Our story

So when Shawna told us that she wanted to start a blog for the benefit dinner, I have to confess Shane and I weren't exactly sure what she meant. Anyway, for those of you who may not be familiar with our story or for those who are wondering why we are doing this, let me tell you. Shane and I have been married for four years now. When Shane was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma three years ago, we were shocked. He was young and healthy, and we had just barely started our life together. This couldn't be right. But it was.
We have had our share of ups and downs, but through this journey, we have been overwhelmed by God's blessings. (Yeah, I love that song too, Shasta.) While Shane was going through his first round of radiation, I took an FMLA and was able to spend more time with him then we had spent in the entire time we had been together. I think we have a greater appreciation for each other, and maybe a little more patience. Don't sweat the small stuff. Second, the outpouring of love and support that we have received from friends, family and even complete strangers is amazing. It has made both of us more aware of the needs of others who are hurting and made us more ready to reach out and help.  We have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl who is the center of our world. How can you help but think how blessed you are when you see your baby's smile?  And Shane was able to spend more time with Natalie when he was off for this last round of radiation. All of our needs have been met.
So this past winter, I was surprised when I called home to check on everybody, and Shane tells me he wants to have a spaghetti dinner. We hadn't had spaghetti in a while, so I thought that sounded good. And he want to have a Chinese auction. To benefit the American Cancer Society. I, like many of you, was wondering where all of this was coming from. Who in their right mind  just suddenly decides that they want to take on something like this on their own? Shane told me he wanted to give back to the community because they've given so much to us, and he wanted to reach out to cancer patients who really needed the help. After all, we had been so blessed. And that's when I realized how right he was. But I thought that it would be nice for the money to go to an organization a little more local. Friends at work had told me about the Bob Perks Cancer Assistance Fund that was based out of State College. They provide financial assistance to cancer patients in Clearfield, Centre, Huntingdon and Blair counties, right in our backyard. After doing more research and talking to Doreen Perks, the founder, we decided that this was definitely where we wanted the money to go. So here we are. The goal of this benefit dinner is not just to raise money, but also to raise awareness in the community that this is a local resource for cancer patients and their families. After all, they've got enough to deal with. Well, I'd better get going. That little blessing I was talking about is starting to fuss. Holly

Pittsburgh Half Marathon

In May of this year, Shawna and I decided to participate in the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon as part of the LiveStrong team.  Our family has been so blessed by the community since Shane's diagnosis, that we decided it was time to give back.  Although we got lost and ended up in the full marathon : ) we had a blast.  Shane, Holly, and Natty even joined and met us at the finish line.  This was an enormous undertaking for us, especially since it was the first one we had ever participated in.  We are already anticipating doing another marathon.

 
This journey has not been an easy one for any of us, especially not for Shane, Holly and Natalie.  But we are blessed to have a large group of wonderful family and friends.  We serve an awesome God who has traveled with us on this road with us each and every step of the way.  We would not have made it through this with out the support and prayers coming from all of you.  Thinking about the past 3 years reminds me of a recent song that I heard on K-Love- Laura Story, Blessings.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with this song, here is a short piece.

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
~Laura Story, Blessings

I truly believe that God does not put things in our paths that we cannot handle.  We will be stronger because of this and we will make it through this journey.  As the dinner is entitled- Cancer Can't Conquer and we will NOT let it. 

Blessings until next time.

Shasta 

RunningStrong for Hope

Here's an encouraging blog that I follow:

http://runningstrongforhope.blogspot.com/ 

Check it out! I was hoping to meet with Barbara when Shasta & I did the Pittsburgh Half Marathon but it was so crowded there's no way I could have found her. 

Below is a picture of Shasta, Shane, Holly, Natalie & me after completing the Half. 

 

Tickets are in!

Just heard from Shane - Holly picked up the tickets and they are all set to be sold. We have flyers to be printed and posted too. Let's get selling! 

Oh, one more thing, I saw the other day that the Bob Perks website has our event listed. Another great way to market. Check out it: http://www.bobperkscancerassistancefund.org/events/ 

-Shawna :)

Spaghetti Dinner - 2009

Shasta & I were talking and decided posting a few pictures from the spaghetti dinner we had for Shane (when he was first diagnosed) would be fun...

Ready for people! Thanks to the LIVEStrong Foundation 

for providing bracelets for everyone!

 

 The cooks! We really couldn't have pulled this off without

Wayne. He was so helpful and supportive. 

I believe this was a short moment of calmness. We actually

had time to sit down and eat! 

 

 Getting set up for the Chinese Auction!

Laura, Owen and Jeremiah were good helpers

Girls from Shane's work sold homemade peanut butter eggs

 

Douglas enjoyed his spaghetti! 

 

Although it was a long, exhausting day it was definitely worth it. We raised a lot of money and had a fun time doing it. 

 

Check out this LIVEStrong Website: http://www.livestrong.org/

Looking for a good summer reading book? Try these:

 

-Shawna

Forever Broadcasting Live Hit!

Shasta & I are confirmed to go live with MAGIC99, BIG Froggy 101, WRSC-FM and 93.7 on August 9. We'll start at 7:55 a.m. and the various broadcasts will wrap up around 8:50 a.m. Doreen Perks will be sending a representative to meet as well. We will be at each station for around 2 minutes.  The main goal of this broadcast is to talk about BCAF, how they have helped our family and about our event. 


Be sure to tune it to hear us!! This is our first step towards fame! 


http://www.foreverradio.com/




- Shawna :)

Welcome!

"Our Family is a circle of strength and love...Our Family with every birth and every union the circle grows, Our Family is a circle of strength every crisis faced together makes the circle stronger."

I've had this genius idea to start this blog to provide updates on the upcoming spaghetti dinner/Chinese auction and to provide updates on Shane, Holly & Natalie. Additionally, I wanted to have a common space where friends and family could come to share their thoughts and encouragement for Shane and his family.

 Natalie Joyce :)

The dinner is scheduled for August 13, 2011 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Grassflat Fire Hall. Things are coming along well. Shasta & I are scheduled to do a live radio hit with Forever Broadcasting on August 9 to talk about the dinner and the Bob Perks Assistance Fund. I'm pretty excited about this opportunity and Shasta is too. The tickets are completed at the printer and Holly will be picking them up this week. That means, it's time to start selling! We've all been collecting some pretty awesome auction items and we expect to have a nice selection. A few items we have so far: gun (you'll have to get the specifics from Shane because I have no clue about that stuff), gift baskets, gift cards, nature print, quilt and jewelry. I've asked a local screen printing company to consider donating t-shirts for all of our volunteers to wear during the event. I'm waiting to hear back from them, fingers crossed! And, after many edits from Shane, we finally have a flyer that we'll be posting around town to market the event.


More news at 11....

-Shawna <3