Take this cute little girl. Please!

Devin and I have sponsored 4 children through Compassion International since June, and we are constantly blessed by it.  I really enjoy writing to all of them about what we are up to, different holidays we celebrate, and asking them all kinds of questions.  We get letters from one or more than them about once a week, and it is just really neat to hear what is going on in their lives in India.  Their pictures are on our fridge and we think about them all the time.

Maybe it is just me, but the whole getting started process is exciting when you decide to sponsor a kid.  Compassion will send you a massive envelope with what looks like an elementary school picture packet- big ones for you and small prints to share with people who will pray for your kid.  Writing to them is super easy- Compassion will send you everything you need or you can do it online.

So this year, we were asked to take on a Christmas Child in the month of December.  This means that it is our job to find someone to sponsor one child who has been on the Compassion waiting list.

SO!

I present the beautiful, precious Salma Moke!

Don't you just want to squeeze her?

Salma is 10 years old and lives with her family in Tanzania.  Don’t you know she woke up that morning and put on the most outstanding outfit she owns just for this picture?  This little girl just has no idea how one sponsor is going to rock her world.

This is what Compassion writes about the place Salma calls home:

“Across Tanzania, thousands of children like Salma face a harsh, daily struggle for survival.  Many children go for days with little or no food, or have little access to safe drinking water.  They are often sheltering in unhygienic conditions where disease, violence and abuse overshadow their lives.  No wonder many live in constant fear and danger”.

Can you even wrap your head around that?  This little girl often goes without food for days.  Think about Salma tomorrow while you are sitting down with your family to eat portion sizes that should be illegal.  And when you go around the table and rattle off general things that you’re thankful for: jobs and family and friends and food, maybe think about what Salma would say if she were sitting next to you.  Think about how genuinely thankful she would be to the people who saved her from the inevitable life in Tanzania.

Talk about perspective.

One really cool part about sponsoring our kiddos is that we never miss that money that is taken out of our account every month, and we never ever ever ever ever go without.  God really blesses us in that way, and in return, 4 kids get to go to school, are fed, are given clean drinking water, are kept safe, get to go to the doctor, and are learning about how loved they are.  They don’t have to beg, they don’t have to starve, and they don’t feel worthless or alone.

Our Compassion kids hold very very precious places in our hearts.  We are excited to watch them grow up and maybe someday we will get to go meet them.

Do me one favor…over the Thanksgiving weekend, think about sponsoring Salma, and if you’re interested or need more info, please email me (link on the left sidebar).  I have everything you need to get started.

She is going to get the BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

P.S.  Please send the link to my blog to your friends and family- I really want to get Salma a sponsor ASAP!

PERFECT PRESENT #4

Lisa Leonard, I love you.  Alright I don’t so much love you as I do not know you, but I love your jewelry to pieces.  I love the vintage, rustic look, the sweet designs, and I love how delicate they look.  I’m not into bulky

She has other pieces that don’t have birds on them- these are just some that I love. 

You can do custom designs…

How fitting.

…and some seriously cute custom spoons that would be awesome baby gifts

Oh and how convenient!  Centsational Girl is doing a Lisa Leonard giveaway.  Check it out.

And we’ll call THAT Perfect Present #4!

LISA LEONARD DESIGNS PERFECT FOR: your cute fun very supportive a-bit-red-headed wife,  your constantly loving mother, your sister that you used to despise but now adore, your best friend you haven’t seen in months, your super cute glowing pregnant friend

Thank You, Arthur Wellesley, for Being Fashion Forward.

If it weren’t for the first Duke of Wellington, we would have wet feet.

Thank you, your dukedness, for Wellies.

In writing this post, I learned that in South Africa, they actually do a gumboot dance- check it out here. And now, possibly my favorite part of the Beatles Love show makes sense.

If you have not seen this show, fly to Vegas right this second.

GET UP!! DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST, AND GO TO VEGAS.

If the world ended tomorrow, you would regret not seeing this, and I would regret not seeing it twice. Stupendous.

I have been searching for gumboots for a while now. Houston weather is very unpredictable and can leave me sunbathing in the morning* and trudging through a flooded parking lot in heels in the afternoon. However, my rain boot search has left me empty-handed thus far.

Target has a plethora of galoshes:

The bird ones are pretty cute, right? I liked them a lot- I liked the gray, I liked the retro design, I liked the cute bird, and so I ordered them. What’s not cute about them?

1. They stink to high heaven like hot rubber and burnt hair

2. They are WAY too big for my chicken feet/legs (words of wisdom- don’t Google chicken feet. You’ll regret it) and when I went to return them online, it turns out they don’t have them in my size. Perfect

3. That cute little pink bird is actually sitting on a pistol. What the crap?!

So, I have to return my boots and I am on a mission for new ones because I refuse to continue walking into work looking like I walked through the Red Sea before Moses parted it.

Side note: I will not be choosing to wear these instead**…

Rain, shine, dust storm…I would rather be barefoot. Seriously, ladies of the Lone Star State, these are the opposite of hot***. I did a totally legit survey and here is what I found:

me: Are Uggs hot?

Devin: in Alaska

me: explain?

Devin: you need boots with fur in snow. Alaska has snow. Thus the boots fit the purpose and are eligible to be considered in category of "hot"

me: ok so if we lived in Alaska, and I wore Uggs, you would want me?

Devin: Uggs would not increase your hotness factor.

Still doubtful and thinking that my husband doesn’t count? More data for you:

Me: How do you feel about Uggs?

Brett: Uggly.

Me: Sweet.

Brett: Well the root of my issue with them is that we are not Eskimos....if we were....maybe it would be passable....this is south east Texas. We live in the flip flop region.

me: So if you lived in Alaska, and the Mrs. wore Uggs, you'd think that was hot?

Brett: I would make fun of them for being uggly

There it is- male proof. Proof that no one likes these boots. Why are you wearing mountain man boots with a BCBG dress? Why is that?! Why are you walking into Starbucks with your flannel pajama pants tucked into your uggs?! I think that it may be possible that if you are one of those girls who is all, “I can’t ever find a man”, or “Guys never like me”, you make want to check your closet, because odds are it’s the Uggs. Just sayin’.

My hunt for wellies didn’t have to last long, thanks to the ever-present wisdom of Ms. Allison Brooks.

Oh that I were the drop of rain

that landed on this boot.

Please…please…PLEASE YOU EXTREMELY HANDSOME SANTA!

Bring me these gumboots or I will surely die of pneumonia/H1N1 from cold, wet feet.

* I probably don’t ever sunbathe in the morning, however, I have not had coffee, and that is all I had.

** girls wear these in the rain like a bunch of dummies, hence, the relevance of the Ugg tangent.

*** do not be offended- this is only my opinion. and part of the male population.