Friday, October 23, 2009

Project 200 Toys!!!

As most of you know, my daughter has been extremely ill. She has Crohns disease and now either the disease or the treatments seem to have affected her heart. I can't tell you how difficult it is to watch her go through the horrible tests and surgeries and grow thinner and paler as they try to take control of the situation. Our family is fortunate in that although we have been through a lot, we have been through it together and in our lives, we have wonderful memories of holidays and of the day to day struggles.

This is less about us and more about 200 children whos parents are currently serving our country. It is about stepping up and making sure they have fond memories as we did. Its about getting to a point in our lives when we have little control about what happens here so instead, taking all that pent up frustration and turning it into positive energy to help other families.

We have created "Project 200 Toys" which is our effort, with your help, to collect 200 toys for the 180th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard. Their annual Christmas party is December 3rd and my husband and I want to surprise them with toys for their party. We are giving ourselves now through the month of November to collect 200 toys for their party. We ask for your help with this because we all know that it takes a community to raise a child but it takes all the people we know to raise 200 of them!

We have set aside the reception area of the kennel to pile the toys up until the end of November. We will be taking photos of the pile now and then and posting it to Facebook and Twitter so everyone can see our progress. This is where you come in...

We ask everyone to either mail or drop off an unwrapped toy for a child that ranges in age from 0 to 12 years old, equal amounts of boys and girls, to Bear Back Ranch and Kennel on County Road E in Swanton or if you are mailing it, please send it to Tena Bastian / 2742 County Road E / Swanton, Ohio 43558. If you would rather, a gift card to either Walmart or Toys R Us instead and we will do the shopping for you and add the toys to the pile. Then at the end of November, we will deliver the toys to the powers that be so that Santa can deliver them to these military kids. Please help us help Santa help these 200 kids! Lets all work together to put some positive energy out into the universe for an excellent cause.

I also ask that you send this blog addy to as many people as you can so it keeps going. Post it on your facebook page or on Twitter or Myspace or better yet, send it on to Hasbro or Mattel or Ellen or anyone you feel might be able to help. All I am asking is one toy for each child but the more, the merrier. The countdown begins for Project 200 toys! I will keep a tally and see if we can reach our goal. So the view from the back of my horse is 200 military children whos parents unselfishly serve our country. May they have a merrier Christmas this year because you care enough to help. Thanks all...you rock!
Blessings
Tena

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Author Unknown

Author Unknown
By
Tena Bastian

She is sitting in the hospital, waiting to be seen
Nine months pregnant and barely sixteen
When a voice in her head says “Take a deep breath”
And “pick up the magazine.”
She flips through the pages as she sits there alone
She wants to call her mother and ask if she can come home
When she comes across a letter there on the magazine page
That seems to be written by another young girl approximately her age.
It says…

Mama, I need your guidance
Because I don’t know what to do
I’m scared and alone and I want to come home
Because I feel safe with you.

Through her tears and her pain, as she reaches for her phone
She notices the letter is signed
Author Unknown.

She sits in her car in the parking lot as her world comes crashing down
She has been diagnosed with cancer, a tumor has been found
When a voice in her head says, “Take a deep breath”
And “turn the radio on”.
She flips through all of the channels as she sits there all alone.
She wants to call her husband and ask if he can come home
When she happens across a familiar song there on the radio
That seems to be written by another young woman with a long, long way to go
It says…

Honey, I need your guidance
Because I don’t know what to do
I’m scared and alone and I want to come home
Because I feel safe with you.

Through her tears and her pain, as she reaches for the phone
She notices the radio says
Author Unknown.

She is sitting with her mother on her very last day
She knows it won’t be long now as the seconds tick away
When a voice in her head says, “Take a deep breath”
And “listen to your mom”
She has something important to say to you and you need to hear it before she is gone
So she leans in ever closer as her mother struggles to speak
She takes her hand and kisses her as a tear rolls down her cheek
She says…

Lord, I need your guidance
Because I don’t know what to do
My daughter is scared but I want to come home
Because I feel safe with you

Please help her find the strength Lord, not to miss me when I am gone
It is at that moment that she realizes that it was HIS voice all along
The magazine, the radio, as she takes her final breath
Through the tears and the pain, he was always there from her birth until her death
When she was pregnant, when the tumor was found, every time she felt alone
It was God that loved her, that showed her the way
Until now HE was the
Author Unknown.

Texas Woman

Good morning ya'all! This is the lyrics of a song I wrote for a friend of mine from Texas. I thought I would share it with you today. Whats new with me? Playing with my mini aussie pups before they are sold and LOVING them. Getting ready to head down to Congress and wishing my friend Emily Jo success on her big trail ride and charity auction next weekend.Hope you enjoy this.

Texas Woman

She wears cowboy boots with cut off jeans
Her nails are painted red
She doesn’t cut and curl her hair
She wears baseball caps instead

She doesn’t care what people think
She pays no mind to what they say
She just smiles that smile that knows it all
Then turns and walks away
Chorus
Don’t ask her what she thinks ‘cause she’ll tell ya
Don’t hold her to what she said
‘cause she’s a fast talking, two stepping, fun loving filly
She’s Texas born and bred

She prefers rodeos to fancy clothes
A well broke horse to a new born foal
Her old Ford truck to your Mercedes Benz
Country to rock and roll

She knows what she wants so don’t try to tell her
Once she’s made up her mind
She is true to herself and true to her friends
But prefers the four legged kind
Chorus
Don’t expect her to know what you want, she’ll surprise you
Just tell her what’s on your mind
‘cause she’s a good loving, two stepping, fun loving filly
She’s a cowboy of the good smelling kind.

Don’t buy her a dress with ribbons and lace
When a new pair of jeans will do
Don’t take her to a fancy party
When she would rather play poker with you

Take her to church on Sunday
To a picnic in the afternoon
But buy her a new set of spurs for her birthday
And she’ll act like you hung the moon.
Chorus
Don’t try to outride her, she’ll kick your ass
The moment she leaves the gate
Cause she’s a hard riding, two stepping, fun loving filly
She’s a woman from the lone star state
Yeah, she’s a fast talking, good loving, hard riding filly
She’s a woman from the lone star state.

Tena Bastian copyright