Happy Anniversary . . .

. . . to my parents!

Yes, I know it's "Pi Day" but this day is infinitely better because of my Mops and Pops.  33 years today!

Can't you see where I get my dashing good looks from??

I haven't talked about my parents on the blog much, so why not do a highlight reel?

Mom:

• The outgoing one
• Bank Examiner for the Federal Government for over 30 years (yes, she has a badge!)
• our Girl Scout leader for many, many years
• #3 out of 6 kids
• Always been a working mom, and has almost always been able to "do it all"
• Hometown: Lakeland, FL (by way of a few military towns first)
• Moved to Atlanta for her job

Dad:

• The reserved one
• Independent Insurance Agent; works in a tiny old building in the center of a cute little town
• Loves the Atlanta Braves
• 4th Degree Knight of Columbus
• Always been a working dad, but did a lot of the picking up/dropping off/making dinner when we were young
• Has a gabillion siblings (8? 9? I keep losing count) and 20 gabillion cousins
• Hometown: Utica, NY
• Moved to Atlanta for college (has other family members in Georgia)
• 100% Lebanese and taught me all the Arabic I know (which is, like, 3 words)

Together:

• Met at a Halloween party--Mom was dressed as Raggedy Ann and Dad was a cowboy (or so the story goes)
• Will drop anything to help friends or family (or family of friends or friends of family)
• Dad calls Mom at 8pm sharp every night when she's away for work (which is often)
• Will definitely come to your party as long as they don't have a conflict
• Expert road-trippers
• Love their kids and grandkids!

They only raised 2 kids, but they now have 3 grandkids with 2 more on the way soon! (And hopefully more from me later.)

Our little family of 4 has blossomed into a soon-to-be a dynsasty of 11 (once my sister's twins are born)

5 Favorites: Charities

For today's 5 Favorites, I'm going to do my favorite charities. Perfect for the 'almsgiving' part of Lent, right? Feel free to donate to them!!

1.

Habitat For Humanity

I actually worked for a Habitat for Humanity affiliate when I was in AmeriCorps (like the PeaceCorps, but in the U.S.). What a lot of people think is that Habitat gives away houses. But those people would be wrong. Habitat partner families actually buy their house with a no-interest mortgage. They also must put in 300 hours of sweat equity helping build the houses. No-interest loans are completely biblical, and Habitat supplements all their costs of building and overhead by donations. Working for Habitat for Humanity was fun, challenging, and heartwarming, as we tried to provide decent, safe, affordable houses to those in need.

2.

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society

I also worked volunteered for this organization. The mission of NMCRS is to provide financial assistance and education to members of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, their eligible family members, widows, and survivors. (Um, I just typed that out from memory, and I haven't set foot in the door in over a year.) The main goal is to help each person who comes in to get support for their immediate needs, but the long-term mission is to help Sailors and Marines become financially self-sufficient. They are another no-interest loan provider, and they really do help people get their finances in order when they come in for assistance.

I did admin work there and taught a Budget for Baby class (in reality, it was a basic budgeting class that should be taught in every high school, but with a baby-on-the-way-twist). It is almost 90% volunteer-run, so they treated us great, paid for our mileage and even paid for childcare so I could keep doing it after I had Cora. I loved this organization and wish I still lived in a military town so I could continue volunteering. If you're looking for a military organization to donate to, I can't recommend this one enough! This is also the oldest charity on my list, at 110 years old!!

3.

Heifer International

This one has definitely taken the "teach a man to fish" concept and ran with it. When you donate to Heifer, you help buy livestock for third-world families, which can help them in so many ways. Their mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. Plus, it's totally fun to say you bought a cow for someone, right?

4.

charity: water

"charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries. We use 100% of public donations to directly fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need."

100%, y'all. That's pretty dang impressive. I also really liked the video on their website that explains how clean water can open up educational opportunities to many children.

5.
Catholic Relief Services

"Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in 91 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality."

You may know them for their yearly Rice Bowl campaign?? I found they have a Rice Bowl app, too, which is pretty cool!

For more favorites, check out Moxie Wife.

Pushing Myself In My 30th Year

It's my 30th year of life (I'll hit the big three-oh on June 1, fyi), and I'm trying to get myself out of my comfort zone and push my limits. I did that twice this weekend.

If you had asked me to run outside in cold weather a year or two ago, I would have said, "No way, no how, forget it!" But that was before I fell in love with running.

I decided back in late January that I should sign up for a 5K in March. I missed the 'race atmosphere.' And it would hopefully be warmer then! The more snow I shoveled, the more I looked forward to March. The race is a St. Patrick's Day one on March 15th, and people are encouraged to wear kilts!

Well, it turns out we shovel snow in March just like every month that might border on winter. (I did know this based on last year, but I had hope!) Although I am seeing a trend toward a bit higher averages. As in high 20's vs. 18°.

So back to March 15th. That's in less than a week! And, sure, I've been running. Inside, on an indoor track at the Y. I finally had to make the executive decision that the weather probably ain't gettin' better in a week, and I better get my butt out there! I had to go to the local running store the other day to get a few things to help. (Who said running was a frugal thing?? That ear warmer cost almost as much as my race entry!)

I suited up yesterday afternoon, walked out our front door, and I did it! 3.1 miles in our neighborhood. It was about 31° at the time. Sure, I had some annoyances since I'm used to minimal loose-fitting clothing when I run (mostly that I had to keep pulling my Under Armour shirt down), but overall it was good. I had to stop and walk a few times due to some other issues, but it wasn't because of the cold. I don't really love the feeling of my ear buds underneath my ear warmer, but listening to the "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" podcast was the best thing to keep my mind off the cold and not worry about pacing. My run was slow, almost 5 minutes longer than I usually run a 5K. I was previously scared of the burning in my lungs, but I didn't really feel it. The sun was shining and beautiful, and I think it helped a lot. I even saw a woman out for a walk, bundled up with a scarf covering her mouth, and she gave me a wave. I felt like I just joined some type of crazy Midwestern bad-ass club!

The other thing I did this weekend to push myself? Auditioning. They scare me. I've mentioned I'm a singer on this blog here and there, but I have only posted videos of me singing within a choir or something from 10 years ago. I'm not some belting Broadway star, sorry. Actually I'm NOT sorry because I know that is not where my voice sounds best.

My audition was to sing the national anthem at a minor league baseball game. And as I continue to push myself, I might as well share my version on my blog. I'll find out in a week or so if I got it, but I heard some other auditions while I was there and let's just say there is some fierce competition in this town!

(This version is from Thursday, which was the first day after I had recovered from my illness enough to even hit every note. But I don't feel like doing another take, so there ya go.)