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My taste buds tingled and rejoiced as I placed the perfectly balanced morsel into my mouth.  Yumm.  Greek cuisine makes my heart and stomach happy.  I’m half Greek, I love kalamata olives, and I love ethnicity.  Actually I am enticed by unique or unlikely pairings whether food or culture.  We are all so different and have such unique stories and when our lives intersect it is like a complicated but perfectly executed dish.  I am an American who is half Greek and I care about Indian orphans.  You my friends are from varied nations, backgrounds, and cultures.  In a way I’m like the olive oil, the orphans are the spice, and you are the bread ($$$).  😉  Combined we make a savory dish.

{Fun fact: the skirt was from my Greek Yia yia (grandma)}

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Scarf donated by David&Cheri}

We have funded the opening of one orphan home!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention that we are also well on our way to opening the second of eleven new homes for Warm Blankets Orphan Care.  So. Very. EXCITED!!! This project is a success because of YOU! So I say “Thank You” from the bottom of my heart.  It is about the little sweet child that gave me her four quarters…she is doing extra chores “for the orphans”.  It is the incredible people who got creative in how they could give.  People left comments when they gave such as:

This is a gift in honor of ______ birthday.
Or this one that totally made me smile.  Especially since I know there was sacrifice involved:
Someone decided against buying new PJs because when they considered the amount they realized it could go towards someone with real needs.  So they clicked on the GIVE NOW button and donated.
It’s the woman that gave me $40 dollars despite the fact that she couldn’t give right now, but she told me she would die if she couldn’t give anymore.  WOW.

That my friends is amazing, beautiful, and it keeps me inspired!

And to my amazing, wonderful, truly incredible mother HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I love you SO very much and I am delighted that we get to celebrate your life.  Thank you for showing me what it means to truly love others and lay your life down for them.  You’re the best friend a girl could ever dream of having!

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Clothing and accessories donated by Megan and David&Cheri}

Thank you for making my birthday so incredible!!! I had an amazing day Saturday with my sweet mother.  The ladies at Urbaca totally spoiled me.  Not only did Laci give me an elegant updo but Sherry and Tay did my make up and took pictures for me.  As if that wasn’t enough they gave me a gift bag filled with great products and specially made items.  I was so grateful.  Then I had lunch with my best friends (aka mom and dad) and then my mom and I got ice cream to eat at the park.  The Lord blessed me with a beautiful, sunshine filled day.  In the evening my friends brought me the most amazing chocolate torte.  Eight pounds of amazingness.  Seriously so wonderful.  Toady at church several generous people gave me donations for the orphans and that was really exciting.  My mom made a perfect lunch (my mouth is still watering) and my dad made me a special gift.  Having friends and family join me for a relaxing day (where I ate far to much) was such a gift.  Everyone’s birthday wishes/gifts really made for such a great birthday! Thank you!!!

{First 3 Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}
{Clothing donated from readers Megan and David&Cheri}
{Next 4 Photos, Makeup, and Hair by: Sherry, Tay, and Laci at Urbaca}
{Last Photo by: Mark}

IT’S MY 23rd BIRTHDAY!!! How did I get to be this “old” 😉  I am going to be totally unashamed about asking for birthday gifts.  From you.  What I want for my birthday other than seeing U2 in concert is to see a spike in the giving.  Do you think we can make it go up??  I have faith it can. 😀  So will you donate at least $23 dollars today?  One dollar for every year I have been given life so that these sweet children can reach their next birthday?  I’ll thank you in advance for the gifts! 🙂

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Clothing borrowed from Michelle}

I am so excited about today! I get to have my hair and makeup done for my pre-birthday look and see my friends at Urbaca again (pictures to come) and I get to be with my sweet mother.  We have WAY too much fun together.  We sing…and dance in the kitchen…we laugh so hard we cry.  When she laughs she looks just like my Yia yia (greek grandma) and I laugh because that is funny and then I laugh harder because I look exactly the same way too! Lol! I am thankful for sunshine and warmth.  I am thankful for a day relaxing and having girl time with my best friend.  I am thankful for all you incredible readers.  And I can’t believe this is the last day of being 22! (I should have profound thoughts and reflections on the last year but…I don’t.  I haven’t had time.)  I am always sad to see an age pass but excited for what the next year will hold.  🙂

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Clothing borrowed from Heidi}

O.k. so let’s have a little chat shall we??  Several months ago I stumbled across one of the neatest ideas I had ever heard of.  The brilliant woman Sheena from The Uniform Project was wearing one dress for a year.  Did you hear me??  A YEAR.  Now that is something.  And she was turning this creative project of sustainability into a fundraiser.  So that children could go to school.  Let me explain something.  I don’t have great original ideas but I am soooo happy other people do!  Sheena inspired me and I am grateful that she blazed this trail for me.  She is amazing and if I can come even a tiny bit close to what she has done then I will feel very blessed.  Thank you Sheena for being an incredible role model to me.  I respect and admire what you have done.

(See this neat outfit?  It was styled by Lauren.  She’s really sweet and cool and I’m hoping that by wearing her clothes some of that coolness will rub off on me.  🙂 )

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

Red for reading.  Green for language.  Pink for math.  Sitting tapping my feet under the table to a random beat I check another circle.  Right, right, oops wrong.  At work I am grading tests.  Considering that I am quite relaxed I feel almost guilty as I mark off the score for another student who may or may not have been feeling like that test was the longest hours they had spent all year.  Some students do well and there isn’t much ink from my pens bleeding onto the pencil smudged paper.  Others do miserably and then I see a page of confetti like dots.  I used to take those tests and I *greatly* disliked them, but looking back now I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to have an education.  I was able to learn, grow, and develop my mind.  My parents cared about infusing knowledge into me.  Orphans don’t have this opportunity.  Yet the orphans who are cared for by Warm Blankets Orphan Care do have the privilege of learning.  They are sent to private school in order for them to get an education that will be meaningful to their future lives.  When you donate today you are giving an orphan the opportunity to learn more than just pain, suffering, and survival skills.

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Styling by: Glenna Fashions}

I used to be a pianist.  Growing up I sat on the hard bench for hours each day.  The pads of each fingertip pressing into the ebony and pearl like bars.  Just like a bar of gold holds worth so these bars hold worth of another kind.  Each reverberating tone is a voice.  My ears delight to hear the keys sing and praise as my fingers dance over them.  I’m transported to another world.  Loveliness that only comes from being pressed yet not broken.  We are all pressed at times.  Pushed and even pounded.  If we are willing it can produce a melody so beautiful that tears are the only perfect words for the soul.  An outpouring of praise.  A building crescendo that is a beauty so pristine yet it can only come through being touched.  Sometimes through pain.  Each persons life is one of those keys.  A voice.  Being played by the Master Composer.  The voices of the orphans have reached my ears and sent a trilling note of plea to my soul.  Will you join your voice with theirs?  Will you be touched today by their plight and give?

{Photos by:  Jenn Lynn Images}

{Styling by:  Glenna Fashions}

A few weeks ago I received an email that put a decidedly large grin on my face.  An amazing salon Urbaca offered to do whatever I wanted with my hair and makeup. (Thank goodness since I hadn’t had it cut since…)  So after a very long week I had the pleasure of finally meeting three incredible women.  It was so relaxing and exciting and just what I needed.  “Tay” did my makeup and I let her go with her marvelous instincts while Laci fixed my hair.  See those fascinating strands of color and pattern intertwined with my beachy curls?  Feathers.  Yes you heard me right.  They are feather extensions and I LOVE them.  We were having a bit of fun…to say the least.  The fabulous woman Sherry who is the Director and Lead Esthetician of the salon took pictures.  They wanted to bring you a different look for the day. 🙂 Thank you Sherry, Tay, and Laci.  I had such a perfect experience at Urbaca because of you!  Next time you are in need of a haircut or just something amazing go visit them.

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Styling by: Glenna Fashions}

{Hair, makeup, and credit for last picture goes to Urbaca!}

Day 30?  For reals?  W.O.W.  I just want to say a HUGE thank you to the people who have made donations.  And let me tell you I have been so impressed by the children and young adults that have donated.  They don’t have much but they sure do give.  A sweet lovely little girl came up to me and placed all her coins in my palm.  “For the orphans”.  Her mom said she want’s to give the orphans some money each week.  How precious is that!?!?  58 cents.  That will feed an orphan for several days.  Then there was the amazing young lady who gave me a $2o (that will feed two children for two months!) and she doesn’t even have a job.  They are figuring out how to give and it humbles me.  I am so grateful for them.  They inspire me.  I pray they inspire you to give as well.

{Photos by: Jenn Lynn Images}

{Styling by: Glenna Fashions}