will you accept this bone?

ok, so i know i owe all of you an update on my vacation (which was fabulous btw), but i'm a little sidetracked with excitement right now!

i follow a super cute blogger couple (younghouselove.com) and they recently started a blog for their adorable little chihuahua named burger. they decided it would be fun to do a dog version of the bachelor and pick out a mate for their pup (just figuratively i think... haha). so i submitted my yorkie daisy and she made the top 25!

i'm living my bachelor fantasies through my dog. how pathetic is that? haha!

needless to say this is super exciting. almost as exciting as the time my other dog snickers (rip good buddy) won 'pet of the year' at millersville university. that was VERY exciting. :)

so go leave daisy some love. she's #18! click here!!!

vacation pictures coming shortly. :)

friendsmoon

so i hate to break it to all of you but i am posting today from a lovely house right on the beach in beautiful north carolina. yes, it's true- i am on vacation. hallelujah.

when i was in zambia in august a good friend of mine emailed me to invite me to go on a "friendsmoon." my first reaction was probably the same as yours- "what the heck is a friendsmoon?" as i read further in the email i discovered that some awesome women i know decided to plan a vacation just for the ladies... so no men. so kind of like a honeymoon, but just with girls- thus FRIENDSMOON was born. i didn't even read any of the details of the email, but quickly responded with a "heck yes i will go" and figured i'd learn the details later.

turns out the details were a house right on the beach on beautiful topsail island. can i just say that i love north carolina? good, cause i just did. vacationing here is always so fantastic and so far this trip is no exception. we arrived yesterday afternoon and were delighted to see amazing views of the ocean just steps from our 3 story deck.

today i spent my day laying outside, reading books, playing games and getting to know some of these ladies more. right now there are 7 of us, but come thursday the number will jump to 18! yikes! haha! should get interesting!

and currently i am watching first knight... i love me some richard gere. pardon me while i swoon. hope everyone else is having a great week!

scarf swap results!

a big THANK you to abbey for my lovely scarf! i love how versatile it is! with all the beautiful colors i can wear it with almost anything. :)


*update- another shout-out to my awesome sister who came up with this whole scarf swap idea and took this photo of me in my new scarf. :)

the good news is so good

wow.

that's all i can say.

we reached our target of raising $1,330 to purchase mattress for 38 very deserving deaf kids in zambia, africa... and in less than 10 days! that's why i can't stop saying wow. a big THANK YOU to all who donated, spread the word and said a prayer for these precious children. God has certainly done an incredible thing and He used YOU to do it! i was able to get in touch with my friend joyce, who will be purchasing the mattresses, and she is so excited that we were able to raise the money so fast. she's going to try to get a picture of the kids so i can share it with all of you so stay tuned! (just remember, it's africa though and everything runs a lot slower). :)

today i got to visit linvilla orchards with my sister, brother, sis-in-love, nieces and my friend and her daughter. it was a cold, cloudy day but we had a fabulous time. plus, it allowed me to cross pumpin-picking with my nieces off the to-do list. although, technically there wasn't really any pumpkin-picking going on. there was apple-picking though which was awesome! there is nothing like a fresh granny smith pulled right off the tree. yum! kylie's photo is evidence of that. :)

i did take a road trip to pittsburgh last week, but i wasn't alone. the drive across PA was beautiful. the leaves out in western PA were turning and it was gorgeous! didn't get any pictures sadly, but the memory is still fresh in my mind. man, i just LOVE fall.

and 1 week from today i will be lounging in beautiful topsail beach, nc with a whole bunch of fantastic ladies. this vacation could not come at a better time. i'm really just praying for a refreshing time to rejuvenate and get some fresh vision for next year. africa is of course in the back of my mind and i need some clear direction on how long i'm supposed to go for next year and for how long. so i'm hoping to get some good walks on the beach with jesus. :)

oh yeah! joyce also told me that she got her bible today. i wrote about that here. so it took about a month to get from here to zambia. not too bad! she was so excited which made me really excited! giving gifts makes me so happy. haha. can you tell that's my love language?

hope everyone else is having a lovely fall so far!



ps- my mom, dad and brother are flying home tomorrow from their 10-day mission's trip to romania. keep them in your prayers for safe travels. :)

a special request

i know that it probably isn't PC to ask for things on your blog, but since what i'm asking for isn't for me i figure it's ok. you see i'm not the recipient of this request, but 38 deaf children in zambia are. some of you might remember this post that i wrote during the end of my month stay there in august. i shared about how my friend and i visited a deaf school and by the grace of God were able to purchase some much-needed cups, plates and pots for them. what i didn't share was the even greater need that we saw. when we toured the boys & girls dorms we saw lots of bunk beds, but no mattresses. to say we were shocked was an understatement. i can't image what it's like to sleep on wooden slats and no one should have to know what that feels like, but for 38 deaf kids it's their every day reality.

when i tell people this story i can't help but cry. i don't expect other people to get emotional, especially if they haven't seen it with their own eyes but i'd be doing an injustice to those kids if i didn't share what i saw. i believe that knowledge is responsibility and lately the burden of these kids has been heavy on my heart.

i really hate injustice and while i know it runs rampant in this world i don't think that means we give up trying to end it. i plan on spending my life in pursuit of the broken and hurting in this world by leading them to a loving savior and meeting some needs along the way.

there are 38 kids who tonight will sleep on wood boards and that infuriates me with what i hope is a holy anger. so this is my attempt to be a part of a solution. the mattresses cost around $35 each so with 38 kids that's $1330. i figure it we spread the word this need can be met quickly. i've setup this widget with chipin.com. the money is running through the non-profit i work for- hope beyond borders. i know money is tight, but we probably all have a safe, warm bed to sleep in tonight. we can have 1 less pumpkin spice latte this week, skip that dinner out, read to our kids instead of renting a movie and fight injustice in this world.

i'll get off my soapbox now. thanks for showing these kids that they are loved and valued.

just follow the instructions on the widget below to make a donation. every little bit gets us closer.






ps- there is no condemnation if you aren't able to give. i know God will lay it on the hearts of those who should. thanks for listening. God bless.

falling slowly

this post is long overdue. to all my loyal fans (all 2 of you... haha) i apologize. ;)

fall has finally arrived here in PA and with it my first cold of the season. i've been doing my best to fight it off with OTC medication but i don't think it's working so a doctor's visit might be in order. i really don't enjoy doctor's visits which is obvious considering the fact that i haven't been there in over a year. what can i say? i'm blessed with a strong immune system. i know, i know, it's still not really an excuse especially when my doctor is so nice. he's a christian and always offers to pray for you when the visit is over. how cool is that? very.

another clue of the changing seasons is obviously the temperature. we haven't turned the heat on yet and i woke up feeling like a frozen popsicle. the thermostat said 63. not good. i'd say it's time to turn the heat on except the weather forecast shows that we're going to hit 74 in a couple days. what is up with that? this whole summer/fall transition thing is strange. this time last year i was sweating out my days and nights in africa. i remember talking to my family on the phone and while they were telling me about the increasingly colder temperatures i was lamenting about waking up drenched in my own sweat every morning. (gross i know, but so very true).

even with all it's oddities i still love this time of year. so in honor of my favorite season i have decided to make a list of things i want to do before the dreaded winter sets in. i know this isn't anything new as i've seen lots of people do this, but i figured it was my turn. so here it is in no particular order:

• rake a pile of leaves and jump in just like i did when i was 5 :)
• go pumpkin-picking with my nieces and take lots of beautiful pictures of them
• get some friends together and take an autumn night hayride
• take a road-trip by myself and stop whenever i want at beautiful places
• drink lots and lots of chai tea
• carve something really unique into a pumpkin (i've seen some really cool ideas already)
• spend a week at the beach (oct 18-25 watch out NC i'm coming for ya)
• read read and read some more! make lots of time to just relax and engulf myself in some good fiction.
• buy a sewing machine and get crafty (i realize this has nothing to do with fall but i am dying to turn more of my beautiful african fabric into lovely things)
• try out some new fall baking recipes

that's probably enough for now, although i'm sure there's more.

oh and please keep my mom, dad and brother in your prayers. they leave on sunday for a 10-day missions trip to romania. when my dad invited me to go i had just gotten back from zambia and didn't want to think about another trip that soon. even though i still feel peace about not going, i'm still a little sad. the people there are so wonderful and i'll miss not being with them. i'm hoping to get there next spring though, so we'll see. it doesn't take long for the travel bug to bite.

but for now i will enjoy my pennsylvania autumn since i haven't seen it in a couple years. happy fall everyone!