2011 Be Bold, Feel Beautiful calendars in local retailers!   |   Saturday, November 20, 2010



I'm so happy to announce that our 2011 Be Bold, Feel Beautiful calendars are on sale at several locations. Please stop in and pick up a couple for yourself or Christmas gifts.
If you're not able or aren't in the Lansing area, please just click on the yellow 'donate' button. You can purchase online and it will be delivered to your home!
The calendar was recently re-designed and updated with all the women photographed up till last Monday!
Current locations:
Schuler's Books- Eastwood Towne Center
Schuler's Books- Meridian Mall
Breslin Cancer Center- Ingham Medical Hospital
Creative Wellness- E. Lansing
Red Cedar Oncology- E. Lansing/Coolidge Road

If you or you know of a local area retailer who would be willing to host a small pile of calendars for sale, please let me know and I'll contact them.
This is now a limited edition item. We WILL NOT print anymore after this last 100 are gone!! So don't delay!
Please contact me with any questions!

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"Your response is your responsibility..."   |   Wednesday, November 17, 2010





How we respond to events, words or situations speaks volumes. We can have just about anything thrown at us, and how we respond is up to us....not those hurling the words, the co-worker who is making work unbearable, a family member who is pushing the limit OR the diagnosis that is presented to you.

Sharon R. was diagnosed with Breast Cancer after it was miraculously found on an annual mammogram. She, as most, felt shock and disbelief, as their was no family history or predisposition for cancer. Surrounded by her supportive family, she moved on, taking but a moment to let the cancer sink in. A little fire-ball of energy, she was brought to tears when her two grown sons and her grandson all shaved their heads in partnership and support of her! From the sounds of it... she hasn't let cancer, chemo or radiation slow her down much! "I haven't been sick at all...maybe a little tired. I feel fine!" Staying busy, being involved and adopting that positive attitude have probably made all the difference for this woman. As she shares, "Your response, is YOUR responsibility. I can choose HOW I let something affect me, not the other way around." She mentors young women through Jr. League of Lansing and her church.... what a positive, powerful, Bold and Beautiful woman they see!

What response will you have today to a situation, word or thought? Will it be positive or negative? Will you take a negative and turn it into a positive? What kind of message are we sending out in our actions? Are we 'shaving our heads' to support a friend in need? Remember your response speaks volumes!

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Derailing life for a moment....   |   Tuesday, November 16, 2010





I've had a bit of a lapse in attention to this blog and I am sincerely miss sharing stories about our Bold and Beautiful women.
I've encountered a trial of my own and am trying to play catch up now. In preparation for my upcoming surgery, I had to have a routine EKG and physical to get cleared for surgery. No big deal... but, I failed the EKG and had some changes they didn't like. So, a routine stress test was ordered and again, I failed with changes consistent with cardiac blockages. Next day, was scheduled to have another, more sophisticated stress test.... but as I described the chest pressure I've been having and the increase in shortness of breath, the Doctor suggested a Nitroglycerine tablet, which immediately took the pressure away. Next thing I knew, I was being prepped for a cardiac catheterization. Hoping to hear today about the final results and whether I'll be cleared for surgery next week.
I've mentally prepared for this surgery and certainly physically need it desperately, so I'm praying for a good result and full clearance to proceed.

All this to say, sometimes things are not in our control. For me, this is a huge challenge. I'm a person who likes to be in full control of everything and have difficulty leaving things in others hands. I too, am learning a lesson here... to trust, to have faith and to take better care of myself. In my effort to care for everyone around me, I may have let the most important fall to the wayside. I have to understand that in order to be able to give all that I want to those around me, I first have to give the best to myself.

I'll be back with a few more women coming up!

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We ARE stronger than we think....   |   Monday, November 8, 2010





Strength comes in different ways...physical strength, emotional strength.... and even spiritual strength. We measure strength in different ways, by pounds lifted, miles run, emotions controlled or battles fought and won. Donna E. has fought these battles and feels she is winning...on all fronts.
Again, as many of these women, she found her own lump, just one year past her last mammogram... being a faithful 'self-examiner', she was fully aware there was a change and actively pursued treatment. Diagnosed with Stage 2B, breast cancer, she was eager to do something....even though the 'system' didn't seem to move quickly enough. "I just wanted to do SOMETHING. I wanted to quickly move things along." She found her strength in her husband and daughter, who fought alongside her. "They have borne the brunt of the pain and suffering. I'm stronger than I thought I was.... no matter what comes along, you have to be stronger than IT. I just tried to keep a positive attitude, even though somedays, I didn't think I'd live through the treatment."

We ARE stronger than we think. We need to muster that strength each and every day as we walk through battles, big and small.
The strength is there, if we just take the time to find it.

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You gotta have a sense of humor!   |   Thursday, November 4, 2010





Crystal M. says her sense of humor helps her every day as she battles her cancer... without disrespect to cancer or other cancer patients, she says, "I have to laugh somedays as I see something new that's funny about my appearance. You have to laugh at yourself and surround yourself with people who make you laugh. I'm lopsided." Stage 2, infiltrating, ductal breast cancer is no laughing matter... "Cancer isn't a death sentence, it's just a nuisance."
In the middle of her cancer treatment, actually before she could even start chemo, she was dealt another blow as her heart went into V-Tach and she needed an internal defibrillator installed... sure, one more thing to deal with... but somehow, I can see her making light of it, adopting a self-proclaimed nickname of 'Wired' or 'Sparky.'
Now, onto the reconstruction process and again, her sense of humor kicks in...."I'll be sensible in choosing size!"
I'm sure her family of 5 children and 8 grandbabies give her plenty of opportunities to laugh!

Are you finding the joy in everything? Somewhere, even in the middle of a nightmare, there is SOMETHING to smile about if we look hard enough... that's the secret, looking and embracing even the smallest hint of a smile.

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Calendars selling like hotcakes!   |   Tuesday, November 2, 2010



The Oldham Project has recently completed a wildly successful program called Be Bold, Feel Beautiful and we have created a beautiful calendar featuring many of these beautiful, amazing and BOLD women!
Calendars are on sale now, as long as supplies last. I'll be at the studio (1600 Abbot Rd., East Lansing, in downstairs of Summit Bank building), again tomorrow, Wednesday (November 3), for most of the day. Please stop in and buy yours, and maybe some for gifts. 100% the proceeds from this calendar will be put towards our marketing and fundraising for the upcoming years programs, both "Be Bold, Feel Beautiful" and our new launch of "Kourageous Kids"... providing a similar program photographing children undergoing cancer treatment. Cost: minimum donation of $12/each.
If you have any questions, please call me to discuss. Numbers listed below.

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"Hunker down and do it...."   |   Monday, November 1, 2010




Kathleen C. has been fighting for her life since 2002. Battling an unseen foe called Multiple Myeloma. A dancer, she suffered with pain in her spine for over 2 years before being diagnosed with this type of cancer. Dancing, with cancer trying to disassemble her spine.... I can't imagine the pain she must have lived with on a daily basis. But her own words tell me she did what she had to do. "You just hunker down and do it or die. I couldn't dwell on it, I needed to be a Mom.... a single Mom." She endured 2 stem cell transplants in 2005 and is still fighting this cancer. Has the fortitude and physical determination of a dancer given her the strength to continue this battle with such grace?
She says, "I've become much less critical and have much more patience than I ever had before." One would need that with 3 teenage boys! "I enjoy my solitude and alone time, but love to spend time with friends who are important to me. When they say 'cherish each moment', it's true.... I've learned how to say 'No' more."

How are we handling our daily stresses and confrontations? With grace and patience? Or, drama, anger and resentment? Most of us will never fight a fight like this.... lessons are here to be learned....
Shall we adopt grace and patience today?

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