged there, and so I felt the need for a fresh start.


With that said, I'll start with just a few blog-worthy things that have happened recently:

1) My boyfriend and I started dating on February 21, 2011.  He lives three hours away in Norfolk, VA, and we met on Facebook through our care for children with cancer.  Judge us if you'd like, but we do visit each other and the long distance thing works for us.  We're in love, we have tons in common, we love each other's families and they love us, so that's what's important in our opinions.  Soon I'll be 18 and out of high school and we'll get to see each other a lot more often, but for now we'll just enjoy the time we do have together.

2) I got accepted into East Carolina University and I will be going in the Fall of 2011 to major in Child Life.  My ultimate goal is to become a Child Life Specialist and work in a children's hospital.

3) My cousin had a baby girl on April 5, 2011.  Her name is Ashlynn Grace Sneed and she weighed 10 pounds and 1 ounce at birth.

4) Jordan and I started Awareness Beads.  Awareness Beads is a soon-to-be Non-Profit Organization that makes bead jewelry with kids' names and/or diagnosis' to raise awareness for childhood diseases like Cystic Fibrosis and Pediatric Cancer.  Though we mainly make beads for disease awareness for kids, we have also made some for adult diseases and for other things like Sexual Abuse Awareness and Spread The Word To End The Word.  We accept donations for our jewelry and we give all of the money to benefit research and care for the diseases and causes.  To learn more about Awareness Beads click the logo in the sidebar.



That's about all I can think of right this second just to introduce myself and what's going on in my life right now.  If you want to read my old blog for whatever reason, you can find it at: www.lifestormystyle.blogspot.com



 Until my next post,

Stormy <3