Action for Ashlyne!

Custom artwork by: Jesse Varela

Reaching out for help here. A very good girlfriend of mine and her husband are going through a very tough time right now. I knew them both back in high school. Everyone went their separate ways and lived lives after graduation. They found each other again and were married last February. I am so very happy for them. They were truly meant to be. Between the two of them they have seven beautiful children. About a month ago they received some devastating news. Her husband's ten year old daughter from his first marriage has just been diagnosed with Stage 4 Ewing's Sarcoma (cancer). I don't even know what to say.

Our community is coming together in the most inspiring ways. So many are reaching out and doing what they can. I write for you all today to ask for your help too. No matter where you are or where you come from, maybe you can help us make a difference for this courageous girl and her family.

Here are the options:

There is a fund set up at TCF Banks. If you wish to donate towards medical bills and other related expenses, please send a check to The Ashlyne Thurber Benefit at TCF Bank 7155 E Point Douglas Drive,
Cottage Grove, MN 55016. 

There is also a GoFundMe site. If you would rather donate through this route, please visit  http://www.gofundme.com/d472sk and do so. Every single cent will help this family during the truly difficult journey they have ahead of them. I can not thank you enough.

If you are local (Minnesota/Twin Cities) I am hosting a fundraiser benefit this month in Brooklyn Park. Please feel free to e-mail me with questions or for details about the event. If you want to contribute to the event in some way, I would be willing to discuss that too. ginnylouden at gmail dot com

Custom artwork by: Jesse Varela

Thank you so much for your time. Keep Miss Ashlyne in your prayers. Love to you and yours. <3

Support Yours Truly: The Mom Blogger

Mom Bloggers are a "thing". We're kind of a big deal. ;-) There is a huge community of us all over the world. I am proud of being a mom blogger. I wanted to take a moment to let all my readers know how YOU can help me do better and be better and reach some goals I have set for myself. If you enjoy my blog, even a little bit, I would appreciate all of the support I can get.

With the house prep and the move and the pile of kids I have (hee hee) I have been quite busy and have not been able to blog/write as much as I would like to. After the move is behind me, I want to take my blog to the next level. I will be able to start hosting reviews and giveaways on my sub-blog more often. I want to continue sharing my journey as a mother of five who is still trying to find herself throughout the chaos. I would also like to start incorporating more posts about kids crafts and cooking/recipes, as those are things I really enjoy doing. The possibilities are endless.

There are opportunities for mom bloggers who are a strong force in the community and I would like to become a bigger part of that. I have my eye on a conference or two in the future where I could meet and network with other mom bloggers, many of which are on a very professional level and have broad fan bases. There are forums where I could learn about being a better writer, reaching a bigger audience and maybe branding or getting some advertisements to pay for small ad spaces on my blog. The more fans and readers and followers I have who support me, the better my chances are of getting to that next level.

There is a new project that The Weather Channel, or possibly one other production company in New York, are trying to start up as a regular feature spot in order to highlight/interview different mom bloggers that they like and I am a possible candidate. I am currently in the "loop" and hope to be chosen for one of these interviews in the not so distant future. It also appears that if this all goes well they just might have a "permanent" project for some of the mom bloggers and that would be fantastic! Fingers crossed and by supporting my blog in the ways I will list soon, you could help me get there.

So how exactly can YOU as an individual help me out and support my mom blogging efforts? Here is a list:

Like my blog page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuperMomTangerineDreams?ref_type=bookmark

Follow me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/virginialouden

Follow me on Twitter: (Which I currently only use to share other mom blog giveaways) https://twitter.com/VirginiaLouden

Follow me on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ginnylouden/

Another VERY helpful option is to click on the TopMommyBlog icon that is always on the right of my blog page and it looks like this:

This icon will bring you to their website and each click puts my blog up a little bit higher on their ranking list. I am currently #14 in my blog category "Everything Else" and am ranked @ #390 overall (out of thousands). The higher my ranking, the more readers and possible followers/supporters I can reach. The more supporters I have, the better giveaways I will be able to host and the better possible projects I could be chosen for. There are quite a few websites like this one, but this is my favorite to use so far. I have access to many other bloggers and forums where we can share and help each other. There are also links to opportunities, like The Weather Channel one, that I would not have heard about otherwise. By clicking on the harmless link every time you stop by my blog you are being very helpful. If you happen to really love mom blogs, you could also find some other great ones via this site, while you are there.

If you like a particular blog post of mine, please share it. At the bottom of each of my posts are buttons you can click on to share it on Facebook, Google + it, Tweet it, email it and so on. I would love if ya'll did this. <3

Other things that being a great mom blogger can lead to are book deals, celebrity interviews and maybe even being included in projects in magazines and so much more. I love to write and would love to stay home with the kids and make it a more substantial part of my life.

Lastly, there is an icon that looks like this on the right side of my blog:

I would LOVE it if you would follow me. Every little bit helps and I appreciate you all so much. Have a wonderful day and happy reading!

In Rememberance

A year ago today beautiful lives were lost. I won't get into the details but I will ask a favor of all of you. I am sure you know a mom somewhere in your life. Your own, your wife, sister, friend, random coworker? It could be any mom. Maybe you noticed her smile has been a bit off or seemed almost forced lately. Maybe you used to notice her all of the time but she sort of fell off the grid for a while and you never really thought twice about it. Maybe you can just tell she has been bravely treading water and holding her own and doing an amazing job for however long now. Whatever the situation...reach out to a mom today. Give her a friendly call. Ask if there is anything she needs or that you could do for her. Help her bag her groceries. Send her flowers with a note that says what a great job she is doing or that she's beautiful and appreciated. Anything...do anything to make a moms day just a little better or easier or happier in the next few days. And when you do it, please take a moment to remember Steph. http://ginnylouden.blogspot.com/2013/04/desperations-of-wounded-mother.html

Help Me Win Free Groceries!

Please and thank you.

Cub Foods (a local grocery store chain) is running a contest to celebrate their 45th Anniversary, open to residents of Minnesota and Illinois. It is a contest through their Facebook page. I had to enter of course. After all, I'm feeding five kids now. One grand prize winner will receive $4,500 in Cub Foods gift cards. All I had to do was upload a picture into the voting gallery and the polls are now open. People can vote for their favorite entry once each day until September 29th, 2013.

Here's where you come in. It would mean a lot to me and my family if you would take a minute out of your 17 days and vote for our entry. Our entry is titled "Feeding 5 kids = 5 lb. Lasagna" and is accompanied by this picture:

Ginny's 5 lb. Lasagna...Yum!

Click here to find our entry and to vote.

Every vote helps. Feel free to share this post or a link on Facebook. If you need a little more incentive...If my family does win the grand prize of $4,500 in grocery gift cards, I plan to donate 10% of the winnings to our local food shelf in nonperishable food items. This would make me very happy to be able to help others, too.

Thank you for your time and have a wonderful weekend!

Ginny's 5 lb. Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. sliced pepperoni
1 lb. your favorite shredded cheese
1 lb. Lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2  14 oz. cans of your favorite flavor diced tomatoes, lightly drained
1 bag of fresh spinach leaves or 2 cans of spinach, drained

Cook ground beef in skillet. Add minced garlic, diced onions and/or any Italian style seasonings you like. Drain fat and then stir in the 2 cans of drained diced tomatoes. Set aside. Cook lasagna noodles and drain, then set aside. In a 9" x 13" deep pan, layer all of the ingredients. I start with 1/3rd of the ground beef/tomato mixture on the bottom, @ 4 - 5 noodles to cover, 1/3rd pepperoni slices, 1/3rd of the spinach, 1/3rd of the shredded cheese and then repeat these layers 2 more times. You will have 3 total layers and end with cheese on top. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for @ 30 minutes. Eat!