A Halloween Story By Abby

THE WOLF IN THE FOREST

One day Cristafor and his friends, Liza and Madi, walked out of their houses and met at the end of a dark forest. It was silent.
Finally, Liza broke the silence. She said, "should we go in?"  Madi slowly nodded.
Cristahfor wasn't so sure about this, but he went in with the girls. It was really dark in the forest. Cristahfor was really afraid of the dark, but he knew he was with his friends, so he went on.
Suddenly, they heard a forest wolf. "RUN!!!!!", yelled Cristahfor.
But it was too dark to run back home. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" yelled Cristahfor.
"Hey, it's only my lantern," Liza said.
"Whew," thought Cristahfor.
"Where is the wolf?," asked Madi.
"Wolf? There is no wolf! It was only my voice doing wolf sounds!," laughed Liza.
"But how are we going to get home?," asked Cristahfor.
Liza spoke up, "My lantern!"
"Oh, yeah!," Cristafor and Madi said at the same time.
When they got home they went trick or treating. When they were done trick or treating they shared their candy with each other.

THE END

Celebrating Women - Cancer Research Fundraisers

For all my local friends I encourage you to save two dates, or at least one.  I have had a strong calling to share what I have learned about hormone imbalance as it relates to the cause of breast cancer with my friends. I have spent the past few months reading, reading, reading... the information is astounding. It certainly has encouraged me to focus on a lifestyle change so that I can become more healthy and aware of how my body reacts to the products and environment I am exposed to each day.

On Friday, October 22 at 6:30 Crossroads Coffeehouse is the location for the first event. On this night myself and a couple of friends will share about how we have been affected by breast cancer in our lives. I will specifically address hormone imbalance and how it affects our bodies in a hugely negative way, and give attendees information on steps they can take to prevent cancer cell growth. The talking portion for this event will be kept brief, to ensure plenty of time for guests to listen to the wonderful sounds of my friend Bernie Harrington on her Native American flutes. Friends will be assisting me in giving hand massages, and I do believe a massage therapist friend of mine is planning to make it to give out neck massages. "Prevent Stations" will be set up in which guests can visit each station, get a massage, try out a lotion or gelee', and pick up a cancer prevention card. Mary Devitt, owner of Crossroads will be serving up sweets and wonderful teas, which have anti-oxidant benefits.

On Tuesday, October 26 we will gather in the upper level of Coach's Sports Bar & Restaurant at 6:30 p.m.  Here I will present a very informative PowerPoint presentation that will last 20-25 minutes. My goal is to teach everyone present the definition of "estrogen dominance" and "xenoestrogens" and why it is so important to be aware of these two terms in regards to our overall health and well-being, as well as that of our children.
Again there will be hand massages, as well as a chance to purchase Arbonne heatlh and well being products, and Silpada jewelry to benefit cancer research. Jennifer, the owner of Coach's, has also arranged for red wine tasting.

Everyone will be encouraged to light a votive candle in memory or in honor of someone in your life that has been affected by cancer. We will recognize these individuals prior to closing our evening at around 8:30 p.m.

It is my desire that each person will experience an evening of fellowship, unity for a cause, relaxation, and empowerment to ask their doctors informed questions, and a desire to be a part of their own health care.

Scrapbooking & Beyond - Fall Issue

Did I mention yet that I have three layouts in the fall issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond? Some of my friends asked where to pick up a copy - I know Barnes & Noble has carried this magazine. I love it - no other compares with great step by step instructions for every project.
Because of the in depth instructions I wrote for my 2 page layout, "Living in the Moment" the layout became more of a feature article in the issue, which apparently meant more money for me - as my check from All American Crafts arrived for much more than anticipated. It was a very happy surprise, and not only took care of my new camera lens, but also allowed me to get a GPS - no more getting lost!
I was hoping to share some images of the weekend photo shoots...but alas - the Acer monitor on the desktop computer went kaputt. Fortunately we bought it at Costco on 10/1/10 and took it back for store credit today...which allowed us to bring home a new monitor. Of course the same was not there - probably would avoid Acer anyhow, as I expect monitors to last well more than a year! We found a 23" Samsung HD TV/monitor displayed for the same price - and I did not mind losing an inch. When we checked out the woman said we owed $73, which made no sense as it should have come out even. She had to call for a price check, which confirmed that the monitor was shown for what we had said  - apparently the store signage was wrong! They honored their posted price of course - have to say Costco customer service has always bene great... and we came home with a new monitor which I can also hook up to the laptop to run my Powerpoint slides for Arbonne/women's health classes.
Once home we discovered there was not a cable included to hook up to our PC, so Jesse, bless his heart, ran into Best Buy as I really wanted to process the weekend photos, but the Geek Squad sent home the wrong cable. Jesse had noticed he did not type in HD on the model number, and apparently high definition does make a difference. Kind of a waste of my late afternoon, pegged for photo processing. Oh well, cleaning done so it just means shifting around my time management.
I have been busy filling my new scrapbooking cabinet that Jesse built me. The pull drawers are not yet done, which is where I plan to store my punches. Peg board needs to be hung on the insideof the doors as well...which will come. Meanwhile, I am  having no trouble filling it.

Where in the world!....

Where have I been, right folks??  I thought I better come and let you all know what I have been up to. Fall has been a whirlwind, and yes, I have not created anything in more than a month, other than a few cards that needed to go out in the mail.

I guess I have been on a creative reprieve...not that my brain has stopped popping out ideas...lots of those. I even bought some new BoBunny and cannot wait to play, but in September I made a decision to change my priorities.  God was not first in my life, nor had he even been second.  I decided to recenter myself on Christ, and am confident that in doing so all else will fall into place.

I joined the church choir -we had our first practice Wednesday night. At first I wondered what I was doing...I couldn't decide on whether to sing soprano or alto - I have always struggled with harmony, but "what if they chose a song to sing with a really high note - I can't hit those...."  It was so much easier to sing solos at my previous church...there I could pick a song in my range and belt it out to my hearts desire...problem with that is I suffered terribly from dry throat - my nerves don't have me cut out for "performance singing".  There is COMFORT in the numbers of a choir.  Since I sing by ear and I read music by watching notes go up and down on the scale (yes, don't laugh) - I was blessed to find myself sitting by Mandy in the alto section. A strong voice whom I could pick up our notes on right away. The first song was horrible for me...I loved the song and I wanted to sing melody. I wanted to jump sections so badly, but stayed put, figuring I would give it the night to try and sing alto. I really could not wait to run out the door and listen to the CD our church supplies, with parts, so we can practice in between practices.

Happily I find that the soprano section (MELODY!!! YEAH!) fits my range on all songs, but perhaps the traditional hymn. There is one note I question - haven't had time to practice it, but I do hope section jumping is allowed!!

Jesse and I also joined an official Lifegroup this year...our church is quite large, and everyone is encouraged to DO LIFE together by connecting with a small group. Our lifegroup picks up where we left off with Marv's passing. Yesterday was the 4 month anniversary of Marv going to be with the Lord...and we also met with our group. Steve, our leader, was talking about how one matures in Christ with age, and how wonderful it is to see those who are really keeping "the main thing the main thing" stay focused even through trials and ill health as they get on in years. I thought of Marv and remembered how strong his faith was through his last months, and what a testimony and blessing he was. I know he planted seeds...and WOW, I just feel immensely blessed to have known him.

Besides choir and lifegroup I have reactivated my activity with the photographers group at church...so I guess that puts me at connecting in three small groups. It's all good. Tomorrow morning we are heading to the arboretum early on for a fall photo shoot. It should be overcast skies, at least I hope so, which will give us rich colors. I look forward to sharing some pics here.

I have also been working diligently on the "Focus on Prevention" Susan G Komen fundraiser coming up on October 22 and 26th.  Let me just tell all of my readers right now... ESTROGEN IS the cause for cancer. In more than 80% o f all cases. We have too much estrogen, because we live in an industrialized nation that uses chemicals in every aspect of our living...we are pumping xenoestrogens into our bodies, which are seen as estrogens.  Estrogen + xenoestrogens + estrogen receptor = bad news!!  The bottom line - hormone imbalance.  I could go on and on but I will not. If you live near I hope you can make it to one of my "prevention" nights to learn and take control of your health. Medical doctors are not there...they are trained by drug companies and everything that is done, once you are diagnosed with cancer, is done pretty much because they don't know what else to do. Ok...hopping off my soap box. Drug companies run this country for sure and we are in a poor state of health because of it.

In addition I am running Abby to Brownies, taking Kyle to his own middle school lifegroup before choir on Wednesday nights...and I admit, I look forward to Friday night which we try to keep open for family time.

I will get back to scrapping. As soon as my fundraisers are over, I promise. We also have a month long break from choir in November.  I am itching to create, but absolutely love belting out a praise and worship song, even if Abby did come and complain that I am too loud and she cannot concentrate. 

I should probably start with a layout about our crazy fall schedules... meanwhile, I hope you are ALL happily creating. Love ya!

Rita S.