YOUTH TOMS!!!!!!

Go ahead. Call me crazy. I am SO excited for Youth TOMS that I was checking every day and...it paid off!!

I'm trying to purchase as many pairs of shoes as I can to take with me to South Africa for Vashti and her orphans at Project O when I go visit in May. Maybe I won't have to worry about too too many since VASHTI MET BLAKE!!!

But I had to share with you since that had been in my Thankful Thursday last week. :)

How are you doing today?

P.S. If my husband doesn't get any more donors, he's going to shave his 'stache this week. If you're interested, you can visit here. He's kind of okay with it though. It's a very sad mustache.

Mustaches, Vindaloo, and a Prayer

It's been a good weekend. Steve is off to a great mustachioed start of Mustaches Vs. Cancer!! Though his mustache is somewhat sad. Just a bit. He looks a bit creepy in that picture, right? Maybe it's just me. He was saying, 'No one is going to want to donate to me with that picture!' He's a dork. If you'd like to see his page for Mustaches vs. Cancer, please click here.



Vindaloo has been looking for a good five minutes for the light that she was trying to attack in this picture. No joke, she's STILL looking for it. And she's kind of upset that she can't find it.

But we did find an awesome alternative.



Lastly, so my blogger friend Vashti told me a story!! Tell me how awesome this is. She was walking around in South Africa (where she lives) and this guy walks by and says, 'Hey, you're wearing TOMS.' And she says, 'So are you.' BAM. She realizes that she's talking to BLAKE, THE CHEIF SHOE GIVER. Aka: The guy who started TOMS SHOES!!!!! HOW F-ING AWESOME IS THAT?! I freaking love my TOMS. So comfortable. She told me that story and I almost peed myself. FREAKING AWESOME.


Me in my TOMS

So she told him what they do for the AIDs orphans in South Africa and he wrote down all their information. Could you please pray that Blake loves their mission and wants to help their orphans? That would change things so, so much.

I'm sorry. What did you say? You said that you'd like to also e-mail and send letters to Blake? I think that's a great idea!! You are so thoughtful. That's why I like you.

Here's where you can send letters:
TOMS Shoes
3025 Olympic Blvd., Suite C
Santa Monica, CA 90404
800-975-TOMS (8667)
310-566-3170

And e-mails can go here.

Thank you!! You guys rock.

My TOMS Entry

Define love.

That was a question my high school sociology teacher posed to me and my class.

We tried to tell him it was a feeling, something indefinable. That it was between a man and a woman or a mother and a child. Something intangible and beyond our grasp.

He never accepted one of our answers.

I've never been to the Valley of 1,000 Hills, but I know of it. I sponsor two children there – a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. I've shipped boxes of clothes (and sure, sometimes cookies) and prayed that one day I could ship myself so I could see these children who I call "my kids". I wait for pictures and letters and can feel the tears forming in my eyes when I get a smile from somewhere far, far away from children I am not sure I will ever meet.

What I feel for them is not intangible. I can feel it pulse through my body. I want to know that they’re going to be okay, that they’ll be taken care of. I think about them and pray for them and want to do all I can to love them. I can’t look at the faces of these children without falling head-over-heels.

And I’ve taken the first step. I can give them my money, but they deserve more than that. Love is something more than talking, it’s something you do. I want love that is more than just giving money. I want to give with my hands and from my heart.

If I could talk to my teacher now, I think I would have a different answer.

Love is a verb and I want to live it.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Hey guys,
How's it going? It's been a little bit. It's also been up and down lately.

Someone spit in my hair.

Yes.

Here's how it goes. I wasn't feeling well at the gym so Steve and I decided to go home. It has been decided by some people that it's fun to scare white people up in Harlem. Steve and I were walking home. Talking to each other. Only. And someone sneaks up behind me and literally screams, "HOW ARE YOU DOING?!" But I didn't jump this time. There was no reaction. And I just let it go, because I knew what was going on. Steve didn't jump either. We just let it go.

And then he spit in my hair.

They talked about us and walked away. Steve didn't even realize it and I had to tell him. I held it together for awhile, but then I burst into tears.

Here's what gets me: I would NEVER do that someone. Anyone. No matter how angry I was. And I think it hurt me to think that I could just be standing there and someone would do that.

We prayed about it, but I would just randomly cry throughout the night. Maybe that was stupid, but it felt so personal, you know?

But the rest of this week has been good. I got both of the bridesmaid dresses that I needed to come in. BOTH need alterations. Which would normally piss me off, but it means I've lost some weight, so that's good. Then, I got an e-mail about an essay contest for TOMS. For a shoe drop in The Valley of 1,000 Hills!!! How crazy is that?! I'm trying to write my essay now. I write frenetically and just submit things. I want to take my time on this one.

So how are you doing? How's your week been?