A worthy occasion to post. Yes, I am still alive. A Christmas wish. Need Help.

I realize I've been a failure of a blogger in 2013.  It's been a really hectic year. Cliff notes: Still not smoking. Mom to a beautiful boy, Carter. Living in Gulfport, MS. Incandescently happy.

But this long overdue post isn't about me.. Its about a little girl. I'll copy and paste from my Facebook post:

"Warning! I'm about to solicit some Christmas help! I went on a quest this holiday season to find a family we could help a little. I found several little ways to do small things, and I'm glad I was able to. Only today, at the last minute, have I found a family that could use some Christmas cheer from all of us. Ryli is an 8 year old girl from Pass Christian, MS. Her parents have both abandoned her in favor of meth. Ryli lives with her 60 year old grandmother who presses clothes at a local cleaner. They have a roof over their heads and food to eat, but not a penny to spare for presents or even a tree. Ryli LOVES Barbies. Her dream is to have a Barbie dream house (She has no idea how expensive they are!). She needs clothing. Grandma is horrified at the idea of anyone considering them a charity case. Do you remember being 8? She deserves a happy holiday. I am taking small donations.. $1, $5.. whatever you can spare towards a Barbie dream house and a few essentials. I have set up a PayPal donation link below. I will donate the contents of my PayPal account as well (It isn't much.. only about $50). We only have 24 hours or so to realistically put this together. I will post a screen shot of all account donations AND receipts from purchases for total transparency. If you want to pay by check or cash, pledge an amount and I'll cover it with my own funds. If we don't raise enough for a dream house, what we do raise will be spent on toys and clothes. If you can't donate, please repost this. Thanks in advance for your help! (If you'd rather donate a specific item, message me and we'll work that out too!). We gotta do this fast. Count your blessings and if you have enough left over to share a smidge, join me."

Tonight, in our last minute plight, we raised enough to purchase a deluxe Barbie Dream Home, 2 Barbie dolls and some stickers. I currently have $95 remaining to spend and will use it to purchase as many clothing items and necessary household items as I can with the remainder of the donations.

Pictures of all purchases and receipts are posted, as I get them, on Facebook.

Thank you to everyone who donated. For those of you who are still looking for a Christmas miracle to participate in.. even $1 can make an impact. I will personally email every donor a picture of what their funds purchased.

You may donate here: PayPal Christmas Fund  or send to my email BellaDonkey@gmail.com

Lets do what we can for little Ryli this Christmas. Thank you all!

And since this thing still works.. ya'll can look for an actual update this week. Merry Christmas!