The Long and the Short of It

This post is going to be long and short.  For those up for a short update, read the short version.  For those with a little more time and interest, read the long version.

Short Version:  The dress collection project is complete.  I met up with Trinity, Mike, and their kids on Thursday and picked up the 20+ dresses that she collected, bringing the total of our dress collection to 50 dresses! I had to use my phone to get a picture of Trinity and I and of the Wilbourn family and there is some fatal flaw happening with my phone’s driver right now.  I can’t get the pictures off it to save my life.  Bummer. I was blown away by the amount of dresses.  I did a preliminary weigh of all the dresses, and they weigh over 50 pounds.  I was beginning to think I’d be taking a road trip up to NYC to deliver them rather than mail them, but that’s when Mary got me in touch with her co-worker’s husband, who just happens to run two UPS stores in our area. We talked, and he’s going to help get the dresses to NYC at cost…saving nearly 50% of the shipping costs that would have otherwise been occurred.  Again – I’m blown away.  I feel like we’ve been met with generosity at each step of this small effort, and it’s really an awesome feeling.  Thank you so much to everyone that helped make this collection effort a success – it is very, very appreciated!!!

Long Version: One of the books that I really love is called Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen.  Gary is on the list of people I most respect who are doing “something” about injustice in the world.  This book had a paragraph that has stuck in my mind, and I wanted to share it with you… 

“In a world marred by painful scars of brutal abuse and the laughing evil of violent oppressors, a world where more people are held in slavery than at any previous point in history, the statistics of abuse can feel overwhelming.  We look at the massive numbers and are temped to ask, How can I possibly do anything to help?  We may even think, In the face of all the need in the world, my small efforts seem like a cruel joke.  But I believe we can all help meet the urgent – and yes, massive – needs of our world by keeping our eyes fixed on the humanity of the one child, the one widow, the one slave who is before us.  For while we may not be able to make the difference for all, we can make all the difference for one.”

When I first became impacted by what was happening in the world with human trafficking, the problem seemed overwhelming. It was so hard to wrap my mind around the terrible injustices that were happening and the fact that I felt like I couldn’t really do anything about it anyway.  But after knowing what you know, you just can’t forget you know it (if that makes sense).  It becomes less important if one’s ideas to “help” make a big impact or a small impact – it just matters that it makes some sort of impact. 

Making some small sort of impact is what I believe we did here.  This is no cure for poverty or a guarantee that Jane’s life will be problem-free.  But, it was a group of people who came together based on the need they became aware of and figured they could do something about it.  The actual mechanism of the effort may not be the answer, but I think the mindset is.

I really believe God allowed all the details of this collection effort to come together to make all the difference for one.  Jane will be the one recipient of all your efforts.  But I have been the other one blessed by this.  It has meant so much to me to see friends of mine, friends of my family, friends of friends, and even strangers offer their help in some way to make this collection what it ended up to be. 

So thank you,  Heather, Danna, Sandra, Mary, Paula, Katie, Nancy, Mom, Shenley, Bo, Julia, Briana, Trinity, Peter, and all the others who donated to Trinity’s collection. 

I really believe you made a difference.

Happy Birthday, Mousey!

Today is my mom’s birthday, but last night we celebrated with a little family dinner at our house.  Nina and Lyla helped decorate the cake for Mousey, so they got to help blow out the candles also.  The girls also had a lot of fun playing on Uncle Bo’s iPhone.  It’s amazing how quickly kids pick up technology!  We really enjoyed our time celebrating Mousey’s birthday, but it was really just a precursor to the surprise gathering my dad had planned for her today.

    

My dad had made secret arrangements with my mom’s friends from work to meet at Barrel Oak Winery after school.  Mouse thought my dad was just taking her there for something to do after work on her birthday, but when she got there we were waiting for her.  Pops did a great job planning the food, inviting the guests, and managing to keep everything a secret.  We had a great evening at the winery.

One of my favorite guests at the party this evening was Andrews, this five month old pup that is in training to be a service dog.  One of my mom’s friends is training him, so she brought Andrews to the party this afternoon.  The winery is extremely dog friendly.  Their initials are B.O.W., so they have a ton of dog related themes to the winery, and dogs are always seen in the tasting room.

We were so glad that my mom was genuinely surprised, and we all enjoyed the chance to celebrate her birthday in a beautiful setting and with friends, fun, and good food and wine.

First Field Trip

Today was Nina’s first school field trip.  The Kindergarten classes went to Great Country Farm together today.  It was an all day field trip (even though Kindergarten is only half-day), and Lyla and I came along to spend the day with the kids.  We were pretty wiped out after the day, but we had a good time, and I now have a new appreciation for Kindergarten teachers! 

The Kindergarten kids all have matching tie-dye t-shirts.  We did have to find one for Lyla also.  Last week she became obsessed with the shirts, and thankfully we got a used one from someone in the neighborhood (whose kid had worn it in Kindergarten).  Up until yesterday, she had worn it three days straight, but on Saturday she came across a Mater t-shirt, and that is her new favorite and what she wore today as to not be confused with the “real” kindergarteners.

      We got a lesson on the life cycle of a pumpkin and an apple. We learned there were over 7,500 varieties of apples, and I loved the chant she had the kids shouting when remembering something important about the apple.  It was, “EAT THE PEEL!”

        

After the pumpkin and apple lesson it was time to feed the goats and sheep.  I love Lyla’s face after the goat ate the food out of her hand.  She was laughing to hard because the goat’s tongue tickled her hand.

Then it was time for the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch where we all got to pick our own pumpkin to take back.

 

           

After lunch, the kids had some time to play on the big bouncing pillow, then it was time to head back home.  The girls came home tired and muddy, but they had a good time today.

   

Last Chance

I’m mailing off the dresses to NYC next week, so this is the last shout out for dresses before I send them.  It’s been a great week for collecting dresses.  I got a dress on Thursday from a friend from church.  Then on Friday, a package arrived with a dress from Paula. It was the dress she wore in my wedding.  P was a co-maid of honor, along with Shenley, and all the bridesmaids wore long black dresses with an open back.  I loved the dresses because I thought they were simple, elegant, and I thought the girls looked really beautiful in them.  Thanks, P, for sending it!

  

On Sunday, Mary drove over to our house and brought a beautiful dress she wore as a bridesmaid in a friends’ wedding.  The dress was so pretty, and I bet Mary looked beautiful in it.  Later that evening, I went over to my parents’ house and picked up three dresses that my mom collected from her work friend’s daughter.  Yesterday, Katie dropped over to the house with two dresses that she had worn in weddings.  This weekend, I’m heading over to Trinity’s house to get three dresses of hers plus a trunkful that she collected.  What an incredible last week for the dress collection effort!

The people that donated dresses have made efforts to collect their dresses, mail them to me, drop them off at my house, or coordinate a pick-up.  It’s something that takes time out of their day and maybe it would have just been easier to leave the dress(es) in the closet, but they chose to contribute them to the collection instead. So, I’m very grateful for all the time and effort to make this collection as large as it is.  Before I close up the box, I’ll get the final tally of dresses and report back once more.  If there are any last minute dresses coming in, let me know so I don’t close up the box without them, but my sincere thanks to all who have contributed.  I have a feeling that Jane will be beyond excited!

Cox Farms 2011

This afternoon, we took advantage of our four free tickets and made our annual trip to Cox Farms.  Right after Nina got home from school, we hopped in the car and headed to the farm to meet Mark.  We had an absolutely gorgeous day to be at the farm, and we all had a great time.  Here are a few pictures from our day, but to see the pictures and read the captions, click HERE.

                 

In Case you Needed More Incentive

Another prize has been added to the best/worst dress contest to up the ante.  My friend, Trinity, whose blog I mentioned in my other post, has a cousin who is quite a sewing wiz. I’m sure she found a little connection to Jane in that way.  Anyway, she graciously offered to put the information about the dress collection ON HER BLOG as well as volunteered to contribute one of her super cool zippered pouches to a winner. Check out her blog to see what I’m talking about.  For those that mailed dresses but not a picture, here’s your big chance.  Send me a picture.  Get yourself in the running for the book, Half the Sky, the Freeset wine bag, the book Sold, and Briana’s zippered pouch!

Also, I’ve re-thought how I structured the “contest” in my original post.  I think it lends itself to people feeling like if they submit a photo, they’ll either be judged – best or worst.  I don’t think anyone really liked being judged.  Also, we all know I have a five year old.  I’m learning the importance of who/what is perceived the best or not best.  Not to say that we all think like five year olds, but she has a point. 

For example, after the weekend when I opened the package from Danna, there was a pretty purple bridesmaid dress (worn by Danna) and an absolutely adorable flower girl dress with a pretty purple ribbon around the waist (worn by one of Danna’s daughters).  I bet they looked beautiful together, but they chose to donate those dresses to Jane. I’d love to post a picture of something like that. It’s something to celebrate.

If you send a dress, with your permission, I’d like to include it in the card I send along with the dresses to Jane. I think it would be neat for her to see some of the faces of the women who are now connected to her in some way. If we can’t see everyone in person, I think we like to see each other in “photo” sometimes.  BTW, I’m planning on mailing out the dressed in the last week of October.  So we have some time left, but not too much time.

Anyway, the new contest rules will be as such…submit a picture, and you’re entered into the contest.  I’ll put all the names of the photo entries in a hat, pick out winners randomly, and go from there.  No judging.  If you look smokin’ hot in your picture, God Bless You!  Send in the picture and don’t be shy.  Celebrate that you looked great, and now you’re passing on your beautiful dress to someone else.  If you looking something less than smokin’ hot, that’s ok too.  Even if you look somewhat embarrassing, trust me, we can all relate. 

A Visit to Asheville

We got back last night from our long weekend in Asheville.  We really had a great time visiting the Williams family.  As usual, the girls were all really excited to see each other. 

After seven hours in the car, we were all happy to be there, and after relaxing a bit, we headed down to the town center in their neighborhood for some brick oven pizza.  Of course, the girls (except Lyla) wanted to do sleepovers together, and after they “went to bed” the adults enjoyed time to hang out and catch up.

          

We all got to see Ryleigh’s soccer game on Saturday.  This is her reaction after she scored a goal.

Yeah, Ryleigh!

After the soccer game and a great lunch at 12 Bones, we went apple picking. 

You know you’re in NC when the sign at the apple orchard says this…

We got some great apples, and then got the tired girls home.   

     

While Mark and G were golfing on Sunday, Shen and I got a performance from the girls. They put on quite a show of singing and lip synching. There’s always plenty of fun to be had even just hanging out together doing nothing special. That evening, G taught Mark (who is NOT from the South) how to make grits.  What is this world coming to? 

Even though we head to leave on Monday morning, we made the most of the time we were there and had a lot of fun together. 

The big days didn’t stop there.  After the weekend fun, Nina started at her new school today.  She did great and loved it. Her new school is much different (in a good way) than her old school, and we really were glad to get to our neighborhood school this early in the year of being in overflow.  It was a big day for her, so we’re all very happy that this transition has started off so well.

Thanks!

Just wanted to send a big thank you to Trinity for posting information about the dress collection for Jane ON HER BLOG.  I'll be dropping by her house in a couple weeks to pick up any dresses collected from her friends and blog followers, and the plan is to send all the dresses up to NY in that last week of October. 

I told this to Trinity, and I'll post it here too, that I've been really excited about the generosity of the women who have come in contact with this story and who have decided they can do something to help.  I know that not everyone has dresses left in their closet, and some may want to help and aren't able, but it's been great to see that those who are able to help have stepped up in a great way to help another woman who we don't know but can relate to in the way of just being a woman who wants the best for her life and her family.

We just got back from a great weekend in Asheville visiting Shenley, Garland, and the girls.  Thanks, Shen, for the two dresses you sent home with me.

Also, when we got home from our trip, there was a package of dresses waiting from Danna, Shen's sister-in-law, so thank you so much, Danna!!!

Sister Update

After a string of some cold and rainy days we’re enjoying the beautiful weather of fall.  It’s been sunny and great for being outside.

On most afternoons, Lyla loves racing scooters with the boys up the street.  Surprisingly, she keeps up with them.  She’s had a few wipeouts from going too fast, but no matter how many times we tell her to slow down and be careful, she goes right back to riding super fast.  We think we have a bit of a daredevil on our hands.

When she’s not outside, Lyla loves playing with her cars.  She’s started a little collection and has been using her allowance money lately to get more. 

As for Nina, I got a call yesterday afternoon from our neighborhood school saying that there was a spot open for Nina there now.  Since we’re leaving tomorrow for a long weekend in Asheville, her last day at her current school will be today.  She’ll start at her new school next week.  We were at the overflow school for just over a month, and while next week will be a big transition, she’s excited, and I’m thankful that it’s happening now rather than later in the year.  One exciting thing is the mascot of her new school is the Labrador – a perfect fit for our dog-loving Nina!