Nie Nie Day Comes to Idaho

* Picture by Blue Lily Photography

Welcome to Nie Nie Day! We are auctioning off several fun, great items that we think are Nie Nie worthy (or at least trying to be Nie Nie worthy). Anyway, I will list them in 8 different auctions. If you are interested in purchasing an item, just comment on that post and name your price.

1) Please place your bid by leaving a comment with your Bid Amount in the comments section of the item you are bidding on. Check the comments to see the most recent High Bid.

2) Following the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (make sure your comment bid includes an email address or link to your blog or some way to contact you). The winner will pay the amount of their winning bid to the Stephanie and Christian PayPal account.

The winner will then forward the PayPal receipt to me at hondavan@cableone.net, and I will send you your winnings!

3) Please bid in increments of whole dollars. The auction will end at Midnight PST on Sunday, August 31, 2008.

4) Thank you for participating!

Remember, 100% of the proceeds go to the Nielson's recovery fund. Please be generous!

For a great list of items go http://designmom.com/. You won't be sorry.

Item #1 Thankful Heart Stitchery

"A Thankful Heart is the Greatest Virtue" stitched onto a black background with a red-black frame. Measures 9 1/2 x 11. A great reminder to be so grateful for all of our many blessings!

Item #2 Perfectly Patriotic Placemats by Crate & Barrel

These stars & stripes placemats would be perfect for any patriotic occassion. For example 4th of July, Flag Day, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, President's Day, Armed Forces Day, etc., etc. Really you could use these all year! They were purchased at Crate and Barrel and never used (I guess I'm not very patriotic.) They come in a set of six.

Item #3 Quilt and Sham

This quilt and sham set are sure to be a treasure! Varying shades of green with a soft touch of pink thoughout. Ladybugs, dragonflies, snails, bees and all sorts of flowers are stitched on the quilt and sham. The quilt measures 84" x 84." It could fit on a full size bed or hang longer on a twin bed. This was displayed for about a month, but is in otherwise brand new condition.

Item #4 Mary Engelbreit Small Favors Framed Picture

This is a sweet Mary Engelbreit picture! The frame is a classic antiquey gold. There are a couple of pieces of the frame that are chipped off, but I think that just adds to the charm! The frame measures 15 x 17 1/2 total. The glass measures 7 1/2 x 10.

Item #5 & 6 Darling Perlimpinpin Baby Blankets

These are darling baby blankets by Perlimpinpin. These blankets were purchased at a child's boutique and have never been used, washed or played with. The blankets each measures 27" x 27." One has a fun blue and green patch, green patch and a couple furry soft patches in cream. The other one has a red, green and yellow patch, green and cream checked patch and a couple of furry soft patches in cream. The backs are a nice cream fleece material. So cute and fun. You will be bidding on these seperately.

Item #7 Mrs Meyers Clean Day Household Cleaners

I love this stuff! Mrs Meyers makes aromatherapeutic household products in all sorts of fragrances. This auction is 4 Hard-Working household cleaners in the Gingerbread scent. You will receive:

8 oz Countertop Spray

8 oz Liquid Dish Soap

8 oz All Purpose Cleaner

8 oz Room Freshener

You will love these great working products with a fresh scent.

Item #8 Give Thanks Autumn Tile

This tile will remind you to "Give Thanks" always! Tile is 6x6 roughly-textured, rust-colored tile with Chocolate Brown vinyl saying "Give Thanks." Two lovely maple leaves in the brown and cream make up the background. Tile comes with a darling metal scroll easle to display the tile. Perfect for fall!

Heartfelt Thoughts

Well, I have been putting this post off for a week and a half now, so I thought I would finally get it over with. I guess I haven't posted it because I just don't know what to say or how to say it. A week ago last Saturday, one of my blogspot friends was in a fiery plane accident with her husband. Both are severely burned with as much as 80% of Stephanie's body burned. Her husband Mr. Nielson (Christian) is not burned as badly but is in critical condition. They have both been chemically "sleeping" since the accident. I know it sounds ridiculous because I've never really officially "met" these people, but I have been reading both her blog and her sister's blog http://www.cjanerun.blogspot.com/ for sometime now. These people have a way with words and also have very bright spirits, and they let them shine through in how they live and write.

Some of my favorites of Nie Nie are:

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2005/09/pat.html

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/search?q=proc+week

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2008/05/treasure.html

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2007/06/father-week-day-two.html

She has a beautiful life and a beautiful way of sharing it with others.

Stephanie and her family have a tradition of letting balloons go on special occassions. These balloons have messages in them. Last Saturday people all over the world released balloons with special get well wishes for Stephanie, Christian and their family. We released them over the Snake River. It was actually a very moving experience to think of all of the prayers and wishes for these people.

The blogworld has declared tomorrow to be Nie Nie Day. There will be silent auctions going on all over blogdom. I will be putting some things up for auction on the Extraordinary Housewives blog and hopefully will be able to make some money to donate to the recovery fund.

-Lana

OK girls................

OK girls, 'I have had a sad week as I got news of my cousin (who is like a sister) who is 30 and has 2 small kids , has been declared a hopeless case at this point. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 after the birth of her 2nd child. She has a smile that lights up a room and a laugh that doesn't quit! She is a valiant woman who is being so brave for her family as she fights for her life. PLEASE do self exams friends!!! Don't think that because there is no BC in your family that you are immune. ONLY 5 PERCENT of ALL breast cancer is hereditary!!!! 1 out of 8 will get this disease. It is curable if caught early so start the fight NOW by being your own advocate. Every month do a self exam. Do it at the same time of the month every time, preferably not around your period. If you don't know how, I will come over to your house and show you!!! It's an important habit to establish!!! I often wonder why it's her dying and not me. I don't want to sound morbid or weird but life is just so precious. Every day is a gift. Everything I get to witness with my children, every conversation I have with a dear friend, every walk I take by my mountains out here at dusk, every episode of Grey's (haha)all of it is a gift. I would simply want to curl up and die if any one of you were affected so do your part! You owe it to your husbands, your kids and of course ME!! Ha Ha!

Start now, be proactive with your health and remember how many people love you. It is more than you can count!!