Taking Chance / AnySoldier.com

I just finished watching the HBO movie Taking Chance*. It’s based on the true story of a Marine escorting the body of a fallen Marine home to his family. What I was really struck by was the desire of regular Americans to help. There wasn’t much they could do but they did what they could no matter how little it felt – they thanked the Marine for his service, they showed respect for the fallen Marine and they did any small thing they could to make the journey easier on the escort.

It reminded me of all the members of our military who are far away from home and the people they love. I want to do something but I don’t feel like there’s anything I CAN do.

Then I remembered AnySoldier.com**. They connect military personnel in harms way with people at home who would like to send packages but maybe don’t know anyone personally to send things to. It’s especially nice for those soldiers who don’t get much from home. You can read emails from the contacts overseas** and send them what’s most needed. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. More than anything they appreciate letters and notes from home, even if they don’t know you. This would be a great project for your kid’s class. Imagine being far away from home and getting a package of letters and drawings from kids! Just make sure you read the suggestions on what to and what not to send.

If you decide to send something please let me know. I love reading about the things people give.

*If you don’t have HBO this movie will be released on DVD May 12th. I don’t know that I would buy it but I would recommend renting it if you can. You can watch an interview with Kevin Bacon and the real Lt. Col. Mike Strobl on the Amazon website.

**This is addicting!!

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Look What You Did!

I asked for your help with something a while ago, and boy did you ever step up! We were able to send 200 sets of warm clothing and almost 300 diapers to the children in the NanYang orphanage. I received some pictures of the children in the children wearing their new clothes and wanted to share them with you.

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I don’t think these babies really care if they have new clothes but I bet they’re happy to have warm clothes!

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And the toddlers?

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I bet she’s a stinker.

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I wish I could bring them all here to live with me.

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But I can’t. It breaks my heart if I really think about it.

Instead I’ll think about what we can do for them. What we can do is try to help make their lives in China as safe and happy as possible. Thank you for your help in doing that.

Here’s what the thank you note from the orphanage workers said:

The children who come here are not lucky, but with the love and concern from the donors, their lives have been brightened. The donors are like the sunshine in winter which sends out warmth to the kids here.

More pictures will be coming. They don’t have a digital camera so the pictures have to be developed and scanned and sent back because the scans are in a weird Chinese format and scanned again and sent and… it takes longer than we’re used to.

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5 rules I broke to lose weight

Works for Me Wednesday

Before I say anything else I want to make it clear that I don’t know anything about losing weight. I’m just a mom who finally figured out how to lose a few pounds. Not a lot, and not all of them that I need to lose, (just ask my Wii fit) but a few.

#1 - I stopped listening to the experts.

It’s not that I think fitness and weight loss experts don’t know what they’re talking about, or that I don’t think it’s important to understand the facts and new information when it comes to eating and exercising. I just can’t do it all.

I’m a perfectionist. I don’t do everything right all the time, I just don’t want to do anything unless I can do it perfectly. So, when I read about all the things I’m not supposed to eat (sugar, white bread, white rice, bad fat, processed food) and all the things I’m supposed to eat (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, good fats, a bazillion different minerals and vitamins) and how I’m supposed to exercise (every day, in the morning, before eating, with weights, on a treadmill, uphill, downhill, for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 120 minutes for the rest of my life) I feel like I have to do ALL of that. I can’t!! I can’t even keep track of it all. Do you know how hard it is to find whole grain bread, that’s really whole grain, (not fake whole grain) that doesn’t have sugar as one of the first 5 ingredients?!?! I don’t think there is such a thing. Except for maybe Ezekiel bread, which tastes like cardboard.

I decided to stop trying to do what the experts said I should do and just concentrate on doing what I could do.

#2 - I did what was easy.

I made the decision many times to start working out. Usually my plan was to work out every day. I tried Tae Bo, Pilates, T-Tapp… I tried running but I really hate running. HATE it. I started hiking the mountain near my house once. I really enjoyed it and stuck with it for quite a while but things changed and I wasn’t able to fit it into my routine anymore. I was trying to do what the experts said I should do and usually hated it, dreaded it and had a hard time making it work with my life. Every day when I woke up I groaned in my head at the thought of having to do whatever exercise I had chosen for the moment.

Eventually I just quit.

This year I decided I would just walk for 20 minutes 3 times a week. Just 20 minutes, just walking, just 3 times a week. I don’t mind walking. I have a treadmill and, because I like to hike, I decided to max out the incline on my treadmill during my 20 minute walk. It was a little harder, but not something I dreaded, and 20 minutes was something I could easily fit into my schedule.

After a month or two I found myself looking forward to my walk after work so I started doing it every day. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Then I decided I could run for a minute. Just a minute. And then I ran for a minute twice. And then I ran faster for half a minute. I enjoyed challenging myself and my body. Honestly, I have to work now to not let exercising take over my life. I could easily work out for almost 2 hours (with a few breaks to catch my breath) between the treadmill and some DVDs I have. I try not to do that, though, because I don’t want to start doing something I can’t maintain, and I don’t want working out to take priority over my family.

I could have just as easily decided to walk to my neighbors house and back if that was all I could bear the thought of. I just started doing something, but not so much that I hated the thought of doing it every day.

I don’t LOVE working out and there are certainly times when I really don’t want to do it. Sometimes I just don’t do it, And other times I decide just to do my 20 minute walk.

#3 - I stopped trying to lose weight.

It’s not that I didn’t want to lose weight, but that’s not what motivated me to start this time and stick with it.

I’ve never made a real all-out attempt to lose weight. I’d given it some half hearted attempts, but after a few weeks, when my clothes didn’t start falling off and the scale wasn’t moving, I gave up.

Then I started taking the stairs at work. I work on the fourth floor and had to get to work early so I could catch my breath before I had to get on the phones. I hated those stairs but made myself take them because it was such a little thing, and when I was a stay at home mom I was jealous of all the people who could take the stairs like the fitness expert said. This was my chance.

I made the decision to start walking because I wanted to be healthier. I wanted to be able to take the stairs without needing a 5 minute recovery period. So when I didn’t lose weight right away it didn’t matter. I wasn’t failing. The scale wasn’t proof that all my hard work was wasted. Eventually the scale moved and I had to buy a belt, but that was just icing on the cake.

#4 - I don’t get hungry.

I eat every time I feel hungry. I tried not snacking at work but came home so hungry that I inhaled several hundred calories of junk food within 20 minutes of getting home. So now, Even if it’s an hour before dinner, I’ll eat something small if my stomach starts to growl. I try to keep protein bars in my purse. I bake bran muffins to bring to work and keep around the house.

I try to eat healthier foods when I’m hungry. I find my craving for junk food isn’t as strong if I keep myself full on healthy food. I feel hungrier sometimes after eating some fruits and vegetables, so while I do try to eat more of those, they don’t really work for me as a “keep myself from getting hungry” snack. I know that carbs a supposed to be bad but I feel full longer if I include them in my meals.

#5 - I eat foods I like.

I’m not eating pizza every night with cheesecake for desert and chocolate cake for a midnight snack. But if I want a piece of cheese cake, I’m going to have it. The funny thing is, once I started working out I started thinking about my food differently without even wanting to or choosing too. I would pick up a candy bar and think about how long I have to walk to burn those calories. “Is this worth an hour of walking?” Sometimes it is and I enjoy every bite. Sometimes it’s not, and even if it’s just a couple of M&Ms, it’s easier to say no. And sometimes it’s not worth an hour, but is worth 20 minutes, so I’ll have a couple of bites and leave the rest.

I also don’t make myself eat yucky food just because it’s healthier. Those protein bars I keep with me all the time? They’re the yummy ones. Some of those things are pretty nasty. I don’t eat those. I will by low fat versions of some foods IF it tastes as good as the full fat version. I eat regular yogurt because the light stuff has fake sugar in it. I hate fake sugar. I buy low fat mayo, ranch dressing and sour cream because I really don’t notice a difference in taste.

BONUS RULE

I stopped trying to do what worked for other people.

I used to read stories about DVD’s, exercising schedules, diet plans etc. that worked for people. They lost tens and hundreds of pounds and several sizes. If it worked for them, it can work for me, right? WRONG. I was forgetting that these people are different than me. They have different attention spans, different tastes, different schedules, different obligations. What they did, I might not have time to do. What they eat, I may hate. (Like those instant shake things. No wonder people lose weight when they drink those! I felt sick to my stomach the rest of the day!) And what they think is a fun exercise, I may consider a form of torture.

The same goes for this list here. Maybe you need something much more structured. If you need tasks to check off and rules to follow, that’s ok. What I really want you to get out of all of this is that you have to find what works for you. Just try something. If it doesn’t work for you, it’s ok. Try something else until you find something you don’t hate.

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Name Your Dream Assignment Update

Today is April 7th. The Name Your Dream Assignment ended 4 days ago. I want to say a huge

THANK YOU!

(Sorry, I can’t figure out how to make it huge…)

to everyone who voted, forwarded emails, posted on their blogs and twittered or tweeted or whatever it’s called. (I’m sorry. I still don’t really get Twitter. I think I’m too old.) There aren’t words to express how much each vote means to me.

My idea was ranked 136th out of over 2,500. Not bad, but not enough to be presented to the judges. That means I’m going to have to do this the hard way, without a $50,000 check.

Keep watching here for updates, or shoot me an email or leave a comment and tell me you want to receive updates on the project and I’ll send you an email anytime I have news.

Thank you so much for your support everyone!

And if you know anyone with experience starting or running a non-profit, grant writing or anything else that may be of help, please let me know. I could use all the advice I can get!

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I need your vote!

** IMPORTANT**

You do need to register to vote but can opt out of any marketing emails by NOT clicking the box at registration. In order to vote you must click on the confirmation link that will be sent to your email address and THEN come back here and click on the link again to actually vote.

I am entering the Name Your Dream Assignment contest sponsored by Lenovo and Microsoft. In this contest people describe what their dream photo assignment would be and, if they win, are given up to $50,000 to make it happen. The winner doesn’t get to keep any of the money. It all goes to making their dream a reality, up to $50.000.

Here’s my idea:

YOUNG PHILANTHROPISTS

I want to show kids that they can make a difference in the world, make them aware of different causes through the stories of other children and give them a way to help.

I would like to visit children and their families who have benefited from the help of charitable organizations. I want to document what their lives were like before and what they’re like now, after receiving the help they needed.

I’ll use the pictures and stories I’ve gathered to create a gift catalog that people can give to their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friend’s kids – any kid they know, or even those they don’t know. This catalog will be a kid friendly book full of colorful pictures and stories about life in other countries. It will show where other children sleep, what they eat, who takes care of them what games they play and what toys they play with. They’ll see, without being told, that these other children’s lives are different than theirs, harder.

American kids aren’t selfish and uncaring. They’re just so far removed from the suffering in much of the world that it’s hard for them to comprehend how much different life is in other places. They don’t understand how lucky they are to have been born here. Not lucky because they have mp3 players, video games and computers, but because they have a family to care for them, a solid roof over their heads, a soft place to sleep, clean water to drink and a full belly. All things many children don’t have.

I know American kids will be excited to help other children when they understand the problems, and that they can make a difference.

I don’t want to make them feel guilty that they have so much. And this won’t be a book that says, “Look at how poor and sad this kid is. You should feel bad for him.” Many of the differences aren’t bad really, just different. They will be told, though, that there are some basic needs these children aren’t getting. Maybe there is no clean water in her village or his family can’t afford the books he needs to go to school. Suddenly these aren’t grown up causes; they’re children, just like them.

Included in the price of each book will be a gift certificate that the child can spend on whichever cause touches them the most. When they make their choice that money will be forwarded on to the appropriate organization. Later, the child will receive a thank you card with pictures showing how their gift was used. They’ll be able to see how they changed the life of another child thousands of miles away.

Can you imagine the adults these children will grow up to be if they learn at a young age how great it feels to help someone else? And if they understand early on that, even when we don’t have everything we want, compared to most of the world, we have so much? This project won’t just be impacting children in far away lands, it will be impacting children right here.

So here’s what I need from you.

First, vote for my idea by clicking on the link or on the big black button on the right. When you get to the site click “Pic It” to the left of the title.

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Please vote as soon as you can. The top ideas have already had a few days to gather votes so it’s really important that I get a lot of votes quickly. I need move into the top 10 so more people will see my idea and vote for it.

They will require you to register on the site. After you register they’ll send you a confirmation email with a link that you have to click on to confirm that it really was you that registered. THEN log in, come back here and click on this link again and vote!

Second, please forward this post to everyone you know. I mean everyone – family, friends, coworkers, hairdresser, babysitter, kid’s friends (or their parents) soccer parents, people from church, neighbors… Just click the “share This” button at the bottom of this post. You can even write down the website so you can give it to people you see during the day but don’t email.

If I can manage to stay in the top 20 until April 3rd my idea will be presented to the judges who will determine the winner. This is such a great opportunity to make a huge difference.

THANKS!

What are you still doing here? VOTE!

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