101 things in 1001 days...UPDATE

So here's a little update as to where I am on the progress of things I would like to accomplish by June 18, 2011. I am having lots of fun with the picture taking, and really enjoyed sitting at the lake the other day...I think I may do it again this week :) Some of these things are going to take a great deal of willpower for me to accomplish, simply because I enjoy procrastination...but that is one reason why I like the idea of this list...it gives me a date to have finished all of the tasks. We'll see if I finish it, I'm just having fun in the process!

Tasks completed (2/102)

Just for Fun
1. watch the sunrise twice (0/2)
2. watch the sunset three times (0/3)
3. spend an hour looking at the stars twice (0/2)
4. spend a day at the park with nothing but a book
5. dance in the rain
6. read 15 children’s books (1/15)
7. read 20 grown up books (1/20)...if I never read another book about global warming it will be too soon...
8. visit the ocean
9. visit the mountains
10. play in the snow
11. swim in a lake or a river
12. be in two places at once
13. hike Stone Mountain
14. visit the Atlanta Zoo
15. relax for a half hour at the lakes on CSU campus five times (1/5)
16. take photo booth pictures
17. buy and put together a puzzle (minimum 200 pieces)
Craftiness
18. bake a loaf of bread from scratch
19. find/make a box to store greeting cards in
20. take 1 picture I like every day for 30 days (5/30)
21. make/stuff three pillows (0/3)
22. acquire and re-finish cedar chest
23. put together photo album for Chai and Joska trips (0/2)
24. sew duvet cover with fabric of my choice
25. make 10 birthday/anniversary/misc. cards (3/10)
26. frame 3 pictures that I really love
History
27. Visit Oakland Cemetery
28. find and visit the oldest church in Atlanta, or Georgia
29. visit Savannah
30. attend one 1890’s day celebration in Ringgold
In me Casa
31. find 20 things to donate to Lazarus ministry (3/20)
32. keep room tidy for one month
33. cook 3 meals a day for two weeks
34. stay on top of laundry for a month
35. have people over for a home cooked dinner
36. go through boxes at dad’s
37. donate the things I find I no longer want/need
38. start recycling
39. burn CD’s of all my pictures
Fun with Friends
40. girls night out (wear dresses and go to a nice restaurant for desserts)
41. go on a picnic
42. take each of my siblings out to lunch (0/5)
43. go to the drive-in
44. go rafting/kayaking
45. go camping twice (0/2)
Cultured Living
46. see a play...Cabaret at CSU
47. watch 6 foreign films (0/6)
48. stay at a monastery for a weekend
49. watch “The Last Lecture” It was amazing and I would recommend it to you all!
50. go to one museum
51. attend three sporting events (0/3)
52. attend a women’s conference
53. attend 3 parties/shows I wouldn’t normally attend (1/3)
54. try two new kinds of ethnic foods (0/2)
Chicken Soup for the Soul
55. worship at three churches other than mine (0/3)
56. read the whole Bible
57. pray for my family every day for 40 days (0/40)
58. spend a whole day with my father NOT complaining about life
59. send mom 6 hand written notes telling her I love her
60. memorize 15 Bible verses (2/15)
61. and then 15 more (0/15)
Its all about You
62. buy flowers for someone just because I can
63. send care packages to my friends overseas (0/4)
64. work on a Habitat for Humanity project
65. convince someone else to do a 101 in 1001 list (Miss Laurie Works)
66. buy a cup of coffee/lunch for 4 people I don’t know (0/4)
67. give blood
68. tell 5 strangers they are beautiful (1/5)
69. volunteer at an Elementary school for 6 months
70. send out Christmas cards once (by Dec. 10th)
71. volunteer to cook a meal for a family at church
72. sponsor a child
73. help out with 3 Lazarus/church outreach events (0/3)
From the Lincolns to the Benjamins
74. print pictures from Chai/Joska trips
75. put aside $5 for every task accomplished (2/101)
76. save $1000 to be spent on nothing
77. find and apply for 3 scholarships (0/3)
78. go sky diving
79. use only cash for one month (no credit/debit cards)
80. visit California
81. visit Colorado
82. visit New York (road trip if possible!)
83. buy one outfit I LOVE
84. contribute ½ of my tax return to my IRA
85. have a 30 day no buy zone
86. buy a beautiful dress
87. buy a new book every two months, put a note in the book about why I liked it, leave it at a random public place for anyone to pick up (1/15)
From the Inside out
88. read the newspaper 30 times (1/30)
89. watch the news for one hour 30 times (2/30)
90. fast one day per month for duration of 101 in 1001 (0/33)
91. do hair and makeup every day for a month (0/30)
92. wake up by 8 o’clock every day for two weeks when I don’t have to (0/15)
93. be in bed by 10:30 every day for a month (0/30)
94. do pilates every other day for two months (0/30)
95. do pilates for another two months (0/60)
96. go one month without eating fast food (0/30)
97. lose 5 pounds…then another 5 (0/10)
98. eat a salad every day for two months (0/61)
99. go one month without eating sweets (0/30)
100. ask someone out on a date
101. spend one day a month doing nothing but relaxing (3/33)
Things that should have been on the list that weren’t
102. Visit St. Andrews to see Jenn and Brandon


THE ADVENTURE ENDS JUNE 18 2011

PETA vs Ben and Jerry's

I assure you that I know very little about what goes on in the world...but this seems VERY weird to me...

PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Milk
Group Says Move Would Help Humans, Cows
POSTED: 1:48 pm EDT September 23, 2008
UPDATED: 9:53 am EDT September 24, 2008

WATERBURY, Vt. -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.
"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.
PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Milk
PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."
"We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child," said a spokesperson for Ben and Jerry's.

Read PETA's letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield

September 23, 2008
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Cofounders
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.
Dear Mr. Cohen and Mr. Greenfield,
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I'd like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry's.
Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers-and cows-would reap the benefits.
Using cow's milk for your ice cream is a hazard to your customer's health. Dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies, constipation, obesity, and prostate and ovarian cancer. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it may play a role in anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease-America's number one cause of death.
Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.
And of course, the veal industry could not survive without the dairy industry. Because male calves can't produce milk, dairy farmers take them from their mothers immediately after birth and sell them to veal farms, where they endure 14 to17 weeks of torment chained inside a crate so small that they can't even turn around.
The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President

101 things in 1001 days

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
The Inspiration:
I was reading my friend Annabelle’s page and I was intrigued. There are lots of people using this technique to accomplish tasks; take a look at mission101.org
So, I just finished my list. It will be posted here and on my blogspot: http://paarkalaam.blogspot.com/ The countdown starts now. I will cross out each finished item, so my progress may be tracked.


Tasks completed (1/102)


Just for Fun
1. watch the sunrise twice (0/2)
2. watch the sunset three times (0/3)
3. spend an hour looking at the stars twice (0/2)
4. spend a day at the park with nothing but a book
5. dance in the rain
6. read 15 children’s books
7. read 20 grown up books
8. visit the ocean
9. visit the mountains
10. play in the snow
11. swim in a lake or a river
12. be in two places at once
13. hike Stone Mountain
14. visit the Atlanta Zoo
15. relax for a half hour at the lakes on CSU campus five times (0/5)
16. take photo booth pictures
17. buy and put together a puzzle (minimum 200 pieces)
Craftiness
18. bake a loaf of bread from scratch
19. find/make a box to store greeting cards in
20. take 1 picture I like every day for 30 days
21. make/stuff three pillows (0/3)
22. acquire and re-finish cedar chest
23. put together photo album for Chai and Joska trips (0/2)
24. sew duvet cover with fabric of my choice
25. make 10 birthday/anniversary/misc. cards (0/10)
26. frame 3 pictures that I really love
History
27. Visit Oakland Cemetery
28. find and visit the oldest church in Atlanta, or Georgia
29. visit Savannah
30. attend one 1890’s day celebration in Ringgold
In me Casa
31. find 20 things to donate to Lazarus ministry
32. keep room tidy for one month
33. cook 3 meals a day for two weeks
34. stay on top of laundry for a month
35. have people over for a home cooked dinner
36. go through boxes at dad’s
37. donate the things I find I no longer want/need
38. start recycling
39. burn CD’s of all my pictures
Fun with Friends
40. girls night out (wear dresses and go to a nice restaurant for desserts)
41. go on a picnic
42. take each of my siblings out to lunch (0/5)
43. go to the drive-in
44. go rafting/kayaking
45. go camping twice (0/2)
Cultured Living
46. see a play
47. watch 6 foreign films (0/6)
48. stay at a monastery for a weekend
49. watch “The Last Lecture”
50. go to one museum
51. attend three sporting events (0/3)
52. attend a women’s conference
53. attend 3 parties/shows I wouldn’t normally attend (0/3)
54. try two new kinds of ethnic foods (0/2)
Chicken Soup for the Soul
55. worship at three churches other than mine (0/3)
56. read the whole Bible
57. pray for my family every day for 40 days (0/40)
58. spend a whole day with my father NOT complaining about life
59. send mom 6 hand written notes telling her I love her
60. memorize 15 Bible verses (0/15)
61. and then 15 more (0/15)
Its all about You
62. buy flowers for someone just because I can
63. send care packages to my friends overseas (0/4)
64. work on a Habitat for Humanity project
65. convince someone else to do a 101 in 1001 list (Miss Laurie Works)
66. buy a cup of coffee/lunch for 4 people I don’t know (0/4)
67. give blood
68. tell 5 strangers they are beautiful (0/5)
69. volunteer at an Elementary school for 6 months
70. send out Christmas cards once (by Dec. 10th)
71. volunteer to cook a meal for a family at church
72. sponsor a child
73. help out with 3 Lazarus/church outreach events (0/3)
From the Lincolns to the Benjamins
74. print pictures from Chai/Joska trips
75. put aside $5 for every task accomplished
76. save $1000 to be spent on nothing
77. find and apply for 3 scholarships (0/3)
78. go sky diving
79. use only cash for one month (no credit/debit cards)
80. visit California
81. visit Colorado
82. visit New York (road trip if possible!)
83. buy one outfit I LOVE
84. contribute ½ of my tax return to my IRA
85. have a 30 day no buy zone
86. buy a beautiful dress
87. buy a new book every two months, put a note in the book about why I liked it, leave it at a random public place for anyone to pick up (0/15)
From the Inside out
88. read the newspaper 30 times (0/30)
89. watch the news for one hour 30 times (0/30)
90. fast one day per month for duration of 101 in 1001 (0/33)
91. do hair and makeup every day for a month (0/30)
92. wake up by 8 o’clock every day for a month when I don’t have to (0/30)
93. be in bed by 10:30 every day for two weeks (0/14)
94. do pilates every other day for two months (0/30)
95. do pilates for another two months (0/60)
96. go one month without eating fast food (0/30)
97. lose 5 pounds…then another 5 (0/10)
98. eat a salad every day for two months (0/61)
99. go one month without eating sweets (0/30)
100. ask someone out on a date
101. spend one day a month doing nothing but relaxing (0/33)
Things that should have been on the list that weren’t
102. Visit St. Andrews to see Jenn and Brandon

THE ADVENTURE ENDS JUNE 18 2011

randomness...

So I was looking around some of my friends web pages and I came across a post that was titled 101things in 1001days...I was intrigued to say the least. I have read this entry, and all that it is liked to and, I am going to follow this same programme...I am working on my list now, and will post it when it is finished, then the count down will begin. Here's how it works:

101 Things in 1001 Days

The Mission:

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:

Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?

Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

My Friend Annabelle is the one who got me thinking about it...and I am interested to see how it turns out for me...list to be posted soon :)

A year and a half later...

it would seem that I have taken some time off from updating my profile...
I have been rather wrapped up in myself and what I want and what I am doing. Well what I have been doing is NOTHING like what I thought a year ago I would be. I did return home to work at the coffee shop for about five months. Then it was time to move on and I started working at a new restaurant that Stephanie and Marshall opened in Emory village. It was fun while it lasted, but the need to move on came there as well. I have now been working as a nanny for a family in Sandy Springs since last November, and I like this job WAY more than I thought I would.
I have also been on a spiritual journey since my return home. I left my DTS with a feeling of complete abandonment and inferiority (maybe). I don't think that I have ever had any single experience bring about so much pain. I am still grieving over how the last weeks of my DTS went because I allowed myself to be vulnerable and in turn feel like my emotions were trampled on. Will go into more detail on this one if there is ever any inquiry as to what happened.
Another step in my journey has been returning to school. I finished my first semester back at the beginning of May, and for the first time ever I got A's in both my classes. I will be returning to school for the fall semester in about 4 weeks. I am nervous about this because I will be taking a class that I have failed once, and a class that I know nothing about, but along with that I know that I am supposed to be in school right now. There is a reason that God has brought me back to school. He is going to use me in a way that I can not even imagine right now, but before he can use me I have to be faithful in what He is calling me to in the here and now.

On another note, I have just returned from an amazing trip to Kenya where I saw the Lord move in my life, and in the lives of those around me. It was a truly life changing trip, one that I will remember for the rest of my days. I, along with fifteen other Trinitarians, embarked on a ten day adventure for the Lord on July 10th. Our plan was to spend one day traveling to Kenya, eight days in country, and one day traveling home.
Its funny how our plans and God's plans for us don't always line up.
God's plan for me on this trip was to lean on Him fully, and expect nothing from this world. We left the Atlanta airport, only a little behind schedule, on our way to Chicago where the big delays began. Our flight to London was canceled that night, and we could do nothing but wait on the Lord to find a way to get us from the States to Kenya. We had looked into alternate flights and there appeared to be NO way we were going to make it to Kenya until Sunday at the EARLIEST. God had another plan. He worked it out that I would be on a flight, along with 12 other members of my group, to D.C. where I would pick up a connecting flight to London, then a small layover before boarding a plane to Kenya. Why He chose to hold our plans up a day I am not sure, and don't think that I will ever know his reasoning. I simply had to trust that God has (had) a plan for me, and he would not leave me alone to wage the war we are in. Once in Kenya I was hoping that the waiting and questioning would end, but again God had a different plan for me. My bags, along with the bags of some others, were held up in Chicago...some of them arrived Sunday evening with the last three members of the team, whereas others including mine didn't show up until Tuesday morning. Then there were complications with customs, so I didn't get my bag back until late Tuesday evening. I thought that I was so prepared for this trip, I had everything I could possibly need packed up in my bag. God wanted me to understand that HE is ALL I need. Plain and simple, He is all I need no matter where I am or what is happening around me. I know through this experience that this is completely true. I had every material thing that I could have needed in almost any circumstance packed away in my bag, and God showed me that HE can't be compartmentalized, or packed away. He is everywhere and He is my everything. I saw God come to life through the smiles and love of the people of Joska. He is truly their everything because as far as material possessions go, they have nothing, but as far as relationship with God, they are some of the RICHEST people I have ever met. God used the people of Joska to show me that through giving me breath and making my heart beat, HE was all I needed. The things of this world can not sustain my life if it be outside of Gods will for me to live, plain and simple.
I met with God in a new way during my week in Kenya. I pray that I would continue to relate to God in this same way, seeing him in the little everyday things that I take for granted. Things like clothes, shower, food, water, education, and money. I think that I am poor, because by American standards I suppose I am, but I am one of the wealthiest people in the world! Even if I had NO money I would still be one of the richest people in all the world because I have a relationship with God. I am a princess in the Kingdom of God and when my earthly flesh gives way to the after life I will be home with my father who loves me more than anything.
During my time in Kenya I was reminded several times of the scripture in Isaiah where he says "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" I know that God has called me to be one who goes into the nations proclaiming the good news, and now I know also that ALL I need to do this is the knowledge of His unyielding love for me. If the people of Joska can survive with nothing more than their knowledge of God's love for them then there is NO reason why that can't be true for me. I met Mary-Anne while in Joska. She is a beautiful three year old girl who lives in poverty, in a land that is so dry that she could spend years without enough food to eat because the rains have failed and there is no work available for her parents. Through this little child of God I am able to see in a VERY tangible way that my presence in Joska was no accident. Her mother told me that she fell in love with me, and my presence makes her very happy. I laughed, and wanted to cry because the same is true for me. I fell in love with this little girl, and her presence makes me happy. I saw God in her, and I look forward to watching her grow in years and love for God.

Mary-Anne and I outside of CCRC in Joska.