Well, I want to say that today's hairstyling fundraiser was a flop, but that wouldn't be completely true. I did kind of have fun hanging out at The Styling Boutique with the ladies. I just tried so hard to have a positive attitude even though I felt let down by the lack of people that came. Not a single client came to get something done by Patricia today for my fundraiser. :( A couple of clients that came in for the other stylists gave me a donation for my GAP year, so that was really nice. I guess I just was expecting more people to come. Why did God allow me to put so much effort into this fundraiser and then have no one show up? My mom and I made some really awesome posters, I bought cookies for the tent that we set up outside The Styling Boutique, I bought balloons for the tent...all this stuff and then no turnout. I just don't understand why things like this happen. Is God testing me to see if I'll still have a positive attitude? Well if He is, then I failed the test. I drove home crying this afternoon. I was just feeling so discouraged...I have $3,000 left to raise and this fundraiser didn't work out. When I pulled into my subdivision, I felt inclined to check the mail. I thought, "I just need to see one encouraging thing in that mailbox...just one." I didn't care if it was a Joyce Meyer magazine...or even an advertisement for a Joyce Meyer magazine. When I reached into the mailbox and pulled out the stack of mail, I was surprised to find an envelope with my name handwritten on it. Could it be a support check? I hadn't gotten many checks in a while (with maybe one exception). I tore open the envelope to find a nice letter from an old family friend named Deb.
When my family lived in Wisconsin, we were involved in a nice Christian group called Home & Hearth. We got together once a week (I think) for dinner, Bible study, and worship. At least that's what I remember it being. Anyway, Deb was a part of that group. I remember her being so sweet to me. She helped me start a postage stamp collection when I was younger. She used to give me all kinds of cool stamps from all over the world...I remember they all had such interesting pictures on them. When I moved to Michigan in 2000, Deb and I were pen pals for a little while, and she would still send me stamps. Eventually I outgrew my stamp collection, and then somehow Deb and I lost touch with each other. I never forgot her though. The Lord told me to include Deb in my fundraising mission for my GAP year in Ireland. My mom still had Deb's address, so I sent one of my support letters to her, hoping she'd remember me after all this time. It took her a couple of months (I sent the letters out in May), but Deb did remember me. And she sent me some money for my GAP year. Not only did God provide some funds through Deb, but He picked just the right time to have her send it to me. I had been feeling so discouraged about my fundraiser...this letter and money from Deb was just what I needed to pick me back up.
Another thing that helped lift my spirits was visiting my friend Liz after work tonight. Liz works at Starbucks right across the street from Costco, and we recently discovered that we work very similar shifts (4ish-close). When I got off work, I felt like going straight home. As I put on my blinker to turn out of the Costco parking lot, however, my friend Liz came to my mind. I think the Lord was telling me, "Go across the street to Starbucks and see if Liz is working." I know better than to argue with God or to not do what He says, so I pulled into the Starbucks parking lot and found a spot. While still sitting in my car, I peeked into the store to see if I could spot Liz. There she was, sweeping the floor. I walked in and as soon as she saw me she gave me such a big, welcoming smile and a big, welcoming hug. I then realized how happy I was to see her. She asked how my fundraiser went today and I told her it was a bit of a flop. After a little bit more chatting, she said, "Let me get you a drink. It'll make you feel better." She went behind the counter and whipped me up a delicious black and white hot chocolate. She was right...it did make me feel better. :) Thanks Liz!
Today was the hardest day in my fundraising this summer. Although the day didn't work out quite like I thought it would, God helped me to get through it. He revealed to me two good friendships that I am very blessed to have. I think this is His way of showing me that life with Him isn't always easy. He uses our toughest times to help us learn that we need to trust Him and know that He has a greater plan...no matter how bad the circumstances may seem.
I am leaving for a family vacation on Sunday for a week, but when I come back I'll begin my can and bottle drive in my subdivision. Please pray that God touches peoples' hearts to donate their empty cans and bottles for my year in Ireland. Please also pray for an optimistic mind for me as I go about this last month of fundraising. Pray that I will resist any doubts from the devil that may arise while my departure date draws nearer.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Spread the Word!
I forgot to mention in my most recent post, but my hair styling fundraiser is coming up this Friday July 29th!
Please come to Styling Boutique in Westland (810 S. Wayne Road, Westland MI 48186) this Friday July 29th any time from 9am-12pm to take advantage of their wonderful hair styling services! All proceeds from 9-12 will go towards my GAP year! The Styling Boutique offers services such as hair cuts and trims, hair repair treatments (with Redken chem. lab. products), hot oil treatments, scalp treatments (with Nioxin product), eyebrow waxing, and more. Please call Patricia at (734) 751-3493 or the Styling Boutique at (734) 728-3104 and ask for Patricia to make an appointment for Friday to support my GAP year to Ireland.
I am so excited for this fundraiser (now that we've changed the date so that I can be there), and I expect a huge turnout and a wonderful success. :) Please tell your friends to come and support me!
Please come to Styling Boutique in Westland (810 S. Wayne Road, Westland MI 48186) this Friday July 29th any time from 9am-12pm to take advantage of their wonderful hair styling services! All proceeds from 9-12 will go towards my GAP year! The Styling Boutique offers services such as hair cuts and trims, hair repair treatments (with Redken chem. lab. products), hot oil treatments, scalp treatments (with Nioxin product), eyebrow waxing, and more. Please call Patricia at (734) 751-3493 or the Styling Boutique at (734) 728-3104 and ask for Patricia to make an appointment for Friday to support my GAP year to Ireland.
I am so excited for this fundraiser (now that we've changed the date so that I can be there), and I expect a huge turnout and a wonderful success. :) Please tell your friends to come and support me!
Getting Closer
42 more days until I leave for Ireland!
I had my Mocktail Party fundraiser on Friday night and it went really well. There was a great turnout and I got about $220 in donations. :) We had some really great mocktails (special thanks to Becky and Leslie!), some tasty food, wonderful music (thanks Jon!) and some fun games. I am so thankful to everyone that came and supported me.
One thing that was pretty cool about the Mocktail Party is about how the Lord worked a miracle for us. While my mom and I were cleaning the house on Friday afternoon, my mom started dusting off the piano. Jennifer's friend Jon was planning on playing it for the party. We have a pretty old Baldwin piano that's pretty out of tune and has a couple of sticky keys. My mom prayed over the piano...she said, "Lord, please bless this piano. Make it sound really good." I laughed a little bit, then said, "What if God really did that? I mean...He could. What if He tuned it and got rid of those couple of sticky keys?" Then my mom said, "Thank You for doing that, Lord." And that was that. When Jon came over and started playing, Jennifer came into the room and said, "Rach! Jon said your piano sounds great -- better than the two pianos he has at home!" I couldn't believe my ears. I said, "Are you serious?" ...then I remembered the prayer my mom and I had said. Wow. If I could count the number of times the Lord has taught me not to put limits on Him...
So the Mocktail Party was good. It was great to see my friends and it was a lot of fun to dress up! Here are just a few of the pictures I took. I'm waiting for Jon to upload all the ones he took.
So my total now, after the most recent fundraising (Mocktail Party, pen sales, checks in the mail, cans/bottles), my total is now $7,985 out of $11,000. That's 73%! Thank you to all who have supported me. Only 27% more to go!
I had my Mocktail Party fundraiser on Friday night and it went really well. There was a great turnout and I got about $220 in donations. :) We had some really great mocktails (special thanks to Becky and Leslie!), some tasty food, wonderful music (thanks Jon!) and some fun games. I am so thankful to everyone that came and supported me.
One thing that was pretty cool about the Mocktail Party is about how the Lord worked a miracle for us. While my mom and I were cleaning the house on Friday afternoon, my mom started dusting off the piano. Jennifer's friend Jon was planning on playing it for the party. We have a pretty old Baldwin piano that's pretty out of tune and has a couple of sticky keys. My mom prayed over the piano...she said, "Lord, please bless this piano. Make it sound really good." I laughed a little bit, then said, "What if God really did that? I mean...He could. What if He tuned it and got rid of those couple of sticky keys?" Then my mom said, "Thank You for doing that, Lord." And that was that. When Jon came over and started playing, Jennifer came into the room and said, "Rach! Jon said your piano sounds great -- better than the two pianos he has at home!" I couldn't believe my ears. I said, "Are you serious?" ...then I remembered the prayer my mom and I had said. Wow. If I could count the number of times the Lord has taught me not to put limits on Him...
So the Mocktail Party was good. It was great to see my friends and it was a lot of fun to dress up! Here are just a few of the pictures I took. I'm waiting for Jon to upload all the ones he took.
My friend Becky had some GREAT ideas for mocktails! :)
That's Jon, Jennifer's friend who provided entertainment for us
A good chunk of the people that came to the party
I'm still selling the flower pens whenever I get the chance. It seems like every time someone sees one, they want to buy one! Praise God! :) Now I just have to make more.
I am all done with big fundraising parties I think. Unless someone else wants to throw one for me. :) Haha. They're a lot of work! I think this last month before I leave I'm going to collect cans and bottles from friends and from nearby subdivisions. I already got my first donation today from my coworker. Thanks Mike! :)
So my total now, after the most recent fundraising (Mocktail Party, pen sales, checks in the mail, cans/bottles), my total is now $7,985 out of $11,000. That's 73%! Thank you to all who have supported me. Only 27% more to go!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Lots of Blessings
45 more days now! The time is slipping away pretty quickly, but I'm getting more and more excited about Ireland. :) Yesterday at work, the warehouse manager of my Costco location (his name's Bill) talked to me a little bit about my trip. He started off by saying, "You sure you don't want to reconsider leaving us?" I laughed and told him it was too late--I already have my plane ticket. Then he got serious and said that he was really happy for me. He told me "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it's going to be totally worth it." It made me happy to hear him say that. I then asked him if he could pull me in his office on my last day and yell really loudly, "You're FIRED!" (even though I know I have to quit)...just to make it all dramatic. He said he would. :) I then talked to another warehouse manager (Mark) who came up to me and said, "So when are you leaving? I'm getting sick of seeing your smile." This of course made me smile, because I knew he was joking. Mark has been one of my favorite managers throughout my time at Costco. He was especially a huge help during my time in the Deli department. I hated it there, but Mark helped me out in every way that he could. Sometimes he took out my trash at night, sometimes he replenished the "case" (where people buy food from) with more food, and sometimes he just came in to ask how I was doing. I felt comfortable coming to him with questions or concerns, and I think that's what makes him a really great manager. Anyway, I told him that I was leaving for Ireland in September, and he said he'd make sure to work me really hard for the next month or so until I leave. :) I told him what Bill was going to do ("fire" me) on my last day, and he said, "Oh no, we're going to do it out here. In front of everyone." :) Ohhh...I can't wait to see what happens on my last day.
These last few days have been really awesome, but also really busy. On Monday I babysat all day for my little cousins (ages 5 and 6). At first it was hard for me to be awake that early in the morning (7am), but I made it through the day and ended up having a lot of fun with them. They're so cute and very well-behaved. I was very impressed. :) Plus I put the money that I got for babysitting toward my GAP year!
On Tuesday I went to DMC (Detroit Medical Center) in Novi to observe a speech language pathologist in the rehabilitation center. I am planning on going to grad school after my GAP year, and I need 25 observation hours before grad school...so I'm trying to get all my hours in before I leave for Ireland. I had the most wonderful observation experience I've ever had! The SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist) I observed was super nice. She was fairly young, dressed really cute and had a really sweet personality. Her attitude toward the clients was extremely positive and she seemed to have a great respect for all of them. I learned so much, too! I was there from 9:30am-4:30pm, and I got to see her treat 5 different clients. I asked her a lot of questions and she answered them without making me feel stupid. :) She also made me feel very included in her work. Not only did I get to sit in the room during the speech therapy sessions, but she let me read some information about each client before they came, and then she read me her write-up about each session after the client left. One client in particular struck my heart deeply. He was only 47 years old and had had a pretty severe stroke which caused him to have a lot of difficulty with swallowing (if you're interested, see http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/dysph.html). Because of this, he was placed on a strict NPO (none per oral) diet. He was told he couldn't eat at all--can you imagine? With his doctor's "ok", he is now eating a puree diet and drinking milk through a straw. His wife sat in on the therapy session with him, and her smile and positive attitude overwhelmed me. I mean, this guy was in a wheelchair with a belt around his waist to help him sit up straight. He had trouble keeping his tongue in his mouth, and his speech was hardly comprehensible. That has to be hard for her. But despite the difficult circumstances, she put a smile on her face and was even laughing a little bit during the session. The SLP did some really interesting exercises with this man during the session...some of which I've learned and even practiced in classes at Eastern. At one point she put on a pair of gloves and physically held his jaw up and his lips closed to try and get him to swallow with his mouth closed. It was hard for me to watch him struggle with this, but rewarding to see him swallow correctly and hear the SLP cheer for him. :) I could go on and on about this observation experience, but I just want to say that it was really a confirmation for me. I think the Lord was trying to tell me that I'm going into the right profession and that it's going to be a very rewarding career.
I babysat my little cousins again yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by their good nature. I enjoyed spending time with them and I think they had fun with me too. Here's some pictures I took while we were playing outside yesterday:
That's all I have for today. I praise the Lord for blessing these last few days and giving me such joy.
Some updates real quick on my fundraising:
1. Tomorrow is my Mocktail Party fundraiser, so I am hoping and praying for a good turnout for that. :)
2. I just added up the total sales for my flower pens so far and I've made about $160 (including a pretty big order from my wonderful friend Tricia from Wisconsin...thanks Tricia!)
Please keep me in your prayers. :)
These last few days have been really awesome, but also really busy. On Monday I babysat all day for my little cousins (ages 5 and 6). At first it was hard for me to be awake that early in the morning (7am), but I made it through the day and ended up having a lot of fun with them. They're so cute and very well-behaved. I was very impressed. :) Plus I put the money that I got for babysitting toward my GAP year!
On Tuesday I went to DMC (Detroit Medical Center) in Novi to observe a speech language pathologist in the rehabilitation center. I am planning on going to grad school after my GAP year, and I need 25 observation hours before grad school...so I'm trying to get all my hours in before I leave for Ireland. I had the most wonderful observation experience I've ever had! The SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist) I observed was super nice. She was fairly young, dressed really cute and had a really sweet personality. Her attitude toward the clients was extremely positive and she seemed to have a great respect for all of them. I learned so much, too! I was there from 9:30am-4:30pm, and I got to see her treat 5 different clients. I asked her a lot of questions and she answered them without making me feel stupid. :) She also made me feel very included in her work. Not only did I get to sit in the room during the speech therapy sessions, but she let me read some information about each client before they came, and then she read me her write-up about each session after the client left. One client in particular struck my heart deeply. He was only 47 years old and had had a pretty severe stroke which caused him to have a lot of difficulty with swallowing (if you're interested, see http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/dysph.html). Because of this, he was placed on a strict NPO (none per oral) diet. He was told he couldn't eat at all--can you imagine? With his doctor's "ok", he is now eating a puree diet and drinking milk through a straw. His wife sat in on the therapy session with him, and her smile and positive attitude overwhelmed me. I mean, this guy was in a wheelchair with a belt around his waist to help him sit up straight. He had trouble keeping his tongue in his mouth, and his speech was hardly comprehensible. That has to be hard for her. But despite the difficult circumstances, she put a smile on her face and was even laughing a little bit during the session. The SLP did some really interesting exercises with this man during the session...some of which I've learned and even practiced in classes at Eastern. At one point she put on a pair of gloves and physically held his jaw up and his lips closed to try and get him to swallow with his mouth closed. It was hard for me to watch him struggle with this, but rewarding to see him swallow correctly and hear the SLP cheer for him. :) I could go on and on about this observation experience, but I just want to say that it was really a confirmation for me. I think the Lord was trying to tell me that I'm going into the right profession and that it's going to be a very rewarding career.
I babysat my little cousins again yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by their good nature. I enjoyed spending time with them and I think they had fun with me too. Here's some pictures I took while we were playing outside yesterday:
I made them a little kiddie pool :)
Julian (age 6)
Nolan (age 5)
That's all I have for today. I praise the Lord for blessing these last few days and giving me such joy.
Some updates real quick on my fundraising:
1. Tomorrow is my Mocktail Party fundraiser, so I am hoping and praying for a good turnout for that. :)
2. I just added up the total sales for my flower pens so far and I've made about $160 (including a pretty big order from my wonderful friend Tricia from Wisconsin...thanks Tricia!)
Please keep me in your prayers. :)
Saturday, July 16, 2011
50 More Days!
In just 50 days I will be hopping on a plane to Dublin, Ireland for my GAP year. :) This summer has gone by far too fast and I know these next fifty days will too!
I just did a little dorky calculation to see how much more money I need to raise for the year. I need $3,589, so $3,589 divided by 50 days means I need to raise about $71 per day for the next 50 days. Woohoo! Let's go fundraising!
The flower pens have been selling really well, especially at work. I keep one in my pocket all day at work to kind of advertise them. Then I get people saying, "Is that a flower in your pocket?" I say, "Actually, it's a pen. I'm selling them as a fundraiser for my year in Ireland." They usually say something like, "Oh! I'll buy a couple from you!" At this point I whip out the little order form from my back pocket and take down their order. It's a beautiful thing. Thanks to all my wonderfully supportive coworkers!
Next Friday is the mocktail party, so please pray for a good turnout for that. The following weekend there will be another interesting fundraiser. I say it's going to be interesting because I'm hardly doing any planning for it. I don't even really have to be there. A lady from my church owns a hair salon in Westland called Styling Boutique. With a little of my help in advertising, she's going to give me all the proceeds from an afternoon of her hair salon services! She also took 15 of my flower pens to sell at her salon. :) If all 15 of them sell, that's already $75 for my GAP year. I know the Lord is really going to work through this fundraiser and I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I want to end this post with some thank-yous.
Lauren - My friend Lauren has been such a trooper in all of this. Seriously, I could not ask for a better fundraising partner! She has had a positive attitude every time I come to her with more fundraising ideas, and she has contributed some awesome ideas of her own. The thing that really gets me is that she does all of this while maintaining not one, not two, but THREE jobs. May God bless her heart.
Jennifer - My friend Jennifer has also been a great support in my fundraising this summer. I love her fun ideas! I don't know where I would be without her. She spent an entire day (literally) helping me make flower pens! She got sticky floral tape-y fingers for me and I love her for that. She has also been really great at picking me up when I start having a negative attitude about fundraising. :)
Mom & dad - I want to thank my parents for believing in me. I also want to thank them for their constant prayer support and willingness to help me with fundraising in every way that they can. We had a bit of a rough start in the beginning of all this, but I think now we've seen a taste of what the Lord can do when we place our trust in Him. They are both wonderful parents and I'm really blessed to have them in my life.
Everyone that has contributed in any way, whether financially or otherwise - THANK YOU. I could not have raised over $7,000 without your support!
I just did a little dorky calculation to see how much more money I need to raise for the year. I need $3,589, so $3,589 divided by 50 days means I need to raise about $71 per day for the next 50 days. Woohoo! Let's go fundraising!
The flower pens have been selling really well, especially at work. I keep one in my pocket all day at work to kind of advertise them. Then I get people saying, "Is that a flower in your pocket?" I say, "Actually, it's a pen. I'm selling them as a fundraiser for my year in Ireland." They usually say something like, "Oh! I'll buy a couple from you!" At this point I whip out the little order form from my back pocket and take down their order. It's a beautiful thing. Thanks to all my wonderfully supportive coworkers!
Next Friday is the mocktail party, so please pray for a good turnout for that. The following weekend there will be another interesting fundraiser. I say it's going to be interesting because I'm hardly doing any planning for it. I don't even really have to be there. A lady from my church owns a hair salon in Westland called Styling Boutique. With a little of my help in advertising, she's going to give me all the proceeds from an afternoon of her hair salon services! She also took 15 of my flower pens to sell at her salon. :) If all 15 of them sell, that's already $75 for my GAP year. I know the Lord is really going to work through this fundraiser and I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I want to end this post with some thank-yous.
Lauren - My friend Lauren has been such a trooper in all of this. Seriously, I could not ask for a better fundraising partner! She has had a positive attitude every time I come to her with more fundraising ideas, and she has contributed some awesome ideas of her own. The thing that really gets me is that she does all of this while maintaining not one, not two, but THREE jobs. May God bless her heart.
Jennifer - My friend Jennifer has also been a great support in my fundraising this summer. I love her fun ideas! I don't know where I would be without her. She spent an entire day (literally) helping me make flower pens! She got sticky floral tape-y fingers for me and I love her for that. She has also been really great at picking me up when I start having a negative attitude about fundraising. :)
Mom & dad - I want to thank my parents for believing in me. I also want to thank them for their constant prayer support and willingness to help me with fundraising in every way that they can. We had a bit of a rough start in the beginning of all this, but I think now we've seen a taste of what the Lord can do when we place our trust in Him. They are both wonderful parents and I'm really blessed to have them in my life.
Everyone that has contributed in any way, whether financially or otherwise - THANK YOU. I could not have raised over $7,000 without your support!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Pink and Sparkly
It has been some time since I've blogged. That doesn't mean that my fundraising hasn't been going well. In fact, it's just the opposite. My fundraising has been going very well. I've just been quite busy!
I have gotten back into my creative side lately. I used to scrapbook and made cards all the time, but since college I've kind of lost touch with all that. I got an idea to make some really fun flower pens to sell as a fundraiser for my GAP year, and they're turning out really well! I'm selling them for $5 each and I've already gotten several orders from people at work.
I have gotten back into my creative side lately. I used to scrapbook and made cards all the time, but since college I've kind of lost touch with all that. I got an idea to make some really fun flower pens to sell as a fundraiser for my GAP year, and they're turning out really well! I'm selling them for $5 each and I've already gotten several orders from people at work.
I had a fundraiser event tonight with some of my girlfriends. My friend Lauren is a Mary Kay consultant, and she threw a party for me tonight as a benefit for my GAP year. 25% of what she sells in Mary Kay products is going toward my trip! In addition to that, I did manicures and pedicures with my friend Becky (thanks Becky!) for a small price, and I sold my flower pens and some friendship bracelets. Lauren came over early this afternoon to help me decorate the basement and bake cookies, so everything worked out really nicely.
Food and flower pens :)
Look how pretty the basement looks!
Mary Kay :)
A couple of my lovely helpers, Becky and Jennifer. :)
I am looking forward to the mocktail party fundraiser next Friday the 22nd. I pray for a good turnout and a fun event. *If you're wondering why you weren't invited to the mocktail party, it's because I probably invited you to another one of my fundraisers, and I don't want to invite the same group of people to every event. I don't want to bug you if you've already donated! :)* Having said that, if you would still like to support me and come to the mocktail party, I won't stop you! Contact me (rc1120@gmail.com) for more details.
Friday, July 1, 2011
An Angel
Happy July, all. It's hard to believe that in just about 2 months I'll be in Ireland! Where has the time gone?!
I want to start off this post by telling you all about the angel I encountered yesterday at work. Yeah, an angel. I was working my cash register, doing my Costco thing, when I saw her. On the outside she looked like a regular woman...plain clothes, plain hair, plain makeup. But her smile was what set her apart. Have you ever seen someone smile so wonderfully that they just radiated kindness? Almost as if you could see right to their big, loving heart? Almost as if you could see a glimpse of Christ in them? When it was this woman's turn in my line, she handed me her Costco card, smiled, and said hello. Now, everyone does that. But this woman was different. Beautiful. Sweet. She didn't say much, but the way that she smiled so genuinely, how she politely asked for a pen, and the way she said goodbye, was just so...well, angelic. I wanted to tell her how she so positively impacted my day, but how would I begin to say that? Instead I just stood there for a minute and thought, "Wow. That woman was an angel." For the rest of the day I repeated her name over and over in my head so I wouldn't forget it. I want to pray for this woman. Kathleen. I pray that Kathleen would continue to be an angel wherever she goes. I pray that her beautiful smile would always be upon her face and that so many others would be impacted by her positive attitude. Thank you, Kathleen.
As far as my fundraising, I'm at about $7,000 out of $11,000. Thanks to all of my wonderful friends, family, and even strangers that have supported me, I'm slowing climbing towards my goal. Slowly making my way to Dublin, Ireland. I have some exciting fundraisers coming up this month. My friend Lauren is a Mary Kay consultant, and she has offered to have a benefit party for me. Along with her simple yet luxurious Mary Kay facials (they really are great!), I will be doing manicures for $10 ($2 extra for french tips, polka dots, sparkles, etc.), and we will have some refreshments and music. All of my lovely lady friends (sorry guys) are invited to come to a hand facial/manicure night on Tuesday July 12th at 7:00pm. I will also be selling some awesome friendship bracelets and some snazzy homemade flower pens! Stay tuned for a Facebook event page! I will also be hosting a mocktail party on Friday July 22nd (time TBA). Guys, you can come to this one. We will have live music (thanks to Jon, a friend of Jennifer's), photography (thanks again to Jon), appetizer-y food, non-alcoholic drinks, prizes, and more. Dress nice for a fun and elegant evening. Cover charge will be a minimum of $15 (or other donation) toward my GAP year in Ireland. Stay tuned for more information and a Facebook event page!
That's all for now. Thanks again to all of you who have supported me. I am really looking forward to this next month of fundraising. I know the Lord will continue to provide and I'm so excited to see how He will be working in my life. Keep me in your prayers, please!
I want to start off this post by telling you all about the angel I encountered yesterday at work. Yeah, an angel. I was working my cash register, doing my Costco thing, when I saw her. On the outside she looked like a regular woman...plain clothes, plain hair, plain makeup. But her smile was what set her apart. Have you ever seen someone smile so wonderfully that they just radiated kindness? Almost as if you could see right to their big, loving heart? Almost as if you could see a glimpse of Christ in them? When it was this woman's turn in my line, she handed me her Costco card, smiled, and said hello. Now, everyone does that. But this woman was different. Beautiful. Sweet. She didn't say much, but the way that she smiled so genuinely, how she politely asked for a pen, and the way she said goodbye, was just so...well, angelic. I wanted to tell her how she so positively impacted my day, but how would I begin to say that? Instead I just stood there for a minute and thought, "Wow. That woman was an angel." For the rest of the day I repeated her name over and over in my head so I wouldn't forget it. I want to pray for this woman. Kathleen. I pray that Kathleen would continue to be an angel wherever she goes. I pray that her beautiful smile would always be upon her face and that so many others would be impacted by her positive attitude. Thank you, Kathleen.
As far as my fundraising, I'm at about $7,000 out of $11,000. Thanks to all of my wonderful friends, family, and even strangers that have supported me, I'm slowing climbing towards my goal. Slowly making my way to Dublin, Ireland. I have some exciting fundraisers coming up this month. My friend Lauren is a Mary Kay consultant, and she has offered to have a benefit party for me. Along with her simple yet luxurious Mary Kay facials (they really are great!), I will be doing manicures for $10 ($2 extra for french tips, polka dots, sparkles, etc.), and we will have some refreshments and music. All of my lovely lady friends (sorry guys) are invited to come to a hand facial/manicure night on Tuesday July 12th at 7:00pm. I will also be selling some awesome friendship bracelets and some snazzy homemade flower pens! Stay tuned for a Facebook event page! I will also be hosting a mocktail party on Friday July 22nd (time TBA). Guys, you can come to this one. We will have live music (thanks to Jon, a friend of Jennifer's), photography (thanks again to Jon), appetizer-y food, non-alcoholic drinks, prizes, and more. Dress nice for a fun and elegant evening. Cover charge will be a minimum of $15 (or other donation) toward my GAP year in Ireland. Stay tuned for more information and a Facebook event page!
That's all for now. Thanks again to all of you who have supported me. I am really looking forward to this next month of fundraising. I know the Lord will continue to provide and I'm so excited to see how He will be working in my life. Keep me in your prayers, please!
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