So on Thursday, May 29, 2008…. Our really really good friend Robert graduated from high school…and we were able to go and see him after the ceremony, and it was nice to meet his family and friends, and Jackie and I wanted to post on here to tell you… Congratulations!!!!! :)

Since late Saturday afternoon, our best friend Jaye who lives in Georgia, came to Las Vegas to visit for a couple days!

We haven’t seen her for a year, so let me say, we all had an awful lot to catch up on. It was so nice to talk and hang out, and we even hung out with some good friends we all haven’t seen for ages, and watched movies!!!!

I miss you Jaye, and Jackie and I can’t wait for you to come back!

Today, we can proudly say…are done with our classes and all of our finals!!!We have just finished our first semester of our Junior year in college!!! 
This is awesome, here comes summer!!!!! :]

:-]

So, after studying almost the whole weekend, I’m still not ready for these last three finals!! But I still have so much to study…Doesn’t that sound like fun? :) 

Then, on Tuesday, we have our 2 music finals; The first one is how to set up the sound board to record with ProTools, and the 2nd final is our music final for our Music Technology Class….

Then on WEdnesday, we’re meeting really early with someone to study all morning until the Business 101 Final…and then we have a guitar lesson later that day! It’s going to be a busy week!

So later this week, I’ll update this post with the list of what is left until we are officially on our summer break! This is exciting! 1 down, three more to go!

Wish us luck! :]

Happy Mother’s Day!!!! :]

My insulin pump has wonderful timing…Doesn’t it? It always decides (because it has a mind of its own, you know) to make that annoying “beep beep beeeeep!” right when class starts. It alarms during actual exams, even though I tested before taking the test — my pump must know this. My pump likes to beep when no one is talking too, and the “beep beep beeping” I hear when I don’t want to think about turning the other alarm off that went off 15 minutes prior to the new reminder. Only telling me that I really need to test…like now!!!! My insulin pump sure is persistent. 

It’s telling me to test my blood sugar. 
It’s telling me to change my site because “the reservoir is low.”
It’s telling me to change the battery.

Even when I’m standing next to another person with diabetes, and they are so tuned in the noise, they ask if I should test. Amazing. That sound must be ingrained in our heads, even the sound with the lighting up of the pump’s screen immediately following that with a little message…we all see it, we all hear it, and we all wish we’ll never have to answer its alarms to test and make sure we’re okay. Don’t you? I know I can set it up so I don’t have to hear it or to have less of a noisy alarm, but for me, if I can’t hear it, I’ll just ignore it.

However, I am glad that I have that system built into my Minimed pump. Thank you, to everyone who always says, “are you okay?” or the famous, “what’s your number? Have you tested lately?” I really am grateful for the reminders to test frequently. Really, I am glad you ask if I’m okay, or want to know what my blood sugar is, it helps me feel like people are watching out for me, and I am not the only one. :]

A shout out to Jay Cutler, Quarterback for the Denver Broncos, who was recently diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. We want you to know that those of us who also live with diabetes, support you and are thrilled that you have such a positive attitude! 

The Denver Post announced Friday that Jay Cutler was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, and Jay made the following observations…”It’s a little overwhelming to get that news and realize you’re going to have to completely change your life,” said Cutler, who accepted his fate after a few days.

“It’s not something that’s going to go away,” Cutler said. “It’s something I’m going to have to deal with my entire life and you’ve got to come to grips with that.”

He said he never worried about his career being in jeopardy. “No. That’s the first thing they said to me: ‘It’s going to affect your lifestyle a little bit, but you’ll be able to continue to play football,’” Cutler said. “I’m not the first athlete to get diabetes and I won’t be the last.”

“It’s a big adjustment,” Cutler said. “You’re 25 years old, you’re used to eating whatever you want, doing whatever you want. If you want to go out to lunch, go ahead and go. Now, you’re counting carbs and eating healthier and injecting insulin at the table. You’ve got to have your insulin, your needles, your glucose meter, yeah, it’s a big change. But it’s something you have to deal with.”

Ten years ago, my sister and I met Jay Leeuwenburg, a Professional Football Player and Type 1 Diabetic, who inspired me and now offering his positive advice to Jay Cutler. Jay Leeuwenburg said, “This does not have to be a football-ending disease,” There are plenty of pro-athletes, actors, actresses, musicians, and singers, who all live with this diseases and have continued to have successful careers. 
Jay, if you ever read this, just check out all the people associated with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, an organization that donates 85-87 cents of every dollar to curing diabetes through research. 

Goodluck and we’ll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Always Praying for a Cure…

Naomi Kingery is an amazing, fun, inspiring, and accomplished 18 year old who just recently became a published author! She has had diabetes since September 2, 2001, for over six and a half years, and through all the ups and downs, has become a certified yoga instructor since the age of 12. Naomi always has a good attitude about life, and living with diabetes. She says, “these past few years I’ve learned that every breath of air is a blessing, and that every single thing happens for a reason. Times get really hard but I keep a smile on my face until the next good thing comes a long. No matter how bad things are, there is always always something to be thankful for.” From my perspective, there are three factors that make up the foundation for Naomi’s incredibly positive attitude. First, her family, who have always supported her and given the encouragement she needed to attain her goals. Secondly, she always thinks about others, making their needs a priority in their life. For example, she says it is her new dream to, “help diabetics and other people through yoga.” Thinking about others helps one appreciate their own life and keep everything in perspective. The third factor that I believe impacts Naomi’s positive attitude, is her unyielding faith in God…what a wonderful support system she has, family, faith, and humility, which accounts for why this young lady is so inspirational!! 

You may wonder why and how Naomi and I became friends. Well, to be honest, we met online. oooh! It all started four years ago on Xanga (one of those weblog communities). Ever since then, we have stayed in touch with each other, kept each other informed about what is going on in our lives. We talk about our experiences related to diabetes, our ups and downs, our good days, our bad days, and we talked about the Medtronic Minimed Sensor, which we both started using at about the same time. The interesting factor is, as close as Naomi and I feel towards each other and consider our friendship a very strong bond, we have never met in person…yet. It feels like I’ve known Naomi forever. 

The reason why I am writing about my dear friend, Naomi, is because Naomi is a new author, having justt published her first book, which of course I know will become a best seller! I am SO proud and happy for her success! What an accomplishment this book is for Naomi and what a gift it is for diabetics and their friends and families. Her book is entitled,“Sugar Free Me“ which inspires young people with a positive yet quirky approach to life with diabetes. Sugar Free Me is available atwww.livetolovediabetes.com and buy her book!!! Also, you can go to www.hopethroughyoga.com to learn more about Yoga and Diabetes! I can only imagine what she’ll be doing ten years from now, since she has accomplished so much by the age of 18!

So the day started out like any other Tuesday. Woke up at 7:30, tested my blood sugar, I was 201. Of course, I bolused to correct, ate a little bit for breakfast, bolused before I ate, got ready, put on my sun glasses, and drove us to school. Since it was early, we were able to get a good parking spot today, because any other day an hour later the parking garage is packed. Yoga Class was great, I love the relaxation part at the end! We picked up our backpacks, and left the room.

Before leaving, I figured I better test my blood sugar before going all the way to the Student Union, especially after yoga class, since that kind of exercise - compared to say, a Kick-boxing class - brings my Blood Sugars down much faster.

….I frantically searched my purse. No sign of my little madress plaid tester case. 
There was no sight of anything resembling my blood glucose tester, not even the bright green zipper tab of the case. 
Oh, this is not good……

Jackie and I quickly walked to our car again, hoping to find another tester there. We always leave a back-up in the car, for these “just in case moments.” It was in there! I was so happy. I took the tester in it’s boring black zippered case, and stuck it in my purse. On the way to the Student Union, I attempted to test. I put the little strip into the side of the tester, and nothing. Absolutely nothing came on the screen, there was no code showing up, there wasn’t even the little graphic with the blinking strip. Uh-oh…..

I called home. Maybe someone saw it on the counter. My mom asked if I had extra batteries, but I don’t normally keep 3 volt batteries in the bottom of my purse, unless we travel, then it’s in my diabetic bag. Any way, I still didn’t have a working tester and I knew my blood sugar was going low.

About twenty minutes later, someone brought my tester over. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! :) 
I came back over to where Jackie and I were sitting, and tested. It worked. My Freestyle Flash tester worked, even the little light on the strip went on. This is good! Until now…..

I was 59. Jackie could tell it wasn’t a normal blood sugar by the look on my face. She said, “Mollie, do need some juice? I have some…” And she smiled. I drank some of the cranberry juice and had my jelly sandwich I brought.

Over the next 2 hours, my blood sugars went all the way up to 222 and even after bolusing, it was 299 a little while ago. I’m all for concentrating in class, but oh man, nothing was making sense today.

How could I forget my other half?
I can’t believe I left my tester on my night stand, I always take it with me.

But I’m really glad me and my tester are back together! :]

Hey Everyone! We wanted to post this banner to let you know that we have a YouTube account now, and have a couple videos up about diabetes and our music. We hope you enjoy it!

Sorry for not posting more on this blog lately, I haven’t really kept up with blogging since the year started. Jackie and I have been going through such a hectic semester, we’re so busy we’re hardly getting sleep and finishing our homework but still rehearsing! Then, I got sick, and now finals are coming! So I’m trying catch up and then stay caught up! But I love writing in this blog, and you will be seeing more and more posts soon! And trust me, our trip to New York City will be posted soon!

The countdown is on! All I can hear as we raced down the hall this morning trying not to be late for class was “three more weeks until summer!!” It gets me thinking, I have four exams to study for, three more classes of kickboxing, four more yoga classes to attend, and did I mention how much studying I need to do?

We have to say though, this whole semester has been amazing! I mean, from turning 19 years old, man I feel old, to singing the National Anthem at the opening game for UNLV Baseball, to going to New York City and meeting some pretty amazing people…to a National Ad coming out in one of our favorite magazines, to planning a trip to Canada (we’ll talk about that later) and this month we sang at the Las Vegas motor speedway for the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals…what an experience!

On Wednesday, April 9th, our Mom, Aunt Mama, Jackie and I all went out to the Speedway for our sound check. It was a great experience and everything went very smoothly and everyone was so helpful and we had tons of fun!Then on Sunday, April 13, 2008, was the big performance!

At around 9:30 am, we drove out to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway! Which, by the way, is awesome! At about 9:45, we arrived, we felt so special because we were told to park with the “Media” up close to the track. Then, we met up with Jeff Motley, the Senior Director of Public Relations for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, just to make sure we knew where he wanted us and when.

This is funny, after we got there, we were standing randomly by the track, and the many photographers came up to us, asking if we were the National Anthem singers, and we excitedly said, “yes! We are!” The next thing we knew, flashes were going off, and everyone was yelling directions to look this way! And look that way, so they could take our pictures, it was a shooting frenzy, but exciting!

We’ve never had that happen before and all the excitement was making us anxious, but in a good way. We realized that we were about to sing at a very large venue for a very large crowd, and it felt like that’s where we belonged!

About fifteen minutes before we sang, we ran into Mr. Powell, Executive VP and General Manager of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and when he was talking to us, he said, “well girls, are you excited to sing in front of 15,000 people and on National TV?!” I stepped back and took a big deep breath. To be honest, we hadn’t thought about how many people would be watching this on TV, let alone another 15,000 or so in the stands!!!!!

Mollie, Mr. Powell, and Jackie

At around 10:45, people led us across the track, near the pit, and onto a blue strip that our shoes stuck to. We don’t know what it was we were sticking to, but maybe it was a good thing, because the winds had gusts up to 50 mph that morning! someone who knows about cars would probably know why. Any way, we stood there for a while and calmed down, but we still had an edge of excitement as photographers continued to take our picture.

It was almost time to sing! 

We were introduced, as The Singer Twins, and the Nellis Air-force Color Guard said, “Present Arms.” We paused out of respect for the flag and the Color Guard for a moment, and Jackie and I simultaneously began singing the National Anthem. It was so much fun!!

After we finished, we handed over our microphones to the announcers, and immediately plugged our ears, it’s amazing how loud 130 decibels can be! Who would’ve thunk that one little dragster could make SO much noise!

We were led back across the track and taken to our seats so we could enjoy our very first day at the race track! What a blast! The NHRANationals were a lot of fun and we’re now huge fans of drag racing!

Mollie and Jackie, and Missy Powell, wife of LVMS General Manager, and Jackie having a blast in the box!

Mollie, Jackie, and Jeff, this is the man who went out of his way to be helpful, thanks Jeff, we really appreciate everything you do for us!

As a matter of fact, while we were watching the races, all of a sudden, a beautiful car was brought onto the track to prepare for the race. In the background we heard the announcer speaking about JDRF, and as all of us looked closer at the car, we realized it was Cody “Flash” Perkins and hisJDRF car!! The story of the car is so interesting because he covered his car with JDRF to help raise awareness for Juvenile Diabetes. We didn’t happen to meet this special hero, but maybe someday we’ll have a chance to thank him in person! You go Cody!!!

Singing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was amazing, it’s something we’ll definitely always remember. We had so much fun!

And we took this picture of this truck because it belongs to a good friend who happens to be one of the co-owners of one of the hottest Country bars in Las Vegas called Stoney’s! :]

Thank you to everybody at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway! :]

To view more pictures, click here!

To read about our “Mudd Day,” 

March 17, 2008

Dear Mudd and Iconixbrand Group Inc.

We, Mollie and Jackie Singer, want to take this occasion to publicly thank you for your donation to JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and for helping raise Diabetes Awareness through Mudd’s National Advertising Campaign, “Mudd Girls Move the World.” You have given us the opportunity to make America aware of the urgent need to cure diabetes and your generosity is deeply appreciated. We are proud to be associated with Mudd and its parent company Iconixbrand, and further our mutual goal of inspiring teens everywhere to Make a Difference in their community and make the world a better place! Thank you again for your help and a memorable experience!

Always praying for a cure,

Mollie and Jackie Singer

P.S. We invite our JDRF Family and everyone who agrees with us that Mudd and their inspirational campaign “Mudd Girls Move the World,” is worth supporting, to sign this letter, or drop Mudd a personal note letting them know you appreciate the positive example they set for all corporations.

Comments can be made below, or sent to Vicki Engel at: vengel@iconixbrand.com

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and since this blog has been transferred, we’ve posted the comments below….

March 31, 2008 - Jetsfan
Hi, my twin brother and I agree with Mollie and Jackie that Mudd is doing is a really cool thing. We are 17 and we think all teenagers need companies to promote better role models. There is more to life then just looking good, but if you look good and are a nice person who cares about other kids, now that is someone to look up to.
Thanks Mudd, Mollie and Jackie

March 25, 2008 - Lilly
Hi everybody, I’m Lilly and I am nine years old. I love Mudd Clothes and I think that Mollie and Jackie are really pretty and they make me want to help other people also. My little brother has diabetes and it’s really hard for him, so I’m happy you are helping Mollie and Jackie and kids with diabetes.

Wow, this picture to your left is part of Mudd’s National Advertising Campaign, and we are still shocked that it is us in the picture! But check out the blog entry and the story which explains how we ended up in the April Issue of Teen Vogue Magazine! When you’re through reading the story, please click on Thank You Mudd and if you think what Mudd is doing is a good thing, make a personal comment or add your name to the letter, and show your support forJDRF, MUDD, and the Mudd Girls Move the World Campaign!

(Oh and by the way, my favorite part of the ad is also true…and anyone who knows Jackie would agree with me, that she really does have angel wings and a halo! )

BetterCell, 4/7/08
Jackie looks like a younger version of how Joan Rivers(Comedienne)looked at the same age.

Jaye, 
i love seeing my sisters in a magazine =] hehe just amazing!

Manny Hernandez, 3/26/08
Absolutely cool!!! Congrats!! 

Seonaid, 3/19/08
that’s so cool mollie! I’ll definitely buy a copy.. I like the new site layout too! 

Tonight we sang the National Anthem for the Opening Game of the UNLVBaseball Season!

It was amazingly fun, the team is awesome, and it was great night, especially since UNLV won!!

It’s our 19th Birthday today!!! :]

Happy Birthday Jackie! I love you! <3

Comments: (7)
Bethany, on February 11 2008 at 4:15 am said:
Happy Birthday to both of you! I hope you guys have a great day!

Jackie Singer, on February 11, 2008 at 7:51 am said:
Hey sis!
Yeah I know it almost the end of our day, but Happy Birthday again, i hope you enjoyed it and even though i was by your side the entire day, and told you happy birthday like 10 times, i love you and happy birthday again 
btw love your blog, it is so cool looking! 
do you feel old? I do! lol 19 is old!  

M, on February 11, 2008 at 10:26 am said:
Happy birthday Moll!
Happy Birthday Jackie!

Hope you both had a spectacular days
There really are a lot of d bloggers having birthdays lately!

Chris, on February 11, 2008 at 1:58 pm said:
Happy belated birthday to both of you. Hope you enjoyed every minute of it. 

Seonaid, on February 12, 2008 at 4:06 am said:
Hope you two had an awesome day!

Bernard Farrell, on February 12, 2008 at 10:46 said:
Belated Happy Birthday. How do you fell about approaching 20? Great I hope!

Ed, on March 7, 2008 at 8:20am said:
Happy Birthday twins! I just came across your log via Kerri Monroe’s blog - sounds like you two are real busy and doing great things for diabetes! Keep up the great work and feel free to check out my blog.
Ed 

So, up until today, Jackie and I haven’t been able to update because we’ve been so busy…due to switching from PC to Mac over Christmas break, creating a website, cleaning our house, getting ready for school, (wait, i didn’t even put my books from last semester away, never mind.) Can you believe school starts on Tuesday? I was shocked at that sad realization! I’m really loving this break, its been fun!! But I am mainly writing in this today while on the plane to New York to update on what has been going on in our lives lately. For one, yes we’re going to New York!!! (oh my gosh) 

You see, last week, Jackie and I received a phone call from the Marketing Manager of MUDD, who enthusiastically asked to speak with Jackie and Mollie Singer. We politely answered, “yes, this is Mollie and Jackie…can we help you?” To our surprise, she exciedly told us that we had been selected as two of the four girls they will be using for the Mudd National Advertising Campaign, “Mudd Girls Move the World.” She went on to say that we would be flown to New York the following Tuesday for the all-day photo shoot and interview on Wednesday. We were very surprised, but thrilled and honored to have been chosen for this recognition and take seriously the opportunity to be role models. We appreciate that Mudd is using four everyday girls to demonstrate that all young girls can and should make a difference in their community, their country, and even the world! We are proud to be associated with Mudd and Iconix Brand Group Inc., for these corporations truly care enough to encourage young girls to become involved and support a cause in which they believe! We can already tell that this trip to New York is going to be so much fun! We can’t wait until tomorrow!! What a wonderful opportunity this is for all of us! We really are blessed! Thank you Mudd!

New York: Day 1, “Safe Travels!” 
The flight to NY was great, when we came down to the baggage claim, there was a nice man waiting to pick us up who was easy to spot because he stood in the middle of the baggage claim area holding up a bright pink sign with our names, “Mollie and Jackie.” We got in the car, and headed for Manhattan! 
Justine, the Marketing Manager of Mudd, had plans for the three of us “out of towners” to meet and get to know each other at a 7:30 dinner, which by the way had amazing guacamole! …can you believe we live in the Southwest and had to go to NYC to get great Guacamole Dip? We had the chance to meet Brittany, another one of the four role models, who is an absolutely beautiful and personable girl, not to mention, amazing. The project Brittany and her and her brother began is alleviating worry and bringing joy to soldiers and their families, this is truly admirable. Brittany and her brother are the two young people who started Cell Phones for Soldiers. Check them out at www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com We are so proud to know her! Over the course of the night, we had a chance to get to know each other, and were amazed at how much the three of us and our families had in common!

New York: Day 2, “The Photo Shoot”
6:30am (3:30am in Las Vegas!!!!!) We were up, getting dressed, eating a light breakfast at 8:15, and by 8:30, we were in a yellow cab on our way to the studio for the Photo Shoot! When we got there, we finally met Samantha, the fourth role model. She’s really a beautiful person, inside and out, who also happens to have a huge heart and spends much of her free time helping children with Cancer. 
We also met Marc, Victoria, Stephanie, Justine, and a group of wonderful professionals, who made up the crew that filmed the MUDD shoot. These talented people helped make our day very very special! Especially world renowned photographer, Marc Baptiste, acclaimed make-up artist, Mally Roncal and her cohort Christine, along with Bradley, a much sought after hair stylist, as well as Kithe, the creative artist who put together all the outfits the girls wore….he gave us our total look, and Matt Piccolo, the writer, producer, and director, who filmed the entire shoot!!!!(www.picsfilms.com)

The one and only Marc Baptiste, (father of twin daughters), Jackie in the middle, and Mollie on the right!

Me, the very talented Christine, and Jackie after the photo shoot! :] 

Matt interviewing Jackie and Mollie after the photo shoot!!!

This picture is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of the entire crew. How nice of them to make all of us look our best Brittany, Me, Jackie, and Samantha!

Mudd Girls Really Do Move the World!!

Jaye, 1/17/08 at 3:10 am
OMG I am so happy for the both of you. That is an amazing thing to be chosen for!!! I love you both! Can’t wait to hear from you!!! :)  

Sweet Blood, 1/18/08, at 3:49 pm
Hello.
I have type I diabetes 25 years ago. I come from Spain. Excuse me for my English.
I invite you to visit and take part in my web. You can to send diabetes news, comment it, vote it, etc. (Do you know DIGG?).
The web: http://diabetesnews.corank.comThank you.
Sweet Blood 

Seonaid, 1/24/08 at 3:55 am
congratulations on mudd mollie! that’s really awesome, I look forward to reading about NYC- I’m sure you’re really busy though! 

Jaye, 2/3/08 at 10:27pm
WOW!! Look at you girls! that is amazing! Me and Chris were just looking at the pictures, and we think you girls look amazing!! I’m so proud of you two!! Love you so muchhh!!!!

Shannon, 3/7/08 at 4:42 pm
HEY!! Congratulations on the campaign! That’s incredible! I hope you had fun with the shoot.

Manda, 3/10/08 t 9:02pm
Hey ,
I’ve had juvenile diabetes for 2 years already and i just wanted to say that you guys are amazing ! Congratulations on everything ! keep up the great work in everything you do. 

and so much more to blog about…like getting ct scans, Christmas, New Years, Anniversaries, going to New York on Tuesday….(omg! i’ll write in here about that later) and much more…. but i keep to the title.. Jackie and I just recently switched over to Mac computers.And thanks to iWeb, we created a new website….you should go to www.jackieandmolliesinger.com and check out all the pages, and there’s still much more to add/update on there…but i wanted to let you know about it! :) 

www.jackieandmolliesinger.com

I just wanted to post real quick and say…

*Merry Christmas!!! *

I can finally say, the first semester as Freshmen Transfers at the Honors College at UNLV, for Jackie and I, is officially over as of 5:00 this evening!
We are done with finals!
Each and every one of them!
And walking over to the Rodeo tonight to have a night that isn’t being spent studying, writing, or “homeworking!”
Yay! :]