October Awareness - Vision of Hope

The National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation has been around for 25 years, providing support to families and funding promising research.

In recognition of that, the Vision of Hope Campaign is encouraging donations of $25 in recognition of the 25 years.

In addition, I am giving 25% of all Jamberry sales during October to the NNPDF.

And I can't forget about the information squares for this week:

October Awareness has begun

Every October I post information about Niemann-Pick Disease.  October is the month selected to share Awareness.  Yes, we are in an uphill battle against some other awareness months.  But we persevere.

This month, I am donating 25% of all sales from my Jamberry business to the NNPDF.  In addition, my entire commission is donated for my Niemann-Pick nail wrap and a coordinating lacquer, So Presh.  Go check them out.

Here are the first 5 facts for October. Share them from new new NNPDF Facebook page

Diapers

Dan was in diapers from the day he was born (premmie) to the day he died (size 5/6).  I was fortunate to have family help pay for them for many years and then NYS Medicaid reimbursed me for some as well. 

Those families with children who have special needs have to find a way to pay for them until at least age 3, sometimes longer. 

 

The need is there for more  than just those with special needs. Can you believe that 1 in 3 families have to make a choice between buying diapers and buying necessities like food or electricity.

Let's make sure all babies have enough diapers.  Order some holiday gifts at http://jillflinton.jamberry.com and help support No Bottom Left Behind Diaper Bank!

Random musings

Life and death.  It's a cycle for us all.  We don't know how long that cycle is.  So we live our lives doing stuff.  And then something happens to make you realize that the cycle is shorter than you think.  What do you do then?

We are all born for some reason. There is some "job" that each one of us is responsible for.  You may never know what it is, or it could be something spectacular.

So where am I going with this?

The past few years, I have really been thinking about who I am, what I want to do is with my life, how I want to live my life.

I've realized a few things:
1. Dan was here to help me give back after he was gone and to help me start this introspection.  Dan led me to the NNPDF. While it hasn't been an easy road for the past couple of years, the NNPDF is now in a different place and is moving in a good direction.
2. Shelby is here to make me slow down and smell the roses. She loves spending time with me doing silly things.  Her desire to be with me as much as possible has made me look at where my life is and where I want it to be.
3. Finding Jamberry and joining the company appeared to be completely "out of character" for me.  But it came along at the right time to help me with understanding who I really am and why I am involved in the things I'm involved in.

Taken separately, each can seem unrelated.  Taken together, I am seeing a different picture of who I am and what I want in and from my life.

Some people may call it a "mid life crisis" and maybe it is.  I call it discovering who I am.

Mommy and Daughter love

As I was changing my Jamberry wraps tonight, Shelby climbed up next to me and kept asking for "stickies".  So I found some small pieces I had left.

She was so thrilled she ran running to Daddy to show him.  I am so thrilled to be able to share Jamberry with her.

While we are talking Jamberry, did you know that you can help children with disabilities receive therapy?  Every purchase of the Now I Can wrap will have $2 donated to fund grants to help disabled children attend a 3-week intensive therapy program.

Help others and be beautiful

I know it's been a while.  It's the crazy, hectic (and emotional) time of year.  I will get back to writing about surviving grief soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this opportunity with all of you.  Many of you know that I am a Jamberry Independent Consultant.  I help women have beautiful nails without the time and expense of a salon.

Through December 31, Jamberry is offering 2 different sets of nail wraps.  Both sets will have $2 from each sale donated to the Now I Can Foundation.  You can read more about Now I Can here.  The funds donated are being designated to help cover treatment grants for families to participate in their 3 week intensive therapy program.  This video shows you what the Foundation does.

So what do these wraps look like?  You can purchase (U.S. and Canada only) both of them, one is a regular set, one is a junior set (for small nails) at my website.

Can you help children with all types of disabilities have the best lives they can?

How you can help raise awareness

I've posted one set of information graphics.  I have 2 more to do.  Please share the posts or the graphics.  October has so many other diseases that are also fighting for awareness this month.

So besides sharing, what else can you do?  I sell Jamberry nails in my free time.  Yes, I do have a little bit of free time.  One of the reasons I do sell Jamberry is to give back to the community that has given so much to me in support after losing Dan.  I have created this custom periwinkle awareness ribbon wrap.  I have some on hand and can order more.  You have to contact me directly to order though.  It can send them to anywhere in the US (including overseas military addresses), Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Each sheet is $25.  One sheet will provide enough for 2 manicures and 2 pedicures.  The cost includes a donation to the NNPDF for research.

Don't want to wear them yourself? Grab a set as a gift!  Or let me donate your set to a family who is living with an NPD family member or an NPD angel.

You can email me at jillsjams(at)earthlink.net to purchase a sheet.

The deep purple wrap on my middle finger was made to support Quinn Madeline Foundation, a non profit started in memory of Quinn Madeline

5 For Five - Nov 24

So what is 5 For Five? In the short form, it is 5 goals I want to achieve this week. Next week, I will report on my success (or failure).

Here were the goals from last week:

1. Read the newspapers to July 12. Nope.
2. Clean off the kitchen table. Yes!
3. Organize my Jamberry supplies .  You can keep up with my sales on Facebook, on this blog, and at my Jamberry website. Somewhat
4. Pre-write a few blog posts. Nope.
5. Clean out the coupons thoroughly! Nope.

Ok, so last week was a really bad week. So what are my goals for this week???

Five for 5 - Nov 17

So what is 5 For Five? In the short form, it is 5 goals I want to achieve this week. Next week, I will report on my success (or failure).

Here were the goals from last week:

1. Read the newspapers until July 10. Didn't get to this date, but did read a few.
2. Spend time with Shelby showing her pictures of Dan. Shelby loves looking at the Shutterfly photobooks and can easily identify Dan in pictures.
3. Go through the toy piles to find new toys for her.  I found a few toys that Shelby will be getting for Christmas from the toy pile.
4. Plan my Jamberry Holiday sales.  The Jamberry holiday sales will be announced on Friday, Nov 21, and I will be offering some additional incentives.
5. Clean off the kitchen table and get a bit organized again. Just did not happen.

A so-so week! So what are my goals for this week???

5 For Five - Nov 10

So what is 5 For Five? In the short form, it is 5 goals I want to achieve this week. Next week, I will report on my success (or failure).

Here were the goals from last week:

1. Read the newspapers through June 30. Done!
2. Publicize my Jamberry mystery hostess party. This party is continuing until Nov 15, so there is still time to participate if you are interested!
3. Finish the phone cleanout. It is a never-ending process, but the unused apps are gone, the trash can has been deleted and the email has been thinned down.
4. Spend 30 minutes organizing my desk at home. I don't know if I did 30 minutes, but I did organize some more.
5. Put the Halloween decorations away. Hubby helped with this item.

A pretty productive week! So what are my goals for this week???

Jamberry for the Holidays!

I started as a Jamberry Independent Consultant in August.  I wrote about starting this venture here.

So far, it has been going great!  I've met a bunch of great people and made several hundred dollars.

But I wanted to tell everyone about a few things that are going on right now which may be of interest.

First, I have started a Mystery Hostess Party going on until November 15.  You can reach this party on Facebook or Google+.  By participating in this Mystery Hostess Party, you have a chance to win ALL the hostess rewards for that party - so the more the participation, the bigger the rewards!

 

Feel free to share this party with your networks!

A Mid-Life Crisis? or Doing Something for Me?

You hear about men going through a mid-life crisis and buying sports cars or dating younger women.

Women can also have a mid-life crisis.  No, I'm not buying sports cars or dating younger men.

But I did turn 40 this year, and life has been challenging the past few years.

So I went out of my comfort zone and did something that some may think is crazy - I became a Jamberry Nail Independent Consultant!

What are Jamberry Nails?