Spirit of Giving- the 31 Days Begin!

I read an incredible article in my Glamour magazine (Dec'09 issue) using each day of December to do something to benefit those that are needy in our communities, and just ways to better the world. I am taking the challenge. I hope you do the same. At the very least, pick one task from each week list or complete each day with me! It's AMAZING what we can do when we help each other out. 
I will start by listing this week's challenges and will post every Monday the next week's list. Even a little bit helps. Most won't even cost you a dime!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
-A

The 31 Days of Giving

Week of December 1st- December 7th

Tuesday, December 1st: Help get PJs to kids in shelters so they won't have to sleep in their clothes by giving just $10 dollars at www.pajamaprogram.org.

Wednesday, December 2nd: Mentor a struggling student online at www.icouldbe.org. Studies show that a little boost can double a kid's chance of going to college.

Thursday, December 3rd: Donate books you've already read to your library. (Most public libraries accept them.)

Friday, December 4th: End homelessness through soccer: $10 dollars to www.streetsoccerusa.org helps a homeless person meet challenges off and on the field. 

Saturday, December 5th: Fight malnutrition. A $1 dollar gift to www.vitaminangels.org will provide much-needed vitamin supplements to children in places like Honduras, Haiti and even poor areas of the United States. 

Sunday, December 6th: Tend a garden. $5 dollars to www.dinnergarden.org buys seeds for enough veggies to feed a struggling family of seven. 

Monday, December 7th: Do some pro bono work. Whether you're in marketing or IT, www.taprootfoundation.org can match you with a non-profit in your community that needs your skills.

Until next week,

-A

 

Happy Thanksgiving

In thought of the season approaching and today's meaning for being thankful, I wanted to post a clever email I received recently on changing your perspective to be grateful for even the 'trials' in your life. Read on...


I thank God....

FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.


FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS..


FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .



FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.



FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE



FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.


FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.



FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.


FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.



FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.


AND I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE crazy people I work with
BECAUSE they make work interesting and fun!
     
AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL

BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE
THINKING OF ME...


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
-A

Ways to Say You're Thankful (Without Eating)

It's less than one week now until the big Thanksgiving Day, and aside from the big meal (what Thanksgiving has become known for), I challenge everyone to find ways afterward and before to give thanks to your loved ones and have fun as a family! To help give you a jumpstart on some ideas, here is a great article I found from Weight Watchers...
Love you all. I'm so thankful for each one of you!
Happy Turkey Day!

Zero-Calorie Thanksgiving Day Ideas... 

View on life

This last week has been a rough week, but I'm glad that I went through it.  Throughout the week days I find myself in a job that I dislike.  But there is a silver lining, as every evening I come home to my Darling wife who's waiting and very happy to see me come home.

Amy has started beauty school this week, and I can't be prouder.  My biggest priority in this relationship has been to make sure she gets through school.  Of course, she hates school (who doesn't) so this ends up being a bit of a struggle.  But luckily she's cooperating.  And making tips!  She cut two people's hair this weekend and ended up coming home with money!

Amy also got a letter from AFA, the company she's getting certification for in order to teach exercise classes, informing her that she hadn't passed the written and so would not yet be recieving her certification.  The next class we can get her to will be in December up in Logan.

Gonna be a long Saturday.

My cool thing this weekend has been getting Windows 7 working on Macintosh Bootcamp.  The challenges started in that I bought a $36 upgrade version which in order to get to custom install (I had xp, which you can't install from) to work you have to put the product key in AFTER you install the OS.  The second thing was the drivers, as Apple doesn't want to support Windows 7 right off the bat.  You have to start the driver installer from the command prompt in order to get past some configuration issues.

Yesterday I visited a friend whom I hadn't seen in months.  It was a reminder to me of how great my life is, as he is still living in his relatives basement and does nothing all day except play on his computer.  While that sounds great, I am so glad I have a wife who cares about me and a family that encourages us to get out and do things.  Being stuck in a basement playing computer all day is not my idea of fun.

On the family side, I am so incredibly proud to hear about Nathan's progress in the Church.  Knowing that he's getting the priorities in life sorted and may one day serve a mission makes me feel incredibly happy. 

Well I love you all, and have a great week!

Daylight S(l)avings and Getting More Sleep

Changing our clocks back an hour may be a blessing to some; but for those of us (including me) that don't run by alarm clocks, but by body clocks, it isn't that much fun. I can't sleep in for the life of me. Even on weekends, I'm up (naturally) by 7 am and sometimes earlier. I can't complain because I really love the mornings. I feel that's the best part of the day and I love getting my start. This part of the year tends to make me extremely tired, though. I wanted to share with you all a cool article I found on getting more energy to be able to last throughout the day. Enjoy!

-A

Wake up with More Energy