Seriously Busy

Just a Note:  Holy Smokes - 2 posts in 2 days!  Actually I started this post April 27th & I just finished it today!  Insha'Allah

My favorite mosque at dusk.  Look at the lights inside.

So this is how it's gonna be - I post 1 huge post with lots of pictures & a summary. I love blogging, as well as lots of other things, & I'm struggling to make it all work. Perhaps I should have taken an artful picture of the embarrassing mound of clean laundry in the guest room.

A new mosque I found a couple of weeks ago while stopped at a red light.  I'm always looking in these parts.  I made a mental note to come back.

I got to ride on a dhow.  It was a date night for me & the hubby. Nice hair!  This picture cracks me up & makes me wanna sing Rio.

A special package that I just mailed off.

The Trash to Treasure project with Operation Hope.

We celebrated the completion of the second session.  I am so inspired by what the ladies have continued to achieve. This session the ladies have made rugs & jewelry to purchase things for their community living there: meeting tables, laundry detergent, shampoo, soap.  We are currently assessing needs to make bigger purchases.  This time around I also took on a larger role; in addition to teaching the jewelry makers, I gave 2 lectures: Habit 5 & one on business basics.

The view for my birthday.

Spa Day!  I had a birthday weekend :)

What Happened to March?

WOW!  I've been busy!  I can't believe April is here - it's a party month in our family as Brandon & I have bithdays coming up.  Here's the March highlights since I never found the time to post.  I promised to be better this April - maybe...

 A sight I liked to refer to as Dustmageddon

Graduation time from Operation Hope & the Trash to Treasure program at the Philippine Embassy here in Kuwait.  I can't even tell you how proud I am to be a part of this.  I work with an amazing team of ladies (Hi Cheryl, Becky & Amy) & our "students" are wonderful in every way.  We have several graduates going back to start their own businesses & administer to those in need.  What other validation do I need?

 The craft show I spent oodles of time getting ready for.  What fun!  I really enjoy every part of this - well not the inventory stuff.  I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing because I'm in my element.  The maroon velour tablecloths were provided, not my color scheme - obviously, but much better than nothing.

  I cleaned my craft corner.  What is this world coming to?  Wonder where my creative juju comes from?  It's my mom.  The oil painting of the flowers in the top left shelf is one my mom did.  I saw it the summer before we left the states & asked if I could take it with me. 

I found another use for my tiara - I actually wore it to a ball here!  I figured it matched the dress & all I ever use it for is Halloween so why not!  I had to do the self portrait thing since my hubby spent the whole day setting up then the whole night overseeing tear down.  I had to drive myself to & from the ball without him.  Thank goodness for the tiara :)

I have a *slight* obsession with the beautiful mosques here.  I Always have a camera on me - never know when I need to pull over to take a picture.  Can't tell you how useful the sunroof is in my car.  Yep, that's me in the parking lot sticking out of the sunroof with my camera.

Got my driver's license...

And I got lost!

Here's looking to an exciting April!

Operation Hope

Remember this post?  This is what I'm doing.  I am so fortunate to be working alongside a wonderful team of women.  I am working with the group Operation Hope with the Trash to Treasure project.  I almost feel guilty that I am having such a good time with volunteer work.  I see such energy & hope in these women that should be broken.

My mentors Cheryl & Becky are facilitating Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  After that I help facilitate with jewelry making while Cheryl is teaching weaving to make rugs & bags.  Runda has been our hospitality coordinator & I help her serving the women.
I believe in this program because of the fact that we are enabling the ladies with skills & knowledge to dream & succeed.  This volunteer work is so near & dear to me because we visit the Philippine Embassy, the country of my heritage.  I have yet to visit this beautiful land, but I feel such a connection with the country & the people because of the upbringing from my parents.  They fondly share stories with us & infused the culture into our everyday life.  While I am heartbroken over the circumstances that bring the ladies here, I am overwhelmed with joy to work with them.

To my crafty friends, I'd like to put out a request.  What projects/tutorials have you seen with recycling everyday items?  We're still doing a lot of brainstorming.  Cheryl's first project was last Christmas making ornaments.  I've found a ton on the internet, but I'd like to hear what you've done.

Digital frames from: Hof3

New Beginnings...

not just for the recycled magazine pages turned into paper beads, but what I will be doing with them. This is something new for me & it's very humbling to know that I will be sharing my craft with some special people.

In other news, I can't get enough of this mosque. I go grocery shopping & I find myself having to drive by to take pictures. I think I'm in love. I need to summon the courage to get out of the car & take closeups. The fun of having wheels again!

In yet more news, I'm slowly learning how to use this new camera of mine. I haven't been able to take macro pictures without fuzziness & the flash going off. I even resorted to my old camera to take pictures of some new jewelry. I was disappointed to not be able to use my new one. I started reading the manual in addition to other articles then just kinda stopped. I guess I just like to jump in & get started Kinda frustrating when you don't know what you're doing!