Celebrating Friendship and Life and A Giveaway

So I'm doing this fun and exciting project with my friend Christine. Here's what it's all about, what we are all about and how you can win a very cool hat.


                           *******

Christine and I have been friends for forever. We met in middle school and grew up to have very different lives. But we share a history, a love of life and a hope for the future that started when we played games like MASH.

We used to dance our hearts out at school dances. We spent the night at each other's houses, staying up late talking about the boys we liked and the lives we wanted when we grew up. We played MASH. We watched scary movies. We swam in her neighbor's pool on hot summer nights.  We were good friends living the life in middle school in the late 1980s.

In high school, we got even closer. We shared milestones like getting our driver's licenses and special events like being on the homecoming court. We still danced our hearts out at school dances and talked about boys we liked. We dated best friends for a little while. We spent hours and hours at each other's houses.  We filled out the quizzes in magazines and watched MTV and talked about the lives we wanted when we grew up.

The closer we got to being grown-ups the more we saw that being a grown up wasn't always as magical as it had seemed in 1989. The more time Christine spent at my house, the more she saw the troubling sides of my troubled mother. She knew more than almost any of my friends what was really going on in my home. Her house became a refuge for me. Her mom became a mother figure to me too. When my mother didn't come home one night, I called her mom. When one of my mom's boyfriends got too touchy feely with me, I called her mom. 

The more messy my life got, the less Christine and I hung out though. We had silly fights like girls do in high school. We were teenagers being teenager-y. Then we graduated and went to different colleges and moved away and sort of stayed in touch and sort of lost touch and ultimately didn't really know what happened to each other (this is how it was pre-Facebook, remember pre-Facebook?).

Fast forward 13 years, we literally ran into each other on the stairs of a gym. We talked. We realized we lived within a half-mile of each other (we live 3 hours away from where we grew up). We had lunch and caught each other up on our lives. Then we had lunch with her mother when she visited and we all caught up some more. 

We saw each other at the gym. We trained for a marathon at the same time and cheered each other on and supported each other. We had more lunches. Then Facebook happened and we found all the friends from all the years. We started having dinner with another good buddy from middle school that we discovered lived near us too (thank you Facebook). We danced our hearts out at our 20th high school reunion. 

Here we are on the dance floor at our 20th reunion
having so much fun and I think kind of owning the floor. 

In some ways, it was like nothing had changed. 

Something that hadn't changed however was my complicated, troubled mother. During one particularly rough period, I was talking to Christine and she said "You need my mom." And I did. Her mother met  me at a Cracker Barrel in Kalamazoo (our hometown and where my mom lived then). Her mom gave me advice and helped me and hugged me. Just like she had done in high school. 

Then Christine told me her mom had cancer. She was worried and heartbroken. So was I.

Christine dove into research and ways to help her mother. She devoted her life to it. Her mother is doing better, so much better than doctors thought she would be. 

                            *****

Being a grown up is messy and complicated and can break your heart. Friendships that last a lifetime can offer support and perspective and strength. Remembering the hope and excitement Christine and I felt for each other and the future as we filled out the quizzes and dreamt about what it would all look like makes us smile now. Friendships that last a lifetime are like going back in time a little bit. They feel like home. 

Christine and I have very different lives and are very different people in so many ways, but we have a history and we have lunch and we have laughs. And we are doing fun projects together to support each other. Christine created an apparel line, inspired by her mother, called BawareL.  

"I created the "B" with the modified cancer ribbon to symbolize my personal journey with my mom's battle with cancer and my positive result for the BRCA1 gene," she said. "The modified cancer ribbon signifies my desire and hope to see a shift and integration of more natural, alternative methods into the world of conventional prevention and treatment of cancer and other diseases."

She hopes to raise awareness and inspire people. I'm helping her spread her message. And hopefully inspire a few people with my own positive outlook on life. I'm so proud to be a part of her mission and help people live a more positive, healthier life. And to celebrate friendship and people that stick with you and moms that look out for their kid's friends and love and ahhhhh! 

Here's the link to her site- click here. 
If you live in the metro Detroit area, her merchandise is in two Rochester area Hallmark stores. Sharon's Hallmark at The Village and on S. Livernois. Go check her out!

And here are a few of our videos:

(Click here to watch the video.)

(Click here to watch the video.)

Here's how you can win a hat from BawareL.  a Rafflecopter giveaway

All Kinds of Good Stuff and What I Know For Sure (this week)

Yesterday, I put up a post about not being so happy with my body and being a little hard on myself.  Then I went to a class at my gym and felt so much better.  It's not just a class, it's a community.  A community of women (and a few men) that come together once a week to push themselves to the brink.  Push-ups, jump lunges, burpees and more.  

I love this class.  I look forward to this class.  I feel strong and beautiful.  

Look at this fierce group of strong women and a couple men.  Love it.

It's also a place to catch up with friends, most of them I met at this class.  Some days it is the only time I see other grown ups.  Some days the end of class where our instructor says "just lay still and relax and let your mind go," it is the only time I do that all week.  It's just all kinds of good stuff and everyone needs a class or community like this, that I know for sure.

Here's what else I know for sure (this week):

• Bullying is serious.  A local filmmaker is trying to make a movie, called The Bully Chronicles, that I believe will truly make a difference.  Watch the trailer and then click here to see how you can help get this movie made.

• Who needs toys, when you have potatoes?  At least if you're my toddler Wade.  I found him playing in the living room, having a grand old time, with potatoes.  Guess what he's getting for Christmas!

• This YouTube channel, Kin Community, makes soup look cool.  I've said it a couple times, that I hate soup.  But yet, here I go again posting about soup.  Maybe I don't hate it after all. 

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• Jimmy Fallon + Justin Timberlake + History of Rap= Never Gets Old.  Enjoy, again.

• Women friends, especially mom friends, are critically important.  Over the past two weeks I've had lunch dates with a couple members of the Mom of Four Club (the club consists of women crazy enough to have four children).  It is so nice to talk to other women that know what it's like to be so vastly outnumbered in your own home.  I felt so much happier and relaxed after spending time with them.

• Online friends are just as important.  Honestly, I've gotten to know so many people via this blog, instagram, Twitter and Facebook. For that, I am so grateful.  Come on over and be my friend on Facebook page, or follow me @AngelaYblood on Twitter.

• Check out my non-craftiness as I try to Pinterest my pumpkins in the latest MomPulse video.

• Giveaways are fun.  Congrats to Kristy on winning the Anti-aging EyeCream from Rodan + Fields.  Special shout out to  my talented, brilliant friend Dodi June, the R+D consultant who sponsored this giveaway. For more information on R +D click the link below:https://dodi.myrandf.com/Shop/Product/AAEY015

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know.  Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page.

More Words, Bob Dylan and the Armadillo

This year's Christmas letter:

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is

Rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'.

Times they definitely are a-changin.’

Recently, I’ve been looking back at past Christmas letters I’ve written. I feel the need to defend the Christmas letter.  It seems that this year, even more than ever the Christmas letter has come under attack.  I still believe in good old-fashioned letters and updates from people you care about.  Even though people tell a certain story on Facebook...it is usually a glossed up version of the truth. Believe me, I get it.  If you have seen my Facebook profile picture, you understand that I too fall victim to the “make it look better than it is” syndrome.  I looked pretty good ONE night last year and I am using the picture from that night in every profile I have online and otherwise.  Even the church directory.  

But hopefully my Christmas letter has been and is different.  Real.  Not depressing real (well maybe to some people.)  But a real update.  Real life--funny, complicated, annoying, ridiculous and good and bad.

In my look back I realized things are changing.  My babies that I wrote about are getting bigger, growing up.  And it is happening fast.  Soon they will be teenagers (and then the letters will get scary real).

Peyton turned 10 this year.  I can’t believe I have been a mother for a decade.  (Yes it is about me.) He is thriving in baseball and football.  It’s the first year he isn’t so crazy about school which is bumming us out.  He recently decided it was time to make the switch from calling me “mommy” to “mom.” Ugh.  He asked to go deodorant shopping with Tim. They bought AXE, the deodorant that attracts uber-attractive women.  Really Tim? “Mom” will be going deodorant shopping with Peyton next time. 

Times they definitely are a-changin.’

Lucy however is still as funny as ever.  As we were decorating the tree, we told stories about each ornament.  We told the story behind the fortune cookie ornament, the story of how Tim proposed to me with a fortune inside a cookie.  Lucy followed up with, “Why? Didn’t he have the guts to just ask you?”  Classic. She is having a great year at school, which if you could hear the surprise in my voice when I say that you might judge me.  But we are beyond thrilled that she is happy.  Believe me, the world is just a better place when Lucy is happy.

JT is 5 1/2 and had a rough fall adjusting to kindergarten.  Set back by speech issues and Celiac disease he is finally getting used to his new routines.  Just in time for the two-week holiday break.  But I am hopeful he will continue to adjust and learn to love kindergarten.  It is the season to believe in hope, right?  JT is still an amazing little athlete.  He loved baseball this past summer and is enjoying hockey now.  He might be into hockey a little too much.  I find myself saying “Quit checking your brother into the wall.”  A lot.

The baby Wade is 2.  He is obsessed with matchbox cars and all things Toy Story.   He is a yes man.  Actually a “Yup” man.  Ask him anything...”how are you?” he replies “yup.”  “do you want to go outside?” “yup.”  

I haven’t been in love with 2011.  There were some really good things about it, but a lot wasn’t that fabulous.  I mean even if I were one of those people that was all phony and fake in my Christmas letters, it would be hard to spin some of the stuff that happened.  Like hoping for a short sale on our under-water mortgaged house, frustrating health issues, longer hours for Tim’s job, and oh so much more.  Just one of those years.  But there were some really great moments, they were mostly great moments even in the midst of stress and exhaustion.  

I started two blogs and am writing more than ever before in my life.  And it feels good.  Check them out: Jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.blogspot.com and my blog dedicated to living gluten free with four kids, Agluten-freefamily.blogspot.com.  You can also follow me on Twitter at @angelaYblood or @aglutenfreefam.  I share a lot.  So much in fact that some people that I used to talk to a lot, don’t call anymore.  They just read.

Social media has proven to be incredibly entertaining.  Peyton of course is concerned with what is going out on the world wide web.  “Are you sure you want to put that out there?” he recently asked after I showed him a video I posted of me dancing in the kitchen.  

Again please believe me when I say, I realize it won’t be long before I am asking him that very question.  (Well maybe not with a dancing video, but you get what I mean.)

2011 was a roller coaster and I won’t lie and say that I am not ready for a fresh start, a change.  But I also realize that time is going fast, things are changing, babies are growing up, memories are being made, stories are being told and there is magic in everyday.  Even in the worst days.

Wishing you strength for the roller coaster ride of life, the ability to laugh when it’s funny and let go when the change is out of your control.  

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

And by the way, how can you not believe in the Christmas letter when you can work in a Bob Dylan song quote?

Nothing says Christmas like a Bob Dylan cover...right?  Love Brandi Carlisle.  


And just because I love her, here is Brandi covering another classic favorite of mine.  







Here are some old and newer Christmas TV flashbacks:

I heart Phil.