Skip to main content

Circle of Dreams

The Circle of Dreams
Every little kid has a dream, to go somewhere, meet someone, have something... I had the privilege of being granted a dream by the Central Illinois Dream Factory! I was 10 yrs old when they came to my house to ask me what I wanted..

She asked " Cheriz, what one thing do you want most in world?"

I respond" a Mr. Potato Head Pillow!"

She goes" Cheriz, anything bigger, something for the yard, go on a trip, meet anyone?"

I go " You MEAN I CAN HAVE A COMPUTER? They have them at school and it is my favorite thing and I have been saving all my money for one (I ran down and brought out my "doggy" bank and showed her)"

She goes " Sure and what games do you like?"

I recevied a computer, desk, printer, ink, and about 30 games (Oregon Trail, Math Munchers, Juliard Music, etc)

Now fast forward 16 yrs later. I attend the Annual Dream Factory Party in December quite often, the CIDF hosts it for all the dream children and their families. I love watching the kids light up when they get their faces painted and receive gifts. I love volunteering and even though its a little commute, I decided to see if the CIDF needed volunteers or help with anything. I'm not a kid anymore, I'm nearly 30 years old. Why attend the party when I can volunteer at it!

And this last Christmas I asked the Vice President if they needed help with events and she responded " do you know anything about Web design..."

So when I was 10  CIDF gave me a dream (a computer, which sparked my love for computers) and I now design and manage CIDF's website! How cool is that. Plus, I have made some amazing friends in the CIDF.

Last month I granted my first dream to a child, a 13 yr old with Cancer! He got a shoppping spree at Best Buy!

I feel very fortunate to be part of a organization that gives joy and hope to so many kids! The CIDF brought me such joy during the most difficult time in my life ( I had just lost a best friend to CF) and I try to give back to the chapter that gave to me.

Make sure to give their facebook some love & "like" it.













Comments

  1. gbemisokeMay 23, 2012 at 12:19 AM

    That is awesome! I know I haven't seen you in a while, but I will try to follow your blog a little more closely ;) How was Great Strides, by the way?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today's BIG Appointment

 I discussed last week about my recent struggles & goals. I have been dealing with a lot all at once! Family planning (update on that in 2 weeks), my Grandma's funeral, lower lung function. Through it all I have remained very compliant with my meds! My health is VERY important to me. So this last weekend I took my vest machine, wabi sterilizer system , and packs of ensure to my parent's for the weekend. I wanted to make sure I did everything. While it was a sad occasion, it was still pleasant seeing almost all of the family together again. Actually 27 out of 29 of the cousins made it to the funeral. Grandpa is in the middle of the picture (can you find me?) LOL   On top of my medications I have been doing some dancing & walking, but no jogging or anything. I'm still counting calories on my fitbit (hitting over 3000) a day (& 40 grams of protein, 50 grams of fat at least). I knew I was feeling a bit better than before, but wasn't sure what to expec...
18 comments
Read more

Beginning of the Year Troubles

Normal "beginning of the year" troubles for Andrew and I only really consist of one topic: Our Deductible [please no Obama, or government bashing] I've always had high deductibles ALL MY LIFE (no matter who was president). The problem is I hit my deductible within the first week of January. In the past I have always prepared for this and since I was still on my father's insurance (up until last year) he typically paid the bill (at least for medical stuff). And in the future Andrew & I won't have such an issue with this. We will be able to save and plan ahead for the $3,000 (for my deductible, his is another $3,000). However, this year was more difficult. We saved all 2013-2014 for our wedding & honeymoon, plus had our deductible saved too. But Real Estate was a pricey career to start, I've put almost $5,000 into it (classes, dues, licensing, exam, advertising, etc). So needless to say our deductible disappeared, thanks to my new career. Wh...
10 comments
Read more

The Proposal

Not the movie...but: That's right. We are engaged! I haven't posted in the last 6 days on purpose. We wanted to inform our family and a few friends before I share with the whole world (or whoever reads this blog...Lol). And since I share everything with you, I'm going to share with you Andrew's proposal ( which was absolutely perfect for us). We had been discussing marriage, buying a house, etc for over a year. We had even discussed engagements, rings, and proposals way back in Feb of this year. He knew my ring size and my thoughts on proposals. I think they should be thoughtful and geniune. That pretty much sums it up. Simple, sweet, and not too expensive. Picture on right: Selfie just after we got engaged! So months went by since our marriage discussion and then last Tuesday Dec 23rd Andrew proposed. Let me start at the beginning.  Monday Dec 22nd my friend, Stacey, came to visit for the night. Andrew said Stacey and I should get our nails done, you know a g...
8 comments
Read more