SolandMonica.com

Thanks to everyone who voted in Round 1 of the Star 98.7 Rock Star radio contest! Because of you and your votes, we have moved up to Round 2 out of 175 bands that were eligible at entry. It’s down to only 25 bands now.

This is great news, but now we really need to kick it up a notch. The band with the most votes in Round 2 will compete with 4 other bands picked by the judges for the grand prize. The winner gets a record deal with Dave Matthews’ label ATO Records, $25,000, and a West Coast tour.

The voting process is exactly the same as it was before. The main catch is: you have to “confirm” your vote by opening your email and clicking on a link in a response email that the radio station sends you. Your vote doesn’ t count unless you click on the link in the response email!

Anyways, here’ s the link to the radio station contest:
http://www.star987.com/pages/rockstar2/vote2008.html

We are the 10th band from the top of the page.

Again, all your support is greatly appreciated. Please do what you can to get the word out to anyone you know who might be vaguely interested in helping out. And if you have more than one email address, or if your household has more than one email address, be sure to vote with all of them. Each valid email address gets counted as a vote. Thanks so much!

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO VOTE AGAIN:
After you confirm the response email, the web page with the poll to vote will no longer contain the poll “circles” to make another selection; even if someone else besides you voted on that computer! In order to vote again, you either have to use a different computer, use a different browser like Firefox, or clear your “cookie” files.I’ve tested the process of clearing your “cookie” files and I know it works. It’s a good house cleaning thing to do on your computer anyways, so if you want to know how to do it here are the instructions:

How to manually delete cookie files in Internet Explorer 7

1. Exit Internet Explorer 7, and then exit any instances of Windows Explorer.
2. Click Start, click Run, type inetcpl.cpl, and then press ENTER.
3. On the General tab, click Delete under Browsing History in the Internet Properties dialog box.
4. In the Delete Browsing History dialog box, click Delete Cookies.
5. In the Delete Cookies dialog box, click Yes.

How to manually delete cookie files in Internet Explorer 6

1. Exit Internet Explorer 6, and then exit any instances of Windows Explorer.
2. Click Start, click Run, type inetcpl.cpl, and then press ENTER.
3. On the General tab, click Delete Cookies in the Internet Properties dialog box, under Temporary Internet Files.
4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box, and then click OK.

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 We hope and trust that you all had a wonderful Christmas.  It was rather quiet here…just the three of us.  Kai was pretty fussy.  He hasn’t been sleeping well and stayed up way past his bedtime due to the Cortes family traditional celebration.  We are titling our Christmas “Kai’s Cranky Christmas”.  It wasn’t really that bad, but it wasn’t the joyfest of wrapping paper tossing I thought it’d be.   Here’s a picture of Kai on his new tricycle:

Later in the afternoon, after Kai’s much needed 3 hour nap, we went over to the Moure Family Dinner.  We lived with Alice Moure for a month when we first moved down here, and she invited us over for Christmas dinner.  We played games, sang Christmas Carols and they all prayed for me before we left.  It was very touching and special.

That brings me to today and tomorrow.  Today I had blood drawn.  My sugars, I’m sure, are through the roof…good thing they’re not looking at that number!  🙂  I have my doctor’s appointment at 9:00 and then Chemo is scheduled to begin at 10:30 tomorrow.  Oralia is on her way here to be with us for a few days. 

A few specific prayers: 

Sleep – Kai isn’t sleeping, so no one is sleeping.

Nausea – Last time it lasted about ten days.

Fatigue – not Kai related.  It hit me harder last time than any other. 

Courage – I’m really scared and need my postive spirit to return.  Even with the great news (which is still truly great), the tears have been quick to come these days.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and encouragement.  I have truly been blessed!

Check out the rest of our Christmas pictures under the photos tab.  🙂

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I just found out today that I am going in tomorrow for the mammogram and ultrasound.  The goal is to see how well chemo is working.  I am half-way through chemo, and they want to check the progress.   I am praying that they find nothing – that the tumor is gone!  I know God works miracles, and I pray He does one here.  I go in at 10:45.  They are “squeezing” me in 🙂 ,so I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait, but we’ll see.  It’s worth it.   I don’t expect to have results tomorrow, but will let you know when I do.  My next doctor’s appointment is scheduled for the 27th, but I’ll probably call (nag) sooner.

Update and more prayer requests:  I am very sad to tell you that my friend lost her baby.  She is devastated and resting at home.  I plan on hanging out with her soon.  In the past two days, I have found out that 3 people (friends of friends) have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I don’t know if it’s because of my situation that I hear about it more, or if it really is becoming more prevalent.  One girl is my age.  I believe that all of them caught it early (less than 1 cm), so that’s a praise.  Please pray for them and their families.  This road is tough.

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 A very special thing has been done for me.  Arlie Ankerberg, my pastor’s wife, has graciously given me a precious gift to share with all of you. 

 They are flat metal rings with the inscription “Monica’s Inner Circle” on them.  They come on black necklaces, but can be put onto keychains or worn around the wrist.  It is a reminder to pray and is also a token of our appreciation for all the prayers you have already said for us.  I have MANY of them and really want you all to have them.  The cost would be great for me to ship them to all of you, so I am asking those of you who want one to send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and I will send you as many as you request.  Here is our address for those of you who do not have it already: 

We really do appreciate all your prayers and support.

Comments Off on Monica’s Inner Circle

On top of all the instruction I gave in the posting below (or the last email for those of you who get the email updates) after you confirm the response email, the web page with the poll to vote will no longer contain the poll circles to make a selection.  In order to vote again, you either have to use a different computer, use a different browser like Firefox, or clear your temporary internet files.  If you need help deleting your temporary internet files, click on this link to automagically search Google.

Thanks again, and just in case here’s the link to the voting page once more:
http://star987.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=216310&article=2403680

Comments Off on Oh… One More Thing About the Radio Contest

Thanks to everyone who checked out our video.  It helped put us in the running for the official voting which starts today.  Now is when we really need your help.  Round 1 for voting starts today Dec. 3 and goes until Jan 2. 

It’s very simple to vote.  All you have to do is go to the radio station website, choose our song entitled “Seriously” (which is about halfway down the page), input your email address at the bottom of the page, and press the “Vote” submit button. There  is only 1 vote per email address.  However, if you have more than one email address you could vote once for each email address that you have.  Good thing I have several email addresses. 😉

Here’s the catch:  you have to “confirm” your vote by opening your email and clicking on a link in a response email that the radio station sends you.  Your vote doesn’t count unless you click on the link in the response email!

Anyways, here’s the link to the radio station contest:
http://star987.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=216310&article=2403680

All your support is greatly appreciated.  Don’t be shy about sharing this link with other people too!  If you have any questions, please let me know.   Thanks!

P.S.  The bands are listed in alphabetical order on the voting page.  The name of my band is Greenleaf Avenue (like the street in Whittier that we live on!).  Here’s a sample of what the listings on the voting page look like:

Gazz – Gazz 

Sell You Something – George Hartline 

Confused – Ghosts On The Radio 

Manipulation – Greenhouse Effect 

Seriously – Greenleaf Avenue 

Hannah Ford – Hannah Ford 

The Hazard Band – HAZARD

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Even though I cut my hair and we’re not doing as many live shows anymore, I’ve continued to be creative and have been busy putting together the second Greenleaf Avenue CD!  It should be available from iTunes and CDBaby.com in a couple of days.  In th meantime, we’ve entered a radio station contest that is kind of like American Idol for southern California unsigned bands.  We had to upload a video and we’ve been approved for the contest.  Eventually the winner will be decided based on votes by the public and votes by a panel of judges, but for now the bands that get their video viewed most often rise to the top and are posted on the radio station’s front page.  I am posting the video here for viewing.  Please do us a huge favor and click to play the video.  Even if you don’t watch the whole thing, just clicking to watch it helps.  The video is directly hosted on the radio station site and simply embedded here, so all clicks here count as a viewing.  Thanks a bunch, and I hope you like it!

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Thanksgiving was a lot of fun.  My parents came down from Paradise, and we all went to my grandmother’s for a Thanksgiving buffet.  The food was delicious and the best part was that we didn’t have to cook or clean up.  Yea!  The bad part was that we don’t have any leftovers! ;(   Sol wants to go get a turkey just so we can have turkey sandwiches.

Kai was spoiled by Grammy and Grandpa during their time with us.  He went on long walks every morning, picking dandelions and watching buses go by.

On Black Friday, we didn’t do any shopping.  Instead we all went to Knott’s Berry Farm with the Mayfield clan (good friends from Fresno).  It was so fun.  Kai LOVED watching the rollercoasters zip by.  He would point and say a lot of stuff we don’t yet understand.  Then he would wait for the next time it came by.  It was so cute.  However, when it came time to go on a little ride himself, he didn’t like it very much.  Even the carrousel scared him.  It was so sad and hopefully won’t scar him for life.  He was just happy watching everything.  We went to Snoopy’s Cool Christmas on ice, and Kai danced his way through the whole performance.  The couple sitting next to us was watching him more than the show (so was I).  🙂  Too cute!  It was a really fun day.  The Mayfield’s daughter, Cienna, went on her first rollercoaster rides, which is always exciting!  I believe her favorite was the Panther.

On Saturday, some friends from college, a couple of whom I haven’t seen in three years, came by to visit.  They are from San Diego, Wisconsin and Washington State.  It was a lot of fun.  They got to meet Kai for the first time, and he stole the show as he always does.  It was a fun time of catching up and hanging out.

On Sunday, we hosted a game night at our house.  People from church came over and we played a lot of games.  It was really fun and uplifting!  I love games and our house loves company (it gets clean)!  🙂

That’s about it from here.  I just wanted to let you all know how things are going.  I have been feeling pretty well.  I am tired, have some sores in my mouth and have a lingering rash on my scalp, but really I’m doing pretty well.   Some prayer requests would be (1) that the sores in my mouth heal, (2) that my dry skin is soothed (darn those Santa Ana winds), and (3) that Kai sleeps through the night (back in his room).  It’s getting better, but he’s not in his crib.  He is on the livingroom floor, and Sol has been sleeping on the couch.  We figured out that he wakes himself up because he can’t roll over in his crib.  He is such a restless sleeper and gets mad that he can’t roll over.  

Well that’s about it for now.  Take care and God bless.

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I just wanted to let you all know that I really appreciate all of the wonderful things you had to say about my bald head!  I’ll be posting some G.I. Jane type photos soon (maybe not)!  Seriously though, you don’t know how much I love reading your comments and how I treasure even more your prayers and encouragement.

I would really appreciate your prayers as I have a full schedule this week:

Tues – bloodwork

Wed – Doctor’s appointment

Thurs – Chemotherapy

Fri – White Blood Cell Booster shot

Please pray that all goes well and that the nervousness that I feel right now subsides so I can sleep.   Thank you so much for everything.  You have no idea how much you all mean to me and help get me through this process.

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Well, I did it!  Actually, Sol did it for me.  My head has been shaved.  This morning while taking a shower, more and more hair was falling out.  I decided that I didn’t want to take more showers like that, so when I got out, I asked Sol to shave it off.  He did!

Kai watched as Sol first cut the majority of my hair off, then Sol shaved it Marine Corp style.  Kai kept saying uh-oh as the hair kept falling to the ground.  (You’ll see a picture of him pointing at the falling hair with much concern.)  We kept saying, “Yea, it’s ok.”  He then wanted to help clean it all up (as you’ll see also).  What a sweetie!  He loves rubbing Mommy’s head.  It’s kind of fun right now.  He make me feel better about it. 

Anyway, check out the pictures…I’m so brave, I posted a bald picture!  Be gentle, I’m being vunerable!  😉

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