Busy time of Life...

Hey everyone,
I bet you are wondering what has been happening, as I haven't really had a chance to write much about whats been happening. So this is what has been happening... and here is what is coming up! :)

For the last three months or so, Mum and i have been volunteering and planning the community day at my dads nursing home. We have been making a whole range of crafts, baked goods, and decorated Lollies (Photos are coming up and i will include them as i update the monthly kindnesses, so you can see what we did along the way! I hope i took photos of everything though! :/

So last weekend was the actual Community day at my dads nursing home. Mum and I ran the cake stall (which also had preserves and decorated lollies). By the end of the day our stall had raised over $700! And the whole day raised about $3000 to help go towards extra equipment for the nursing home.

Table 1: The cakes, cupcakes, cookies, fudges, bananas in PJs, Candycane Reindeer, & Coconut ice and everything in between there too! More stuff arrived after this too... but i didnt have enough time to take a better photo! Someone also bought in Fresh Italian Canoli's (Oh My Goodness... delicious).

The 2nd Table: The Jams, Marmalades, Lemon Butter, Fruit cakes and everything in between!

I think there was only 4 jars of preseves left by the end of the day! And we ended up reducing it down to one table. Here is my nephew standing behind the table 

 
As the only family members who were part of the planning, we got thoroughly thanked with a bunch of flowers each and the WORLDS largest box of Chocolates. :) 1.134kgs of chocolate in a taster tray! But we had a lot of fun and were just happy to be able to do things we were both good at! Many of the families of other residents made and contributed in a HUGE range of other ways & there was all the paid staff that were amazing as planners and worked really hard for the Nursing home as well ... just don't want it to sound like it was all us! We only did a small portion! Our Kindnesses were Our time, crafts and cakes as they were all donations to the day and helped made it a huge success! :D

I also got to try out a whole bunch of stuff that I could make from the ideas I got from Pinterest! (I have a Pinterest page... so if you want kindness ideas I have some pins in a Kindness Ideas page- http://pinterest.com/daenamouse/kindness-ideas/ ). I will include photos later... and if you are really keen I can provide you with some web-inar links or pins for the things i have made! or just try and tell you how i made them... or something!

On a funny note, Dad is loving that we helped, because lots of the staff bought mums cakes and her delicious Jams and are telling him regularly how delicious they are... He is acting like a minor Celebrity! Its quite cute! :)

WHAT IS COMING UP:

NANOWRIMO - this is the National November Writers Month! They challenge you to write 50,000 words in the month. So I am going to be working hard to achieve this, both for this website and for a personal project I am currently working on.

Movember - okay, I'm not a man (obviously), nor a woman who can grow an exceptional Mustache... but funnily enough this is something I support regularly! I have several friends who participate and if it helps support Testicular & Prostate Cancer research and mens health in general.

Telethon 2012 - the weekend of the 10th & 11th of November. I will be doing something similar to what i did last year (Telethon November 2011). Last year I got to meet some awesome Sport, TV & Movie stars and had a lot of fun helping the Western Australian Children's Hospital Princess Margaret, and the Telethon Institute for Child Research! :)

Margaret River Holiday - That is right boys and girls, i am having a holiday! With some of my closest girlfriends! A well deserved one in a couple of weeks that should help me to relax! :)

Christmas -  Sorry to scare you but its only 2 months away! :)

TOP SECRET MISSION: I am hoping I might be able to implement a "TOP SECRET" event this year! Keep checking back for more details! :D


I hope you enjoy this update... and look forward to other things during this month! :D

Thanks guys,
Luv Daena x

Happy StarWars Day....

Hey Guys,
For those of you who don't know me really well, you may not know that I am a bit of a geek! I love all things SciFi/Fantasy and have been known to go to conventions here in my home city. I even have photos with two of my favorite Stargate actors! :) YAY! And yes I know... its particularly nerdy!

This is Corin Nemec, Me & Christopher Judge from the Stargate SG1 Series. It was taken at the Stargate Convention in Perth 2010 http://www.thehubproductions.com/  And yes they keep having them here too!
(I took a photo of the original photo so not the best quality... but you get the idea)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as you may already know I have a fairly extensive library where the predominance is toward SciFi/Fantasy and Paranormal Romance (yes, I like Vampire stories... don't hold it against me! lol). I have a few favorite things to watch like Stargate, Firefly, StarTrek, Dr Who, Sanctuary, Fringe, Eureka, Warehouse 13, and STARWARS!

So now you know my nerdy little secret, you may understand when I say that today is Star Wars Day. So I just have to say "MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU! "

I bet you are wondering what StarWars has to do about kindness...well to be honest not too much...but I thought I would share something that StarWars does have to do with kindness.

Starting with the photo of me with some Storm Troopers. 

Now you may not think very much about it but these guys (dressed up in StarWars costumes) made a very big difference to the Perth community. They Volunteered their time and also gave a donation to the Perth 2011 Telethon. The Perth Telethon raises money for the State Children's hospital, which is called Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (PMH). It also raises money for child health in general through the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

I volunteered to work in the Call Center last year for Telethon, where I answered calls and accepted the donations on behalf of Telethon. And I met these awesome Storm Troopers whilst I was in the call rooms! I also met heaps of other stars and celebrities and had a great time. I loved it so much I am planning to do it again! :) If you want to know more about Telethon, please check them out here.

I also wanted to tell you about a guy, dressed as a Storm Trooper, who walked across Australia to raise money for charity. He was supporting the Starlight Children's Foundation Australia. 
If you want to check it out you can see the video/audio here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-11/outback-storm-trooper/3724580


Star Wars for me, personally, has a LOT to do with motivation.

One of my favorite Lines in the movies is said by Yoda. He says "Do or do not, there is no try!" This for me means that if I want to make a difference, I will make a difference or i wont. The "trying" part about it doesn't really work as you will either succeed or fail. You cant partially succeed or partially fail... because that is still succeeding and failing.There is no try. So for me, I WILL make a difference. Hopefully i already have! (okay, its not a very easy concept to completely understand, but just listen to Yoda... he said it very clearly! lol)



For those who have not seen the Star Wars Movies... 
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!




The last thing i want you to look at is the way Luke talks to his Father, who has turned to the Dark Side. Luke approaches his father with Love and Compassion, Understanding and Hope. And it is because of these positive emotions that Lukes father turns back to the Light. This reminds me of a quote i was reading this week by Martin Luther King Jr.  “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

That is one of the most profound lessons we will ever learn. It is Love and Kindness that make all the difference.


Anyways, I hope you enjoyed a little glance into my world. With all its nerdy goodness! :)

I hope you are all doing well and the good health and happiness fill your days!

"May the Force be with you",
Daena x