Lil Blue Boo Fundraiser!!

Cancer is a nasty thing it takes life as you know it and turns it up side down and keeps you on your toes. I have been affected by cancer in my life not personally but through friends and family. Many of us have seen someone close to us or an acquaintance battle it. It doesn't take very long before you figure out it isn't a friend (the cancer) you want around for very long.

If you follow my blog then you have seen my posts on Evy's Tree it is an awesome small internet business that makes handmade clothing for men, women and children. I also have her business on my Facebook so I have been slowly following the progress about Ashley from Little Blue Boo who has been diagnosed with Choriocarsinoma which a form of cancer that is a result from a molar pregnancy. What really got me to start following Ashley's progress through her fight with cancer was her video of her having her head shaved. One of my good friends was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago and has been cancer free for a year, she also made the decision to shave her head once she began to loose her hair due to intense chemo treatments. The difference between Ashley and my friend is that Ashley video'd her shaving her head and if you can watch this video without crying it'd be a miracle. Its a very moving and personal video, I'll provide you the link and you'll soon see that Ashley is tall, thin, a young mom and business owner. 

http://www.lilblueboo.com/2012/01/a-rite-of-passage-a-video.html

Evy's Tree as well as many other small internet business owners has started a fund for Ashley and her family to have resources to pay off the costly medical bills she will soon acquire and hopefully we can all donate enough money to give her a month or two off to focus on her healing and not have to worry so much about keeping her business running. The blog that Amy wrote over at Evy's tree is way better than what I have told you. I just wanted to get the word out about what all these wonderful lady's are doing for Ashley. They have rightly named themselves Team Ashely! So head on over to her blog and read it!! 

http://evystree.com/blog/?p=1656

If you can participate in the auction go for it but if not there is a button on the right side of her page that you can donate to a paypal account that has been set up to go directly to Ashley. Any amount will help if 20 people donated $5.00 that'd be $100.00 that could cover their trash, water or a portion of their electric bill for a month. It may help to pay a portion of some of her medical bills. Literally any amount would help!!

And if you cannot participate spread my blog on, on your Facebook or email it to someone that you think might be willing to help. Simply getting the word out about this will help a lot!!

Winners!!

I have emailed all of you as of friday at 12:20 asking for your address. 

Hopefully if you havent checked your email this blog post will catch your attention as it is listing all the emails that have won.

1st place: hermie0001@hotmail.com

2nd place: Mar77777@msn.com

3rd place: vienred_88@hotmail.com

If I do not get responses from you guys by next Friday (1/27/12) I will have to draw new winners!!!

Please check your junk mail box!!!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!! - CLOSED

I have been blogging since about May and have some regular followers whether they are actually subscribed to my blog or they check it regularly I thought a Thank you was in order. 

LaynieBug Designs Melissa Blair is sponsoring my giveaway, I love working with her and have loved watching her little business progress to what it is now. If you don't know anything about this business you need to head on over to Facebook and search for her!! She makes amazing hair accessories and is a joy to work with :).

The nitty gritty of the give away...

There will be three winners who will be chosen from random.org.

You MUST be friends with Layniebug Designs on Facebook 

(just click on the name and it'll take you right to her Facebook page).

You MUST leave a comment on this blog post with your email so I can contact you. If you do not feel comfortable leaving your email then please just leave your name, Melissa will be the one contacting you for me via Facebook. 

And for a bonus if you are a follower of my blog you get a double vote (if you are not a follower, become one!!). 

You can enter one time only. 

The giveaway will start today (1/16/12) and end (1/20/12) at noon.
Open to International participates. 

The first place winner will win:

 Black flower with two thin headbands and 8 hair ties in the colors above.

The second place winner will get:

 The turquoise flower that comes with two thin head bands and four hair ties. 

The third place winner will get:

The silver flower with two thin headbands with four hair ties. 

So to recap the ways you can win is to leave your email in a comment on this blog, be a friend of Layniebug Designs on Facebook and to be a follower of my blog these are all different avenues to enter. 

What I've been up to..

I had intentions of blogging a bunch this break and to read like three or four books just for fun.. But that has not happened at all. What I have really been wanting to do now is let my brain rot, watch TV and not move at all. I guess you could say I have a touch of the lazy's.. 

I went home for two and a half weeks, while that was fun visiting with the people I was able to see. It was also nice to come back home and get caught up on some stuff before school starts... Like the laundry and on my to do list.. cleaning this place up. It would have been nice if I came back home to a house and not an apartment that consists of me having to walk outside to take my dogs out (see touch of the lazy's).. 

But I like our little home. 

So you may ask.. well if you are so lazy, what the heck are you going to do the next two weeks??? 

Your answer: NOTHING!! But clean :) and get this apartment back into shape before the term starts.. I also have been planning our wedding.. 

Naive me thought I'd be able to put some of this off until the summer but I am slowly realizing that a couple of these things are going to have to be done sooner than I thought. This week Tony and I are going to go look at a couple different venues and possibly stop off at the store we are going to use for our invites just to ask some questions. 

My suggestion to all you peeps out there following my blog.. Keep an eye out for a give away I am going to be doing at the beginning of next week with LaynieBug Designs, you can check her out on Facebook!! 

Most Amazing Cookies EVER!!!

For Christmas one of the gifts I got was a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, which I have been wanting for a very very long time. You can only make so many things by hand before you just don't bake anymore. I decided I would try my mixer out on some cookies. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it out... essentially I made it my own :)

What You'll need:

1 pound unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

4 large eggs

6 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.

- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.

- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

- Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and chocolate; mix until well combined.

- Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

- Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies.

- Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I used Ghiradelli chocolate bars I believe they were 60% Cocoa but I am not sure. I also modified this recipe because I did not want to spend 10 dollars on special flour so I just used AP instead of half bread and half pastry flour. This yield's A LOT Of cookies so beware, had I known that I would have half'd the recipe. 

YUMM!!!

I hope if you make these cookies they taste super good.

Maybe tomorrow I will have time to sit down and tell you a little bit about what I have been up to now that I am on winter break with only two weeks left :(