give back today

Thoughts, nesting, Baby M and rambling...

2011-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

We will be 27 weeks on Saturday, seems hard to believe! I remember being 4 1/2 weeks pregnant wondering if I would ever make it to 27 weeks and how far away it all felt. Now it seems like yesterday we found out we were expecting Baby M. We have decided as a couple not to find out the sex of our baby. It has been fun guessing and going back and fourth about the sex! Plus, not to mention all the money we and those around us are saving has to be a lot! I must pass at least two outfits a week I think ohhhh this would be so cute, BUT we don't know what we are having so the purchase must wait! Some friends at dinner last week asked us if we were just a little bit curious to go and find out the sex? Right away my husband says, "nope, not at all!" I couldn't agree more! We are still able to bond with our baby and as long as the baby is healthy we will love the world out of him/her.

One of my favorite times of the day is when the baby is moving around kicking, punching, flipping or doing stretches. For me it is a way of the baby checking in with me to say don't worry mom I am still here, growing and listening to you and Dad talk. My husband reads to our baby each night, we have several books we rotate through and our honey girl (puppy) enjoys her night reads too! We figure if the baby can hear us might as well start the reading sooner and it gets us in the grove of bedtime stories for when the baby is here in our arms! My mom is a big advocate for reading to our kids right away so she has given us several books! One she just gave us yesterday is Guess How Much I love You! Which of course my husband already read to the baby and I did too today!

I often wonder what our baby will look like! Will he/she have a lot of hair like my husband and I do? Will baby M enjoy helping others like we do? Will your lips really be as big as they are in the US picture because I (your mama) have the worlds smallest lips!! But, if your lips are that big I can't wait to kiss them over and over!!

The nesting has started. Today I went through the dresser in my closet that somehow ended up full of random misc junk! I went through all my 50 bottles of half used and full lotions(I do not need lotion ever again!), jewelry and I made a bag for donation, work & returns! I also put together a basket of baby bath goods, we have already started collecting some free samples from places! All of our Christmas shopping is done(just a few stalking stuffers left), wrapping is done & we have watched many many Christmas movies since last week. Last night we watched the original Miracle on 34th street-love it! We also put our co sleeper together earlier this week, it looks so sweet and it was our first item we put together for our baby as parents. Tomorrow I have some other drawers to tackle and we, the parents, have some re-arranging to do this weekend in our bedroom and the nursery! Maybe it is the nesting or maybe it is the season but baking & cooking are also happening daily in this house. Thankfully my husband works with a good group of men who love to eat so I am able to send him with goodies.

My mom came to my doctor appointment this week with me! I had invited her awhile ago to come meet my doctor and hear the heartbeat. She loved it but I think I loved it more. I warned her about my doctor and his dry humor, which my mom and I both totally have....but nothing could prepare her for him! I think we laughed almost the whole time we were in the room with him! He was finding the babies heartbeat and when he did I said wow, sounds faster today! So my mom asked how fast it was and he pointed at the doppler and said, "that fast!" Meaning listen and figure it out!!! Such a character! We all three laughed for a good minute and he kept saying I can't count the heartbeat while you are laughing but I just couldn't help myself! It was a fun appointment and I am happy my Mama was able to meet him!

Thanks for reading my rambling! We are having a great time preparing, talking and dreaming about our little one.

Happy Holidays to All!

M

Where has the time gone?!?!

2011-12-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, has it really been since July when I last sat down and wrote on my blog? Crazy! However, I can explain and I promise you'll understand!

24 weeks pregnant (currently 25!)

We are expecting!!! Yup, we are due March 17th, (St. Patrick's Day) 2012 and we couldn't be more excited. This is a gift from our family above! The month after my Grandma passed we found out we would be welcoming a baby in March. My Gma always wanted to be a great grandma so maybe since she couldn't be this was her way of saying, "hurry up with it already and have a baby!" I often thought about getting on and updating everyone with our news, but for those first 16 weeks, I was sick. Not violently ill as some mothers can be, but I had my share of nausea, vomiting and headaches. I tried to always stay hydrated and eat well to help with it all, but you can't control hormones and what is going to happen just happens! Thankfully, I never had to call in sick at work and I have no idea how it always worked out, but I was never sick on my work days! Thank goodness!

I have to say we haven't been doing as much volunteering as we were in previous months. It saddens me but we have been so busy and checking things off our to do list each week! In August we did buy Gold Canyon candles from a friend who was donating a percentage of sales to the blood cancer foundation in honor of my step brother's mom who pass away several years ago. Each year he does a fundraiser and runs to raise awareness of blood cancer. He is very passionate about fighting cancer and getting friends & family involved in many different fundraisers he holds throughout the months. Again, in November we did the give 'n gobble run/walk! I said to my husband this year how I was so happy to have a tradition with him on Thanksgiving. Next year, we'll pack the baby along with us!!

To catch you up to date, my parents have both retired! My mama has been retired for a month already & my stepdad has been retired for almost a week. They are SO excited and we are very excited for them. They sure deserve this! To start off the next chapter of their life, they headed to Las Vegas for 4 days and won big!!! What a way to start off retirement! Mom is doing great after her fight against the blood clot. She is back to running 4-5 times a week and has even reached eight miles!!! By next year I have no doubt she will be back at 13.1!!

I finally have my energy back, nausea is gone & things are getting settled around home so I plan to continue with my volunteering when possible. I get daily e-mails about opportunities for helping out around our area so I promise to share those as soon as possible!

For now, here are a few photos of what has been going on in our lives with Baby M.

Our Printer box for the nursery. There are a few new pieces we have added but most are from when I was little and my Mama had this box before she passed it on to us!

Baby M is lovin' Hot Cocoa (peppermint too)! Other cravings are apples, yogurt, broccoli, hummus wraps, soup, honeynut cherrios (EVERY morning) & ice cream!

Baby M's foot! It is fun to feel my baby kicking around. Baby kicks around about 3-4 times a day and always early in the morning, then right before bed! Last week my husband was able to feel the baby for the first time, he got three good kicks. I think it made it more real for him! My husband reads to the baby each night. Wether it is a short book or a longer one I just love hearing him read and we know Baby M does too!

We can't forget our Honey!!! Let's hope honey & baby M will be the best of friends!!! Both will be spoiled.

As we keep progressing I will try and update when possible. We have so many list of things we need to complete before the baby comes and one day I will get around to all the fun updates we have done around our home already! It truly has been a transformation for us and we love seeing it all happen! We are very grateful for those around us helping and giving us ideas.

Happy Holidays!

Warmly,

Goodnight, I love You & Thank You For Everything....

2011-07-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

These last few months have just been wild for us. Thank goodness for amazing family & friends. Well I am going to skip through and catch you all up to date. Since everything happened with my Mom she is back running every week. Her personal goal is to run a half marathon sometime by the end of the year. If she completes this I know it will make her so happy, but even if she doesn't I know she is already so happy being back out there hitting pavement. She is back at work full time too, what a big step. Last week was her first week! We have some exciting news...MY PARENTS ARE RETIRING!!! Yup, its true, this November 2011 my parents will officially be retirees. Of course from everything we all went through and especially them, it made some of their views on life change immensely. Resulting in an early retirement! Life is so short and although most of us have to work to provide for our families it is also important to take care of yourself and be happy! I sure hope these next few months go by smoothly for my parents. It sure is nice to be able to run with my mom & see her smiling every day again. My heart goes out to those who spend hours, days, weeks, months & years with loved ones in and out of the hospital. It certainly is not a way of living and I just wish I could help each and every one of them! Having a great support group and someone to talk through the tough times with is very important. Some times I felt so quite and lonely but other times I was overwhelmed with love & support. In August she will have another US to make sure all is well, I know it will be!

Losing my Gma shortly after my mom was out of the hospital was not easy. Loosing anyone in life is not easy. I am thankful I was able to be there the night before she passed when we were still able to have a very fun, light & loving conversation. She was such a joy and loved making people laugh! Even as her BP was dropping to a low 60 she was in such high spirits. My brother and I were there with her when she took a turn for the worst. It all happened so fast and truthfully, I don't think I can share our experience. It was joyful, sad, heart breaking, scary, shocking and peaceful all rolled into one. Watching someone pass is so hard but not watching would be much harder! We are a very close family and there was no way we were going to let my Gma be alone. Even as much pain, sorrow and tears it caused us, it was worth it to be there with her. Afterall, it was the least we could do for her.

My gparents were an amazing example of love and every lasting love. They were coming up on there 60 year anniversary the year my Gpa passed, two years ago next week. They met when my Gpa was in the military and let me tell you, they were a very charming couple! Each night before they went to bed my Gpa would say to my Gma, "Goodnight, I love you & Thank you for everything!" Those are the best words you could possible say to someone you love each night before bed. Truly there is more love, truth & passion in those words than just the simple goodnight. When my Gpa passed my Gma told him as she said her goodbye, "Goodnight, I love you & Thank you for everything!" I loved hearing stories of their love! My husband was a witness to their stories as well and since my Gpa passed my husband says those words to me at night. As I left the room, kissed my Gma goodbye, I said to myself, "Goodnight, I love you & thank you for everything...Grandma."

Life sure is precious and although we as a family have been through a lot, we have become closer & I am thankful for it has made our love stronger!

One way we gave back this month so far was by donating my moms medical equipment! I posted adds on craigslist under the 'free' section. We decided to give it away instead of sell because those with medical problems shouldn't need to worry about spending the extra money on equipment which hopefully would be temporary use! All the extra cost is stressful for people, if we can make someone's day easier with our used (great condition) equipment, then lets make it happen! Within minutes I had multiple responses of people interested. One lady responded saying the "boot" would be perfect for her to donate to a friend who collects lightly used medical equipment & in turn donates the goods to Mexico for the less fortunate to use! I LOVE IT! I immediately responded and let her know the boot was all hers! Here is a response after she picked up the boot...

I picked up the black medical boot. Thank you for your generosity.

The couple I talked about live in Washington state and have been travelling to Mexico each year (for the past 6 years) to serve the poor there. I am quite impressed by their dedication and so am motivated to help them collect items. They told me that medical aids are very expensive in Mexico. If ever you come across anyone who wants to donate items like crutches, canes, walkers, etc. please let me know. I live just 2 miles away from you and would be willing to collect the items from any of the neighboring cities or counties.

Other items they take to Mexico are clothes, shoes, unbreakable pots and pans, toys, etc. But their main focus is medical aids.

Thank you once again for supporting this worthy cause.

*************************

If anyone is in the Portland area who would like this ladies information to donate any goods too, please let me know!

Happy Helping!

My Mamas best-friend, my Mama and me after my Mamas first TWO MILE RUN!

.::June Events::.

2011-06-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize this post is at least 12 days late but at least I made it within the month, right?!? May was a crazy busy sad month and unfortunately I wasn't able to get around to posting volunteer opportunities nor was I able to do anything myself. I will say I did try. I left the country for nine days at the end of May. Before I left work I asked my friend what I could do to help out when I was on vacation and she suggested a lady who hand makes & sells dolls on the marina by the resort we would be staying next too. I saw her one evening, late, but we were heading out for the night and I wasn't able to purchase a doll to carry around with me all evening. I thought for sure I would be able to catch her the next day but I was unsuccessful at seeing her again on my trip. I was bummed I wasn't able to catch up with her but I will say I did a lot of extra tipping on my trip as well as supported the local vendors, maybe that counts for something?!?

Here are a few ideas for June, there is still plenty of days & time left to plan something with your friends, family, co workers, neighbors or just go alone!!! Good Luck!

Volunteer & help support the Portland Farmers Market, Tualatin Farmers Market. Lake Oswego Market Or any market in your area! Supporting local is very important and eating well is just as important too.
Oregon Food Bank
Oregon Humane Society-I am hoping to volunteer here at least once this summer!
Tualatin Riverkeepers-June 18th
Hands On Greater Portland has a lot of open volunteer jobs & they could use your help!
Put together a group in your local area & go pick up litter for 45 min, you would be surprised what a difference it would make for your local park, trails or everyday street.

These next few are runs, walks or biking events! Working out is very important in my daily life and I encourage you to please check out these short races. They are kid friendly too! If you are not into running or walking you can also volunteer at any of these events!

Race for Animals-June 25th.
NW Run/Walk for Epilepsy-June 18th
Habitat for Humanity Run/Walk-June 18th, kids are only 5 dollars for a 1/8 dash!

I hope you were able to get some good ideas from these opportunities listed above! When my Gma passed away last month she left three organizations for people to donate too in her honor, Susan G. Komen, Special Olympics of Oregon & Shriners Hospital. We will be making a donation to Shriners hospital for it was a place my Gma held so dear to her heart. I am getting back into my routine after a crazy busy month so look out for more blogging to come this month! I have some new, fun & fresh ideas!

Do you have any plans to Give Back this month?!?

Warmly,

M

As much as I wanted to help those kids, I just had to remind myself, an education is most important for them....

Road To Recovery: Part I

2011-06-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

***These next few days are kind of blurred. I tried to kept a journal with notes but it is hard to read my chicken scratch handwriting, please bare with me!***

We knew it could only get better from here. The next day when I went to go see my Mama her leg had already gone down in size dramatically. It was a huge relief for me and for all of us to finally be seeing results. Later on in the day Mama would be going back for more testing to make sure the TPA drip was doing the job properly and all was well. She could only be on this for 48 hours max. It wasn't even 12 hours into the drip and they took her to angio for some testing. Yup you know what that meant for all of us? Back to the 'waiting game' we went! We were becoming pros at this, except this time it was just my step dad and I. After several hours we lost patience! We had paced, talked, ate, played on our phones, read the paper and still no word of what was happening. I remember saying, ' no word is a good word!' Or at least we tried to convince ourselves of it being a true sang! I decided to text Dr. Beth and ask why it might be taking so long? She gave us some calming words to reassure us they are dealing with a very large, tough and tedious process so it might take awhile. We convinced one another we do want them to take their time and be very careful.

Not too long after, here came Mama, strolling down the hall in her big comfy looking bed, she might beg to differ! You could tell she was tired. No one said a word to us as we walked down the hall with them and back into ICU. We were told possibly if all went well she would be moved into a regular ambulatory bed so I am sure you could see the confusing, concerned, nervous look on my face as we entered back into ICU. Only to get into her room did we then find out everything was working GREAT! Her clot was dissolving and exiting her body! I remember my step dad sat in the chair and cried, cried a good cry. For a few minutes, taking deep breathes and wiping his eyes full of happy tears. He was relived and I am sure he felt like me, a 1000 lbs had been lifted off his shoulders, he could breathe again, slighting relaxed and able to smile, for the first time in awhile. He loves my Mama and he was so worried about her, he stayed each and every night with her. If it were his choice he would have never left her room, not even to eat! I held my Mama's hand, smiling at her, watching my step dad to make sure he was okay too. I was numb and had cried so much before I think I had dried myself out. All I could do was smile and say, "wow Mom you really do rock!" I also said "I knew, I just knew we had to have good news!" There is a lot of love in my family and I feel so lucky to have felt it at this moment!

After the nerves were settled my mom insisted for my step dad to go home, relax and re group! He had to take care of himself and since I was able to be at home getting somewhat of a good nights sleep, it was only fair he was able to try and do the same during the day! Mom slept on and off for awhile. Later into the evening when my step dad returned I decided it would be okay to get myself home early that night too! Things were looking up and emotions were up high this day and surprisingly that makes one tired!!

Because the TPA drip had to come out the next day we knew at some time Mom would be going back into angio for hopefully ONE last time! Which was the case! They removed the catheters, drips and Mom was free of everything except saline! She was a wonder woman! What better way to start off Mother's Day than to be off all the toxic medications!! After this last procedure on Mother's Day, my step dad was able to go home again and take a 2 hour nap!! This was a HUGE day for all of us, he needed it so badly! My brother and I stayed bedside with my Mama all day. It was Mother's Day and even if we had to be in ICU at OHSU, at least we were together. This is what family was and is all about, being together. My brother and I had a nice little chat, mama slept, we watched some TV and tried to be as quiet as possible while mom slept peacefully. We stayed until about 5 or so before we decided to call it a day! My step dad had returned and looked very well rested, it was great!

When I went to visit my Mama the next day, she was SITTING up in a chair! I was SHOCKED and so happy to see her smiling and doing so well. It was a night and day difference for her and us to see. She was eating normal food, walking to the rest room, off her naps and chatting much more! She was back and I couldn't have been more excited. The days continued to be the same and Tuesday she was released to come home, sleep in her own bed and start to rebuild her strength. Each day she surprised us with a new "trick" she could do! It was nice to see her back at home. I worked the day she was released but of course had to stop by on my lunch break to visit her! The sun was out, windows were open and she was smiling like crazy!!!!!

My mom currently has had the pin removed in her toe from the original elective foot surgery that was the beginning of all this madness, she no longer walks around in her boot anymore, she can wear two shoes, walks a lot every day, has driven herself to the store once and a friends house once, lost 10 lbs which she didn't need to loose but did anyways and has learned a lot about LIFE she says. She said she has an all new perspectives on life and I can see it in her every day actions and words. I just love her. Also, the screen which was placed at her first hospital stay before going to OHSU was removed! I have a picture of it because it is exactly OPPOSITE of what any of us thought it would look like! I don't think I will post it on this blog but just know it probably doesn't look at all how you think it might look.

Someday my Mama will be able to run again but for now we have decided to start swimming to help gain strength in her arms and legs again! We are starting this week and I can't wait. One piece suit here I come! Four more weeks until she can start back at work and several more weeks until she gets released to run again. She is being very patient and listening to her doctors instructions. Side note: Her radiologist wrote a book and was featured in another. When my mom first had the check up on her leg after the procedure at OHSU, Dr. Keller did the first procedure and Dr. Kaufman did the follow up. Well, both were on the cover of this book and mom was set up to ask Dr. Kaufman about his book (which he hates being recognized for, I guess). And if anyone knows my mom she loves to make people laugh so of course she was all for it. When Dr. Kaufman came in to start, mom said, "I heard you wrote a book?!" I guess he turned, glared at everyone then shortly after everyone started laughing!!!! My mom had told him she wanted a copy and it needed to be signed first! Well just a few days after being home I went to check the mail at my parents and there was a big envelope and I just knew it was her book!! I ran inside as though I was a 10 year old girl who received a present for my birthday and told my mom she had to open it right away! Sure enough, on the first page, Dr. Kaufman & Dr. Keller had written a nice note saying it was a pleasure working with my mom and wishing her a Happy Mother's Day! Signed by BOTH of them! Of course my Mom will read the book because its supposedly has a lot of good information about DVTs.

You know how they say things come in three's? Well I had experienced this in May 2011. Six days after my mom was released from the hospital my Gma (I called my Grandma-Gma and Grandpa always Gpa) was admitted and passed away 24 hours later. Which is another crazy story to tell of about the night before her passing in another blog! I am thankful to have had spent much time with her the evening before but it sure doesn't make it any easier to loose a grandparent, and my last grandparent.

So, I hope you all understand why I have been MIA for some time now and I am hoping to get back in the grove of "life" starting now! I will work to get volunteer ideas up for June some time this week.

Again, I ask you, "Is there something in life you wish to do and just haven't done yet?" " Would you do it knowing tomorrow could change for a year, several years or a lifetime?"

LIVE LIFE!

M

What just happened? Part: II

2011-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for Part: I of my What just happened? Please click here!

My mom is my best friend. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. We talk almost every day (especially now) and most times if we don't talk we at least text each other to say hi. It was hard leaving her and not being able to call or text her that night. Her sleep was so important during these days. Sleep was important for all of us but unfortunately I think it is something we were all lacking. I usually turn my phone off each evening so the noises of e-mails, text messages, FB notifications etc do not wake me up, but this week I slept each night with my phone on. On my nightstand with the volume up to LOUD. Each morning my mom or step dad would text me that they were awake, usually around 7 am and I would get myself up, work out and head over there. It seem to become the normal, weird right, that after just a few days I was adjusting to this life. Working out and going to the hospital to stay all day with mom and then come home in the evenings. Anyway my nights at home were hard, sad and lonely. Thankfully my husband was amazing during all of this, but of course your spouse doesn't replace your mom! I felt like I needed her more than ever and she was doing her best to be there for me, for us all. At times I did not know where to turn. I felt bad calling my friends over and over being sad, crying, worrying and just being a dud.

I didn't sleep that night. I mean how could I? All these questions I still had were unanswered. WHY again could you not remove the clot from my mama's leg? HOW did we end up here with such a healthy, loving and active woman? WHEN will this nightmare end? ARE we sure there isn't anything else we can do? DID we try everything we possible could try? WHAT does it mean when you say she can't run again, you realize this is her life and passion. How gracefully those words can slip from someones mouth without realizing the real and true impact you just made on someones dreams. SHE has 43 states to complete, you heard that right? If there is a low in life I will ever remember it will be that night. I was a mess and I deserved to be a mess. I will not pretend life was or is perfect, those people actually bother me! Life is wonderful, of course, but it is LIFE and it ISN'T ALWAYS happy, so lets not pretend. People who never have bad days make me nervous. We are human and I think it is important to act like one, we are not bullet proof from life events, things will happen and do happen. HOW we turn those events into something lighter is our way of covering up real feelings and trying to make a sad situation better. It is us trying to be positive, but even with being positive come htose thoughts of why, why me, why her why us. It is normal. Truth is, for me, I do much better being able to let it all out. Get out a good cry, let my mind process the bad with the good thoughts, write, talk with my husband, family & friends. Those are all very important steps of processing and I couldn't imagine keeping these feelings inside of me. There was no making light of this situation or being happy about it. HOWEVER, we each are our own BEST ADVOCATE and I was about to learn the meaning behind those words.

After a terrible night I woke up the next morning just feeling sad. I made a sad FB status that I felt like I was living in a nightmare and it would never end. Then within an hour I had talked to my aunt in Iowa and she kind of snapped me out of it and said, "we need to get your Mom moved and there is more we can do for her!" My aunt has a friend who works in a vascular clinic who was passing along information as we went along. My uncle works side by side with physicians all day and he was able to get a name of a guy at OHSU who is a guru of these DVT (deep vein thrombosis) like my mom has. After a MUCH needed conversation with my aunt, then my uncle, I called and fired the whip for my brother and my moms friends! By ten o' clock that morning I got word that my mom was being transferred to OHSU sometime that day! My moms friend Beth was already all over working on getting my mom transferred and had spent hours talking to people. My step brother had called a few days prior and got my mom all set up on the waiting list, I think that's what they called it, for her to see a physician. It was clearly a team effort to make it all happen. Beth is an angel and I have no idea where we would be without her. She is a physician at OHSU as well as her husband and she sure worked her magic for us. I felt so relieved, the positive thoughts, well wishes, prayers and all the love had finally pulled through and given us major hope. How does a person like me thank a wonderful lady like Beth? How do I thank family, friends and all the FB support I received? I was very overwhelmed with all the love. I still am. I hope each and every one of my family members and friends know I would be there for them in a heart beat. I have some pretty intense than you cards to write!

It was amazing how many people reached out to help us if we needed it. You may not know this about me but I do not like putting a burden on anyone and I rarely ask for help. I like to feel like I can do anything on my own, but this was one of those times I just let people help who wanted to help. Since my friend drove me home the night before from the hospital it was only a matter of time for me to figure out later that night I would need a ride back the next day! Thankfully I have amazing people in my life and a girlfriend who gladly said she would drive me! She came around 10 am the next morning, drove me around town taking care of lots of errands and then drove me all the way out (40 min) to the hospital where my Mama was staying. It was so nice to have a touch of what was going on in the world. We had some good laughs which was much needed for me, a distraction from my nightmare. An ambulance came about 1300 that afternoon and took my mom down to OHSU. I went home to leave my car then my step dad came and picked me up and we drove there together. Which was nice. We needed that time to chat (even though I don't remember our conversation, except to say we were glad mom was moving to OHSU)!

When we reached the hospital, parked and eventually maneuvered our way around the hospital to her room we were shocked. Her room was huge, with a gorgeous view of the city and her own shower! She was all curled up watching Ellen in her new room. I stationed myself on the couch and curled up myself. It wasn't but 30 min after relaxing when a radiologist came in to announce my Mom was headed for another procedure. Remember, less than 24 hours ago she had been in surgery for 4 1/2 hours and the outcome was not what we wanted. Have you ever had surgery? I have not and I have never been around someone who was about to have surgery either. The details of "what could happen" during a surgery are scary! I was not ready for another surgery. My Mama's friend came to visit us while the RA was still explaining the procedure. It was nice to have her there, listening and breaking down the technical terms for us. Not to mention she was able to talk with my uncle about the full details and Dr. lingo!!! It is always good to have an interpreter if possible, ha!

My brother and sister in law made it with about 15 min to spare before Mom left for her 2nd surgery. They were SO happy they made it and were able to see her off, I was happy they made it too. We were able to walk all the way down and into the prepping room with her. At this point we had only been at OHSU maybe two hours and she was already leaving for surgery. The view and room were short lived, but LOVED! Dr.Beth (keeping her last name private) was with us and that was oh so comforting for all of us, especially after all we had been through in the previous days. After our short "see ya after surgery", kisses, hugs and tears we went back to the waiting room. We had become good at the waiting game. Looking back to Last Friday I have NO idea how we passed the time. I know my brother looked at me and said I think it is important for you to step away and come get a bite with us, so I did. My moms friends entertained my step dad while us kids went to Hot Lips pizza. Having a deck of cards at that time would have helped pass the rest of the time spent in the waiting room. I just kept thinking, this surgery has to work. It has too. There is a plan for my Mama and a reason we all had to go through this together, it just has to work. We need some sort of good news and tonight had to be the night, please oh please let it be the night.

The phone in the waiting room rang. We were the only ones in there. It had only been an hour and a half. Wrong number. Oh gosh, the nervousness that came over me was insane. I was waiting for any facial moves from my step dad to get a hint of what was being said on the other line. Just a wrong number. Then, it rang again, twice you called the wrong number? It couldn't be! An, "Oh really?" "Okay, we'll meet you there" said with a smile came from my step dad's smiling face. She was done with surgery! I am not sure how long it was but I would say about two hours give or take. We were going to be able to see her roll into her new room in ICU if we hurried downstairs to the eight floor. A floor at OHSU I will always remember and be familiar with. The surgery was SUCCESSFUL!

They had gone in behind my mom's left knee and placed two catheters to drip TPA into her leg for the next 36 hours along with heparin too. Google those drugs, they are strong but they work. Here she came, strolling down the hall in her hospital bed that was big enough for two with all sorts of bags of medications helping her survive and beat this clot. It is amazing, truly amazing what A. our bodies can do but B. how advanced medical and medicines are these days. I am thankful. My mom was not on a single pain killer through any of her surgeries and I believe there were three of them! She was awake for them all. She doesn't like medications if she doesn't need them, but she needed this TPA and was willing to do what ever it would take to help save her leg. I can not explain the feeling I felt when I saw my Mama being wheeled down the hall headed for ICU. She was my hero. I told her, "I knew you could do it Mama" and she said "I just thought about all of you guys." I just love her. We gave her hugs, smiles and kisses before they rolled her away, again, into ICU to get her settled into her room. The tech who was pushing her was a funny man. We all said we love you as she rolled away and he responded after my Mama said I love you all too, with "I love you guys too!" It gave us all a great laugh!!

My step dad took over from there. Once again a long day and night which meant Mom would be oh so tired again. Rest was very important for her. We all left together except for my step dad who was going to stay the night with her. We didn't know if he would be allowed to stay in ICU with her but he said if he couldn't he would sleep in the waiting room. I can't explain the love he has for my Mom. I feel very lucky to be able to have such amazing people to follow in life. They set a very good example for all of us kids. I actually slept good that night. I still kept my phone on but I slept and I know I slept because my parents text me around six in the morning the next day and I never heard my phone until 730 or so.

It wasn't over, it was actually JUST the beginning steps to recovering. I will do another part in a few days or tomorrow evening. Writing and going back to process all of this is very therapeutic for me and I appreciate you letting me be me.

Here are a few photos I would like to share....

The view from Mama's first room at OHSU

Flowers my wonderful Iowa/Nebraska family sent me. They are still alive and well. Cute vase right?!?

Flowers my Mama received from the Iowa/Nebraska family

Is there something you have always wanted to do but just keep putting it off? Would you do it if you knew tomorrow could possibly change your life for a year or a lifetime?

LIVE LIFE!

Love Love Love,

M

What just happened? Part: I

2011-05-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

This isn't a happy post like I usually have, but its my life and my blog and I felt like this was the best way for me to decompress my week. So, here is why I have been MIA. Read at our own risk :)

On April 14th my mama had elective foot surgery and from then on my life changed. The first week went well and then about two weeks later on Thursday she was complaining her ankle was swollen, Friday it was still swollen and by Monday her knee up past her thigh were swollen and tender to touch, not much redness. Being the tough woman my Mother is, she decided to wait until she was going to see her podiatrist on Tuesday. Not to mention her on call physician seemed to think everything was okay and suggested she wait until her appointment on Tuesday as well! When she showed up to her appointment in the afternoon on that Tuesday the doctor sent her to a local hospital for an ultrasound and from there the nightmares and fogginess beings.

She was admitted into the emergency room then into the hospital for an overnight stay with hopes of coming home on Thursday! When I got the call I was worried from the sounds of my own Mother having a blood clot from her ankle up through her thigh. I went home that night confused and slept restlessly. Thankfully with my work schedule I had the next few days off work. Wednesday I woke up and immediately worked out to relieve some pressure and then off to the hospital I went to visit my Mama! We had lunch together and even took a 20 min nap, it was nice! Wednesday was a rest day and a day to start my mama on coumadin. Thursday came and it was clear that something needed to happen and the blood thinners were NOT working fast enough. Mom's doctor came to visit her and after the doctor left my mom and her husband had to decide if surgery would be their next step.

Thursday afternoon when I was just leaving the gym with a girlfriend down town, I got a text message saying my Mama had decided surgery would be her only option. Surgery was going to happen within the next hour. I had a good cry (luckily I wasn't driving) and got myself home for a much needed shower! After I picked up a few things from my parents house and headed back for an evening at the hospital, which is about 40 min from my house. I was surprised to see two of my brothers, step dad, step-grandma and one of my moms longtime best friends. We all kept each other pretty entertained, I think! I hadn't eaten yet for the day and by now it was about 4 pm, thankfully my brothers went to grab some food for all of us, we had to take care of ourselves too! The surgery my mom was having was to place a screen in her pelvic area to prevent the clot from traveling up anymore and to help catch anything that would break away as the doctor was going in and trying to remove some of the clot. He needed to get to the top part of the clot and stay as far away from my moms originally surgery on her foot. He was worried about going below the knee in case of inflammation or causing more trouble for her left foot.

They came out twice and told us surgery was going well and mom was comfortable. They also said the screen was placed nicely.

We all have an IVC (click link for picture) and I believe genetically my moms somewhere somehow is wired differently. I can't really explain the technical terms because I was crying my eyes out when the doctor was explaining it all to us. Anyway, because my moms crosses somehow different than others might, they were unable to remove the clot after 4 or so hours of surgery. Yes, my poor Mama laid there, awake for this time to pass and hoping for some good news. My family and I were the only ones in the waiting area and a few times the nurses came to tell us things were going okay but it was a tedious process. We new we had to be patient and positive. Well about 630 pm, I think, the nurse came and got us. She brought us back to where my mama was and the doctor was there talking with her. Tears were in her eyes and I just new something was wrong.

The doctor started by saying he was unable to reach the clot. The screen was placed nicely but the IVC was making it complicated for him to go around. He also told us not only was the clot up to her thigh, but it also moved up into her pelvic area and he was unaware it had traveled that much in such a short time. Most everything after this is a blur. I fell to my knees, cried and cried quietly and hidden from my mom. My brothers eyes were red, my moms friend had to leave the room and we were all in shock. The doctor rambled about what he did the last 4 hours. He mentioned coumadin for life and also said hopefully between that and the lovenox things would heal on there on. He said no more running and basically this would be my moms new life. This doctor was very nice, he did do everything he could with his resources and knowledge. He said he hadn't seen anything like this before, but he had heard of it. When he told us that of course my lovely spirited mother raised her hand for a 'high five.' She sure loves to laugh and crack joked, must be where I get it from!

IVC is genetically different than most? This is my Mama can't you do SOMETHING to help her, please, I beg of you, anything. She is so young and so much life to live, what is happening? These were just a few of the things that crossed my numbing mind. My hands were shaking, tingling, numb and I felt so nauseated. I remember thinking, why did I eat because now I am about to throw it up from being so sick to my stomach. What just happened? I am living a terrible nightmare and it isn't stopping anytime soon. How can she go from running everyday to never running again? Where did we go wrong? She followed her 'foot care' instructions to a T.

Family and friends left. My brother, step dad and myself sat around talking. Being as strong for my Mom as possible. One of the worst feelings has to be seeing your mom sad and not being able to help her. This is NEVER what I imagine for myself or her at this point in life. She is a young, fit and very healthy lady with no medical history. I am not sure what we talked about. I remember telling my mom that I would swim with her and she said, "ya but I still have 43 states to complete!" My parents are trying to run 1/2 marathons in all the states. I am not sure when they decided to start this 'amazing' idea but clearly mom wants to finish what she started! I wonder where I get my determination from?!? I don't remember my response to her. I probably cried, who knows! Lots of tears were shed this evening. Disappointment lied within all of us. Shock was too say the least of our feelings. Frustration. Sadness. Numb. Scared. I mean you name it, we felt it. I was so thankful that a friend had text me saying she was downstairs at the hospital and was waiting for me but to take my time. She said she wanted to drive me home and would wait as long as I needed. I didn't even ask for her to come, but she knew, she knew I needed a hug and to let it all out. Again we were 40 min from home, amazing friend right?

My mom needed rest. You could see it in her eyes that she was exhausted from a 4 hour surgery and mentally drained too. I didn't want to leave her but it was time. Kissed her sweet face goodnight, told her I loved her and away we went. Except my wonderful step dad, he slept on the floor next to her bed. I know, I know amazing isn't it? She is a lucky lady. I didn't drive home that evening, I couldn't. I could barely see and my hands were still tingling and numb when I left the hospital. I didn't sleep much that night and to tell ya the truth, I don't remember much after leaving the hospital.

I am doing this in two parts so bare with me. I will post Part: II tomorrow hopefully. I know its suspenseful but I will say things are better and I have THE best family, friends and support system ever.

Earth Day 5K Run

2011-05-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

I know I am over a week late on this blog so please forgive me! Being in front of the computers hasn't been easy for me lately with the sun and so many other things going on in life right now! But, alas here is my blog about our Earth Day Run which was on April 23rd.

At the beginning of the year we made a list of big goals and small goals we wanted to accomplish both individually as well as a couple. One of our small goals was to do a race that supported a good cause and one we could bring our pup along to as well! Small goal completed! We completed our first 5K of the year but without our pup. We tried, but as soon as she was around other dogs and people she was just too hyper! I mean really she was uncontrollable!! She wanted to run free and play with every other puppy and jump on every person around, which was hundreds of people! As much as we both really wanted to have her come along we knew she was too young and right before the race we put her back in our car. We are determined though to have her run with us! We will try again in a few months at our next race, hopefully she will be more trained!

The last two years this event, Earth Day Run (day after technically) has been held it has rained! We thankfully has a very nice clear and sunny morning to run! This was my husband second race ever and his first was three years ago. Did he train you ask? No! Did he need to train? Nope! He rocked! Over time he has gone on a few runs with me and we have invested in good running gear for him so he was all set to go. The sponsors and volunteers sure made this event fun! There was live music, great veggie burgers from Whole Foods and lots of people giving away great goods, Nike gave us bags, Whole Foods gave us food and a wonderful reusable shopping bag with fruits to refuel after our run, Legacy Health Systems was there with total joint information, chapstick and other goodies! Hopworks was there too giving away organic beer in fun glasses for us to keep! It was a great event and we will be doing it again next year!

This event was important for us to support. Living a healthy life style, helping our community and our planet means a lot to us. In our mind it is a great cause and we are happy we could help give back. We only have one body and one planet. We need to make sure and take care of ourselves by working out and eating right. We also need to protect our planet and continue to teach ourselves and others about how important it is for us to lesson our carbon footprints. I sure know there is a lot more we could be doing in our home but it is all baby steps in the right direction and I feel like we make them daily.

A couple of things we do in our home....

We do not use paper towels
We unplug any unused appliances (our toaster and coffee maker are always unplugged unless they are in use!)
We do not bring plastic bags/water bottles into our home (on very rare occasions it does happen)
We started a Meatless Monday and we are already done with four weeks
We are active and work out several times a week
We go on walks a lot
We continue to improve our eating habits and have been staying away from fast food. We haven't have Taco Bell in over three years and its been months since I have had any fast food....my husband on the other hand I am not so sure, I would have to ask him, but I do know if he has had any fast food it is very seldom

Those are just a few things we do and are consistent on. We have a list of other positive changes we are working on slowly. It is best to introduce things at your own pace. I feel sometimes if we try and do too much at once it is harder to meet those goals.

Here are a few photos from April 23rd, 2011

After the race was over!

Please consider this year being the year to dedicate yourself to getting exercise at least 3 times a week. Write it down in a planner, calendar, mirrors or anywhere you keep your appointments. Write it in as an appointment you have for 30 min or even 15 if that is all you have time for. You would not cancel an appointment so don't cancel your work out, your heart appreciates it and so does your soul. Today can be the day you Give Back to yourself!

Good Luck, you can do it!

Cheers to a Happy Heart and Happy Soul,

M&M

Spring Cleaning for Charity!!!

2011-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

I linked up our Ronald McDonald House Charities SW with Three Boys who is putting on a great challenge! I came across this challenge about a month ago and kept waiting and waiting for her to post the event as open and now I am SO very excited it is here! I decided to enter our RMHC because this is something I am passionate about, helping others. It isn't about winning or the gift card, I just LOVE the idea that their are others out there who are encouraging people to help others, but of course the gift card is a bonus (we live in an outdated place and we hope to replace our light fixtures for something more modern!). Naturally I wanted to support Three Boys for putting on this amazing and thoughtful event. I am excited to read about how others helped out their charity of choice!

If you have some Spring Cleaning to do make sure and link up afterwards with Three Boys! This event is open until May 9th! Good Luck Everyone!

Warmly,

Cans + Recycling = Saving the Planet AND Money!!!

2011-04-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

Whoa... according to my log on account I have not blogged in 10 days! Things have been a bit busy and to be honest I just haven't been in the mood to sit in front of my computer lately. The weather here is slowly changing which means I am trying to get outside more and more as the days are lighter out later. I love having the nice weather slowly approaching. In the last week I have been able to walk almost every day on my morning and lunch breaks at work! It is wonderful! Plus, a few times we were able to get out and do an evening walk with our pup, who turns nine months old tomorrow!

Alright here comes my idea I have had for awhile and I thought now would be a great time to share. I have been returning cans and bottles for my parents for years now. At least five years if not longer! For awhile I was also returning family friends cans too, because I simple wanted the cans/bottles to be recycled if people were going to drink from them! (And, the money is a bonus too)! I only have to return the cans/bottles about once a month or so, more in the summer because of bbq's, birthday parties etc. I really have no problem returning cans, there are a lot of nice people I meet each time I go! One lady always hangs around me because she knows if a can isn't read through the machine and gets kicked back to me, I do not spend the time figuring out why, I just give her the can or bottle! She is a sweet lady who has been around this town for many years returning cans.

Anyway I always put the money in my piggy to help save for our future trips! But, I got to thinking for all of you with children and you don't even have to have kids to do this, but you could hold a Can Drive in your neighborhood! Simple go door to door collecting cans, hang up signs, advertise on the internet, send e-mails to friends and families etc. All you have to do is figure out ahead of time which charity you would want to donate too and let people know what the Can Drive will be going towards! Not only will you be helping raise money for a great cause but you will be teaching your child about recycling at the same time! I think most people would be happy to have someone pick up their cans and return them for them, I mean it really is not the most fun thing to do for most people! I however, have been doing it for so long I do not mind it at all and I am happy to recycle!

We do not have cans or bottles to return in our home, except maybe two a month but probably not even that! But, even if you don't have cans like us does not mean your neighbor does not have cans either. I am sure we would all be surprised at how much money one could make for a charity by returning cans or bottles and even plastic water bottles too! And, you just might encourage your neighbor to recycle them if they are not already recycling!

Currently I am saving for a trip out of the country next month, but after I get back my next earnings will be going to help a local cause. I will write more about that later!

I would have to say this is a pretty easy way to help Give Back to your community!

Happy Thursday!

Versatile Blogger Award....my first!

2011-04-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet friend Emma left me a Versatile Blogger Award! How fun. I was reading through her facebook over the weekend and I noticed she has mentioned me in her latest entry. Emma is such a sweetheart and has one of the kindest most gentle souls I have EVER met.

Well, I am excited to share and pass along this fun blogging award! Here goes nothing...

Here are the rules of this award:

When you receive the versatile blogger award…thank the person who gave you the award{thanks, Emma darling!}
Link back to their blog in your post
Tell seven things about yourself
Award seven recently discovered bloggers
Contact the bloggers to let them know they received the versatile blogger awards.

1.) I am married to a wonderful man who teaches me so much every day! I have learned to love and be loved. I also have learned to laugh and laugh A LOT every day! It truly is the BEST medicine for ones self and soul.
2.) I have an adorable Springer Spaniel who is about to turn nine months old! Her name is Marley, we call her honey!
3.) Running is in my blood, therefor I love a good run or work out. This is a photo from my first 1/2 marathon with my mama but NOT my last!!!

4.) My family & friends mean the world to me...I truly value good close relationships. I would do anything for my family & friends

5.) I miss my grandparents every day. When I got married I had their photos pinned into my bouquet so I knew they were there with me! Yes, I am a very sentimental person!

6.) I love being organized and having a clean home. Sometimes I don't always have time to dust, vacuum and constantly keep up with laundry, but that is what Sundays are for! I will forever purge my house every 3 months at least.

7.) I always have to have lotion on or readily available. I do not like dry skin or elbows for that matter. I know it is weird but its true! I told my co workers when I get old and can't help myself anymore, all I ask for is lotion on my skin, please!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...HERE ARE 7 OF MY FAVORITE BLOGGERS...ALTHOUGH I DO ENJOY AND LOVE ALL THAT I FOLLOW, THAT IS WHY I FOLLOW THEM!

Jessica-The fabulous Life of a Coaches Wife. Here is where you can laugh, be entertained and learn how amazing Jess is as a wife and person. I love her blog!
365 days of giving....of course I wold follow a blog like this right? It inspires me and I love that giving is still something people choose to do.
Danielle- Here is where you can find deals, styling tips and creative shopping! Danielle blogs several times a week and always has great finds. I like reading the ideas she comes up with.
The New Healthy....here is where you can find amazing ideas for mixing wonderful veggies, fruits, oats and much more to create a wonderful and delicious health meal. I love this blog and I am so inspired by it. Often times we can add so much to a meal and not realize all the calories we may sit and intake. This is a very motivating blog.
Reduce Footprints..Love this blog! She writes daily about ways and reminders of how we can reduce our carbon footprint for the day which turns into weeks then months! From this blog I have l learned a lot and recently started a meatless Monday with my husband. You read that correct, we have chosen NOT to eat meat on Mondays!
Greener Grass....Melissa is so fun! I haven't ever met her but through her blog I can tell she wold be such a fun friend to have. She has great ideas, recipes and personal experiences that I enjoy reading about. Go on, check her out!
Betty Crocker Wanna Be...This blog has amazing recipes! Not only that but she has a sweet heart and loves her family very much. After reading this blog for awhile I have gathered that she puts her family first! Enjoy the amazing recipes.

Well this was a fun entry and I thank you all for reading! I thank you Emma darling for giving me this fun award and for the sweet words.

Side story: The RMHC called today asking if I could tell them everything we donated this last weekend? I had to chuckle because with 88 items there was no where to being! The lady on the other end could not believe how amazing the community did in helping them. They were running so low on many of goods and she diffidently expressed her thankfulness. Once again, I thank you all for the support and love.

Happy Monday!

Ronald McDonald Delivery!

2011-04-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well our six week project fund raiser for the Ronald McDonald House is wrapped up. We went this last weekend and delivered the goods to the house. We raised over $600.00 dollars for the house and were able to purchase 88 items for them with over 30 people who helped make it all happen. We really tried to focus on the needs of the house. We did buy toys, games and star bucks gift cards but we also bought house essentials like food, napkins, bubble bath, shampoo & conditioner etc. Thankfully they have a wish list posted online which we checked out several times before buying items. We sure had fun and hopefully we can do it all over again later this summer!

Thank you again to everyone who helped make it all possible. Thank you also to those who supported and gave us encouraging words along the way...all of it means so much to us.

Jessica & Danielle

Thank Goodness I have an amazing support team. (missing in photo, Cori)

If you are interested in donating, holding a fund raiser, volunteering or making a meal for the families here is there RMHC facebook page with all their information for both houses in the Portland area.

Many Many Thanks to Many Many people....

Thank You,

Give Back Today Team

Spring Cleaning with Kids

2011-04-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here, although the weather may still remind us of Winter at least we can say it is Spring time! I love spring for many of reasons, its a time people stop hibernating, flowers start blooming, people generally become more happy, BBQ season, its lighter out later and it also means SPRING CLEANING! I LOVE being organized, cleaning and having a spot for most everything! I have been purging so much this last year that I really can't purge anymore! As most of you know we had a garage sale fund-raiser for the RMHC a few weeks ago and I only had one box of donations goods, I know crazy for me! I am pretty happy with myself and my husband. This tells me we aren't buying junk and we are doing a great job of using everything we have in our home. I have a fun idea for parents and their children to help out other children in need.

Since it is spring cleaning time I thought for those of you with children you could go through their closets and drawers with them to help clean them out! Having your child involved helps them understand and feel good about the process of giving. Pick a day to go through your child's closet with her/him and make it fun, play dress up, have them try on clothes and see if they fit or if they still like them! Sometimes kids decide they don't like a piece of clothing for whatever the reason may be and this would be a perfect time to take advantage of them giving up a piece of clothing and donating the clothes to a shelter, church, garage sale fund-raiser, local school or even your local neighbor.

I would think this idea would work best spread over a few days. Go through the closet one day, drawers another and toys on another. Trying to spend hours all at once could be exhausting for them and you!

Once you have successfully been through all the clothes, you can find a local shelter home, foster parent, church, school or local neighborhood children to give the clothes too! Having your kids with you when you do this is an important step for them.

When will you Spring Clean with your children?

More than 60% of low-income families have no books at all at home for their children.

UpcycledStuff Gives Back Too!

2011-04-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

I work three days a week and when I am not working or busy with life I enjoy turning on music, sitting with my laptop and notepad searching the internet of new ways to connect and help people. I also believe in recycling and I believe in re-using something as much as we can before we loose it, often in our landfills if we aren't careful. When I was doing my research for recycling I came across UpcycledStuff on Etsy, then found her blog and facebook later that week! When I came become a fan of UpcycledStuff on facebook I had no idea what a heart Tricia had.

She read through my blog about the fund-raiser for RMHC my girl friends and I were holding! It must have touched her because she was so kind to send me an e-mail offering to donate her amazing pieces of upcycled jewelry to our garage sale in efforts for raising money! All of her pieces are made with patience and love for our environment! I remember checking the mail daily to see if anything had come yet! Then the day came with a box from UpcycledStuff! I could not believe how amazing her work was! She had created these cute little envelopes from magazine papers and inside each one was her business card with a piece of jewelry! I was so excited, humbled, grateful, amazed and on top of the world that someone on the other side of the country had an interest in supporting and helping Give Back to these families at the RMHC!

I showed my husband, parents, siblings, co-workers and friends the letter and pieces she sent, I was proud and I still am if you can't tell! People offered to buy pieces right away but I just couldn't sell them at the time, I was too excited to continue sharing and telling my little story. It goes to show there are people everywhere in this world who want to help someone else and that makes me a happy girl! We just have to keep helping each other out and it will eventually some day become natural for everyone!

Here are a few at home photos of the pieces....

Too cool right?!?

Glass beads made from magazine pages.

ear rings made with hand wound and glazed newspaper beads

This bead is made from the cardboard box that holds a dozen arizona tea cans!!!

Please check out UpcycledStuff on Facebook or her blog! She has great creative ways to re use items before we loose them! Thank you for your wonderful donations and giving heart. Your pieces helped us raise $50.00 to buy goods for the RMHC! We can't wait to share our experience from purchasing, preparing and delivering the goods. Stay tuned!

Thank You a million times over again....

.::April Events::.

2011-04-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry this post is late! I have been sick all week and only seem to be getting worse! I think I have drank our local grocery store out of tea, OJ and Airborne! Nothing seems to be helping this sore throat and now it has managed to reach my ears and causing me ear pains! I have for sure been drinking my share of water these last few days!

Well here are a few ideas for anyone looking to Give Back Today....(thank you for your patience...)

While April is Autism Awareness Month I naturally began looking there first for ways to help give back. I found this amazing event that starts at Oaks Parks! This Walk-A-Thon is celebrating their 9th year and going strong!
My Aunt Karen who is an amazing mother is donating 10 percent of her Lia Sophia sales this month to the Autism Speaks organization. My cousin has a form of Autism called Asperger Syndrome and as you can imagine we are hoping her sales are through the roof, this month especially!
Abby's Closet, yes I realize this event is over but maybe next year? You can at least check out what this organization offers, it is amazing. Or, if you have a dress you haven't worn and do not plan to wear, Abby's Closet will gladly take it off your hands. This is an amazing organization for young woman who just want to be girls and enjoy their school dances.
Oregon Food Bank! Go alone, get a group of friends, co-workers, neighbors or family members together and help package food for the OFB. You can read about my experience with OFB here.
Make a meal for the Ronald McDonald House! We did this a few months back, it was a real delight to be able to provide a meal one evening for the families..read about our trip here.
Earth Day Run April 23rd!!! Grab your kids for the recycle run, spouses/friends/family for the 5K run as well as bring your dogs along too! Sign up here for this event! Hopworks will be serving organics beers and veggie burgers after the run/walk. Give Back to our wonderful planet and come enjoy being outside. My husband and I already signed up for this event. He hasn't ran in years but this is good motivation to help get us both outside! At the beginning of the year we both said we wanted to do a race to benefit a good cause and be able to bring our pup along, this will be one of three for the year. We hope to see you all there!
With the new season here and new shoes being purchased for those runs and walks please check here for information on where to recycle your old shoes!
What better way to give back today than planting a tree and maybe on Earth Day April 22nd? I have posted about Friends of Trees before but SOLV is having an arbor day tree planting event that I think sounds fun! It is April 22nd in Sherwood. Or check out the main SOLV.ORG for other areas to help clean up and plant trees.

On top of doing the Earth Day 5K run on Saturday April 23rd we are hoping to gather a few friends and family members to help us clean up some local trash on a walking trail my husband and I came across one day last month. If you would be interested in helping us or holding your own local pick up litter day please let us know! We don't have a date set but plan to send out an e-mail to family & friends tomorrow after we confirm our final weekend plans tonight!

Please take some time this month to read a little bit about Autism. April is National Autism Awareness Month. Autism affects 1 in 110 children. There is no cure or medical detection for autism and we need to help change that one penny at a time, every little bit helps. Once again if you would like to purchase a piece of jewelry which then in turn helps support Autism Speaks, please go here.

What are you doing to Give Back Today this month?

Warmly,

I beg of you to think twice when using plastic bags & bottles...

2011-03-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday I went with a girl friend to the Manzanita Beach on the Oregon coast. We signed up last month to volunteer with SOLV and help pick up the trash off the beaches in Oregon. We were able to select the area we wanted to help. Much to my surprise there were a lot of people on the beach helping, it was amazing!!! Kids were there helping too, so don't think your child can't get involved because they can! It is a very family friendly and encouraged event. My guess is some were locals but most were from out of town, just because of the parking and amount of people in this small town! We arrived around 10:30, slipped on our boats, gloves, jackets, hats and off we went. After checking in and getting our trash bag we hit the beach and much to our surprise found endless amounts of plastic pieces.

SOLV began in 1984 and since has had thousands of volunteers and picked up over 1,000 tons of debris off the Oregon beaches. INCREDIBLE. We found a lot of small small pieces of plastic and many pieces of fishing wire and rope entangled amongst each other. All of this debris is hurting our fishes, birds and making our beaches look messy. Thankfully for this wonderful organization we are able to help Give Back Today and help clean up the beaches so we can all enjoy them! SOLV does a beach clean up in the spring and also in the fall, so we will be back!

I beg of you all to please think twice before using that plastic bag, drinking from the plastic water bottle or throwing the plastic in the trash. I wish some day I could stick a video camera on a plastic water bottle and follow it through its processing. It would be interesting, but no matter what we do not need the plastic in our landfills and certainly do not need it floating in the ocean making its way to our beaches. I think in the last year probably longer I have bought ONE water bottle in a bind. And, I can remember it too, I was dehydrated, had a headache and my reusable water bottle was empty. I get needing water in a bind, what I don't get is buying water bottles daily and tossing them in the trash.

My husband and I work very hard not to bring plastic into our home. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but what is avoidable (for the most part) are buying plastic bottles and shopping with plastic. We are working on educating ourselves and helping one another become more conscious about our daily uses. If you are using a water bottle daily try refilling that same bottle for a few days, then move to using the same bottle for a week. Slowly you will train yourself and using less plastic water bottles will become natural for you! Plus, just think of all the money you will save-it all adds up! There are many ways to reuse items before we dump them in the trash, we just have to get creative with it and be patient.

Here are a few photos from our trip to the beach. I forgot my camera, drag! So, these are taken with a phone camera!

This was after only 30 minutes of picking up trash! No beuno!

Of course it is a recycled reusable bag and when we were done using it we dumped out the trash and gave it back for them to use again next year!

My partner in Give Back to our Beaches!

We had a fun day! After the clean up we went to Unfurl and checked out their sale. I found some cute new sun glasses and the frames are made from recycled material, sweet right?!? We also checked out a local pub and grabbed some lunch.

Thank you SOLV organization for continue to put on this event after all these years. It truly is amazing and we will be back to help, hopefully with more people too! I love the beach and grew up visiting the beaches so I am very fortunate to be able to be apart of this and make a new tradition for myself as well as those around me.

Will you sign up for the beach clean up in the fall?!?

Warmly,

Lend A Hand, Help Japan!

2011-03-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

Have you been thinking about helping Japan, but do not know how to help or where to go to help? Well search no more! Check out this amazing blog, the chronicles of corbin and donate today! All they are asking for is $5.00, yes one less coffee for the day, sandwich or soda. We donated tonight. At this time $5.00 is all we can do but we have other plans in the works to help Give Back to Japan. Just think how far your $5.00 can go for them right now in this time of need? Plus, if you donated money then your neighbor, co-worker, mother, father, daughter etc all donated that sure adds up quickly!

Please help spread the word to Lend a Hand, Help Japan!

.::RMHC fund-raiser was successful::.

2011-03-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Our garage sale for the RMHC was AWESOME! I am stoked to announce we made $400.00 exactly at our sale plus received a $50.00 donation from a family friend. With $450.00 to spend on goods we have no doubt each family will be thankful at the RMHC. The wish list and/or summer, spring, fall and winter packs for the RMHC are posted on their website. I have called around to several places asking for discounts as each place feels they can do without hurting their own company. I have received great feedback and I believe this is going to bring tears to my eyes when we delivery the goods. We are going to get some essentials off the list of needs/wants, but we also want to get some fun items for them to do too. It is important for them to be able to go out and enjoy being a family. It will help clear and ease there minds. With the weather quickly changing I think we chose the perfect time to give these families some fun activities they can do outside. Such as the Portland Zoo passes! The zoo has offered a 20 percent discount, hey we will take it! I have spoken with K-mart and they are also willing to give us a deal on any purchases we can make at their store. Thankfully too I have kept my coupons from Costco and I am hoping we can gather a few pantry items from there! They RMHC has about 18 rooms just in one of the houses, so you can imagine the need for more bulk items must be high!

When we first came up with this idea last month I sent out an e-mail to as many family & friends I could think of around the area to help donate items. Right away I received e-mails from lots of people saying they wanted to help and had things to donate to our sale. When we were two weeks out from the sale I sent out another e-mail letting people know more details and what day we could come by to up their goods they were donating. Again, many responses and help! The Sunday before our sale (Friday/Saturday were the sale days) my husband and I went for hours starting at 10:00 am and going until about 4:15 pm picking up goods. We started in our hometown, made our way to SW PDX, SE PDX and then to NW PDX. Heading back to town we then made it out to Oregon City for our last stop. It was a very fun day and everyone was so sweet and happy to be helping out with a great organization! I am more than thankful for my husband for supporting and helping me that day. I could not have done it without him.

Thursday was unpacking, labeling, setting up, sorting and making signs day! Oh and posting ads on craigslist.com too! I never realized how many people go to craigslist for their garage sale finds! Many people came and said, "is this the RMHC fund-raiser garage sale?" It was fun to hear others stories about how they gave back, or new someone who gave back. While Friday we were only open for four hours, we did make $200.00 that day! Saturday we were open from 8:00 am until about 3:00 pm and again made another $200.00. When I showed up to the sale Saturday morning at 7:45 am there were people waiting, two cars, so I immediately hurried inside, opened the garage and away we went!!

We are hoping to do another sale later into the summer. Since this one was very successful it gives us a positive attitude that we can do this again.

Our sale was successful because we believed in it and others did too. Without every ones love, support, donations and just getting the word out there none of this would have been possible. So I thank you all. Even if you weren't able to donate this time, there is always next time. If you ever want to raise money and awareness I suggest a personal garage sale. I feel that the word really got out there and people felt good about purchasing from our sale knowing it was giving back to our local community organization.

Now, the fun part! We are going this weekend to purchase as many goods as we can for the RMHC. Yes, I will blog about this in a separate blog next week, as long as the goods have been delivered. Between coordinating with four girls, work, kids and life sometimes thing can get pushed back! However, this is our priority and we are VERY excited to give back today! Please let me know if you want to join us in purchasing items or the delivery of the goods. Anyone and everyone of any age is welcome and encouraged.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for following us and believing in us...

Warmly,

Your Give Back Today Team

Preparing for more furniture to be delivered

Missing one helper on this day

Getting your children to Give Back too!!!

2011-03-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

I am a believer of starting your kids young with giving back can be very beneficial and also create a special bond for children and their parents. Especially when they can be hands on and involved in helping. I am going to try and be more consistent with blogging but also blogging about how you can motivate and get your children involved too. Not every volunteer opportunity I post will be children approved but I promise to try and be better about gearing towards, children and families.

One idea I thought of was to get two bins, medium sized and let your children put their keep toys in one bin and their donate to other kids in another bin. The size of the bins can be up to you! I know a lot of kids out there have just tons of toys, some even have their own toy room!!! Well why not share? Your child or children can't possible play with each toy every single week. I mean kids grow out of toys so fast, maybe not as fast as clothes but I would guess some would! This is a great way to help minimize the toys in your house plus help out another not so fortunate child/family. If there is a toy that doesn't fit into the bin then help your child decide if it is something they really play with, or if it is time to pass it on to be reused! The same thing with books! We all know education is very important for a child, but what about those families who can't afford books for their kids? Try and make two piles with your child and see if they can at least donate two or three books. Then let them go with you to donate the toys or books. They need to see the whole process and maybe just maybe they could get a smile and hug from the receiver of your goods!!

Here are a list of a few places you can look into in your area to donate...

Local Homeless Shelters
Local Abuse Shelters
Ronald McDonald House
Churches
Some Children's Hospitals except toys, most only except new toys but it is always worth trying

I hope this is something fun you can do with your kids! I would imagine if you can do this every few months, especially after new seasons, holidays and birthdays where they get new items then they will catch on very quickly and it will be natural for them to not only give back but to also share. If you give this a try please let me know how it goes. Good Luck!

Happy Sharing.

Warmly,

Melanie

Too Many Ideas, Thoughts & Inspirations....

2011-03-10T02:45:00.000-08:00

My mind is constantly processing ideas to help other people. I feel like it is becoming a problem!!! Before we left for our trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago I googled 'poverty in Maui'. I found some places but unfortunately I was not able to get to them. I didn't bring any goods with me but I thought I could at least go by and give out hugs, yup free hugs to people. I love a good hug so why wouldn't someone else?

I am beginning to think more and more about others. I am not loosing myself in any of it, I still treat myself to star bucks once in awhile. But, I can see myself giving up more and more each day. I also find myself being more content with my living situation. We live in a two bedroom one bathroom condo that we bought several years ago. We have been trying for the last year to get out and buy into something bigger, but why? We have a pup but she doesn't need a lot of space and we don't have kids but if we did we do have another bedroom for the first few years of their life. There are many of people out there who live with several families in a two bedroom house and do just fine! We live a simple life. I am huge into organizing, cleaning and reducing so probably every few months I go through our drawers, desk, closets etc to clear out what we haven't been using. We have been a lot better on passing up the knick knack stuff we see in stores and really thinking about what we purchase instead of buying on impulse.

I have so many dreams but for some reason I can not seem to get them in order! Maybe that is the beauty of life, we don't know what will come next. I am currently working with some girlfriends on an all proceeds fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Charities the weekend of March 18th. I also have a silent auction I am researching and trying to gather goods from local businesses. If you know anyone who owns a business or has a side project they do please let me know and maybe they would donate something to the auction to help support locals schools! We are also working on a book drive for the schools in Africa. See what I mean? So much going on; I just want to help everyone. It is very mind draining for me to think of all the help that needs to be done out there. I guess I have to remind myself it is one person at a time and hopefully that creates a domino effect on the next person.

It won't happen over night but I do hope some day to make an impact on this crazy beautiful world. I just need to keep following my dream and reaching my goals one at a time.

What are you doing to Give Back this month?

Give to Give, Not to Receive....

Melanie

One Day....

2011-03-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

When I first heard this song I was immediately taken back by the amazing lyrics. I sat and listened to it over and over again with my husband who introduced me to 'One Day' which has become a household favorite for two years now. It was actually our wedding song too! We had a blast dancing and sharing the lyrics with family and friends at our wedding. I remember throwing my hands in the air and being so passionate about this song, I still am years later when I hear it! I wish I could sit individually with each person in this world and have them listen to the lyrics of this song. I wonder if I were able to do that how many lives it would change for people on their approach for living?

Please if you have a few free minutes listen to this very catchy lyrical song. And, pass it on to your family and friends! I guess if you don't care for the lyrics, it has a very great tune, I mean who doesn't love reggae?! I am always a sucker for songs with meanings, especially if they can relate to my life somehow and this one diffidently had me thinking years ago....still does too.

Warmly,
Melanie

.::March Events::.

2011-02-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

Well as we are fast approaching another month I wanted to get these volunteer opportunities up with enough time for each of you to sign up if you were able too! Here are a few ideas I have had saved and received through e-mail through different organizations. I hope you can find time to do at least ONE Give Back this month....just one! Then let us know where you volunteered at and how it went! We would LOVE to hear from you!

Saturday, March 26th @ 10 am-Make a Change Race-TRAIL RUNNING! All proceeds will go to benefit the Love, Inc.
Saturday March 26th come join and support the SOLV Spring Beach Cleanup
Get a team together and help the Oregon Food Bank
Volunteer at your local Library or school.
American Cancer Society fundraiser at Mt. Hood Skibowl
Plant a tree with Friends of Trees. Here is there calendar so you can pick a day!
There is a lot of places where you can feed the homeless, play with homeless children, stay the night in a homeless shelter and much more!

Just imagine if everyone did ONE thing next month how much help that would be for someone else. I can't begin to explain how much it means to me that we all help each other out. It doesn't take money to help someone out. Most of the time it takes a heart, smile, hug and helping hands to be able to give back.

Here are my Give Back events for next month....

This next month I am working with a girlfriend to put together a 100 percent, all proceeds fundraiser Garage Sale for the Ronald McDonald House of Charities. We will be taking any money collected from the garage sale and putting it right back into the local community stores to buy goods for the RMHC. We will be posting more information about this as it gets closer. We have received a good number of e-mails from family and friends who are ready to donate their goods. Also, a local family has offered their daughter to come and help us at the garage sale, so let us know if you have kids who you feel would like to get involved and help with this fundraiser!

My other Give Back Today will be going with SOLV to help clean up our Oregon beach. I am excited for this mini road trip with a girlfriend! I think it is important we give back to people but also to nature. I love visiting our beaches so it is time I pay them back by helping keep them clean. This event will be on a Saturday. For anyone else interested in helping I have the link up above with the other give back today events happening next month.

"No matter how insignificant what you do may seem, it is important that you do it" -Ghandi

Warmly,

Melanie

Kids can begin to Give Back Today too

2011-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

I was motivated for this project after a friend told me she was needing to teach her daughter about helping other people. This is just an idea if anyone else is looking for ways to get their kids (or spouses) more involved in understanding money and Giving Back. Fortunately for most of us we get money several times a years between birthdays and holidays. Well why not start a jar for giving back with your kids? I promise they will learn what a dollar amount is worth and the importance of giving back.

You and your child can come up with an agreement on how you split the money! If you want to divide it evenly into three jars, great! If you think you want to save more then give, maybe put 50 percent in the savings jar, 20 percent into giving back, which leaves 30 percent into spending for those special treat trips and treats! Those are just two ideas of ways to split the money! But, once it goes in the jar, it is in!!! You will probably have to explain the importance of this idea, why you are doing it and some ideas of where the money will go. This should help with sharing too and understanding the importance of helping one another.

Well here are a few photos of our jars, empty yes, because I just made them tonight....

You can set them up and label them how it best fits your plan! The idea is to at least begin something and starting at a younger age will make for a more lasting impact, or so we hope!

Good Luck and remember-Every little bit helps!

Warmly,
Your Give Back Today Team!

.::Garage Sale Fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House of Charities::.

2011-02-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

I am more than pleased to say we will be holding an ALL PROCEEDS fundraiser for the RMHC March 18th & 19th this year! What this means is anything we sell at our garage sale will be used to go shopping for the families & children of the RMHC. They have a wish list they post and we will honor the list then maybe add a few extra bonus items if possible. I have no doubt that this event will be beyond amazing! I can't wait to start creating the signs and posting them all around town! We know this is early but we wanted to give everyone enough time to please share with friends, family, neighbors & co-workers about this wonderful event! Here is the email I sent to some of you already (thanks for the positive feedback)...please feel free to copy and share with anyone who might be interested.

In part of our efforts to help Give Back we decided to hold a garage sale March 18th & 19th to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House of Charities (RMHC). ALL the proceeds will go to buying supplies, games, movie/zoo passes and other goods that the RMHC is in need of at the time. Here is a list of some currently needed items... http://www.rmhcoregon.org/pages/help_donate_stuff.php
We wanted to send out an e-mail early enough so people had plenty of time to clean out those unused items and to help spread the word with friends and family. Please understand items given to the garage sale would be donation items. We will be holding the garage sale in Tualatin.
Thank you!!!
We can pick up any items that you are unable to get to us before this date! We will let you know later into February the date we will be driving around collecting donations.

Today can be the day you clean out your closet & give back at the same time! Forget all those unused items hiding within your house, let us take them off your hands and help turn them into something amazing for the children. If there is something you keep holding onto because you don't want to forget about it, well then here is an idea, take a photo. Pictures last FOREVER right? Get a photo album, take some photos of the item, make a note about the item (where it came from, who gave it to you, how long you had it for & what it means to you) then place it in the photo album and waaa laaa you have made the first step in donating to a great cause! We hope we have given you all enough time to gather your goods!

Make today be the day you get organized & Give Back!

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." -Philo

Oats are not just for breakfast anymore...

2011-02-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

That was the message on the paper we were putting inside the oats package before we tied it up to be put in a box and shipped out somewhere. As soon as we got to the Oregon Food Bank we were busy so there was no time to read the little note and I wasn't able to grab one at the end either, bummer, I know! I went with a close friend of mine who is on her 3rd month of giving back! I am so proud and I know she is too! We have talked before about going to the OFB so when a friend of ours was not able to make it with her group from work to go, I quickly said we would stand in her place! I am SO glad we went, we laughed A LOT and once again everyone was working together to complete the same goal, no one should go without food!

All I know is that oats aren't just for oatmeal, they can make wonderful cookies and be put into your smoothies or made into a granola bar! Oats are full of fiber and help reduce cholesterol and may help reduce heart disease, ironic we were bagging these up the day before 'National Wear Red Day' to bring awareness for the number one killer for woman, heart disease. I have no idea where these oats were going and I didn't ask, there was no time to ask! We were busy girls trying to get as many oats bagged as possible! There were six at our table, 3 people bagging, two scoops into a bag, weighing them (the weight needed to between 1.95 and 2.05) then we were placing the note inside, tying them and sending them down to the sixth man who boxed them up! We rotated part way through and were able to do a lot of healthy trash talking to each other! One older man on our team would see a weight under 1.95 and say, "come on think of the children you don't want to let them starve right?" Of course not, so we added more oats! We had a lot of fun! By the end of the shift, I was hungry, believe it or not, those oats smelled so fresh and I wanted to eat them!

The last 20 min of our shift we went on a tour of the building, I have no idea how many thousands of square feet it is, but it is huge! There was anything from canned food to sprinkles to dog food a freezer bigger than any one I have seen before, same goes for the refrigerator too! They read a lot of stats to us and unfortunately I didn't take notes. I was too amazed by the amount of food, boxes and all sorts of random things in this warehouse. A few things I remember were, millions of dollars are saved by OFB being fortunate enough to have so many volunteers, billions of pounds of food will help families this year and each box last a family of four about four days. The night we were there they only had two paid working employees, the rest were all volunteers, pretty awesome! The OFB is VERY thankful for anyone who can help, they praised us several times through out the evening. I just kept thinking to myself, "no, thank you for LETTING me do this and be here."

Yup, safety first!

Here are the numbers we hit in two hours

Nike donates to OFB!!!!

We had a very fun and encouraging evening Giving Back. If anyone wants to join us next time please let me know! I am hoping to get a Give Back Today Team together to go help for two hours again in March! I will post more information on our FB fan page next week when we have the date set.

Come on, what are you waiting for, make today be the day you Give Back!

THANK YOU Oregon Food Bank for letting us help and PGE for letting us come join you!

Warmly,

Melanie

Music to Promote Social Change

2011-02-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

I went with some of my family to the Sarah McLachlan & Friends concert on Wednesday evening at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. I love concerts and live music. It was absolutely amazing! First of all this venue is stunning inside, whoever the architect was did a very amazing detailed piece of art in there! It wasn't my first time there but it was my first time really enjoying the place for what it is. Sarah & Friends ALL have amazing voices. It was fun to have others play their songs for us as well. She didn't do the normal opening band plays then she plays, it was all co-mingled, which I enjoyed a lot! When I got home I couldn't sleep so I decided to download a few of Sarah's new songs and those of her friends, Butterfly Boucher and Melissa McClelland who also have amazing voices!

Melissa McCelland set up a donation box for World Vision and had information at the concert about adopting a child. She talked a little bit about her travel to Uganda and World Vision. Sarah talked about the foundation she started in 1999, for mostly unprivileged kids who have a passion for music. Right now she has about 246 kids involved in her program! Sarah is not only known for her music but for her humanitarian work too. She is involved with using music to promote social change-which if you think about it can happen, there are SO many lyrics out there that are so powerful and need to be heard! I think we need a National Music Day where everyone has to listen to curtains songs at certain times of the day!! In 2004, Sarah donated 150,000 of her production budget to 11 different charities & organizations including, Engineers Without Borders, C.A.R.E, War Child and Heifer International. She mentioned several times in her speech the importance about Giving Back, her involvement in World Vision as well as being kind to one another. I wanted to scream out loud, cry, dance, clap or do anything to let out my excitement inside when she talked about all of these. It definitely gave me more inspiration to keep trucking along doing what I am doing! Here is the song that she sang for us right after talking about giving back! Please listen and following along to this powerful message.....

Some days I feel discouraged and I wonder how in the world am I, one person, going to make an impact and raise awareness to billions of people out there? Then something like this happens where I am in the right place at the right time and it pushes me that much more. I love that I have amazing family & friends who encourage, join and are getting me to think outside of the box when it comes to giving back today. I also love that I know I have inspired some of you to get out there to help more, be involved and introduced new organizations or contacts for you, which is awesome and it is why I am doing this.

I have a couple blogs coming up that are in the works...

A visit to the Oregon Food Bank with a dear friend of mine
A blog about my Grandmother meeting the Governor and accepting an award for her volunteer work, yup this stuff has run in my blood since before I was born and has always been something my family believes in

I still wonder, what would this world would be like if everyone helped out a little more and gave back at least once a month?

Project Homeless Connect

2011-01-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

My third and final give back moment was being able to volunteer and help at the Washington County Project Homeless Connect for a half day. This event has been going on for five years now and last year reached over 500 homeless men, woman, teens and children. I haven't heard or read of a count we reached this year, but there were a lot of people once again! I am happy to say I will be doing this event every year now. It brighten my day just like each day does when I give back to the community and those in need. I met a lot of really nice people, learned about some new resources and I was able to express my passion for helping others with people who shared the same hopes as me.

When I walked up to the building there were tons of people outside eating on the grass, laughing and enjoying a meal with others. I quickly learned ALL the services that were being offered once I signed up and received my task for the day. I was put at the information booth which was located right when anyone walked through the doors. I alternated between that and holding the door open for people coming in and out, greeting and assisting in help! Here is a list of the services that were offered...

Pet Care
Bike Repair
Medical/Dental/Vision
Haircuts
Childcare
Showers
Foot Care
HIV Testing
Resources/Information/Giveaways
Clothing Closet
Chiropractors
Lunch/Dinner
Breads/Tortillas/Bagels

All of these services/foods were FREE and donated by different clinics and volunteers. Pacific University was a HUGE asset in making the dental, medical & Vision all possible! Sonrise Church was amazing in volunteering their facility for this event to happen! Sonrise also had tons of volunteers there to help who were so very nice and welcoming. One even offered me into their church ;) Sonrise also allows up to 43 homeless people a night into their church from 7pm -7am for a place to sleep and get warm. A volunteer from the church is there each night with them, it is a first come first serve basis.

The dental department filled up and were unable to take patients after the first two hours of opening!! Medical was shortly after that. There was one lady who when leaving gave me a big smile, said thank you and then asked me if I liked her hair cut! I told her it looked amazing and must feel so good too, she looked back gave me another big smile and said "it feels so nice and clean!!!" HOW AMAZING is that?!? I wanted to cry, but I didn't. Another person was leaving and I over heard him say "they feel great", then his friend said, "I bet it's probably been 30 years since you have had your teeth cleaned!!" WOO HOO how exciting for him. One last guy I talked to for awhile told me he hadn't had his teeth cleaned in years and that what he had done today probably would have cost 100 dollars or more and he just can't afford that. How can we change this? Pacific University offers a lot of help and resources so hopefully these people are able to follow up with them! I must have heard at least a hundred 'thank you for everything' that day. It was exactly how this world should operate, helping each other out.

I heard about this amazing event from my mom who works for the county. My mom knows how much this all means to me and I am very thankful that she gave me the contact information. Because I was at this event on my own I only have a few photos to share, but let me assure you, it was packed and full of love.

Clothing/Shoes on the left and Resources on the far right (not pictured)

Job/Food/Transportation/SS/Veterans resource information

Very Cool, right?!? People getting their bikes tuned up!! I bet there were at least 20 bikes at one time in line.

I am learning from doing all these Give Back Today events that fighting hunger is a big passion of mine. the thought of a child, adult or animal not being able to eat breaks my heart. Thousands of people are on the streets and we need to find support and resources to get them their life back. For my next Give Back Today I will be going with a group of people to help make bags of food with the Oregon Food Bank! This event is taking place next Thursday evening so I will hopefully blog about it Friday sometime. I am in the works with my husband for one other Give Back but I don't want to mention it until we know for sure it is happening!

Do you have any Give Back stories to share with us?

Thank You Hands on Greater Portland for allowing me to volunteer as part of your team for this wonderful event. See ya next year!

Love Built This House

2011-01-29T00:03:00.000-08:00

Love built this house was on a plaque that was hanging in the stairwell at the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). I am glad it caught my eye because it is so true and deserves to be recognized. I feel so lucky that my friend mentioned going there and making a meal for the kids & families! There is no way I could have ever passed this experience up and I can't wait until we go again, next month! We decided that Thursdays are great days for us and we also decided we want to try and do this as much as possible. Once a month would be great but they sure do book up fast and life happens so sometimes you just can't get there that often. We will do our best!

After e-mails back and forth about dates, times and what we would make we decided on Mac & Cheese (comfort food and a kids favorite!) along with dirt cups for dessert! We also brought apple juice, rolls and veggies for sides. Most of the food came from Cash & Carry which worked out great for the size of the group we were cooking for! If you can find a few people to make a meal with you it really helps bring the cost down! Between the four of us it was about 17 dollars a person! They estimate dinners to be about 25-30 people, we aimed for 30 for the play it safe route. Not all of the families eat at once, some are out at appointments, visiting family, walking, napping or simple just not hungry at six when dinner is served! What was great about our meal was there were plenty of left overs for the families to eat and munch on at a later time....mmmm midnight munchies! Since we were all meeting around five to start the dinner we did as much prepping ahead of time as we could. Grading cheese (about 7 lbs), boiled the noodles part way, packed up all the extra stuff we might have needed and made the dirt cups the morning before we left! I think it worked out just perfectly! If you are interested in making a meal for the RMHC make sure you check out their online calendar weeks in advance, they thankfully can book up quickly!!

The staff at RMHC were very inviting and nice to us, treating us like family! I felt very comfortable and at ease there for some reason. Like I was supposed to be there on that night doing what I was doing with my good friends who enjoy the same interest as me. I am a HUGE sentimental person who doesn't like to cry but I find myself crying more and more these days about anything and everything. I guess doing all of these give back acts really makes me more thankful for my situation. It also makes me want to work harder and be a voice for people that much more when they are in situations that just don't seem fair. The lovely volunteer at the RMHC gave us a tour, yup our own private tour, haha! There are about 17 rooms in the house all of which are currently full at this time, they have rooms for watching tv, playing on the computer, playing video games and a play room for the kids, oh and a basketball court outside! One of my girl friends that came along brought games for the children that her kids picked out to donate for the kids at RMHC!!! I love it, starting them early on Giving Back.

The pictures posted are from the set up & meal prepping for the RMHC! For confidential reasons I did not take photos of any one person in the house, that would be a HIPPA violation on my part! But, I can tell you that everyone was very thankful for the meal, people got seconds AND we had a very good turn out for dinner.

Our HUGE pot of noodles

Can you feel the LOVE?

dirt cups....

Lots of mixing involved with this meal...

Lots of stirring involved too...

about 10 min before dinner was served...

Behind us is a personalized painted mural for a family who lost a loved one

I can't wait for next time, we already have our meal with dessert picked out too! I know I said I would post my next months Give Back Today at the end of my post, well believe it or not I still have one more blog to complete! Do you have your Give Back Today event lined up yet? If not, visit my February Give Back Events here for a few ideas. As I am starting to get myself out there more and more I will be posting more events randomly to help anyone looking for somewhere they can help out.

Thank You RMHC,

Your Give Back Today Team

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."

-Dalai Lama

AMIGOS de las Américas

2011-01-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

Hola! This is what was the first word of a letter we received from a very dear friend to us was. Someone who I personally have known since before she was born and someone my husband has know since we started dating in 2002. She is a high school student with a huge heart that wants to expand her services and continue to travel outside of the United States to help people with planting trees and gardens, developing greenhouses, building latrines and "lorena" stoves and educating residents on health issues. My husband and I both support and love that she wants to help Give Back. It is amazing to us that such desire and drive lives among her at such an early age. It truly gives us hope that the young generations are becoming more and more aware of what needs to happen. Before her travels outside of the United States she will be trained through Portland Chapter of AMIGOS for six months, twice a month, in leadership, first aid, language and teaching skills. I should also add that her first trip outside of the United States to Give Back was to Ecuador last summer. We could not be more proud of her wanting to help other people in Latin America so we made a donation to Portland Amigos in hopes that it will help get her there later this year. We are all for supporting undeveloped communities and those who can travel to help them. Good luck and we can not wait to see your pictures and hear about your trip! Thank you for all you are doing....We love you!

XO-M&M

.::February Events::.

2011-01-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

Well I wanted to post a few ways you can Give Back Today for the month of February! I already have mine lined up but I won't be sharing until next week after I am done with my January Give Back Today evening. Dun Dun Dun!!!!

In no particular order here are a few ideas of what you can do to help in the Portland Metro Area...

Worst Day Of The Year bicycle ride!! I heard about this through Kink.fm which is my all time favorite radio station. If you do not currently listen to them, give them one day and I promise you will be hooked! I know, Worst Day Of The Year sounds terrible, but it is also the Best day because you get to not only exercise your little heart out doing what you love but you get to support the non-profit organization, Community Cycling Center!

There is also a Valentine Run taking place downtown February 13th at 8:00 for those of you runners & walkers out there! It is called the Valentine Fanconi Anemia run/walk which benefits exactly what it says, Fanconi Anemia.

Each month I will probably post this one for the Oregon Food Bank! Stopping hunger is a HUGE reason why this blog was started. It sickens me to waste food and think of the starving kids/people/animals who don't have enough to eat. The link for OFB will take you straight to their volunteer information.

Check out the wish list for Friends of Trees! From now until March they need many helping hands!

I am and always will be a supporter for Breast Cancer Awareness. Here is a fun way to get some friends together, exercise & start a new tradition with Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer. I plan to do this next year for sure! Unfortunately it falls this year on a weekend we will be out of town.

What are you waiting for? Grab your friends and get out their for a day of Giving Back as well as supporting some amazing organizations and fundraisers! If anyone wants a buddy I would gladly be your buddy on any of them except the Stomp out Breast CA, since we will be gone. Please feel free to post and share any other Give Back Today events happening in the area.

"No matter how insignificant what you do may seem, it is important that you do it" -Ghandi

I truly believe that quote.

Warmly,

Melanie

Never Let Go of Your Dreams....

2011-01-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

Today marks an amazing day in American history and history all over the world. Today is a day we can sit back and reflect how far we have come since Martin Luther King gave his famous, 'I Have A Dream ...' speech. Today we also should sit back and decide if there is something more or different we could be doing to help this incredible, yet crazy world. I can't grasp how times were back then, I can't imagine why people were ever judged about the color of their skin. I do not know if I would be able to live in times as they were back then, I do not do well with discrimination against one another. I am thankful that the world has made more positive steps towards accepting one another. I dream that more and more people are catching on that discrimination and judging people is just down right wrong. I do not want to go into detail on this topic, I like to keep my political views to myself as best as I can. I will only say that on this day I feel more encouraged to keep up my dreams and continue to love people for who they are on the inside.
My Give Back Today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr, will be to continue to look at each person the same with love and hopefulness that they are doing the same to others around them.

If I was not at work today I would be doing something for Hands on Greater Portland or MLK servies in his honor. I promise next time this happens I will post the event days before it is happening so you have the resources to use if you want to sign up! Unforntunately it might be too late for most of you to help but if it isn't then have fun Giving Back Today!!!!

Our future plan for February will be to post at least five resources where you can Give Back in your community for the month. Those should be posted by the first of the month.

All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

give back today

2011-01-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

I decided to start a blog that would be JUST for our giving back adventures. On this blog I will be posting our past giving experiences from my other blog so you may noticed a few of them were done last year but dated for a more recent time! After talking many hours with my husband we decided to further my passion and start making all my hopes and dreams start to come true for me. This is something my husband also believes strongly in, giving back today! I am so lucky and happy that he wants to help and be such a big part in our future of helping people. When I first threw out the idea to him immediately he loved it and starting throwing back ideas at me!! The only bad thing was that it came up late at night, which kept us up until almost midnight (way past our bedtime)!!

Please be patient, supportive and positive for us while we begin this crazy fun adventure. We have a few different ideas of where we see this going, short term and long term. We also have hopes, dreams and lots of ambition to 'make it happen' another slogan we live by! We might start in one direction, get to a dead end, change to another direction but we will figure it out all in time and we hope you can enjoy, follow and be apart of this with us!

We hope to use this blog as a place for people to see how we give back, how we hear about places needing help, where we go to find resources for giving back and also we welcome you to share your giving back stores with us. We hope some day this can be a good resource for you to visit and get inspiring ideas from. Currently we are based in Portland, Or and will be focusing on our community and those around us until we feel we can expand. Again, it will all happen with time. Now, this doesn't mean we won't travel to help someone, so please contact us if you have any ideas for us! We look forward to hearing, following and helping all of you. Life is all about giving back, so give back today!

Currently we are working on a FB fan page as well as our givebacktoday.com website! The fan page will be up and running (but, still under construction) by the time you read this blog! However our website will be under construction for awhile.

Now, we need to figure out a logo to go with our amazing theme. If you have any ideas please contact us!

Warmly,
your give back today team!

Abate & Shriners Hospital Team Up

2011-01-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

First off, a HUGE THANK YOU to ABATE for putting on yet another great year at Shriners Hospital for Children toy drive. This was my first year being apart of this amazing event! It was also my first time seeing some true bikers like a man who is part of Hell's Angels group. I was invited by my sister in law whose mom is the Director, Community Affairs and Development for Shriners Hospital. What a cool job right?!?! I envy her willingness to help these children and families with such an amazing heart! In my eyes it TRULY takes an amazing person to help other people. There are always going to be tough days, depressing days and down right "not fair" days, so to be able to put a smile on your face, look at the positive side and remember why you are doing what you do, it TRULY is amazing. I like to think that I do this at my job and to an extent I do, but I am still learning each day. Working with the community is different in some ways than working with these wonderful children you see each and every day! Well that is my rant on how blessed I feel to know such amazing people!

My wonderful and just as thoughtful friend, Danielle, came along with us too, including my amazing mama!! Danielle had no idea the trip would be as funny as it was and neither did any of us! I hope Danielle, Kelly and my mom all know how much it means to me that they support volunteering and helping but also support me for wanting to do these things. It really means a lot to me that I have people around me to do this with and talk thru things with. When the first bikers were coming my mom asked me if I brought my camera, because she knows I am blogging for a year about all my adventures of helping. I hope each of them come along again on another giving event with me.

Abate has been working and helping Shriners for 31 years!! I have read in two different places that is started with 4-5 motorcyclist and now they have thousands!!! Now we all know bikers sometimes can carry off a bad wrap if involved in current biker "gangs" around the country, but on this day they put their differences aside, work together and HELP/DONATE/LOVE these children. I have never seen as many tight black chaps in one area as I did last Saturday. It was so cute to see these bikers come up and hand us gifts, which we were in charge of dividing out in groups of, stuffed animals (lots!), girls, boys, toddlers, infants, games, books etc. One guy gave me a bag with about 6 items in it and told me what each one was; I think he was so excited to be there at that very moment! One husband and wife HAND MADE little colored tutus for the girls, I mean really how thoughtful and precious is that? To not only see but also feel the love all these people had including all of us volunteers was just amazing! I really hope this can continue on for years and I hope if you are a biker you can become apart of this event! So next time you see a biker, don't judge them, love them. I can't wait to help again next year! If you want to be apart of this volunteer event with me, just e-mail me!

KPTV

Here are a few photos from our day at Shriners.

Here come the bikers!!! (picture taken from window at Shriners Hospital)

First one, SANTA :)

American Flag-check. New pink bike for a little girl-CHECK!

Here was one toy collection room!

Kelly, Danielle and my Mama

Kelly's mom, Pat took us around the hospital, which by the way was elevator ride after elevator ride, I really have no idea how people don't get lost, or maybe they do and just play it off well!! Anyway Pat took us to the room where kids were receiving toys from the elves and people were announcing the donations of lots of money to help fund medical equipment, braces, wheelchairs and much more! The toys they received will last all year to help out and put a smile on each child's face!!!!! WAY TO GO ABATE AND SHRINERS HOSPITAL FOR MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE!

I decided after ending each blog if I know what my next adventure will be I will post what I will be doing. Next month, January (crazy, really, already!?!) I will be going with a few girlfriends to make a meal for the Ronald McDonald House Charities! We are making a dinner along with dessert for the families. I hope it is a busy evening so we can meet lots of kids and their parents. If you would like to come along sometime with me, e-mail me and let's set up a date! We can have groups of six people! Come on, have today be the day you GIVE BACK :)

Warmly,

Melanie

Help Fight Hunger

2011-01-13T13:59:00.001-08:00

Why is it fair for me to eat ALL this amazing food, calories, pounds of anything and everything without thinking about others as I take each bite? Well it isn't and I don't do that. I always cherish my foods, even if they are sweets and really bad for me! What I eat a day some people eat in multiple days or maybe even a week, I really don't know and truthfully I don't want to know too much. I have a bad enough conscious over my head when I have to throw away moldy bread, shriveled up lettuce, stale chips, soft apples etc... we do our best in our home to reduce reuse and recycle. Or compost pail is great, in the summer days but now that winter is here we do not use it anymore! If I had animals in my backyard well then shoot, that would solve my apple problem! Now, It may sound like a lot gets wasted in our home, well it doesn't. If something looks like it may go bad I hurry and make it into something then send it with Mike to work or I take it myself and share with everyone! I do not like to see things sitting in my trash can, it equals poor shopping skills, sign of possible eating out too much, foods that someone else could have really enjoyed who can't afford to shop for a week, dollar signs down the drain and just makes me bummed! We have a quote in our kitchen, "Recycling just seems like the right thing to do, I mean really, it makes us responsible for the messes that we make. It’s all about just picking up after yourself, not shoving our trash in our oceans and streams. We might as well reuse it before we lose it.” I love this quote and it really makes me think before I do much in my kitchen!

So, to help fight the hunger we did something small for Thanksgiving to support what we believe needs to happen! We volunteered at the Give n' Gobble race to help raise foods/money donated to the Oregon Food Bank and Helping Hands! On the link I connected you will read that according to the OFB with each dollar raised brings about six pounds of food into a home for someone. How can you not have one dollar to give knowing what it can bring someone else in life? We hope to continue a start tradition and volunteer again next year, we also hope to find some other services to help bring food to the homeless or those who need it. Again, I know this is not much and I know we did not make a HUGE triumphant change, but we are working on it and doing the best we can with the resources we have. I keep dreaming that in weeks, months, years, decades we can be doing a lot more and getting the word out there to make this hunger problem stop. Until then, we will continue to help when and where we can. Goal by next Thanksgiving: Donate 100 dollars to have our business become a sponsor, can we make it happen? I sure hope so!

Here are a few photos from us cheering on all the runners!! We were in charge of positive cheers and letting them know to turn for 5K or continue running for the 10K. Thank goodness my husband support me and my crazy antics :)

Here we are getting ready for our runners to come any minute!

Taking one for the team and proudly wearing the turkey hats (side note, we didn't put them on until the end, opps!)

I chose to wear a green vest (U of O) while Mike thought an orange vest (OSU) would be a better fit for him! When we picked out our vest the guy heard us choosing by football teams and said, opposing teams under the same roof, how do you deal with that?!? "I guess you root for them both," I said!

Maybe one person who reads my blog will make that new step in life to trying doing something nice for someone else in the next month....!!!!!

We are a country that prides itself on power and weatlh, yet there are millions of children who go hungry every day. It is our responsibility, not only as a nation, but also as individuals, to get involved. So, next time you pass someone on the street who is in need, remember how lucky you are, and don't turn away. --- Lesley Boone

Small Give Back Moments Matter Too

2011-01-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

What a great time of year! As much as I love this time of year for family, friends, receiving goodies and cuddling up to stay warm, I also love this time of year to give to others. Again for anyone who is new to my blog, my husband and I are choosing to do at least one nice gesture/giving/donation a month! We are hoping some day it will turn into twice a month, three times and then once a week but first we are focusing on one thing at a time. I have to say this month was not the slightest bit hard trying to find something nice to do for someone else. There are many donations, food bank drives, clothing good drop off centers and meal drives out there that need our help! This month we have four events we are helping with and I will blog about three of them now! Our fourth and last event is on Thanksgiving itself and I will blog about it after it takes place-let's just say it involves a turkey visor! Yup, we are taking one for the team!

Our first donation was to Friends of the Children based here in Portland, Oregon. They are a mentoring program to help kids K thru high school who might have or be developing a troubled childhood. They have kids who have any sort of a problem from mental developments to anger problems. These children may also come from parents who have alcohol abuse, verbal/physical abuse or who are neglected. Friends of the Children provide sustainable lifestyles for these kids as much as they can. Meeting with them weekly, loving them, getting to know them, talking to each one and providing great hands on skills. It was founded in 1993 by a man named Duncan Campbell who himself had a troubled childhood growing up in Portland thus giving him the ambition to help these kids. This program now has 350 kids involved with 42 "friends" also know as mentors for the children!! I believe so much of a child's life can depends on how they are raised from their younger years. With this program happening it gives these children a solid person in their life, someone they know they can trust and talk too. We all need someone like this in our life and if it can't be a parent I am happy to know there is a program like this is provide a friend for everyone. We donated money to this foundation through my brother was was raising money for them. When he first asked if we wanted to donate my first thought was of course anything to help someone. Then looking into this program, reading about it and hearing stories of what goes on at Friends of the Children, I plan to help spread the word and hope to volunteer some time there some day! Thank you brother for being awesome and helping out such an amazing cause in Portland!

Our second donation was to the Oregon Food Bank! The ladies in my family started a new tradition to go each year and do some early Christmas browsing along with getting lunch together. Well this year we went to the Red Sled Bazaar in Sherwood, Or! It had lots of fun hand made crafts/soaps/candles and foods for us too look at, not to mention the most amazing wreathes for such a great price!!! When my mom asked us girls if we wanted to go check it out I didn't think about there being a donation barrel for food! I was happy I looked up the bazaar online before we went because I was able to get together a bag of goods! Which by the way, we donated peanut butter and I thought it was cute, my mom said, "oh peanut butter is good, lots of protein to fill them up!"

Lastly, we are donating more boxed and canned food to a friend of mine whose kids at school are supporting Sherwood Helping Hands ! I put the link on the volunteer page in case anyone is looking for something to do this month to help someone else. Looks like Friday they will be busy busy! I think it is great that her kids are involved in collecting the goods and passing them on to someone in need. It is very encouraging and positive for the kids to have a school who gets them involved in helping and supporting others in the community! Good job Sherwood School District. Everyone deserves a meal so why not help those who can't afford a meal?

These are not huge million dollar donations but they are what we can afford of our time and money for now. If we continue to help when and where we can, then we will be continuing to help make this world a better place. Their are many resources out their who would LOVE your time so hopefully some day you will make that call or e-mail to finally do what you have been meaning to do! We hope you all have a fantastic holiday and thanks for reading the blog!

Warmly,

Melanie

We will go back to Jamaica and Help.....

2011-01-13T13:49:00.001-08:00

Since I am anxiously awaiting our next volunteer move this month I decided to blog about our trip to Jamaica October 2009 for our amazing, unforgettable HONEYMOON! We did the best with donating as we could from being so far and new to the culture...which by the way, any place who names a shot " Bob Marley " deserves major kudos in my book!

One year ago my husband and I traveled to Negril, Jamaica for nine amazing days! We had such an adventurous time laying on the beach, learning salsa dance moves, meeting new people and life long friends, spa days, snorkeling, shopping, zip lining and most of all my favorite was giving the children books and crayons. I knew I didn't want to travel out of the country empty handed. I mean I didn't spend hundreds of dollars, but those kids sure had looks on their faces like I had.

Since we were in a resort some of the goodies I gave to the women working in the spa. I had made several appointment through out the nine days in there and became friends with these wonderful woman! I had asked if they had children and sure enough they did-yay! I had to write notes saying the woman were receiving gifts for their children and it was okay to take off the resort, they are searched each night for no extra tipping or gift giving, stealing etc.

Next time I travel to Jamaica and I will go again, I plan to pack more stuff for the people than I did last year. I will always pack a few pairs of shoes with me now too, it broke my heart to see kids waiting for school busses with no shoes. I know most of these kids are happy and they don't know anything different, but if I can bring them a smile and some entertainment for an hour then I will do it, for them.

Below are a few photos we took when the kids received their goodies...so precious, I just loved them!!! The first little boy wouldn't look at the camera for me, he was a stud! The second picture was a sweet little girl who clearly loves to smile!!! That day I received my favorite and most memorable smiles & hugs.

I didn't have to do much to bring a smile to someone's face that day. This is just another reason I wish I had all sorts of resources so I could go back today and do more! Someday, it will happen.....for now I will do the small things that I can! I wonder what our world would be like if we all gave at least once a month?

Warmly, Melanie

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. Sir Winston Churchill

Drive for the Homeless....

2011-01-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

Well here I am, again, trying this blogging world out for the second time. After thinking and writing down ideas I decided on where I "think" I want to go with my blog. I want to mostly talk about health, the importance of the food we eat, as well as having a good work out routine! I am hoping to share weekly with you my daily work out plan. I also want to talk about how we help others in our home. We decided last month to do at least ONE non profit benefit to help those in need each month. I will blog after each donation/volunteer service we do as well as provide links on how you to can help others! It really is all about giving back, right?!? Those are two VERY amazing topics I LOVE LOVE LOVE and feel strongly about.

Well last month in October we decided to help the homeless for the winter time. I am an avid listener of Kink 101.9 I heard they were doing a drive for the homeless and I was immediately intrigued and knew I would help. Our closets are full of clothes we kept from years, ones we said "oh, I'll wear this again someday!" Then the reality of it is, someone could be wearing it right now to keep themselves warm and covered, when instead it sits in our closets for months. Now, for those of you who know my husband, he loves his jackets and I was happy to see him give. I also sent out an e-mail to friends and family asking for any donations for me to take as well. I was in SHOCK the feedback that I received, thank you for those who helped donate. I also received several very kind e-mails that reminded me what I am doing is right. Here is one sweet note I was e-mailed...."Thanks for working to "save the world" one step at a time :) These actions are what we all need to do more often. Our houses are full of stuff we really don't use or need." It means a lot to me that others are willing to give to those in need, it is not just me. So, off we went, with my entire back seat full of all sorts of winter clothes, jackets, vests, sweatshirts, beanies and scarfs! The energy from the volunteers when we dropped of the goods was outstanding, they knew what they were doing was helping someone stay warm this winter and that is a great feeling. Here is is a picture as we drove away from the drop off center.

I would love to see someone wearing and enjoying our jackets downtown sometime. Either way someone smiled when they received the clothes and is warm this winter, now that makes me happy! Warmly, Melanie

"Giving people a little more than they expect is a good way to get back more than you'd expect."

-Robert Half-