GA Appeal

I know we just posted a really fun video yesterday but, here's another one if you have a minute!  

I love the way GA discribes what they do what they do:

Giving Anonymously is a non-profit organization facilitating generosity between people.

Giving Anonymously began in 2005 with our website up and running in early 2007. We began with a few goals in mind: We wanted to relationally connect people through giving, to make it fun, and in the process protect relationships from feelings of obligation. Giving to others in need can be full of mixed motivations and our hope is to facilitate Pure giving.

Anyone who enjoys putting cash under a friends door or in their mailbox will often times not know if their friend actually got the gift and they cannot hear what it meant to them. So, we came up with an idea to have a messaging line where recipients could call after receiving their gift. When a recipient doesn’t know who gave the gift to them they are even more free to express their gratitude and we capture this through voice files that we email to the donor.

stuck like glue

I've always rocked out to this song, I love it and then I saw the video - HILARIOUS!  Please watch it.  Sugerland, you make me laugh and dance and sing!!

3 6 16

We've been on the adoption waiting list THREE months already!  Thank you Lord for making these three months move quickly, probably the quickest of the process.

We started the adoption process almost SIX months ago - this is seriously hard to believe.

Norah is more than SIXTEEN months old!  She's so toddler like now - almost always this is good... sometimes it's more challenging!

Our prayer on waiting on God's timing come in the form of  a favorite Royal Servants song -
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait
And in your Word I hope, my soul does wait

More than watchmen for the morning
More than watchmen for the morning
My soul waits; for you Lord

sew fun!

I got a sweet sewing machine for Christmas and I've been having a blast creating!  I'm no seamstress but I just have this itch to make and create things - it's sew fun! :)  Just wanted to share a few of my creations, again... no seamstress so pardon the mistakes!

1. iPad case for my mom, shhh she doesn't know yet :)

2. A cute two sided bib for my girl... 

 3. A hard to make but very cute jumper for my girl 

 

4. A grocery tote for my MIL (mother-in-law in case you weren't familiar)!

 6. A hot/cold pack for my MIL too.

 5. A cute little wallet for my sis-in-law!

Homemade Toothpaste

A friend back in CO got me thinking about the use of fluoride in our water as well as toothpaste.  She was using tooth soap so I researched it and took the plunge!  David did not like the soapy taste and I honestly wasn't a big fan of the taste either but I bought it, so I used it.  Then, I started hearing more bad things about fluride, so I bought me some fluoride free toothpaste.  I ran out recently and decided to take the plunge and make my own!  It was even easier to make than the deodorant.

A few other fluoride facts...

*Countries that ban the use of fluoride in water: Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden and Switzerland.

*Fluoride can be a benefit for tooth decay (for topical use) but if ingested there are much worse side effects; such as: brain damage, thyroid functionality and can diminish bone strength and risk of bone cancer.

*A Weston Price Foundation article said: "Fluoride is any combination of elements containing the fluoride ion. In its elemental form, fluorine is a pale yellow, highly toxic and corrosive gas. In nature, fluorine is found combined with minerals as fluorides. It is the most chemically active nonmetallic element of all the elements and also has the most reactive electro-negative ion. Because of this extreme reactivity, fluorine is never found in nature as an uncombined element."

More facts and FAQ on fluoride found here.

On to the homemade toothpaste...

What you'll need:

A thoroughly washed soap dispenser or old toothpaste tube

1 Tablespoon of castile liquid soap (I used Dr. Bronner's Peppermint)

5 Tablespoons of coconut oil

1 Tablespoon of olive oil or water

A dash of Stevia (I used Truvia since we had it)

Essential oil if you are not using a flavored castile soap 

I found my recipe here!

 Mash and mix the ingredients until you have the consistency you like. If you want the paste more runny, add water or olive oil.

Add the toothpaste to your container!  Easy peasy right?  If you use an old toothpaste container just cut the end off and pour the toothpaste in and tape the end (I was scared it would leak).  Also remember that you do not use a lot, only a small amount of the paste goes a long way.

Again, David isn't a big fan of this and I'm still getting used to it.  It definitely makes my teeth feel clean! 

Celebrities

Do you know any Koreans?  If not, here are some celebrities who have Korean blood.  Sometimes we feel like we know them right?

Sandra Oh

Known for her role in Grey's Anatomy

Photo credit

Hines Ward

Known for his mad football skills for the Steelers and is an advocate for the acceptance of biracial youth in S. Korea

Photo credit

Yunjin Kim & Daniel Dae Kim

Known for their role on Lost

*They are not married to each other*

Photo credit

Jenna Ushkowitz

Known for her role in Glee

Photo credit

Kimmora Lee Simmons

Known her fashion design and modeling skills

Photo credit

Peak Performance - Nepal

Check this video out! For those that don't know, Kelly and I met in Nepal on a summer-long mission trip (Kelly had been the year before, too). We also went back to Nepal for a month after we were married. Our fearless leader from our trip, Scott Brown, founded 212 Degrees. He takes college students to Nepal, Haiti, and Turkey. This video shows what a trip looks like---it also brings back memories of the many places we visited back in 2001!