Education and Judgment

As you all should know…For my birthday, I would LOVE for everyone to donate to the endometriosis association!  Now, I know it seems pointless to ask for you all to give to an association for a disease that I don’t have, but my best friend has it and I’ve seen the pain that it has caused her even though it is an invisible disease to the human eye.  And here’s the thing…she isn’t the only one dealing with it.  There are others…a lot of other women who struggle with it!  Today, I was reading a blog post by a woman named Lena.  She spoke to how tired she is and how the disease has affected her life:

“I am tired of trying to deal with people who don't understand my diseases and think I should live with this pain. I have been told to cope with it…How is one suppose to cope when you have endometriosis. A disease that you wish someone would ripe your insides out even after they have been taken. A disease that makes you curl up in a ball and cry because there is nothing else to do because pain meds. aren't working. The thing that has hurt me the most was the day I was visiting my parents. At first it was like any other day. Then my father looked at me and said "Are you getting lazy?"…I AM TIRED OF BEING JUDGED BECAUSE I HAVE THESE DISEASES. I KNOW THEY ARE INVISIBLE. BUT TO ME THEY ARE VERY REAL. SO PLEASE DON'T JUDGE ME, TALK TO ME. ASK QUESTIONS AND I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THEM. THESE DISEASES ARE REAL!!!!”

She is merely one of millions!  And the one thing that she wants more than anything is not to be judged.  Rather than judging, she wants education.  She wants you to know what is going on with her body so that you can see her as a real person!  There are always good days and bad days, but endometriosis is a disease that is wide-spread across the globe and few people actually know about it.  That’s where the endometriosis association comes in.  They educate people everywhere.  They are the ones to provide the funding for research so that we can figure out what causes this disease and how to treat it.  Perhaps one day, they will be the ones to cure the disease!!!  (Wouldn’t that be amazing!!!) 

I’m turning twenty this year…Twenty dollars can give these women hope.  It can bring a smile to their faces.  Even just five dollars would be great!  Please don’t let me down!  And please don’t let these women down!

How to give:

1.  Give me a check made out to the endometriosis association.

2. Give me cash and I’ll write a check to the endo association.

3. Go online and give at http://www.endometriosisassn.org/donate.html

Be the one to tell millions of girls that you care about their pain!

Alive and ???

As I near the end of my stinkin' long day, I have so much to say and so little time to do so.  I hurt pretty badly tonight, so I don't know how much I will type or if I will even remember everything I want to talk about.  Here's the brief form:  auditions, bunnies, birthdays, Easter, FB fun, sista, life plans. 

Auditions
I'm nervous for them.  I know that I shouldn't be.  But I am.  More than that, I'm nervous about finding my way around campus tomorrow!  I don't want to be "that kid."  So, it doesn't help that I also didn't print the campus map before I left home.  Hopefully I don't get turned around and that the campus becomes home VERY soon.  I am looking forward to it though!  I'm looking forward to being on the campus on a school day, meeting the music department staff and the financial aid counselor.  So yeah!  Wahoo.  I love it when things start getting set in stone!  :)

Life Plans
Yes, I know.  I'm going out of order.  I don't care.  As for life plans, I think I am going to keep up with my creative writing english major.  I am hoping to take some technical writing classes and do editing and publishing as a career.  Not crossing off the other options, just not pursuing them at the moment.

Birthdays
My bro's sixth birthday is tomorrow!  It is SOOO exciting for him.  He was super excited tonight when I saw him.  He looks so grown up too!  I can't believe he is already turning six!  CRAZY?!
Also, I've been thinking about various organizations/charities to donate money towards, so if you have any ideas, post 'em in the comments section!  :)  Thus far, I've been thinking about my child I'm sponsoring from World Vision and donating to her community.  Or the endometriosis association.  Or UMCOR for relief in Japan and/or Haiti.  SO...Let me know your pick and/or suggestion!  :)  Oh, and this would be a donation in place of a gift to me for my bday in June! 

Easter
Easter is almost here, and that means that family drama has picked up.  Hoping it calms down soon.  I'm worried about my Grandma too.  She just seems to be pretty......ummmm......stressed.  So, that makes me crazy.  But, Easter is another holiday with traditions in place, so it's going to be weird when we stray from them and when it doesn't seem to go as tradition says we should.  SO...We'll see.  ;)

FB Fun
And with Easter here, I'm approximately a few days until FB returns.  I'm not giving it up for good.  I've prayed about it, and there's just too much on there that I can use for God's glory as well as a great communication device for college students.  So, yeah.  It's stayin'.  However, I will have to watch myself to make sure I don't become completely dependent on it and that it doesn't steal away time from God.  ALSO - I already know what my FB status is going to be as I get back on it.  Lol.  How crazy is that?!  I'm looking forward to it.  ;)  

Sista
So, tonight, I got this amazing lil' crocheted bunny from my awesome older sista!  And that refers to the magnificent Nichole!  :) She isn't my sister by blood, but our friendship has definitely become more like family than just besties.  Can you believe that she just leaves my orange juice cup sitting on the table until I take care of it?  EVEN if it is like a week later?!  Yeah, we're family.  ;)  Now, if only I could get her to come over to my place enough to have her do that...lol.  Yeah, finances suck and make that nearly impossible right now.  But that's okay.  Soon enough we will be incredibly close!!!  YAY! 

BUNNIES!!!!!
The magnificent sister of mine has bunnies.  They are adorable.  ANYHOW, so I'm bunny-sitting while they are away on a cruise.  And I've been pretty nervous about this whole thing for a while now, right!  It doesn't help when she threatens our friendship based on the survival of these bunnies...and of course, she's said this for MUCH longer than just asking me to bunny-sit.  Ha.  SO, now that I'm bunny-sitting, I have been wondering if I can really handle such precious creatures.  But tonight, as we were chasing the bunnies out from underneath her bed, I got to hold the stubborn one!  :) Her name is Emily, and she is the most stubborn bunny EVER!  I've been scared of her since like...Day one.  (My poor sista who is finding all of this out...haha.  I have been, you should have figured this out by now.)  ANYHOW...I'm not so scared.  I know that she will get to know me and that it will be okay.  And I'm learning more and more how to handle them, which is comforting.  I feel like the worst is over with.  I have been able to hold Emily with her relatively calm as she can be!  SO, I am at peace with the whole thing.  The task doesn't seem so big and scary anymore.  YAY!  :D  I love bunnies!!! 

ALRIGHT...So I think that's all I have for you tonight.  I'm in pretty intense pain from writing that, so I'm going to attempt this thing you people call sleep.  Not sure how it will go, but hopefully it will go well.  :)  For now, I am alive and....BUNNIES!!!!  :)