9.11

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I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time wrapping my head around this day. I can not tell you with 100% certainty where I was on most of the days I have been alive, however, 9.11 is burned in my mind (probably like most everyone else). 

I didn't know anyone personally in the Towers, but my heart still pains for them and their families and friends.

 

I didn't know anyone on the flights, but I get the chills every time I think about what they must have felt when they knew what was about to happen.

 

I am going to switch up my thought process of 9.11, I am going to try to be nice to as many people as I can, partly to shrug off the feeling of what a selfish, terrible act that took place several years ago, and partly because, you never know if a little bit of kindness or a smile might stop someone you cross paths with from doing something they might regret later. SO for all you folks reading my blog (yes, I realize there are only a handful ((thank you Wanda, Mom, Dad and Tiff)) yes, I lost Matt, he doesn't keep up with me anymore) Okay, so for ALL you folks that read my blog, for me, be nice to one person you may have otherwise passed by. Simple, open a door, smile, let that car pass you and smile, give a granola bar to the panhandler, I don't know, just a little act... I think it could be contagious! AND as a nation, on this day, I think we could all use a smile or a tid bit of generosity.

 

 

keep in touch ~a

 

 

Good news, a few favors, and some rambling...

Let's start with the good news, well, it is actually GREAT news and I am so excited to share!

As you know I started this blog to share my experience in Zambia at Camp Life. I have said it over and over and I am going to say it again, and you will probably read it and hear me say it at least a million more times, I fell in LOVE in Zambia, head over heels, heart exploding, tear dripping, serious LOVE! Yes, I love my family, I love my husband, I love my dogs and, sometimes I even love Oliver the cat (rarely, bc he bites me and screams really loud, but sometimes), but my love in Zambia was like no other love I have ever experienced. Sometimes I lay in bed and think that I should have guarded my heart a little more while I was there so that I wouldn't have felt this love, because honestly, it can be a painful love! Some days I wake up and think, HOLY COW, how did I get so lucky to be put in a place so far away and share my joy with these children, how did I end up on the other side of the world and find a love that would weigh on me everyday, bring complete joy to my life and excruciating pain at the same time? WHY? HOW? I don't know the answers to all of that, but I am eternally grateful that I am asking the questions. Even if it hurts sometimes, I love the love I have for these children. I know, this is taking a while, but you are obviously still reading, so hear me out...

First off, if you have no idea why or what or who I was in Zambia with, check out this site:

Family Legacy

I had a terrible dream about Kennedy, I woke up crying, it was awful, I literally stopped in my tracks and begged God to protect him. I think it was just a dream, however, there have been some serious extra prayers going out for Kennedy. 

That being said, I drive to work in the morning thinking, my boys are sleeping, OH I hope the witches leave them alone tonight.  I am grocery shopping for food and it hits me like a brick wall, please let my boys have had food today. I lay in bed and think, it is afternoon there, I pray my boys are safe and no one is hurting them.  Honestly, I pray for all of them, but on certain days a certain boy will pop into my head and I always try to take a moment and ask God to protect that child, give them strength to survive and courage to keep trying.

Well, once again, my prayers have been answered! ALL six of my boys are

 sponsored! (see dad, I told you I could do it!!!) Kennedy, Tauria, Robert, Rabbi, Isaiac, Chola!!!! Each one will start school in January, each one will get a HEALTHY HOT lunch everyday, each one will go to a safe place and have people who care about their future guiding them, each one of my boys will have a fighting chance and be blessed with an education! HOLY COW! WOW! How awesome is that? I can not thank the folks who have found it in their hearts and pocket books to help these children, MY children, now THEIR children, THESE beautiful children!

I am not sure if you all realize, there are other kiddos in Zambia that need help, believe it or not, I didn't get the only 6 boys who need a sponsor!  I have another goal, Erin and Trish have children that need sponsors. Erin had Chola's (one of my boys) brother Francis in her group, he needs to go to school too! Erin had a tough group this year, 3 of her boys have already found homes in the Tree of Life orphanage b/c their situations were so terrible! The rest of her boys need to get to school!  Trish's girls need an education to become strong women in Zambia! They are all beautiful and deserving, they are so sweet and loving! Girls don't get much respect in Zambia, so many of these little jewels didn't know how special they are, an education will definitely help with that! SO... if your interested, let me know!! One child at a time, one life saved by you could make better and save the life of an entire family, a village, and quite possible a country. These children will be the future of Zambia, when they are shown compassion, they will show compassion.

Zambia is weighing so heavy on my heart and mind, I keep thinking that it will lighten up as the time goes by, but it just hasn't. I ask Matt at least once a day if I can go to Zambia tomorrow and stay for a few months, maybe we could just move there. Don't worry folks, although I would LOVE to do that, I can't leave my husband, and he hasn't agreed to go, something about work and money and blah blah blah. I will keep nagging asking him, he is stubborn, but I am persistent, and I keep thinking I am more persistent than he is stubborn.  stay tuned!

Good news is, he has agreed to me going back for camp, I will be back in Zambia, maybe not for months at a time like I want, but I am planning on going back next summer. I have already started gathering things for donations and gifts for my kiddos!

Did I hear you say, "OH, I would like to help with that". Well hot dog, you CAN!!!

Here are a few things I am trying to do, and if you would like to help me, that would be awesome! They need so much at the Tree of Life homes (that is where children who have been orphaned or abandoned live full time), so if you could help me get supplies that would be awesome, and my ideas are all totally free!

When you go to the dentist, ask them for the free toothbrush and toothpaste!

When you stay in a hotel, take the free soap and toothpaste!

When you go out to eat and your kids get crayons, take them home!

If you go to a conference and there are pencils, grab a few!

If you are cleaning out your kids closets and have balls or bows let me know!!!

You get the idea, right? If you don't mind having a bag/box at your house that you can toss these gifts in, I will gather things closer to my trip in June, but the kids would be so happy for these simple gifts! I can not describe in words the complete excitement and gratitude we received from the children when they saw their gifts. It is greater any joy I have ever seen.

Some of you have asked me about one time donations, and I have really been thinking about this. Trish, Erin and I talked about raising money for a specific purpose in Zambia, a school, clinic, home etc. we haven't landed on one particular thing, but the idea is there and I hope we will figure something out soon. So if you will hold on to your generous donations, I will keep you posted on what the plan is. If you have a strong desire to make a donation now, I would ask you to make it for use at the school in Chaisa. That is where all of our kids will be going in January, and
I know they can use the funds!

donate here

Thank you, MR, thank you Mom and Dad, thank you Kim, thank you Mr & Mrs H, thank you Bunny, THANK YOU!!!!
keep in touch ~a

Here and there...

Here are a few things I have been up to...

Sometimes I cook for my MR. This was one of his favorites! It's turkey meatballs meat lumps (they were a little big bc I didn't want to touch the raw meat long enough to make 20!) I have made it twice, found the recipe here- its delic!!!!  (I used turkey instead of beef and pork...)

 

 

 

spaghetti & meatballs

I finished my stained glass class- this is my small project, I think it turned out pretty good! I gave my mom my second project- it was a flower.

 

 

Mr. and I went with my brother's family to a baseball game. We got to spend some time with these two super cute kids- I love them, they are awesome!

 

I found this cute frame for $2.36 in a clearance bin, I added some burlap and a ribbon (scraps I already had) and made this cute little thing! 

 

AND for some reason, I have had to remind myself of this a lot lately...

 

 

~a

Hello!

Gosh, I should really be better at this, but it is still "new" to me and sometimes I am not sure what to blog about, but anyhow... HERE I am, let me catch you up on a few of the happenings in my world!

I had to go to San Antonio for work, so in preparation, I dressed Doodle and Oliver up... they love me, can't you tell?

Huckleberry would not let me get close to him with the hat, he isn't fun like that... 

 

After the work was done in SA, my super fly husband and I went here:

Yep, we were the only adults without kids, it was across the street from the Alamo, why not? It was fun, we ran into a few mirror walls and then added 3D glasses, that made me want to barf, so Matt just held on to me and I walked around while he did his 3D thing! The gloves are so you don't leave fingerprints on the mirrors.

After that we did a little "can you be slick like a cat and not get caught" by a laser game. There is a video of my stealth husband, but I can't figure out how to get it on here, sorry! We did not to video me, no surprise there is really nothing stealth about me!

We hit up Mi Tierra for brunch before we headed home, OH that bakery... it is so pretty, and some yummy treats left with us!

BIG NEWS coming soon, I am trying to wrap up a blog about some really awesome stuff! I can't wait to share, just need to button up a few lose ends and I will tell you all about it!

Keep in touch ~a  

Rainy day... random thoughts...

It is raining, a lot...

I sent out my BEG email (the first of 3) for sponsors for my Zambian boys. This video was included, I encourage you to watch it.

I am going to my stained glass class tonight, I should finish my first small project and begin my first big project. I am excited, and I will share this in a future blog!

Matt and I were lucky enough to meet up with Bunny and David for dinner Tuesday night. They were celebrating their anniversary, we had a great time!

I have started my "2012 Organize my Space" project... before/after photos to come!

I am wearing bright pink pants today, not sure why I wanted to share that here, but they are bright and pink and quite honestly, every time I look down, I smile!

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Keep in touch, xoxo

O family vacation 2012

That's right, we gathered the Greg O family for a cruisin' good time! My parents wanted to take a cruise to Alaska, so we went to Cozumel! Does that make sense? Here is a hint, from here on out, don't try to make sense of things on this blog... I have come to the realization that in my life, all the dots don't exactly connect, but everything ends up in the proper place (or at least close).  Okay, back to the Alaskan cruise, my folks wanted to go, but had not been on a cruise ship before and wanted to make sure they were down with ship travel before taking off on a 9 day tour.

I had been on a cruise before, I often tell people it was the worst 7 days of my life. I HATED it, but for my parents, I was willing to give it another try.

We met at Gaido's for lunch before we boarded the boat, YUM YUM! This place has a funny smell, but it is right across the street from the beach and humidity is pretty high, so I am not going to hold that against them. Their food is super tasty! I needed a really good meal before I got on the boat and Gaido's hit the spot!

We had cute family vacay shirts, here are the grand kids with Mimi and G-daddy waiting in check in.

We had a great time. The boys had some casino fun time, the kids got some splashing in at the pool, and the ladies enjoyed a moment at the spa. Saturday, while in Cozumel we swam with the dolphins. I think the kids had a blast, I know I did! Our dolphin must have had a crush on Tristan, she "clicked" when he was giving her a sweet smooch! The J O's headed to a snorkel spot after the dolphin adventure, Dad, Dale and Matt headed back to the boat for some relaxation, and Mom and I went to get some retail therapy in before we were required to get back on the boat. I think everyone enjoyed their time in Cozumel.

Matt and I tried our hands at bingo, it passed some time, but we were not the big winners.  We watched a show and saw a comedy show, and we ate... a lot! I feel like that is all we did, and we didn't even go near the buffet (I don't eat at buffets) the seated meals were good, we had a chance to try some things we had never heard of and for the most part, they we good choices. The kids had a never ending supply of ice cream cones, which made them very happy!

Mom and Dad took some time to enjoy a fun drink or two for my grandparents. I found this super cute coconut monkey (there is a drink in there), but it also doubles as a "monkey" bank (with a coin slot on the top). Matt indulged my childishness and walked around with me and my monkey for a little while.



The last night, Mel and I went to the casino and to the dance club, neither took too long! Mel and I were not going to let go of our money in the casino and when we went dancing we realized that the average age of other disco goers was well beneath ours, so we grabbed our canes and oxygen tanks and scooted our tennis ball padded walkers back to the room.

We had a great time! I don't know that we will be boarding a ship to Alaska, but I am looking forward to our next family vacay!

Keep in touch, xoxo

My boys (6 of 6): Chola

Chola, The tallest of the group, lives with his grandmother, he is a double orphan. His parents died when he was 6 years old. He told me that he had seen his father die. When I asked him what made him sad, he said, "mostly that mother is dead and how I miss her". There were tears, this was not one of those happy cries, this child tries to be tough and "macho" but he is incredibly sensitive and you can tell he just wants to please people.

He is 12 years old and very sweet. Every time we would move from one station to the next he would carry my backpack. He was a leader in the group, however, he didn't require constant attention, if one of the smaller boys had not had a turn, Chola would hurry them up to the front of the line and make sure they had a chance at the fun. Chola says he has lots of friends and they spend their time playing games and telling stories.

Chola's grandmother sells charcoal for a living, and although this is a decent job, it still not afford for Chola and his siblings to attend school. His favorite subjects are math and science. Chola "lives" with his grandmother and one younger brother, he has several older siblings that live close by. Chola sleeps at his sisters home and is required to stay there a lot to take care of younger children while the sister is out.

Chola wants to be a driver when he grows up. He is smart, in a matter of one day at camp, he had figured out how to take pictures with my iphone, camera and video. He also quickly figured out to turn each one off/on, and how to view the photos! He loved taking picture of everyone, and he loved having pictures of himself taken as well.  Chola was the oldest in my group, but don't let that fool you, when we were at the coloring station on Tuesday, he was the most engaged, he wanted his coloring to be perfect, and it was! He took his time, he was so focused and I have to be honest, that shocked me! I didn't know how I was going to convice this group of boys to sit down and color, but there was not even a question when they saw the crayons. They practically dove to the ground and started picking out the colors they would use for their masterpieces!

Chola is pretty quiet, he keeps his words to himself, but his energy radiates from each inch of him. He is always joining in random ball games or jumping and flipping. He loved dancing and singing to the camp songs.  

Chola quickly stole my heart, sometimes I was worried that he was not paying attention, but when I asked him questions, he was spot on!

 He was my little protector in the compound on community day. Children would approach us in swarms and he would get right next to me to make sure I was okay. He didn't speak much English, but somehow we communicated well enough to know what was going on. At one point a drunk man walked up to me, Chola was right next to me waiving the drunk away and making sure I was safe. Another time, there was a swarm of children wanting their pictures taken, Chola sat back for a while and let me entertain them, but when he felt like we had spent enough time doing that, he walked up, took my camera, turned it off, put it in my vest pocket, zipped it up and said it was time to go! The reverse of that, was that he constantly asked me if he could take pictures. Since I had dropped my camera the first day we arrived in Africa, I figured it didn't matter if he dropped it, so I let him shoot away!

What he asked me to pray for him:

Stop grieving the death of his parents

That he may be able to go to school

For his grandmother to be well