Talia JOY ... we will miss you.

Talia, was my inspiration and strength 

to go forward with my treatment. 

I watched her on Ellen last year and went to her you tube page to read her story. She was a beautiful child inside and out. 

After reading her story ....

MY thought was if she can fight this for 6 years and do it so gracefully and with such strength, surely I can do what I need to do. 

My heart was sad when I heard of her death. But OMG what a wonderful blessing she was in her 13 years. 

She did more, put up with more and hurt more in her 13 years than most of us do in a lifetime. 

And she did it with a smile. 

She embraced her life. 

She was a gift from GOD – an angel on earth, to me and many others. 

She was truly an inspiration I will never forget. She made me want to be a better person – to love my life more and to fight this cancer EVERY way I COULD. I stepped up my ( healthy) game after reading her story, watching her makeup and cancer blog videos. 

I wish I could have met her. I do plan to write to her Mother and tell her how grateful I was to know her daughter, if even from a distance. 

And to thank her for being such a wonderful mother, that she could allow Talia to spread her wings, fly and be the angel God wanted her to be and knew we needed.  Kelly

P.S. Please take the time to go see her story on you tube, she just might be your angel too! taliajoy18 on you tube.

Talia Joy Castellano, 13-year-old YouTube makeup star, dies from cancer 

The Orlando teen, beloved for her inspirational strength and uplifting YouTube videos, died Tuesday at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando. She had been battling neuroblastoma cancer and leukemia.

By Rheana Murray / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

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Thirteen-year-old makeup genius Talia Joy Castellano, who suffered from two types of cancer, was even on the face of Cover Girl magazine, as an honorary cover girl, because of her fighting spirit and inspirational life.

A 13-year-old cancer patient who inspired millions with her unfailingly upbeat makeup tutorials on YouTube died Tuesday.

Talia Joy Castellano, from Orlando, Fla., was fighting two forms of cancer — neuroblastoma cancer and leukemia — but defied the disease with her perky video updates, many which have been viewed nearly 1 million times.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share with all of you that Talia has earned her wings at 11:22am,” reads a message on her Facebook page, Angels for Talia. “Please lift her beautiful soul, her beautiful light to heaven and please send your love and prayers to her family during this most difficult time.”

CANCER SURVIVORS INSPIRED BY TALIA PETITION MAC COSMETICS TO GRANT HER LAST WISH

In four hours, more than 40,000 people had commented.

Castellano was so beloved by fans that the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, where she died, had to ask well-wishers to stop calling, according to the Facebook page.

taliajoy18 via YouTube 

She has been battling this for 6 years. The ambitious teen revealed in a video last year that she declined a potentially life-saving bone-marrow transplant, instead opting to “just live the time I have remaining.”

Last summer, doctors told Talia her condition had left her with four months to 1 year to live. On Monday, a Facebook post updated fans saying the teen had been in the hospital for almost 6 months.  “Having cancer has been an amazing yet horrible journey,” she said. “Yet every journey has an end.”

Castellano was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer, in 2007. She learned about the leukemia last year.

Her Facebook page urges supporters to sign a petition to increase funding for childhood cancer research.

More than 700,000 people subscribe to Castellano’s YouTube channel, taliajoy18, where she posted updates about her health as well as cheery how-tos about nail art, eye shadow and lipstick. She was also working on a new teen fashion line called That Bald Chick, and had been named an honorary spokesperson by CoverGirl.

The upbeat Talia Joy Castellano died Tuesday morning in Orlando, Fla., at just 13 years old.

Castellano posted her last video on May 22, marking four straight weeks in the hospital. She discussed her recent anxiety, new medication and expressed an eagerness to get “back in the groove” with her makeup tutorials and updates.

Stars like Ellen DeGeneres and Sofia Vergara expressed condolences on Twitter.

DUCKS are you KIDDING?

Mothers Day on the way home, Tom asks me if we should stop and buy some ducks?
 I looked at him and said “WHAT? "

 

We had actually talked about a few chickens or ducks to help keep bugs down, naturally without pesticides. 

We had just planted a bunch of bamboo and I had been reading that they could help the bamboo and yard by eating the insects. We had only talked about it – up until Mothers day. We have no duck pen or food or had thought this out much? 

However....I got kind of tickled.. thinking about little ducklings. And so we turned into to Atwoods Home and Ranch store. We quickly started discussing the possibility of getting two ducks.

4 ducks later ...
and now on the way home,

we are the proud owners of  
Derk, Daisy, Darryl and Snow. 

A buff Orpington, 2 Khaki’s and a Pekin (white duck like the Aflac duck.)

They were so cute, all of 5 inches high, about 2 weeks old. 

We kept them in a cat carry cage at first, then a huge refrigerator box while they were small. 

Boy that was a MESS until we got the pen built!

 

Tom built a great duck pen and 
we had to work on introducing the rest of our animals 

to the new kids on the block. 

 Our Cat Jasper thinks she is the QUEEN of the place and she just ignored them. The 2 inherited cats from my mother, also ignored them. 

So we only had to worry about Bull the German Sheppard, and Boomer the rottweiler. We slowly... acclimate them by letting them smell from afar, then sniffing up close, then watching the ducks by leash, etc. Took about 4 weeks but we did it. Our family of 2 dogs, 3 cats and 4 ducks - all get along like a happy family. 

 

Who would of thunk???

  

The ducks have been a blessing. On days when I was too tired, I had to get up and take care of them. That made me move and stretch and motivated me on my OFF DAYS!
They were so little and had to be taken care of.

 AND they were so fun to watch.  
You know how everyone smiles when watching kittens and puppies and babies. WELL you can put DUCKs on that list. They are much funnier than chickens. 

Every day, twice a day,  I watch them, I  walk with them, feed them and laugh at them.

They are messy eaters, love water puddles of any size, eat bugs, follow you like a puppy, play in the water sprinkler like children, and each have a personality. 

I love them – they make great pets and are wonderful therapy for helping me heal!
Thank you Tom!