Bits o' Blair

Emily first was diagnosised with kidney disease when she was 18.
Luckily, her mom was a perfect donor & she was able to get a
transplant & get healthy.  Ten years later, that kidney failed.  That
was three years ago.

Emily has been waiting three years for a new kidney.  While she waits, she must go to dialysis three times a week for four hours a day.  She does this in addition to a full time job, a fiancee, & two bonus kids.  Twelve friends &  family members have been tested (including my pal Mandi) to donate & none were viable donors.

Two of those friends who were tested couldn’t stand the wait anymore & have created a Twitter account & a Facebook account for Emily’s whereabouts-unknown-kidney to raise awareness & maybe even find a
new donor.

Anyone can help & support Emily by following on Twitter: @emilyskidney

& friending on Facebook Emily’s Kidney. 
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001938447330

The real & oh-so-gorgeous Emily:

From my pal Lindsay:

I am holding a trunk show to benefit the March of Dimes- 100% of my commissions will be donated to the cause.

Here is the run-down:
I am hoping to make this BIG- my goal is to donate $300 to the March of Dimes. Every participant who makes a purchase from the trunk show will be entered to be the winner of the hostess rewards. Meeting my goal would lead to $300 in donations for the March of Dimes and $300 in FREE jewelry for the winner.

In order to participate in the trunk show: 1) Head to: http://www.stelladot.com/lindsaybjorhus 2) Click on “Find your hostess” in the upper right hand corner and type in “March of Dimes” 3) Shop! Your order will ship immediately & you will be entered to win the hostess rewards.

The trunk show will run until February 20th.

Have you ever wanted to kill your husband?

I mean, really.  You’d love for him to drop over & then you could start fresh & paint your closet pink & meet a dashing rich man that would take you off to far away places, like that cool town in Greece with the white buildings.

Thankfully, I haven’t.  But I know plenty of friends that have & it always breaks my heart to hear it.  Because marriage?  It’s tough.  It takes work.

BUT IT IS WORTH IT.

& that’s pretty much the point of Alisa Bowman’s book, Project: Happily Ever After.  She essentially wants her husband to keel over dead to the point that she planned a rather lovely funeral for him, albeit in her head.  Toss in Postpartum Depression (oh, how I am familiar with that!) & financial issues (aren’t we all familiar with those?) & you have a clusterhell of a marriage.  But instead of ordering a casket or calling an attorney, she decided to give it one more go.  She through everything she had into their marriage.  & she found it was worth it.

I think the sun rises & sets with Nate.  Truly.  Just the other day, I was bragging to coworkers that somehow, I convinced that man to marry me & truly, I jumped up & down with joy on the alter before he kissed me as his bride.  BOOM.  I caught that sucker for the rest of his life.

But.  BUT.  Reading this book was a good reaffirmation for me that marriages can be saved.  Not all of them.  (Certainly not if abuse is involved.)  But there is hope.  Because we all deserve that fairy tale ending.

required:  Alisa sent me a copy of her book at no charge to me before it was available to the public.  I loved it mostly because she drops the F-bomb a couple of times & I have extreme affection for the appropriateness of that word in certain scenarios.  She is a lovely, lovely lady correspond with & I sincerely enjoyed reading her journey.