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Hello Everyone, It is time Again for The BEST New Forum at AdlandPro that Honors Members of Our Community;
Welcome to *Adland's Weekly Parade Of Stars*! Week 3
This forum is fun, exciting, and is a much needed addition to the AdlandPro community because we are featuring many great and caring people that may otherwise go unnoticed. That is why our forum is a little different than other ones here at Adland that honor members of our community.
Our forum features a member of the AdlandPro community each week who is truly a bright and shining *STAR*. It is a person that may not necessarily be a "high-profile" person per say, but rather someone that is not only a great friend to many, but also has a good heart and truly cares about others.
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Let me introduce the most awesome group of team mates anyone could ever have! Not only are they my very good friends, but I also have the pleasure of working with them to bring this forum to all of you, each and every week;
Deborah Skovron http://community.adlandpro.com/go/debskovron/default.aspx
Alfred Delgado http://community.adlandpro.com/go/slendel/default.aspx
Donna S. http://community.adlandpro.com/go/rainbow123/default.aspx
Adebola Oni http://community.adlandpro.com/go/bolaoneal/default.aspx
Mohamed Gani http://community.adlandpro.com/go/Gani/default.aspx
Georgios Paraskevopoulos http://community.adlandpro.com/go/Genesis/default.aspx
and myself;
Marilyn L. Ali http://community.adlandpro.com/go/259882/default.aspx
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Here are the qualifications that will be used in the selection of each honoree. People that are selected will be recognized based on:
1. Acts of kindness that they show to their fellow man.
2. Must be willing to help others, and treat people in a kindly manner.
3. Have a good-hearted nature, and shows it through all that they do.
4. Must be a positive role model, and set a good example
5. Must be professional, avoids negativity, and promotes success through faith and hard work
So, if you know of anyone here at AdlandPro that are not necessarily "high profile" people per say, and that don't get the recognition that they deserve, let us know. We will be helping to get people recognized that should be "A Star." All nominations must be in by Saturday and you please tell us why you believe the person deserves to be recognized.
Please send NOMINATIONS to one the following links;
Marilyn http://community.adlandpro.com/go/259882/Default.aspx
Donna http://community.adlandpro.com/go/rainbow123/default.aspx
When you get to one of our profiles, click on "Send Me A Message" and then send us the
name of the person you want to nominate!
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Now it's time to find out who's going to be our next *Shining Star*!
Introducing Our Third *Shining Star* To You: SHANNON BOLIN
SHANNON BOLIN is a real sweetheart, a very caring and supporting friend in this Community. She is a very talented jewelry maker, selling online - Bolin Family Jewelry, a wonderful poem writer - See The World Anew, and who can miss that great sense of humour. Always out there doing her best to help people in need. So come on, lets show this beautiful girl what she truly means to us!! :)
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The name SHANNON is both a first name and second name. It comes from Shannon River, the longest river in Ireland. It is composed of the Gaelic elements sean "old, wise" and abhann "river". To see the complete meaning of your name please visit Georgios forum at;
http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShowPost.aspx?PostID=314831
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Here is Shannon's bio;
I was born September 12, 1968 in Lower Michigan. My mom and dad had already been married for about 4 years when I was born, and their relationship was rocky from the start. I was the first of 4 by both of my parents, my brother Jason following 2 years after me, my brother Jonathon 2 years after him, and my sister Suzanne came five years later. We moved from the lower part of the "mitt" (Lower Michigan looks like a mitten) to the northern part of the "mitt" when I was 4, and settled in a town called Wolverine when I was 7. We had a 12x60 trailer and 3 1/2 acres, and for the first year or so we had no water or electricity. We would haul water in 5 gallon drywall buckets, my dad was a drywaller, up to the house from the local artesian well. My brothers and I didn't realize how poor we were. Dad worked hard, would come home caked in drywall plaster, and mom would have dinner cooking. Sometimes they would fight, and I would read them both Scriptures--Colossians 3:18, 19 or Ephesians 5:22-27. Dad would tell me, "Go read that to your mom." So I would, and mom would tell me, "Go read that to your dad." I was actually blessed more than I even knew. At 9, after years of begging for a pony, I got one. Dad built a fence and a lean-to and brought home a Welsh-Shetland mix. I named her Daisy and became a "cowgirl" for the next 3 years. Then, tragedy struck. My mom left one day, my dad received a phone call, and told us she wasn't coming back. She didn't love us, she wanted a divorce, and we were going to go stay at his mom and dad's for awhile. That day, my whole perfect world was shattered. And it hadn't been perfect, but there had been a lot kept from us kids. Oh, I remember the time he almost threw her off of our porch while she was cooking hamburgers, or the time more recently, when she came home with a black eye. We were not allowed to talk about it, any of it, for the rest of the time we lived with dad. My grandparents are originally from Arkansas, and they took us in until my dad remarried 10 months later. My grandparents house became a safe haven for me over the next few years. I think that is why I now live in Arkansas--it's a reminder of my grandparents and my roots. My stepmother ruled our house like a dictator. She had a daughter from a previous marriage, and her and my dad had 2 sons together. We were told she was our mother now, forced to call her mother, and told that our mother didn't love us or she wouldn't have left. Even though I was the oldest, her daughter was treated like she was the oldest, and I was constantly ostracized and cut down. The next few years were sheer emotional, mental and psychological terror for me and my brothers and sister. At 18, I was still being sent outside to play, didn't have a drivers license, had never been on a date, and was reminded constantly what a failure I was, how ugly I was, and what a horrible singing voice I had. I had the chance, finally, to go live with my mother, and I ran from dad's house and never looked back. I finally learned that my dad had threatened to kill my mother if she tried to get custody of us. He had beat her so bad with a suitcase after one of our few visits that she still has a chunk missing out of her leg. So, she let him have us, and I think she regrets that to this day. My mother is one of the sweetest people I know, and slowly, she helped me build my self esteem back. Then, I met a man who showered me with affection I thought I would naturally fall in love with him and we would live happily ever after. We married less than a year after I moved out of my dad's, after only 5 months of courtship, and were married for 7 1/2 years. I never fell in love, and he treated me more like a possession than a wife, although he was never physically abusive. He did give me 2 amazing children, though. Alex was born February 11, 1989, and Heather was born August 22, 1990. They were beautiful babies, good children, and yet I found myself one day losing control when Alex was 4. He hadn't picked up his toys, and I lost it--I went gray and then "woke up" to realize I was wailing on him over and over with my open palm. That did it. I was NOT going to let my children go through the same h*ll I did. I signed up for a counseling program that week. Now my kids are 17 and 15, and they are wonderful. They don't do drugs, don't party, my son has a part time job and helps pay bills when we need him to, and I love them both with all of my heart. They are becoming responsible, productive young adults, and I hope they go far and know they can. I still had problems with my self esteem after I divorced their father, and went through a period of dating, mostly alcoholics. I bartended, hung out in bars, and went a little wild. I look back on it now as the "high school" experience I never had, and I think I also was subconsciously getting back at my dad for what he put us through--he was an alcoholic, among other serious problems. I married a second time, to a man I had only known a month. Thirteen days after we married, he came home drunk, grabbed me by the throat and threw me to the ground in front of my children. I had him arrested, and that divorce was final 2 months later. I was not going to let my kids think it was okay to treat women like that. And I beat myself up for quite awhile after that, for being so stupid to marry someone I barely knew. I finally, slowly, started realizing what I was doing to myself. Something deep within me was crying out, begging me to stop the self-destruction, and I slowly started cleaning up my life. I moved to Arkansas 5 years ago to escape the cold. Then, I found out I have fibromyalgia, which is why I needed to escape the cold. I moved to a dry county, no alcohol can be sold here, and it was the best move I ever made in my life. I met my husband, who rarely drinks and never parties, and we have been married for 3 years now. He is a wonderful man who loves me and the kids, and treats them as if they are his own. And this is my first "normal" relationship, and it is wonderful to be with an emotionally mature man who is secure with himself. We live in the beautiful Ozarks, at the base of Nimrod Mountain. I started making jewelry a few years ago, to try to help supplement my husband's income. I have not been able to work a "real job" since 2002, and I had always worked before, usually 2 if not 3 jobs. So, I learned how to make jewelry, then started marketing online, and finally put up my jewelry store on January 20, 2004. I had to, to stop feeling so worthless after all of those years of working and independence. Finally, I was able to do something to help out. I joined Adland Pro the day after my birthday in 2004. I joined for the traffic exchange program, trying to get more business to my site. I didn't even pay attention to the networking side until last May, and STILL didn't realize how fun it could be. Now, I am a Top 25 poster, I have over 600 friends and rising, and I love Adland Pro. I want to thank Marilyn and her team for this honor, and I want to thank all of my friends here at Adland Pro. You have all helped me so much, whether it is learning how to put together a website, how to market, what pitfalls to avoid, or just simply helping me laugh. I look forward to getting to know everyone on my friends list, and so many more of you who are not. I hope my experiences, both online and off, can help you avoid some pitfalls--in life and on the net. Sincerely, Shannon Bolin Bolin Family Jewelry http://www.bolinfamilyjewelry.com
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Let's all Congratulate Shannon on being named this week's *STAR*. If you are not a
friend of Shannon's please send her an invitation and become her friend today. Here is Shannon's link; http://community.adlandpro.com/go/258970/
I hope everyone will continue to support and enjoy our forum, and please take the time to nominate someone that you would like to see be one of our *Shining Stars*.
Have a great week!
God Bless Everyone,
From *Adland's Weekly Parade Of Stars* Team!
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