Goodbye 2013! Hello 2014!

Happy New Year!!! So I haven;t done a very good job of maintaining this blog. I decidedtonight to look and see what I accomplished this year that I have not marked off and plan some goals for the beginning of 2014.

Get my Bachelor's degree - After 20 years I graduated cum laude with my Bachelors of Science in Business Administration on December 14, 2013. I am very happy to have completed this goal. 

Donate blood 4 times - I am going to have to mark this complete. I only was able to donate three times since I created this list. Now that I have gone to Haiti I am not eligible to donate blood. I really like to be able to donate blood but going to Haiti changes lives too... mine included. 

Donate money to charity - I have done this in a couple of ways. The one closest to my heart is that I sponsor Theodore. He is a resident of the Cambry orphanage in Cayes, Haiti. Being his sponsor is much more than a financial commitment though. He has a huge piece of my heart there in Haiti with him. It doesn't hurt that he is the cutest thing ever!!!

Teach Karson to drive - I can only claim partial responsibility for this one but she is a driver now. She has yet to take her driving test but she has completed drivers training and is a pretty good driver. It makes me very nervous to think about the fact that she is growing up and will be on the roads alone. 

Increase 401K contributions - I increased my contributions by 1% in December of 2013. I intend to continue to increase it each year. 

Go on a mission trip to a foreign country - In October of 2013 I went with Give Hope Global to Cambry orphanage in Cayes, Haiti for a week. What a life changing experience. The children and people there are so loving and kind. It was a total low stress environment that my heart and soul long to be back in. I will be going back in 10 days and then again in June. I am not sure that I will be able to let a trip go by without me being on the plane. 

Makeover for bedroom - I would say this is 95% done. The only thing that was not done was to paint the walls. I got all new furniture and a new mattress. It makes a huge difference in the room. One of the funny things about that experience was when Mom and I went to Ikea to buy furniture. Let's just say that it was not intended to fit in my car with two people in there also. With some creative packing and a horizontal mom we made it back home in one trip. Putting the bed together with Karson was also a very laughable experience. Note to self: Probably not a good idea to put furniture together after midnight. :) 

Priorities for the first part of 2014

Leave an inspirational note inside book for someone to find

Take a road trip with just me and Karson

Pay for people's order at drive thru

Go to a movie by myself

Refinance house

Volunteer at a soup kitchen

Clean out storage building

Start and maintain a blog - Have to work on the maintaining part :) 

Visit the elderly at a nursing home

Organize Laundry Room

Restring Nana's pearls

Set up and maintain craft area/office - Craft area is set up - Might move it or try to figure out some way to may it a pet free zone. Have to work on the office part of this equation. 

Sell something on Etsy

Here's to a prosperous and successful 2014!

#25 Make a Dress (or 8)

When I added #25 Make a Dress to my 101 in 1001 list I did not think it would have the impact on my heart and life that it has.

I have always been one who loves to do for others. That is why when an opportunity came up to provide a service to the children in an orphanage in Haiti I knew that I was up for it.

My mom participates in a group at her church that call themselves the KnitWits. They basically use their different needlework and sewing talents to provide various acts of love and charity for others in need. One of their members had a daughter that had recently gone on a mission trip. The idea came from that to make dresses for the little girls the next time someone we knew was going on a similar trip.

Enter Blessback Worldwide and the children in the Cambry orphanage. The CEO of my company is affiliated with this Non-Profit organization and has often shared his experiences and love for the children in this orphanage. I knew that they were going on a trip in August. I reached out to him and he put me in touch with his daughter who was able to provide me the names and some great information about the girls there. There are 45 girls living in Cambry ranging in age up to 18.

Karson, my mom, 6 other KnitWits and myself divided up the list and set out to make all of the girls their own personalized dress. Because the children get so little that is theirs alone, we made effort to try to make them feel loved from someone they have never met in South Carolina. Each girl was sent a dress with a personalized tag sewn in the back of the neck that said "Made with love for (their name)", a matching hair accessory, a handwritten letter to them, and a picture of the person that made their dress. The dresses were blessed in church before they were given to Blessback for their journey to Haiti.

Making these dresses, writing the letters, and then seeing pictures of the girls with big smiles on their faces has really touched my heart. I want to do what I can to be closer affiliated with this organization and the children of Cambry. There is a trip coming up in January. I am trying to decide if it is the right time in my life to join the group on their journey. It is not a matter of want, because I want to go really bad. It is more a matter of timing and is this the right time. More to come on that....

I will leave you with some pictures of the dresses and the beautiful faces in Cambry. Please keep these children and this organization in your prayers. And as the header on their website says, You are blessed. Bless back!