Saturday, May 27, 2017

#Lupus Warrior




May is Lupus Awareness Month 


From Christa...
💜I was diagnosed with Lupus 5 years ago and stage 4-5 Lupus Nephritis in late 2015.
I am finally ready to do my part to help raise awareness for this extremely mysterious disease.
I struggled with sharing my story for so long
because
I was scared of being labeled as "sick" or judged, and then I realized..

.I DEFINE ME.

Lupus does not define me!!
A very special friend said to me
"why hide who you are?"
So...THIS is ME!...!

For a life without Lupus, we must first know Lupus!
Lupus is a chronic, complex and prevalent autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.5 million Americans. Basically our immune system is confused and instead of attacking foreign invaders as it should, it attacks our own tissues and organs and mine is specifically attacking my kidneys and joints. Lupus Symptoms include:
* Achy joints
* Unexplained fever
* Swollen joints (arthritis)
* Prolonged or extreme fatigue
* Skin rash
* Ankle swelling and fluid accumulation
* Pain in the chest
* A butterfly-shaped rash across the cheeks and nose
* Hair loss
* Sensitivity to the sun and/or other light
* Seizures
* Mouth or nose sores
* Pale or purple fingers or toes from cold or stress
* Dry eye
* And many, many more

Living with lupus can be extremely difficult
and everyday is unpredictable.
Each morning
I make a conscious effort to choose joy
and to be thankful for the life that I have!
I thank God, my Angel, my husband, my family, and my closest friends
for giving me a reason
to be strong and fight each day!

***
And more from Christa on
Lupus Awareness Day...

"Oh My heart 💜
Imagine the overwhelming feeling of emotions, love, and support
when you walk into your department
covered in purple 💜
This means more to me than I could tell each one of you,
THANK YOU!"


(^^I love these people! Because they love my girl!^^)



Dear Daughter,
you are a warrior and a fighter,
and you have a lot of soldiers who've got your back!

Prayers continue for a cure,


in the
meantime,
fight on!








Monday, May 8, 2017

Our Photojournalist with a Worthy Message



As we saw in the last post,
Livia has taken an interest in photography.
And, apparently, in just a very short time,
she has decided upon a genre...

PHOTOJOURNALISM,
the art or practice of communicating news by photographs.

It turns out Livi is concerned with our carbon footprint on the world,
and
she has a message to send,



and she as chosen to send that mssage...


through images!

This career started with her most
professional, barely 4-year-old-voice,
"Nana, can I use your camers?"
(I was tempted to correct her grammar, but didn't want to
stifle the moment in any way...I saw she was on a mission!)


She partnered this past weekend with


...to help share their message...

"To satisfy appetites with healthy fare.
To build support for local farms.
To insure animals are humanely treated.
And to create a ripple effect on community,
environment and family.
We believe in the power of good food.
To make the world a better place.
One plate at a time."


I have seen that Liv has an underlying element of discovery
in her brand of photography, such as the gardener in the photo above
or the "Where is Livi?!?" in the photo below...


...and she has mastered the art of lens flare...



She ended her session with
some personal touches...


And
as you can see,
Christa is quite excited about Livi's message
while Lucas seems to still be on the fence.


Although she did capture him
honing his talents for his future career,
engineering...


She
purposefully and excitedly took this shot...

Livi, "Nana's cup!"

(Sorry, Root and Pecker! I really just went there
for their tea!)

Great job, Livi!
and
A great message well sent!

Has National Geographic been in touch yet!?!