Who's Ready for a New Card Drive?

 Hey everybody! It's been awhile since ya'll have heard from me! I've been doing pretty good. Just trying to get back to normal life...or whatever that is! 

Some of you have emailed asking how my health was and Praise the Lord, I'm doing good! I just had another 6 month check-up and everything looks good! I'll have to have 6 month check-ups for the first 5 years and then it will be yearly for probably the rest of my life, but honestly, I'm ok with that! I would rather be watched closely. My hair has grown back to normal and most of the chemo curls are gone now. I've had several surgeries and still have a few more, but I'm doing good. 

I have had a few emails asking about the Card Drive for the kids for Valentine's Day as well and with Covid restrictions still at the hospitals, it's still not going to happen right now. We send cards to some very sick kids, so I understand completely on the strict rules! 

However, I have another project that I have been praying about and talking to someone about. When I had my double mastectomy, I was given a Blessing Box that a dear friend had nominated me for. It is truly a "Blessing Box"! It has a mastectomy pillow and a button up shirt with pockets on the inside to hold drains from surgery, socks, and other thoughtful little gifts to let you know they are thinking about you! The lady who started the organization is named Dawn Compton. She too is a breast cancer survivor and had made herself a mastectomy pillow and shirt and then others started seeing her shirt at the Drs appointments, so she started making them for their patients and she started making pillows for others and now she has a group of men and women who come together and sew (they call it their "sew-ins") and they make them for women and some men. She's already sent several thousand to ladies and some men the last few years. It's a pretty Awesome organization! 

When I received my Blessing Box back in 2019, I messaged Dawn immediately and asked if I could send cards for the boxes when I was recovered and feeling better and she said Absolutely! So, while I was recovering from chemo and surgeries, I was making cards! I wanted to make as many as I could until I knew for sure I was going to be able to tackle another Card Drive. I was able to make 1,000 cards and decided that I did in fact want to try and have another Card Drive since I was doing much better health wise. And I was able to ship those out today.

So, are ya'll ready for another Card Drive? These cards are for women who are going through surgeries, some have been going through chemo and some that could be sick and fighting for their lives, so please be mindful of that and if you are sick, please wait to make the cards and send them when you are well. There really isn't going to be a lot of rules like the Valentine's Day Card Drive has for the kids at the hospital. 

Here are the rules:

*The cards need to be no bigger than 5 1/2 X 4 1/4 ( I have clear envelopes for them).

*Please leave the inside blank. I have preprinted messages for the inside of each of them that I will add to the inside when I receive them.

*You can add your blog address or stamp "Handmade By" and add your name to the back of the card and your state if you would like.

*These cards are for people who will be healing from surgeries, so you can have sentiments like Get Well Soon, Thinking of You, Praying for You, etc. 

*At this time I'm not going to have a deadline on them. I will send them into Dawn when I have collected quite a few. 

*Here is my address for you to send them to.

Cards From the Heart Card Drive

P.O. Box 754

Warren, TX. 77664

Here are a few I made.

I hope you all will join us for an Amazing Ministry that Dawn has started with 

The Blessing Box Project! If you or someone else is having a surgery and needs a mastectomy pillow and drain shirt, you can find Dawn's page on FaceBook at The Blessing Box Project or if you would like to give a monetary donation or a donation from her Amazon wish list for supplies, you can message her on the page. This is a non-profit organization, so all of the proceeds go to the project.

Thank you all for your continued support with the Card Drive for all these years and for checking on me and sending me get well cards when I was sick and most of all for all the prayers, I really appreciate it! 💗

~Winter Sims

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey everybody! 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Long time no talk! I'm sorry I haven't checked in in awhile, it's been a crazy long year! As most of you know, I've been fighting Breast cancer since August 2019. I had 5  long months of chemo, I lost all of my hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows...you can just imagine how hard it is to create eyebrows and attach magnetic eyelashes when you aren't great at putting on make-up! 😏 But I made do! 

I finished chemo on February 10, 2020, I had a double mastectomy March 17, 2020, right at the beginning of the shut down from Covid, so it was a very weird time for sure! I was able to have my husband and kids with me at home while I recovered from that, so that did this Momma's heart well! 💗

I stayed at home and strengthened my immune system and tried to stay well. 

Then on August 2, 2020 I celebrated my 1 year since diagnose. I wanted that day to be a day of celebrating and living, since the year before it was a scary day! 

So what did I do?...my husband and I went skydiving! 😮

I have Always been scared of heights! But during chemo I mentioned to my husband and kids that I wanted to go skydiving after I finished chemo. I figured if I could face something as scary as cancer, chemo, being bald, losing my breasts...I can do ANYTHING!!! So on that 1 year anniversary, we jumped out of a plane! It was an Amazing experience and a day I'll never forget!

Then on October 20 (2 days after my 41st Birthday), I had my reconstruction surgery and then back home that night to recover at home. So if you've been counting, I've been staying at home and not going out much since September 2019! That's a Long time for a social girl like me! LOL! However, I'm very Thankful that we own our own AC & Heating business, so I am able to work from home, my husband is able to take off when needed and he went to every DR's appointment, chemo infusion, and surgery! I've also had some help from my daughter while I recover. She's been going to college to become an LVN, so it's been nice to have my own personal nurse too! And she has helped with our business as well. And my son has been going to college and working with his Daddy doing AC & Heating works. 

They've been a great help! 💗 

But I am doing good at this time. I have appointments every 6 months with my Oncologist and surgeon and they will keep an eye on me for a few years and then I'll be able to move up to every year. My type of breast cancer, Triple Negative, is very aggressive and has a high possibility of returning. But we are praying and believing that I will stay healed, in the Name of Jesus, Amen!  

So as most of you has probably figured, we weren't able to send cards to the children's hospitals this year because of Covid and not wanting to spread any germs to those precious kids. 😢 And honestly, I don't know how this will effect the Card Drive in the next few years?. Only time will tell and I will keep ya'll updated on that. I have been thinking of those precious kids all day and prayed they had a day filled with love! 💗

I have some other stuff I've been working on and I still have some details to figure out before I announce it yet, but if everything gets worked out, I'm going to need my Card Makers! 😊💗 

I'll keep ya'll updated on that as well! 

I wanted to share some pictures with ya'll, just a little of my journey this year and all my hair growth. I had wavy hair before chemo and who knew you could have curly hair from the chemo, otherwise known as Chemo curls! Well...that's what I got! So I've been trying to figure out how to style it! I was looking forward to trying cute little pixie cuts as it grew out...well you can't have cute pixie cuts with curly hair! So, I'm just trying to embrace it! I had my first hair trim a few days ago as I celebrated my 1 year since finishing chemo. 

 And the day I got to ring the bell! 💗 

And here is a picture of me skydiving! My husband and I designed the shirt! 

(For all you Tim McGraw fans!) 😉

I sure miss ya'll and pray that ya'll are healthy and happy! And I hope you all are staying warm, the weather is Crazy this year! We are getting snow tomorrow and possibly on Wednesday in Texas! 😲

~Winter

Cards From the Heart Card Drive Announcement and Sharing my Heart

Happy New Year Everybody!

I hope you all had a great year last year! 

I, unfortunately have not. :( I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in August of this year and have been undergoing chemo the last 3 months and I still have 2 months months of it to go and them I will have surgery and possibly radiation. This caught our entire family off-guard! We don't have any history of Breast Cancer in our family. Breast cancer is usually hormone driven, either Estrogen, Progesterone, or Her 2, but mine is none of those, which is called Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Researchers are unsure what causes this type of breast cancer and they have only known about it for the last 20 years. It is a very aggressive cancer and has a high rate of re-occurrence. I asked my Oncologist if it could have been caused by stress and she said Absolutely! I told her about losing our house in a house fire 2 years ago and losing a lot of loved ones right after and she said, it sure could have been! I believe with my whole heart that that is what caused mine! I am very hopeful that I can beat it with the help of the Lord! He has carried me this whole time! And family has been Awesome! 

I wanted to share a few pictures of my journey. I turned 40 in October and decided that that was the day that I was going to shave my hair since my scalp started to get painful and I was starting to lose my hair pretty fast. So I shaved the first strip to show the devil and cancer that I'm beating them! Then my Amazing husband shaved it the rest of the way and my sweet son was holding my hand and my sweet daughter capturing the moment with taking pictures through her tears! 💓

 (My 40th Birthday Photo shoot.)

    

                                       

(Shaving my hair.) :(

(My bald head.) :)

(My new wig.)

I have learned so much about myself through this journey and I know I have a lot more I will learn! But what I have learned is I'm a lot stronger than I ever thought I was or could be! You have to be strong to go through something like this...it's not easy! The Lord is definitely my strength! 

And one last bit of advice. Do your self breast exams every month, go to your well women exams every year, get your Mammograms every year, and if you ever feel a lump...get it checked out! I had a clear mammogram in January 2019 and accidentally found a lump in June 2019! 

It happens that fast! 

So with all that said, I unfortunately will not be having the Valentine's Day Card Drive this year. My life is consumed with Dr's appointments, chemo every week, and just trying to heal, that I just don't have time to do it this year. It breaks my heart! I hope you all understand. I'm not sure what the future holds for the Card Drive, I'll just have to take it day by day. 

I want to Thank all of you for the continued support you have given me and the Card Drive every year, I appreciate it so much! 

I hope you all have a Healthy and Happy 2020!

~Winter

2019 Card Drive

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody!

It feels a little different this year making this post. Usually I would be announcing the big totals, but this year, there wasn't big totals...actually it was just the opposite! It was the smallest to date, with a total of 326 cards and I sent them to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital & Texas Children's Hospital. Thank you to the ones that sent them in late last year, because I was able to use them this year and Thank you to Patricia who sent some in and helped me out this year. 

Although it was a small year, it was the right decision for me this year. We were able to get my daughters RV remodeled and totally Adorable, for her to live in while she goes to nursing school. And we are almost done with our house, so we should be moved in soon. 

I want to Thank you all for the support and understanding that you gave me over my decision in keeping the Card Drive small this year, I appreciate it more than you all know!

Here are a few of the cards that I sent this year as well. 

                            I pray that all of the hands that held these cards, will be Blessed! 

Until next year, God Bless you all! 

~Winter

Cards From the Heart Card Drive Announcement

Hello everybody and Happy New Year! 
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

It is with a heavy heart that I let you all know that I will not be 
collecting cards this year for the Card Drive!

 This was a Very hard decision, that took A LOT of time and prayers. 

As I'm sure many of you remember, we lost our home last year to a fire and we have been picking up the pieces ever since. We have rebuilt almost the exact same house and we are on the last stages of getting it finished. 

We had hoped to be finished a few months ago, but rain delays and worker delays, set us back a little father. We are doing a lot of the work ourselves, so we are working night and day and trying to run an A/C & Heating business 

in Texas at the same time! Not to mention having our daughter in college and our son is in his Senior year of High School. Our daughter just graduated with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and she was just accepted into Nursing school

and she will start in January, so we have been getting her place fixed up to move closer to school. 

So you see my struggle with so many responsibilities and adding a VERY time consuming Card Drive to it, will almost be impossible to do! First and foremost, I am a Wife and Mother, so I have to take care of all them and those responsibilities first.

It breaks my heart, to not be able to do everything, but I have to be honest with myself and realize I can't do it all! 

I know many of you will offer to help out and I appreciate that so much, but with the strict rules of the hospitals, I feel like it would still be stressful to try and keep everything organized. 

I received some cards after the deadline of the last Card Drive and I will make some as well, so I will send those cards to at least one hospital for Valentine's Day.

I hope you all understand and will come back next year and join me for the 2020 Card Drive. I want to Thank you all for the continued support through the years and for all the prayers you have said for our family this year, we appreciate them SO much!

I  also hope that ya'll will send a Valentine card to someone in need, or a nursing home, or a local hospital if they will allow you to. I still want the love to spread to those in need. 

I hope you all have an Amazing New Year and God Bless you all!

With Love, 

~Winter Sims

2018 Card Totals

Hey everybody!
Well I finally got all the packages sent off! I sent half of them off on Friday (February 2) , a ton more on Monday (February 5)  and the last 3 Texas hospitals on Tuesday (February 6), way later than I normally send them out, thanks to the US postal service! They have not been  my friend this year! I collected cards the last 4 days while I was still counting and packaging! The dates on these packages were expected to be delivered on or before the 31st and I collected them the 3rd, 4th, and 5th! I even got 2 packages on the 6th, but they’ll have to wait until next year since all the cards were already packaged and being shipped. 
And I'm hoping and praying that the US postal service gets all of the packages to the hospitals on time! I have already received 3 emails from hospitals saying they received theirs and they LOVE them and I have checked the tracking on all of them and only 3 haven't gotten to their destination yet. But they are expected to arrive there tomorrow or Monday. 
So Thank the Lord for that!

But, back to the totals...this year was the biggest year yet!!!

With a total of 7,735 CARDS collected!!! 

I am truly humbled by the 200+ card makers who sent in cards! I appreciate the love and dedication and the understanding that there wouldn't be prizes this year, in fact, a lot of you said you didn't do it for the prizes anyway and you just liked to help, so Thank you! 💓

I want to Thank all of you for spreading the word about the Card Drive, and for the extra work from Christy @ Christy Gets Crafty- Valentine Day Series, that she has so generously been making videos to help spread the word of the Card Drive for the past 5 years! 
Thank you SO much, Christy! 
And I want to Thank Jenn @ Scrapbena Creations, she made a video this year too, 
to help spread the news! Thank you, Jenn! 

I also want to Thank the ones who sent in money to help with shipping, the stamp sets that you sent me to help build my stamp collection back up, since the fire took many of them, the gift certificates to help with stamp supplies, house supplies, and money to help my family from the devastation from the
 fire. None of that was required, but I'm so Grateful for them! Words can't adequately Thank you enough for your generosity and love! 💓

My plans last year were to find more hospitals, but that is easier said than done sometimes
 and I never hear back from some hospitals. I was able to add one more hospital to the list though, so I am Thankful for that!
Here is the list for this year:

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital
St. Louis Children's Hospital
St. Joseph's Children's Hposptial
UF Health Shands Children's Hospital
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Cook Children's Medical Center
Pendleton Place (Foster home)
Akron Children's Hospital
Seattle Children's Hospital
UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chilcago
Shriners Hospital for Children-
Shreveport
St. Loius
Cinncinnati
Galveston
Houston
Boston
Northern California
Pasadena, CA.
Tampa
Salt Lake City
Nemours/ Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

I was able to add the extra card in each one again this year. I had a Great response from the hospital staff last year when we did this, so I felt it was the right decision to do it again, since we had enough cards.
My Momma, daughter, and I were able to get the post-its stamped this year.

Here is a pic of all the shipments of cards.

Here are some of my favorites. I really wish I could have taken a pictures of all of them,
they really are Amazing!

There were still some issues with glitter paper & stickers, some that were too large to put in the envelopes, some that had last names, some that added the city, and some that added their youtube channel names. I hope everyone reads the guidelines more carefully next year,
it really does cause me more trouble when they aren't right.
I Love when the cards are Exactly by the rules, it makes my life so much easier
and the sorting goes so much faster! And when
you are getting about 4 hours of sleep a night, because of all the sorting...it's Really important! :)

I had also asked if you would include your info with your cards and some of you did, but some didn't. If you didn't, can you please email me so I can have your email address? I need it for the email reminder for next years Card Drive and I always send out a Thank you email too.
 wintersims1@aol.com

As some of you know, my family and I have had a pretty rough year.
Our 12 year old dog Tucker went missing in March and we never found him, my daughter and her boyfriend of 2 1/2 years broke up, our son was in a wreck and totaled his truck (he and everyone else was fine, Thank goodness!) and the next day we went through a hurricane, all in August. And then we had our house fire and lost everything and our sweet cat, Po, too, all in October. Then just a few days after the fire, we lost my sweet Mee Mee, in November. My son Chace went through his first heartbreak with a girl and then the devastating news that my daughters ex-boyfriend/ first love, passed away in a car accident, all in January. :'( It's been tough.

I've had to draw my strength from the Lord through all of this and to be able to continue the Card Drive this year. I have all of you to Thank for your support, encouragement, and kind words that you have shown me and my family, I couldn't do this without all of you! 💓
I always had those sweet babies on my mind and heart and I knew that they still needed a little Love on Valentine's Day, so I had to be strong and do the Card Drive, 
regardless of how tough it was and I'm so glad I did!

Thank you all and I can't wait for next year's Card Drive, it will be #10!!! 
I hope you all have a Very Blessed Valentin's Day and 
remember those sweet kids in the hospitals too.

~Winter

Last day to collect cards

Hey everybody! 
I am working my booty off (I wish 😜) to get the cards sorted, counted, and boxed up! Today is the cut off for collecting cards, so if you haven’t sent them yet, Please don’t. You can either keep them for next year to send, give them out locally, or maybe find someone else that is accepting Valentine cards. I have to have a cut off day or I’ll never get them counted and packaged and they have to get to the hospitals before Valentine’s Day and the way the postal service has been...I need to send them ASAP! It looks to me that some of your packages that you sent in are a few days delayed on the dates on the packages. The cards you are sending in are so Adorable and inspire me so much! I’ve still had a few that aren’t by the rules, but most are, so Thank you for those!  I still have several days of packaging, so I better get back to it! I just wanted to check in and let you know I’m still here and still working hard. Thanks again for all of the cards & love that you have sent me! ❤️ I’ll be checking in again soon.
Have a Great day!

~Winter