Hello 2023!

As I begin 2023, I have hope for the future- for my health, my family and my advocacy. 

As many of you know, I begin each year with a few aspirations.

I have a bucket list that includes visiting all 50 states. I have 16 to go but the one that has been on my aspiration list since 2015 is Maine. It is the  only state I have not visited east of the Mississippi. I would like to visit the Wyeth museum, Acadia national park and of course some light houses. 

I aspire to continue to exercise - Jazzercise, yoga and this year bike riding. My friend gave me one of her extra bikes last fall. I've only ridden three times since then but look forward to getting out and riding around my town when the weather is nice this year. 

I aspire to do more art work. I'll continue working in watercolors and I'll add Barn Quilts. I've been following a group of Barn Quilters on Facebook and just love what they are creating.  I made small wood quilt ornaments for my friends for Christmas this year

 

 and would like to try larger 1' x1' or maybe even larger 3' x3' paintings.

When it comes to my advocacy work I already am registered for the SGO meeting this spring. Let me know if you are attending. Big news is that an abstract Annie Ellis, ovarian cancer survivor and advocate, and I submitted has been accepted for presentation. This is really exciting! I also was nominated and submitted my application for a task force position and will let you know if I am chosen. 

There may be some advocacy activities that I will cut back on as I spend more time with my grandsons and kids but you will continue to find me chatting along with Christina Lizaso as we take the #gyncsm ( Gyn Cancer Social Media) community on Twitter to every other month chats at 8pm ET. See you on January 11 when we chat about "Survivorship".  Or check out what we had done in the past on our blog- http://gyncsm.blogspot.com/

Wishing you all good health , love and friendship in the year ahead.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

 

 

 

  

New Year Aspirations

Another year begins!

As we welcome 2019,  I wish all my followers a very Happy and Health New Year!

If you are a regular follower you know that at the beginning of every year I don't make New Year Resolutions but rather aspirations. I tend not to feel too guilty if I don't quite get to do what I aspire to do, as you will see by the repeat aspirations below. But having concrete goals helps keep me focused.

Here are aspirations from 2018 that I will continue to work on this year.

• I aspire to continue to support women diagnosed with ovarian cancer through this blog and the  #gyncsm  community, to share my story as an ovarian cancer survivor and to promote ovarian cancer research.  ( I am excited to be attending and speaking at the ASCO Annual Meeting in June this year. More details soon.)
• I aspire to travel to Maine in 2019.  ( This has been on my list since 2016. But I'll keep trying .)
• I aspire to build an even better bond with my dog Amber so we can improve our work at the masters level in agility. ( My knee injury kept us out of the ring for the last 6 months of 2018.)  
• I aspire to go kayaking. (Once again my knee injury kept me from doing this last year.)
• I aspire to complete an online course in Genomics. (There just weren't enough hours in the day to get this done. I'm leaving this on the list though because I think this knowledge will only make me a better advocate.)

 Added to my list:

• I aspire to spend more time learning how to work with pastels. (I took an eight week art class and enjoyed the time I worked with the pastels.)
• I aspire to consistently attend yoga class. ( I dropped in on some classes in November and I felt calmer and more centered. ) 
• I aspire to step away from social media for a period of time each week and make connections in person - call or visit. 

What do you aspire to do in 2019?

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

Welcome 2017!

Getting to start a New Year is a real blessing!

If you've read my first posts of the year going back a few years you see that I aspire to things. Some aspirations stay the same from year to year.

I aspire to continue to support other women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, to share my story as an ovarian cancer survivor and to promote ovarian cancer research. Some of how I do that might have to change this year because...

I aspire to spend more time with my daughter and her family and my son and his wife. In the Spring my daughter and her family will be living within 4 hours - the closest she has been since she got married nine years ago. I just can't miss the opportunity to spend time with them.

I aspire to build an even better bond with my dog Amber so we can compete at the masters level in agility.

I aspire to travel with my husband and visit at least 2 states I have not visited before. Maine is one of the two. Yes, this was on my 2016 list too. I am not sure what the other state will be.

I aspire to learn a new arts and craft technique. I love to paint so I hope to do that but I'd like to try something new too. That way I can make some more gifts for Christmas next year. 

I aspire to find a way to give back in my community or church.

I wish everyone good health , peace and joy in 2017!


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

It is 2015 !

It is 2015, I'm here and I am thrill!
I look forward to March and my son's wedding. I love my future daughter-in-law and am so happy to have her join the family.
I look forward to June when I will celebrate a pretty special birthday.
And I look forward to July,well the 29th in particular, when I will celebrate a landmark "cancerversary" - my 10th.

Even with all these exciting things already planned for the year I still want to make my  annual aspirations.  I wrote about my aspirations for 2014 here. For 2015, I'm going to repeat some of last year's aspirations ( I never did make a trip to Maine) and update some others. Here they are:

• Continue to visit my children and grandchildren every few months
• Continue to advocate for ovarian cancer patients and research through this blog and the #gyncsm community
• Post more frequently on this blog
• Help my dog, Amber, achieve Excellent titles in Agility
• Continue to increase my physical activity and flexibility so that I can be a better dog handler and improve my health
• Continue to paint
• Visit the state of Maine
• Learn some Hindi words (New)

I wish for all my readers a Happy and Healthy and Joyful 2015.

Dee
Every Day is a blessing!

Hello 2014

 I am happy and truly blessed  to be welcoming in 2014.  As I have written in the past I do not make New Year's Resolutions. I make aspirations instead. Last year they worked out pretty well.

Here are my aspirations for 2014:

Visit my children and grandchildren in Alabama and California.
Advocate for ovarian cancer patients and research
Attend some Agility Trials with my dog Amber
Create more paintings
Continue - or maybe increase- my physical activity.
Visit the state of Maine- the only state east of the Mississippi I have not yet visited

Looking forward to a good year.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

4 Years of Blogging -

Four years ago today I started this blog. I had no idea when I started this blog that it would reach more people than my family and friends and some fellow ovarian cancer survivors in New Jersey.

Thanks to the statistics the Blogger software started keeping in May 2009, I know that my blog has reached far from the Garden State. I have also been read in Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, South Korea, France , the Netherlands, Iran and Australia and I have between 1,500 and 2,200 page views a month. My most popular posts have been about the HE4 blood test, weather and test anxiety and chemotherapy drug shortages. It appears that my page view numbers have increased since I began writing more consistently about Ovarian cancer research news. Or maybe the recent jump in readership may be to my new @womenofteal twitter account. With every new post I write I supply a link to the blog. My plan in the year ahead is to keep writing about research news and to provide links to abstracts and journal articles.I guess four years later I can officially call myself a blog writer.

I thank all you for being here the past year as I have shared my personal ups and downs. Writing about the passing of my dear Aunt Dora and Uncle Bruno helped to ease the pain and heartache I felt. I also appreciate the opportunity to write about and honor women I knew (Monica, Jeanne, Jo, Gaynor, Sarah, Patty, Janet, Jayne, Ellen, Courtney) who lost their lives to ovarian cancer.

I also appreciate the opportunity to share the good news- attending ASCO, travels around the country and especially the birth of my grandson ,John, in September. What a blessing he is in my life.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. I look forward to writing for you in 2012.

I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!