The Girl Effect

I know, I haven't blogged in a while. Life and school have been a bit time consuming lately.  I really wanted to share this video though about "The Girl Effect."  I must admit that it brought tears to my eyes since I know a lot of the girls I taught and knew in Ethiopia were at risk for many issues brought up in this video.  This visual presentation says more than I could ever write about it:

You can also see the video here.

Let me know what you think of it. I hope it touches you like it touched me.

My Own Travel Posters

I mentioned a while ago that I was working on a craft from a road-side find. Well, the project is complete and ready for its grand reveal!  A few months ago I found these cabinet doors sitting by the curb, waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck.  I couldn't help but throw them in my trunk, hoping one day I'd figure out how to make them into frames!

My road-side treasure!

A little spray paint, some light antiquing with sand paper, cardboard backing, nails and wire to hang, and voila! I have two great picture frames! After some thinking, I decided to do two different things with them...

I spray-painted them with some paint we had leftover in the garage.

I cut out cardboard to serve as a backing for my frames.

I hammered nails in each side and strung a wire so I could hang it on the wall.

For the first one I inserted black cardstock as a mat, and decided to use it to display postcards.  I love receiving postcards from friends and family, but never have a place to showcase them.  Now, with a little piece of tape rolled on the back, I can hang them in this frame by the door.  Since there isn't glass in the frame I can easily swap them out as new postcards arrive! Yours can be displayed here too if you send one my way!

My new postcard frame!

The second cabinet door I decided to use as a frame for these 'travel posters' I've been working on.  Using Picasa and Picnik (both free Google programs) I cartoon-ized several pictures from traveling in Africa.  Then I added a bold country title and a cheesy tourism slogan, and now I have my own travel posters!  I printed 5x7s and cropped them to fill the 5x6 openings.

My own mini travel posters framed by the recycled cabinet doors.

What do you think??

Doing A Little Rain Dance

I overheard someone at work today say, "This bad weather puts me in such a bad mood!"

Before today I hadn't thought much about my adoration of rain, but after hearing that comment today I realized how much I love it.  This, of course, stems from my time spent in Ethiopia, where rain could change your entire day.

A heavy storm one night in Dangila, Ethiopia.

Rainy season (also known as muddy season) lasts approximately from June-September in Ethiopia. There are several months before the summer season arrives where you think every day, "Will it come today?" Prayers are sent to the heavens for a reprieve from the dust of the dry season.  The heat was torturous on some days, but mostly it was the dust and the dead plants that begged for rain to arrive.

And then one day it comes.  Within a week grass turns green and life seems vibrant once again. That quick change hit me like a ton of bricks during my first rainy season.  I was out of town for a mere moment and arrived back to a completely different scene.  Rain is life.

The green fertile countryside in Amhara, Ethiopia.

During the summer no schedule is set in stone. A downpour of rain is a viable excuse to not go outside, and therefore you never know what is going to happen when you wake up each day (or when you will return once you leave in the morning).  It could mean a meeting is cancelled and you get to stay in your pajamas a few more hours reading the rest of the Twilight series. Or it might mean you have to cancel your late afternoon movie program since you have no excuse to refuse the third round of a coffee ceremony, and stick around for the subsequent mundane ETV news broadcast.

You never know what cafe or shop you'll be walking by when the rain decides to strike.  Wherever that happens to be, get comfortable and ready to make friends because you may be there for a while.

The lovely green color that covers the rural area.

This was the daydream I had about rain today at work.  Rain was the unknown reason why I was in such a good mood today.  Last night as the downpour cooled the summer heat I noticed it was cooler outside than in for the first time since spring.  We opened the door and the fresh air rushed in to fill the house with its lovely rain smell.

You may curse the mud or the fact that you switched purses and forgot your umbrella, but you cannot deny that rain is life.  Falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof, feeling the drops of rain on my face, and who can forget that lovely rainbow that follows; Rainy days are my favorite.