Compassional International

I am blessed to have grown up with parents who supported a child through Compassion International. I don't remember his name but I do remember the letters and photos. 

And now that I am an adult, my husband and I support a few children. If you don't know about Compassion, I would encourage you to research it. It is a wonderful organization that allows you to sponsor a child for $38 a month. The child gets medical care, schooling, meals at school, clothing and so much more. 

Without further ado, meet "our children":

1. Bidang is our newest sponsor. She is just 6 years old and lives in India. Her parents are married and her father is sometimes a farmer. The average income is $16 a month in her neighborhood. She had been waiting over 400 days on the Compassion sponsorship list before we "chose" her.

Bidang

2. Uma is 10 and lives in India. She is deaf and mute and goes to school away from her parents. It is like a boarding school for the deaf. Her parents would not be able to afford the school without Compassion since they make just $27 a month in that area. We have been sponsoring her 3 1/2 years and have really seen her grow in God.

Uma

3. Princess is 16 years old. She lives in the Philippians. I have to be honest - we chose Princess 9 years ago for her name. How fun is the name Princess? Her English is excellent and we hear from Princess the most often. She writes about once a week and every letter includes a Bible story or memory verse. Compassion doesn't send letters every week (the postage would be quite costly) and so we get big packets of letters when they send them.

Princess

4. Johari has a special place in my heart. Her dad passed away when she was young and her mom cares for her and her siblings. Johari is 16 and lives in Tanzania. With the little bit extra we have sent over the last 9 years, her mother has purchased goats and has built a house. Yes, a house. Isn't that crazy? 

Johari

5. Rama is 10 and lives in India. He loves to draw and every letter includes a drawing. Both of Rama's parents are farmers and he helps around the house. Farmers in this area make $21 a month. We have sponsored Rama for almost two years and believe it or not, he has put on weight.

Rama

6. Jithu. Just typing his name puts a smile on my face. Jithu is 16 and lives in India. Jithu loves music and always asks about my husband's guitar. He calls us "Uncle and Aunt" and truly loves God. He is saving for "University" and we are proud of him. He lives in a very poor area and his father drank every day. We have been specifically praying for Jithu's father and this past year he gave up alcohol. Jithu was thrilled and we will continue to pray for this family. We have been sponsoring him for 9 years.

Jithu

7. Melkamu is almost 17 which is hard for us to believe. We have sponsored him for 10 years and he was our first sponsor. He lives in Ethiopia and is "our" best student. His father is employed as a guard and the average income is about $17 a month in that area. Melkamu is also a great help around the home and he loves soccer.

Melkamu

Every child is different and has their own personality. Some don't speak English and so Compassion has translators for our letters. It has been such a blessing to be part of their lives and to have them part of ours. Compassion makes it easy to send letters through their website. You simply select a template, upload photos (optional) and write. You don't even have to have a stamp!

Thank you for your prayers

Tomorrow is the big day - hospital day! I'm going to get a spinal injection at the local hospital. This is the next step in trying to help my knee pain. 

Thank you for everyone who is praying for me. We leave at 6:10am tomorrow and will be at the hospital most of the day. It is an outpatient procedure and I should be home tomorrow afternoon. 

I will be "put under" for the procedure but I am still just the slightest bit nervous. Not of the actual spinal injection but of what is going to happen afterward. I am trying not to get my hopes up too high that this will work. 

Some fuzzy webcam photos after I washed off my make-up after church yesterday.
I'm tired of sitting in bed and I'm ready to enjoy the spring weather!

{UPDATE}
Well, it went very well! We were out of the hospital in less than 4 hours which is amazing. It is the first time at our local (small) hospital and everyone was extremely nice. 

My favorite part was in the recovery room when all the nurses were gathered around my bed. We were discussing organization and one of the nurses was showing me before/afters on her cell phone. Then one nurse showed us a bunch of photos of her daughter & son-in-law that were expecting twins. It was like I was a part of a friendly group of nurses.

My amazing husband didn't sleep last night and helped me get ready this morning. Here is a photo he took with his cell phone but it may not be the best shot (no pun intended) of us. I have no make-up on and was up at 4am.

We should know in a few days if this works. I was given a lumbar sympathetic injection. I was in the OR for 12 minutes and I woke up from the IV anesthetic in 18 minutes. I believe that may have been a record ;) 

Thank you for all your prayers. I received the sweetest letter yesterday from one of our Compassion kids in India saying that his family and friends were all praying for my knee. How amazing is that?

Recent Ebay Sales - 3/8/2014

Today is Saturday. I have three days until my spinal injections at the hospital. Please keep me in your prayers. I have RSD in my left knee which is causing major pain. The spinal injection should help block the pain. The doctor says I have a 50/50 shot of this working but I know God is in control.  If the shots don't work, there is a plan B for which I am thankful.

Until then, here are some of my recent ebay sales. I have been trying something new on ebay. I upped my prices by a few dollars and added free shipping. I am not sure it works just yet but I have sold some thing that I have had for ages.

1. Lee Andersen artsy jacket, sold for $40. 

 

2. Lauren Ralph Lauren silk top, sold for $20. 

3. Men's Levi's red pants, sold for $25 with free shipping. 

4. Banana Republic gray & black printed dress, sold for $20. 

5. Chico's aqua printed jacket, sold for $20. 

6. Vtg Laura Ashley floral dress, sold for $65. I wish I had a life in which I wore dresses like this!

7. Polo by Ralph Lauren men's jacket, sold for $25 (previously unsold for $9.99). 

8. Hairmax laser comb, sold for $195. 

9. Eileen Fisher new lightweight sweater top, sold for $33. 

10. Geiger floral skirt, sold for $20.50 (previously unsold for $9.99). 

11. Lilly Pulitzer floral dress, sold for $37. 

12. Nine West heels, sold for $24. I loved these but my life doesn't call for heels. I would kind of look ridiculous sitting in bed in heels :)

13. Anthropologie "We Love Vera" brand strapless dress, sold for $35. 

A week of photos

This past week my sister was visiting. Despite my knee, we had a week full of fun. 

-We made hundreds & hundreds of cookies and dozens of cupcakes. Here are two kinds of cupcakes we made: ombre cupcakes and rainbow cupcakes. 

Vanilla icing with different shades of blue & green food coloring.

We were thrilled with the way these came out! 

Some of our cookies displayed on the back counter of our church.

-A lot of sewing! I didn't get a photo of this but we had the sewing machine out for a few days. 

-Tree paintings with a friend and her five children. My sister and I made two a piece and then we weren't exactly sure of what to do with them. My husband dropped them off to Goodwill at their back door while we were shopping there. We turned the corner and saw them. Ha. That was the quickest turn around ever. Our masterpieces were 2 for $1.99. 

-A quick TJ Maxx trip. Guess who got the best deals ever? Me! Look at these tags. I bought about 20 pairs of pants including Michael Kors $125 jeans for $4 each and Levi's skinny jeans for 70 cents. 

We also got this adorable bunny. He is sitting on my entertainment right now but he will be sent to my Yia-Yia (grandmother) in a few weeks. 

-Visiting "our" dog Fred in his new home. 

-Shopping at one of my favorite grocery stores. My leg hasn't been great and so I use a motorized cart to shop. I am so thankful for these carts!

-Celebrating my sister's birthday a week early. We had a "birthday cake" Oreo. Have you tried the birthday cake Oreos? YUM! And the best part is that they have NO milk. 

-Celebrating my father-in-law's 88th birthday at Ponderosa. 

-Lots of board games! My sister surprised me with fun Cookie Monster pants and we wore matching pants during last night's game. 

-We wore a lot of matching outfits this week. I wore Cookie Monster pants, mismatched socks and a lot of Z's Tees tanks and sweats. This "shine" tank was just $6! Ignore my silly face. Webcams are really hard to use in my opinion.

I'm sure we did a lot more but these are the photos we took. It was a fun filled week.

Top Ebay Sales - 3/2/2014

I finally listed a few new items on ebay. My sister is visiting and she helped with photographs. I only have 9 days until my spinal injection at the hospital. My doctors are all hoping it helps me pain. 

Here are a few of my recent "top" sales: 

1. Eileen Fisher white jacket, sold for $35. 

2. Talbots coral & eyelet white skirt, sold for $28. 

3. Bebe green maxi dress, sold for $50. 

4. Irish handknit mohair sweater, sold for $38. 

5. Anne Fontaine white ruffled top, sold for $38.

6. Moschino Cheap and Chic striped dress, sold for $38. 

7. Laura Ashley plaid dress, sold for $40. 

8.  Vtg. Lilly Pulitzer tunic with a few flaws, sold for $20. I had this listed months ago and then it seemingly disappeared from ebay. It wasn't under my sold or unsold list - it just vanished. I re-took the photos and it sold within a week. I photographed it a few different ways: on a white piece of vinyl, hanging on the dress form and tied at the waist. Ebay allows up to 12 free photos and I used all of these in the listing. I did use the photograph with the top tied at the waist for my gallery photo. I thought it was the most "eye catching". 

9. Paul Stuart blue top, sold for $20. I purchased this for just 50 cents! 

10. Lauren Ralph Lauren beige floral & paisley skirt, sold for $20.50. 

This past week my father-in-law turned 88 years old. We took him out to a buffet restaurant to celebrate.

And we visited "our" dog! We had a dog for about a week in January. We bought him, then realized I may be allergic and sold him to a wonderful lady who lives just 45 minutes from us. She takes him into work with her every day and we were able to visit there. He seemed VERY excited to see us. Every photo was a blur of white dog.