Dinner Dollars to Make a Difference - Hope International

Yesterday evening we met at the home of our friends, Mary and Simon, for another installment of Dinner Dollars to Make a Difference. In preparation for the dinner, several of us read this book, The Poor Will be Glad, about how microfinance institutions (MFI) and savings and credit associations (SCA) can be practical and very effective ways to alleviate so much of the global poverty we are facing. One of the co-authors of the book is a friend of Mary and Simon's, so they chose an organization he's a part of, Hope International, as the recipient of the evening's dinner dollars. Thanks so much to Mary and Simon for sharing with their friends and neighbors a concept as important as microfinance. I know that reading the book was an eye-opener for me as well as a good education in what's possible, and I think others that attended the dinner also felt inspired to want to learn more.

Carolina Bound

It was bound to happen at some point. I just thought it was going to end up with me in North Carlonia - I certainly tried on two occasions. The first time was when I was a senior in high school. For some reason, I had my heart set on going to NC State. I didn't know much about the school, but I applied, got in, and wanted to go. The "deal" for us and paying for college went like this - my parents would pay for four years of an in-state school. If we took longer than four years or wanted to to go an out of state school, we'd be responsible to pay the difference. Now that we have kids of our own and are looking ahead to the world of college tuition and weddings, I understand that was a great deal. At the time, I felt frustrated to have to attend one of VA's great public universities (of which we have many) or rack up unnecessary school loan debt just to attend a school in a different state. I amost begrudginly went to JMU where I just happened to meet some of the best friends of my life and have some of the best years of my life. I avoided North Carolina for a few years. After graduation from JMU, I got the bug to go back to North Carolina again. This time, I was going to attend UNC Charlotte where they had a Master's program in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. I again applied, was accepted, visited the school on a road trip with my mom, secured an apartment, and registered for classes. When the trip had come to a close, something about it just didn't feel right, but I was going nonetheless. Fast forward a little bit, and insert trip out to Colorado for what was going to be two weeks of snowboarding fun. On day four of the trip, I hit a tree, break my back, and wind up spending the rest of my time in Colorado in Vail Valley Medical Center's spine trauma unit. It was a life changer for me in many ways.

One of those things that had to change was my grad school plan. I had to withdrawl from the classes I had registered for at UNC Charlotte and basically just spend a lot of time trying to get better and back on my feet again. Plan B became taking some grad classes at Mason (where they also had my Master's program of choice). Because I was getting a late start and couldn't apply to the program in time, I was able to select an option to take classes first, apply to the program second, and hope to be accepted so that your classes apply towards your degree. Thankfully, that all worked out as planned, I met Mark in that process, fell in love, and planned to finish up school here. North Carolina was averted for a second time.

Today, however, Shenley and the rest of the Williams family become official residents of North Carolina. They went to closing on their new house this afternoon, and all their stuff is in a moving truck on it's way to Asheville now. Although this move is a positive one for them, they will really be missed. It's easy to take for granted always having family in a close proximity. It's fun and easy to get together when we want, family events can be attended by all, the cousins are very close with each other, and we as families are very close with each other. We know moves are just a part of life. We know it doesn't need to change the parts of our relationship that are important, and we know that life in a new place can be a fun and exciting adventure. However, that doesn't mean that it's easy to see this era of close family proximity coming to an end. But, really, that's all that it is. For a time, it's the end of what we've been used to and the start of something new. So, we'll be down to Asheville to visit. Nina has also already asked if her daddy could get a job in North Carolina so that we could live near Emme. Mark would love to coach a university team, and I hear the soccer coach at NC State has been there for decades. Who knows, maybe I'll finally end up making it there afterall...just this time it won't be as a student!

Today is also Shen's birthday - Happy Birthday, Shen! What a day!

A Happy 4th

On Sunday, Mark got in from a road trip in the late afternoon, so that evening we went over to Mike and Meg's house to cookout and hangout. A highlight for Nina was playing with Stella. Mike taught Nina how to use commands and hand signals to get Stella to sit, stay, drop her toy, and retrieve it after Nina threw it. To Stella's credit, she is very well trained and very patient, so she tolerated Nina's over excitement and humored her by performing all the commands over and over only to get her toy bird thrown about four feet. Thanks, Meg, for the pictures.

Dog training and child training can be a little frustrating. Now Nina knows how we feel...

We didn't even have to go anywhere to see good fireworks. The Clarkes came back over to our house (thankfully we live 7 min. from each other) so we could put the girls to bed. Then, the people a few houses down from us put on quite a nice fireworks show, so we sat outside and enjoyed the free show!

Burke Lake

Yesterday was a gorgeous day to be outside, and since DC United had the very rare occasion of playing at George Mason University last night, we decided to head over to Burke Lake for the afternoon and evening then pop over to see the game at Mason. As soon as we got there, the girls wanted to ride the train. Mark only had about 20 min. to spend with us there, so he got on the train and rode with us then left to go to Mason get ready for the game.

After the train ride, the girls and I walked the trail for a bit, and Nina and Lyla liked to stop often to throw sticks into the lake.
We were joined later by one of my friends from the team who brought her daughter also, and we picniced for dinner together, and the girls got lots of energy out on the playground before we all headed over to the game.

**Note: Mark found out that he didn't win the Hall of Tradition but came in second to the guy he said from the beginning really deserves to be there. It was nice to be nominated and, in the end, he feels a very deserving man will get the honor.

Little Teacher

I came into Nina's room to get her out of quiet time, and I found her like this so I had to run down and get my camera. She told me that she was teaching Froggy and Frosty (who she set up on her stool and covered with her blanket). She said she was wearing her "teaching glasses" and was teaching Froggy and Frosty the story of Adam and Eve from her kids' Bible. Very cute.

Two More Days

There are only two more days left in my campaign to Tread on Trafficking. Even though the campaign technically ends at the end of the day tomorrow, my resolve to be a part of bringing sex slavery and human trafficking to an end is only gaining momentum. I told Mark this morning that I first started hearing the stories of enslaved women and girls almost four years ago, but as I was reading yet another shocking story in my latest read, Half the Sky, I continue to be filled with anger and disbelief that "this stuff" is happening all over the world to our collective children and young women. I said to him again that I thank God I wasn't born in a country where the law enforcement and powers-that-be simply turn a blind eye to my situation as my young daughters are kidnapped from my home to be sold into an always brutal and often death-sentence life of sex slavery. So, even though this campaign is ending, this won't be an end to my posting about the issue or talking about the issue with those who are interested. And, as always, if anyone who reads this blog wants to learn more about the issue, email me and I'd love to share some resources with you.

Thanks so much to those friends and family who have partnered with me in this campaign by donating their money to Love 146 in the past two months. I am so thankful to have people in my life who share this passion that I have, or even who don't share the passion that I have but support it nonetheless by supporting my efforts in this campaign. I really am thankful for your involvement in helping do what you can to be a part of justice for these women and children.

If you would still like to donate, you can visit my sponsor page HERE.

Bittersweet

Yesterday afternoon and evening was a bittersweet gathering. It was the going away party for Shen, G, and the girls who are moving to Asheville, NC in two weeks. It was sad that we were getting together to say "goodbye" but happy in that everyone had a great time at the cookout, and there is reason to celebrate. Shen and G are expecting their third child, and the move is a result of a promotion for G at work, so there will be changes, and we will be very sad to see them go, but their future in NC looks very bright. Lilly (picture here) and Lyla cooled off by taking turns licking the same ice block. Lyla would lick it, then Lilly would lick it, and back and forth it went. What's a little iced germs among friends?

There were lots of kids at the party who all had a good time boucing in the bounce house, playing in the tree house and slide, and exploring in the woods. Once it got dark, they were out in the field catching fire flies. The only casualty of the night happened to Nina who got stung by a bee for the first time. It got her right on the top of her hand. In between sobs, she managed to get out, "I'm being so brave!" but actually it was quite a dramatic 40 min. following the sting.

Date Night

June was my month to take Nina on a date night, so we went out this evening for dinner and fun in Tysons Corner. We had dinner, then went to the Barnes & Noble to pick out a few books. We were looking for the Nina, Nina Ballerina books, but since they didn't have them in stock, we picked up a few other fun ones instead. After doing some reading and shopping at the book store, we picked out some new Crocs for Nina (she's growing out of hers from last summer), and finished out our date night with cupcakes from Cake Love. We had a great time together!

Father's Day

Yesterday we enjoyed a very nice Father's Day. We made Mark breakfast, and Nina was very excited that the breakfast included donut holes - her favorite! After church we came home to relax and get Lyla a nap, then we went out to my mom and dad's house for a Father's Day dinner with the family.The hammock is always a relaxing place to hang out and enjoy some snacks with Dad.
The cousins have such a great time playing together, and Nina, Emme, and Ryleigh climbed a tree while Lyla played with some flowers.

During dinner, we (the adults) realized it was WAY to quiet upstairs where all four girls were. Thinking some mischief was underway, I went up there but only found them working together to try to get "outfits" for each girl for the parade they were going to put on for us. Here they are in their outfits.

Lyla's "outfit" consisted of glittery antenna and nothing else. She brought up the rear of the parade (no pun intended)!

My dad with his kids and grandkids. Happy Father's Day to the three great dads in our family!

A Baby and a Shower

I really loved today. For me, it was about seeing a lot of waiting for two great friends finally come about to produce two really good things - a baby and a shower. Let's start with the shower. Meg and Mike have been in the process of adopting for quite some time now. I think the part that made it hard was that as soon as they were convinced adoption was the road that has always been designed for them, we all wanted those adopted kid(s) for them a lot sooner than the paper pushers and red-tape enforcers of international adoptions would allow. As their friends, it's been time in waiting also. You know the kids are out there waiting for a good home, and you know there is an awesome, loving home waiting for them that just needs to be filled.

However, today was a celebration of two little boys - Joshua and Isaac - that will soon be joining the Clarke house. Today we celebrated the boys and their mom-to-be, Megan. It's been a long time coming! Meg, friend Erin, and sister-in-law Christia
Meg had a big helper when it came to opening presents for the boys!
P and Jeff drove down from NJ for the occasion of Meg's shower. P came to the shower while Jeff and little Abigail hung out at our house with Mark and the girls. This little one is the other part of my happy day. Abigail was born just three weeks ago, but we've been waiting for her for years. Like Mike and Meg, P and Jeff are made to be parents. They had so much love and care to give a little one - we just needed that little one to arrive. For P and Jeff, it was years in the making, but it was all worth it when Abby was born. Meeting her for the first time today was really special for me because I know of all the ups and down, happiness and heartbreak, prayers and more prayers that went into her being here today. Seeing P and Jeff with little Abby was something I have waited for a really long time to see, and she was worth all the wait.
Abigail and her mommy's proud friend!

The proud mom and daughter...

Nina and Lyla really liked Abby. Nina had a lot of questions about her (of course), and she even got to hold her all by herself!

Just the girls! Shen came by in the afternoon to see P and Abigail.

Give Me Room to Brag

I'm saying it right off the bat - I'm going to brag a little bit here. For Mark's friends and family, you won't know this unless I tell you (because he's not going to) that he got nominated to be in DC United's Hall of Tradition this year. Mark isn't the type of person to live in the past. He had a great career as a professional indoor and MLS goalkeeper, yet he doesn't attach his past to much about his present life, and if you ask him, he'll tell you he already knows which name most deserves to be voted into the Hall of Tradition. I tell him I still think it's an honor to be nominated. You can vote at www.dcunited.com for our favorite player! In case he forgets why he's nominated, I could always pull out the Saved by Simpson video his buddy, Joe, made for him as a good reminder.

Sesame Place

Yesterday, we spent the day at Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA. We drove up to PA on Sunday afternoon. The trip was pretty rough as we sat in lots of traffic, but when we finally arrived to the hotel, the girls were full of energy and ready to head down to the pool. We got everyone changed into bathing suits, went down to the pool, and just when the girls got in, it started thundering, and a big rain/thunderstorm followed. Not the best start to the trip. Anyway, we packed everyone up and found a Dave and Busters not too far from the hotel, and had dinner, played games, and the girls got to run out their energy to get ready for bed time. Thankfully, we had a nice day yesterday to be at the park. Lyla said she was excited (not so sure she knew what she was going to be excited about), but Nina was very very excited. Her first order of business was to ride the roller coaster there. Mark and I concurred that she rode the roller coaster between 12-15 times. We lost track, obviously, but we know it was at least 12 and probably more. She's like Mark - she loves her roller coasters! All the rides and attractions were kid-friendly, so they were both able to go on all the rides as long as Mark or I were with them.
Lyla was very excited to meet Cookie Monster. You can't tell it by her face in this picture, but she's a big fan!
We took a little break after lunch to watch the Abby Cadabby Treasure Hunt show.

Then after the show, we changed into our bathing suit attire for all the water attractions. We ended up spending the next several hours with all the water rides, but I put my camera in the car as I didn't want to leave it alone in our wagon while we were in the water rides. So, the last half of the day I have no pictures for. Lyla really started to tucker out in the late afternoon, so I took her to see Elmo Rocks while Mark and Nina hit up a few more bigger kid water rides. We rounded things out with a few more rides on the roller coaster. Here is one of Nina and I's rides on the roller coaster when we got in the first car. I'm the one laughing, and she's the one screaming! We left pretty exhausted, but it was a fun day.

Our Girl is Growing Up!

Nina has had quite a weekend! We just got home from Sesame Place tonight (I'll post that tomorrow when I get a chance to upload pictures), but Saturday night was the much anticipated sleepover party for Emme's 6th birthday. Nina was so excited to go, and she was telling us that she was planning on spending the night, but Mark and I had our doubts. We really thought we'd be getting the call late Saturday night to come pick her up. We planned our night accordingly. After dropping her off at the Williams house and getting Lyla to bed at 8:00, we arranged for a babysitter to stay at the house while we went out for a nice late dinner. We chatted a little about the kids while we were out. We reminisced a bit about a time just three weeks or so after Nina was born (so almost exactly four years ago) that our friends, the Clarkes, came over and stayed with Nina while we went out to dinner for the first time since she was born. Dinner on that occasion was very much an escape from a difficult newborn - we didn't want to go home. We laughed about how that seemed like so long ago, but how we realized how much Nina has grown up in the recent months. We still thought we'd get the call to pick her up... However, the call came in around 9:30 that night that she really wanted to stay over. I talked to her, and she sounded confident that she wanted to sleep over with all the other girls, so we finished up dinner and headed back home, but I still kept my cell phone on - still thinking we'd get the call. Well, we never got the call. She did great hanging with the big girls my sister said. The next morning when I was getting ready to go over and pick her up, Mark said, "I can't believe we didn't get the call." He gave me a big hug and said, "Our little girl is growing up," and I couldn't tell if I was happy or sad. I was happy for her. She was two years younger than all the other girls, and she wanted to much to be able to hang with them, and she did. So, I was happy for her. I was a little sad though because it seems lately like she's growing up so fast. After I dropped her off at the party, I came down where all the girls were hanging out to give her a kiss and say goodbye, and she said, "Ok, mom, I'll see you later," while giving me a quick peck for a kiss, and I could tell she was ready to be one of the girls.
I wish I could have been a fly on the wall, taking some pictures of the girl-craziness. From what my sister said, it was pretty wild. However, I did get a picture with she and Ryleigh and Emme the morning after the big party. You can tell she's a little wiped out.

And if I had any worries about her growing up too fast - it all got erased as soon as we pulled into the garage at our house from the party. She was too tired to even walk in, was a whiney/grumpy mess of a little girl, and I was quite convinced we haven't crossed the line into "big girl" world quite yet! :) There's still penty of time for that, but she kept it together for the party and festivities then crashed, and with that, I can identify a lot with!