Myself and 9 other women on campus have come together to participate in RC's new pay-it-forward program, Real Hope. Rebekah,the fantastic woman who has been helping me make this idea happen, has started a blog for us. This blog explains our mission, and in the future it will be updated as we make progress. Currently the blog describes the concept of Real Hope, and allows for people to make donations to the cause.
Well, without further ado, here is the link: http://realhopeschooledition.blogspot.com
I hope you will follow us through this journey as we makeover a school library in the metro-Detroit area!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
too many colors
recently, i've been thinking a lot about commitment, priorities, and obligations. really, i've been thinking about overcommitment and over-obligation. college gets busy. time management becomes an essential survival skill. pretty soon you're wishing that you could clone yourself so that you could be in six places at once.
i completely understand this feeling. i've been there. well, really i'm still there, but not as much as i use to be. but, i realized that saying yes to more commitments wasn't doing anyone any favors. i had to learn to say no because my eggs were starting to turn out brown. (now you're thinking i'm crazy, but just hear me out). i was talking about this topic to someone recently. she affirmed my feelings and said, "if you dip your eggs in too many colors, they all turn out brown." that little idiom really resonated with me. not only does it express something that i don't want for my own life, but it explains how much of an impact people's priorities can have on a group, a relationship, or an effort.
i think that the time that we are living in encourages this over-obligated lifestyle. it is normal for people to take on more commitments than they really can handle. i think we all could use a reminder to slow down every once in a while and re-evaluate our priorities. after all, who wants their eggs to turn out brown?
i completely understand this feeling. i've been there. well, really i'm still there, but not as much as i use to be. but, i realized that saying yes to more commitments wasn't doing anyone any favors. i had to learn to say no because my eggs were starting to turn out brown. (now you're thinking i'm crazy, but just hear me out). i was talking about this topic to someone recently. she affirmed my feelings and said, "if you dip your eggs in too many colors, they all turn out brown." that little idiom really resonated with me. not only does it express something that i don't want for my own life, but it explains how much of an impact people's priorities can have on a group, a relationship, or an effort.
i think that the time that we are living in encourages this over-obligated lifestyle. it is normal for people to take on more commitments than they really can handle. i think we all could use a reminder to slow down every once in a while and re-evaluate our priorities. after all, who wants their eggs to turn out brown?
Friday, October 15, 2010
"birthweek"..the new and improved birthday
birthdays are important. it's the one day a year where people stop and celebrate you. i hope that everyone has people in their life that recognize them on their birthdays. it's a chance to reflect on the past year, and dream of the year to come. all that to say, i love birthdays.
last week was brenden's 20th birthday. i put a lot of planning into the week (yes, week) of celebrating him. i felt like one day out of 365 wasn't enough...he needed to be honored for a week. so, we had brenden's birthweek instead of brenden's birthday. he got one present each day for five days. i even started a tradition for his birthday present. every year, one of his birthday presents will be a new pair of moccasins. he wears them almost every day. after a year, he desperately needs a new pair.
my favorite part of brenden's birthweek wasn't the presents, it was the time we spent together with some of his favorite people. the night before his birthday, i had a surprise party for him at applebee's with about 15 of his friends and family. he had no idea. as we were walking in, he turned to me and said, "now don't tell anyone it's my birthday." i just smiled and replied, "okay, i won't." he was completely surprised when we walked in to find a table full of the people that mean so much to him. a couple minutes later he looked at me and said, "did you do this?" i think he was still a little shocked at how the whole thing was pulled off without him knowing. that made the whole thing worth the stress that happened just hours before his party when he told me he couldn't go to applebee's until an hour later than we had planned because he had praise team practice.
that wasn't the end of things. on his actual birthday, brenden's best friend, caleb, and his girlfriend, kelsey, came to rochester to spend the night with us. he had no idea they were coming. i had a great time getting to know the two of them, but the best part was seeing brenden and caleb pick up right where they left off. those are the best kind of friendships- the ones where no matter how long it's been, you can pick up right where you left off, as if no time has passed.
i was so happy with how everything turned out. but now, how am i going to top that next year when he turns 21?
last week was brenden's 20th birthday. i put a lot of planning into the week (yes, week) of celebrating him. i felt like one day out of 365 wasn't enough...he needed to be honored for a week. so, we had brenden's birthweek instead of brenden's birthday. he got one present each day for five days. i even started a tradition for his birthday present. every year, one of his birthday presents will be a new pair of moccasins. he wears them almost every day. after a year, he desperately needs a new pair.
my favorite part of brenden's birthweek wasn't the presents, it was the time we spent together with some of his favorite people. the night before his birthday, i had a surprise party for him at applebee's with about 15 of his friends and family. he had no idea. as we were walking in, he turned to me and said, "now don't tell anyone it's my birthday." i just smiled and replied, "okay, i won't." he was completely surprised when we walked in to find a table full of the people that mean so much to him. a couple minutes later he looked at me and said, "did you do this?" i think he was still a little shocked at how the whole thing was pulled off without him knowing. that made the whole thing worth the stress that happened just hours before his party when he told me he couldn't go to applebee's until an hour later than we had planned because he had praise team practice.
that wasn't the end of things. on his actual birthday, brenden's best friend, caleb, and his girlfriend, kelsey, came to rochester to spend the night with us. he had no idea they were coming. i had a great time getting to know the two of them, but the best part was seeing brenden and caleb pick up right where they left off. those are the best kind of friendships- the ones where no matter how long it's been, you can pick up right where you left off, as if no time has passed.
i was so happy with how everything turned out. but now, how am i going to top that next year when he turns 21?
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