My Ethiopian Dog

Anyone who knows me knows all about my lovely Ethiopian dog. I seriously talk about her like she is my child.  But, having her with me through all those stressful times in Ethiopia meant the world to me, and having her now with me in America makes me happy every day!  Exactly one year ago today I took a flight, with Arbay in the cozy cargo hold, in order to bring my precious pup all the way to America.  It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since she has been home.  We've surely fattened her up a bit and she almost blends right in as if she's been here the whole time.

Yes, she is happily chewing on a chicken foot in this picture from Ethiopia.

In America she still manages to get just as dirty!

She's a rambunctious, hyper three-year old dog who used to live on the streets of Ethiopia.  Yes, I let her adorable flea-ridden fur sleep in my bed. 

Arbay prancing ahead of me on our last sunrise run together in Ethiopia.

I'd say she's adapted. Could she possibly sit atop a larger pile of toys?

She has been through a lot in the past three years.  I took her from her home on a street in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia when she was approximately four months old.  She wouldn't walk on a leash and she threw up on the bus ride back to my town, but she learned quickly how to act like a ferengi (American) dog since I spoiled her like one!  Her first friend was a baby cow; her second an equally-feisty Americanized Ethiopian dog.  She's been kidnapped for ransom, had rocks thrown at her by children and old men alike, and still snuggles like a toddler.  I adore this dog.  Here's to her one-year anniversary of being an African American dog! More Arbay stories can be found here or here.

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??