I am so excited to be a part of this.
Karen Russell is heading up the COOLEST fundraiser. It’s for Women for Women International. It’s a charity that helps women in war-torn and impoverished countries get on their feet. I was watching a television program recently that was showing how when women get money and education, it helps their family. For generations. Way more than when a man gets money or education, even. I thought that was so fascinating. So imagine my delight when I found out I could be a teeny tiny part of helping women who really need it.
So Karen is taking donations for the charity and got a bunch of people involved. Every dollar spent is like a raffle ticket for prizes. She has more than 70 AWESOME designers willing to scrap pictures for winners as well as prize packages donated by manufacturers. I know I’d love to get a custom page from a favorite scrapper. 
Go check out her blog for details and let’s give power to the women!
Tagged by Alison. None of this is of any importance, but here goes.
5 Things in my fridge:
- milk
- easter eggs
- juice
- leftover ham
- cheese
In my closet
- lots of clothes I no longer fit into but hold on to hope that one day I will
- t-shirts
- jeans
- sweaters
- shoes
In my purse
- ipod
- wallet
- business cards
- phone
- flowery yellow hair clip
In my car:
- Lots of carseats
- lots of paper, usually projects from church or school that nobody felt important enough to bring into the house, but too important for me to throw away when I’m trying to clean them out.
- goldfish crackers (even though food is technically not allowed in the car)
- Phone charger (that doesn’t seem to work very well…probably because I only drive short distances…)
- Case of bottled water. I tell myself it’s there in case of emergency. That’s a good idea, to have water at the ready. But in reality, the case is really heavy and I just haven’t felt up to moving it. Besides…what if there’s an emergency and I need water?
On my Tivo:
- Little Einsteins
- Wonder Pets
- Disney channel movies
- Oprah
- Whatever I’m planning to watch that night (changes nightly…)
I’m tagging
- My sister Andrea (or should I say Anni in the spirit of things to come?)
- My sister (in law) Jami
- Jessi
- Tiffani
- and to round out the i-ending names, Loni
Last weekend I was watching TV and I saw a show about the Duggar Family. They are some folks that live in Arkansas with their 16 kids. Very interesting people. Obviously very religious. And a little weird. But a nice, gentle, not hurting anybody weird. More like a fun-to-look-at-and-wonder-about-weird.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking about them for the last few days. The thing that really strikes me about them is their conviction. They are really dedicated to what they believe and put all their energy into do what they think is right. I really really respect that. It’s hard to find people nowdays with convictions at all, let alone people who put so much energy into doing what they think is right.
They believe that God will give them each child as a gift and have left it up to Him how many they will have. I would probably have decided to take the power back into my own hands after nine or ten. But here they are, happily welcoming whoever wants to join their clan. They’ve commited to living debt-free and spent three and a half years building their home by themselves, paying cash, meanwhile living with 17 people in a 2400 square foot, 3 bedroom house. I think at some point, I would’ve decided to go into debt just to have the space we needed, then pay it off. But they had decided to do what they thought was right and sacrificed for it. And I can’t imagine the work and responsibility of homeschooling 16 kids. I get all queasy at the thought of how impossible it would be with four. They’ve decided that modesty is important. And so they grow their hair long and wear dresses. Ok…now, that’s just weird. But all the rest, kind of cool. In a weird kind of way.
Anyway, I’ve just been thinking how much I respect these people, whether or not I agree with them. Here I am, I can’t even seem to have enough conviction to eat right and exercise like I know I should. Let alone all that other stuff. But I’ve been telling myself that if Michelle Duggar can homeschool 16 kids and do all that laundry, I could probably muster the self-control to lay off the oreos a little and hit the gym a little more often. I could use a little more conviction.
April 14, 2006 at 11:49am
Funny how many song lyrics I can think of that have "rain" in them.
And pathetic how this blog has turned into a weatherlog.
But, yeah. It’s raining again. I still love the rain, interestingly enough. At least I got that one nice day in yesterday. ONE beautiful spring-break day where the kids could actually play outside.
This morning we cleaned out toys. Organized. It would’ve been a pretty annoying and depressing task had there been sunshine beckoning us, but as it was, there was nothing else to do so we might as well clean. I’m not done. I could probably clean and organize all day every day and it still wouldn’t be done. Maybe that’s why it’s not done…because I don’t even believe it CAN be done. Either way, I should at least try. So…off I go.
Today was the most beautiful day EVER!!!!
Sunshine. Beautiful sunshine. I can’t believe how good nature smells today. The air is sweet, the sun is warm, the weeds (because we don’t have grass right now) are green. Ahhhhh……
I took the kids to a really beautiful park today. Felt like we had emerged from a cave. It was just really, really, really nice.
Time to turn off the computer and go enjoy some more of that SUNSHINE!!!
Lovely lovely spring weather. Rain. I think I cursed myself a while back talking about how much I like the rain. Poor kids, stuck inside all day on their break. Today we decided to head to McDonalds with an indoor playland to let them run around, and when we got there, the place had closed shop. Shelby cried like someone had murdered her favorite pet. I was pretty surprised at how the loss of the only indoor playland we know of affected her. Drama. And rain. Those two words pretty much can sum up spring break so far…
April 10, 2006 at 11:10am
I think the whole point of Spring Break is to give you a taste of what you’re in for this summer. I love my kids. And I love hanging out with them. Sometimes, though, it can be a hassle to do anything besides play. Running errands because pretty difficult. As does keeping the house anywhere near clean. So summer is good and bad. And so is spring break.
No plans. My husband is an accountant. And although he doesn’t do anything tax-related, he’s still swamped at work and this just isn’t a good time for a vacation. So…it’s just us. Me and the kids. All week.
(BTW…I know "me and the kids is improper grammer, but I really don’t care. I talk that way. Even if it’s wrong. I like it.)
I find we get very lazy. VERY LAZY. So I need to make some plans. One plan is to organize their toys. Purge. I have laundry-folding planned in the very near future. Other than that, the week is pretty wide open. Any ideas? What are your plans for spring break?
Thanks so much for all the well-wishes and compliments about the new business. I was so nervous to put myself out there. But your reassurance has been so wonderful and exciting. Thank you.
And now I’m a business owner. The whole idea cracks me up. It didn’t even actually occur to me until after I’d already done it. I was driving in the car and actually realized I had created a "job" for myself when I swore I’d never have one. It didn’t occur to me that this would be "work". It’s fun. It’s cool. I saw a Martha Stewart book about deveolping your own business, and I realized it would apply to me. That’s just trippy. I never really saw myself doing this. But I’m glad I did. Excited about the whole thing.
Anyway, just came to say THANK YOU!! You all are the BEST.
I had something messed up on my photography site. The emails sent through the contact form weren’t getting to me. They are now. But if anyone tried to reach me that way (and happens to see this!) could you please re-send? Thanks!! I’ll get this down…eventually…
I’m pretty excited.
She’s done. My new baby. Live. Online.
Shannon Montez Photography
Go check her out. And if she’s ugly, keep that information to yourself. Because mamas don’t like to hear it when their babies are ugly. But if you like her, please feel free to let me know.
And a special offer. For my internet friends. Book a session within the next six weeks and you get HALF OFF the print prices. The session must be planned for a date before September 31 for this offer to apply. So get to it!
by Shannon Montez
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