She's a Game-Changer

Recently, LUNA Bar created a celebration for women called LUNAFEST. LUNAFEST is an film festival that is touring around the U.S. to honor amazing and strong women, and to raise money for breast cancer prevention... which I think are both lovely and worthwhile causes- more on that below! PLEASE take a look at their campaign and see if they're coming to a city near you. It will be worth your while.

LUNA Bar asked me to talk today about a woman in my life who has been a game-changer. It was an easy yes for me. I don't talk enough about the lovely lady who helped to shape who I am today, so this is a perfect excuse. It's... dun dun duuuun... my mom!

When you look my mom, you don't actually think she's my mom. She has bright blue eyes and yellow hair, just like my Maggie {I favor the Mexican side far more!}. She doesn't look her age- lucky lady. She smiles like the sunshine.

The recurring theme in her life is her giving nature. She gave and still gives her time and energy to us. She devoted herself to us through our childhood... volunteering at our schools, working with our church youth groups, being a listening ear, helping with homework, etc. She got a dream job in design for awhile when we were in school, and willingly quit and became my brother's full-time home nurse when he needed her. She cried with us, laughed with us, sacrificed her needs for our own. She took me to my sporting events, cheered me on, and hugged me when things didn't go right. She managed to be there for my brother, sister, dad, and me through life, and still to this day- with a listening ear and a heart full of kindness. I just adore her. She has shaped who I am, and I am indebted to her for all of her love and patience with me.

I mentioned that the funds raised at the LUNAFEST events benefit Breast Cancer Fund, and I'd really like to talk a bit more about that because it's important to me. The Breast Cancer Fund is a particularly fantastic foundation, because they raise money to target prevention and environmental causes of cancer. I cannot stress how important it is to truly care about taking steps toward cancer prevention.

When my brother got cancer, my parents cleared the home of the toxic chemicals that had been used daily. My mom began buying organic as much as possible, and had a consultation with a nutritionist, who created a plan for keeping our family's health on track. The healthy living transformed the day-to-day for my brother's energy levels, his blood counts, and for our overall family's well being. We all performed better when our environment was cleared of cancer-causing chemicals, and our diets were filled with nutrition. Knowing how to read labels and be aware of what we are exposing ourselves and our families to daily is a huge part of cancer prevention. I would love for you to peruse their site or watch their video and find out more information!

xoxo.

Thanks LUNA Bar, the whole nutrition bar for women, for sponsoring this post. It was my pleasure to highlight the fabulous work you are doing, and all opinions are my own.