please donate

all day friday i was glued to my TV, anxiously waiting to hear more information on the tragedy that happened at Sandy Hook Elementary. i paced the floor like my own child was involved, my heart breaking over and over again for each innocent victim.

when norah woke up from her nap i held her and cried, both with happiness that she was in my arms and with a heavy heart knowing that there are parents who cannot hold their child anymore like i can hold mine. i don't feel right even talking about it though, because there is no way in the world i can have any idea of what those parents are going through right now.

because i have no idea what else to do, here is the link to United Way of Western Connecticut. please, make a donation if you can.

the season of giving

The holiday season always puts me in the mood to help others. I like buying a few gifts for my daughter, but that's about it and even then we don't go overboard. (I will be writing a separate post on our family "policies" on gift-giving.) There are way too many people in this world who need a hot meal or a warm coat more than I need ANOTHER scarf or ANOTHER book or ANOTHER anything!

So when I came across Mandy's post about helping each other out I was elated. I urge you to click that link and read through the comments. I was able to connect with another young mother (our little ones are only 8 days apart!) and we each feel equally blessed to have met each other. My family is fortunate enough this year that we have some extra money to spare but we have totally been there before. Scraping by and unsure of how our bills are even going to get paid. It is not a fun place to be especially around Christmas. 

Please, even if you only have $1 to spare, click on that link and see who is in need. Or, if you need help this year here is a great place to ask! Please do not hesitate to ask for help. We've all been there and we can all understand. Plus the joy of the season is not in who gets to open the most expensive or most amount of gifts on Christmas morning. It is about the Lord our God, it is about loving others, and it is about connecting with each other through the spirit of the season. I would much rather give than receive, remembering that the greatest gift we will ever know was given to us in Jesus. 

we're back!

this week has been all sorts of crazy.

last monday hurricane sandy hit and with it killed our power. we JUST got it back last night! thankfully mark's parents never lost their power so we spent 5 nights down with them. we were able to stay warm and have lights! charge our phones! watch a movie! we were spoiled.

while we were down there i was able to sub two days at the preschool i used to work. they were understaffed due to the effects of the hurricane. many teachers were either stuck where they evacuated to (gas shortages everywhere!) or were dealing with flooded houses, flooded cars, no power, etc. i was happy to help and it was great seeing everyone. though i'm a little ticked that norah and i are both sick now, likely from the germs i was exposed to at the school. but such is life, right?

saturday mark, norah, and i plus a team of other volunteers went to a house in ocean city that was completely destroyed. with norah in a borrowed ergobaby sling on my back, we sorted through her belongings to see what was salvageable, helped move everything out, ripped up what was left of her dock, and just tried to help in whatever way we could. it was bittersweet, seeing the devastation of her home and all her things was so sad. however, the light on her face and hope in her eyes was unmistakable. this woman lost so much, yet trusts that God is in control of it all. she thanked us profusely and said as soon as things in her own house are taken care of she is going to be out helping others. it was without a doubt a life changing event for her and all of us on the crew.

such a trooper she was

we worked for 6 hours on saturday before calling it a day. norah had had enough by that point, it was freezing cold, and we all needed a break. sunday i went back to the house with supplies, coffee, food and a smile. i was unable to do physical labor a second day in a row (6 hours doing physical work with a baby on your back = extremely sore the next day) but i felt i still needed to do something!

we came back to monmouth county sunday night to a freezing cold house with still no power. we didn't have a choice though, mark was back to work yesterday so we needed to be here. the three of us all slept in our bed under several blankets and a down comforter so it wasn't too bad. monday morning i packed norah and i up and we headed to starbucks for a hot drink and to mooch their wi-fi. i needed to get on facebook - i joined a group called operation #restoreourshore who continually updates their page with volunteer opportunities, ways to help, things to donate, where to donate, etc. i brought markers and paper to starbucks too and norah and i sat making flyers and sipping our hot chocolates (side note: salted carmel hot chocolate anyone?? SO good!). last night while we went trick-or-treating (yep, NJ halloween was nov. 5 from 3-6. boooooo) i passed out the flyers, which listed items i'll be collecting for monmouth county shelters over the next week. then just as we got home the lights came back on! we were and still are so happy. if nothing else, i'm just glad we're warm! it's supposed to snow tomorrow and i can't imagine how cold it would have gotten. and to think that there are still people with no power...

hurricane sandy spared my family but thousands and thousands of others were directly affected. this is my home and seeing all the people around me losing everything is heartbreaking. now that we're back at my parents' house and we have power (!!! still doing a happy dance !!!)  i plan on continuing to help out in whatever ways i can. that being said, my blogging is going to be a little slow in catching up. i know i posted previously on taking a break anyway but now this is a different kind of break. an "i literally have no time to blog" break. 

i have several posts that i wanted to write for last week that i'm still going to write, plus this week's posts and of course the obligatory halloween pictures but i'm not going to stress over getting them done "on time." i promise they will be here and i'm not gone forever ;) i just wanted to check in today and let those who were wondering know that we're OK and we're just going to be very busy getting things back in order. also, thank you all so much for your kind words and concerns on my last post. 

with all that said i will be back later today with my very first review/giveaway!

if you're still reading (hehe) and want to know how you too can help, here are a few good sites to check out:
- one
- two
- three

plus the facebook page i was telling you about:
- operation #restoreourshore