Cherish the Day

Good morning fb fam, woke up to some awesome news on fb, one of our men of the year candidates Kevin Hall Candidate for 2012 Man of the Year for LLS for OC, IE after 206 days of one of the hardest things someone can battle, he is now 100% Cancer FREE. Truly amazing! & Puts things into perspective, so many times we think we have it rough or face some of the hardest things in life, and although wesay "we know someone out there has it worse" I don't think we take the time to think "what are we complaining about, someone out there is REALLY facing much harder things yet still waking up cheerful & enjoying the day," so why can't we? Honor those currently battling, who have lost their battle, and who have survived their battle, and show that regardless of what you may face in life you can still put on a smile and enjoy the day you have been blessed with. ♥ I know I will. Have a great day yall ♥ Stay fresh... stay blessedღ

My Personal Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Story

Today is the one-month anniversary for something in my life... and I wanted to share it with you all... Back in October, I was nominated to be a candidate for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Woman of the Year to raise money and awareness about blood cancers.  As my dear friend Evelyn Erives put it, I wasn't directly connected to blood cancers, but I was directly effected by them because it touches my heart.  I heard stories and saw people affected by blood cancers and I wanted to help in any way that I could. So when the nomination came, there was no way I could turn it down.  Some may consider this to be a coincidence or some weird twist of fate, but I have always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, I don't know how many of you know this, but four weeks ago today, I lost someone extremely close to me to Lymphoma Cancer. Her name was Lala and she was my baby, my child, and my world for the past 8 years. She was my everything. She was loyal and loved me unconditionally. Not a day goes by that I don't miss her or think about her. Life is so different without her and I wish so very much that she was still here with me, wagging her tale and licking me to death the way that she always did. Even though she wasn't human, she and I had this way of communication like no other; she would stare into my eyes, speaking to me the way that only she and I could understand. When I was sad or cried, she always knew, and always came to comfort me, she would make me laugh and make my heart smile. I never felt lonely because I always knew that with one pat to my leg or blow of a kiss she would be running over with not just her tale wagging, but her whole butt. Lol, I even laugh now thinking about it.

Until I was told what Lala was diagnosed with from the vet, I didn't even know that dogs could get cancer... period. The only gave her a month or two to live. I am so glad that I got to share over 6 months with her after her diagnosis. Even the last month when she started to lose weight rapidly and slowly started to lose that pep in her step she never for a moment whimpered in pain or snipped at anyone out of frustration, she was still always there for me, as if she was putting herself to the side to stay strong for me. One weekend her illness took a turn for the worse and I knew it was time for me to let her go. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, but I had no choice, I had to put myself to the side and be strong for her, just as she had done for me all those years before. With tears in my eyes and pain in my heart I said good-bye to my best friend in the whole entire world. She taught me so many things and helped me through some of the toughest moments in my life.

Losing her was one of the hardest things I've had to deal with, I still deal with it daily, and I have had to face some pretty hard things in life. But in losing her, it opened my eyes so very much. It made me think, if losing a pet who was considered part of my family to a blood cancer hurt this much I couldn't even imagine the feeling of losing an actual family member to a blood cancer, the pain must be 50 times worse if not more. But people go through this daily, hourly... every four minutes someone new in the US is diagnosed with a blood cancer, every FOUR minutes! And every ten minutes someone in the US loses their battle to a blood cancer... every TEN minutes. I saw Lala go through things during her treatment that I could never imagine a parent having to see their own child go through. You see even in her passing Lala taught me something, and helped me pull through because she helped me realize nothing that I could ever suffer from or complain about could ever be worse than what many others suffer from daily. This is why we must raise money by donating and encouraging others to donate, this is why we must raise awareness about these blood cancers, so that no child, no adult, no pet, should ever have to battle cancer.

I hope after reading this, you have a bit more insight as to why I am raising money for this foundation, where part of my motivation comes from and where my heart is.  I hope you will join me in raising money and awareness. I'm hoping that you will make a donation today; no amount is too small because every penny counts. If you donate just $10 dollars today and share this story with 10 others and they all donate the same amount, that is $100 dollars donated. Everyone just by lending a helping hand, maybe you won't go out to eat for lunch today, but instead pack a lunch from home, so that you can make a difference by donating today.

I thank you all for your time and for your continued support. Please know that whatever you can donate is greatly appreciated and it goes directly to the foundation. Your tax-deductible contribution can help us get one step closer to reaching our goal of  $50,000 and naming a LLS research funded grant after Lala. Be a "LaLa Supporter" be a "Leader & Loving Supporter" and donated today by going to www.LLSupporter.com

To find out more information on cancer in animals you can watch this video --> Cancer in Dogs & Humans Connected or you can visit this site http://caninecancerawareness.org/

To find out more information about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society you can go to http://www.lls.org/

To find out more information about my campaign visit www.facebook.com/Felicia4OCIEWOY

Felicia Alcaraz Featured in the Orange County Register

So excited to share this Orange County Register OC Latino Link article with you all. Be sure to check it out and read about my campaign Felicia Alcaraz for Orange County/Inland Empire LLS 2012 Woman of the Year, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter and Man & Woman of the Year - Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter and for the cause. And feel free to share it with others! =) xoxo mentioned in the article is the lovely Evelyn Erives, 99.1 KGGI "The IE's Hottest Music", Chapman University, Brandman University, Century High School, and so much more ;0)


http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lls-340873-year-woman.html

R.I.P. Lala 12/27/03 - 2/13/12

You will never be forgotten, you will forever have a place in my heart. My world will never be the same without you... I can't even type this without tearing up... you saw me through so many heartaches, helped me get through so much pain, & often times you were the only thing that could cheer me up. You weren't just a pet, or a dog, you were my child, my heart... I loved you with every ounce of me and now you are gone =*( I truly lost my very best friend.. no words can describe the heart ache I feel... I will love you always Lala... Not a day goes by that I don't think of you and all the wonderful memories you left behind, you will forever be missed...

December 27, 2003 - February 13, 2012

Graduation

Wow, some time has passed. I just want to say thank you sooo very much to everyone for all of their support. Thank you to those that made it to the ceremony, the party, or sent their wishes. I appreciate it all more than you know! The graduation went so good, I was soo nervous to give my speech but all in all it went good, and I was proud and excited.. Had a little mishap after with my father... but I don't want this to be a negative atmosphere, so lets stay on the positive side... So if you missed anything.. you can view the graduation speech given by yours truly at the link below:

Chapman Graduation Ceremony

I walk into the ceremony at about 14:09, then I do my speech around 26:44 and you can catch me getting my degree at 1:54:50 ;0) Hope you enjoy!

Felicia Alcaraz

"What's in a name: That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet." (Shakespeare - Romeo & Juliet) When I was younger I despised my name, I always said that once I was old enough I would change it... haha.. here I am 23 and still no change... I come to love my name... and kind of thought of it as Juliet stated it,... it doesn't matter what my title is, I still am the person within.. So whether I'm Felicia Alcaraz or some exotic name like Neveah ... I would still be who I am today... My roots and history identify with my name... Felicia, Felish, Flea, F, Flo, Felly, etc etc I still am "me"... as evil as that makes me, or as pure as it makes me either way... my name is just a label, the person with in is "me"... who am "I" you ask? shoot your guess is as good as mine... I'm still on that road of figuring out.. and just when I think I truly know who I am and what I'm about something drastic happens in life to make me question myself... ahh the joy of life.. So anywho this rant an rave came about because I changed my link to my name... instead of feliciasinfo.blogspot.com it is now feliciaalcaraz.blogspot.com ... this is my name... my "title"... the blog is "me"... ya dig?