Coffee Beans and African Hope

Sometimes in life we are graced with a beautiful, heartful soul.. and sometimes we are lucky enough to hear their story….

Sometimes we are lucky enough….

To wear a pair of shoes with decent soles… or to simply wear a pair of shoes

Sometimes we are lucky enough….

To not worry about when we will recieve our next meal

Sometimes we are lucky enough….

To Drink Clean Water

Sometimes we are just  lucky enough…

A conference I attended had partnered with  The Christain Relief Fund. The fund was selling Coffee Beans to raise money for the schools who housed the Orphaned children in Africa. Lucky for me, one of the directors found a seat next to me on a bus and shared his story…

He was a business man, crunched numbers and lived in the society of the corporate world…. He then made a change with his life, to change other lives…

He began to tell me the stories hidden in the orphanages and in the hearts of the African women…Story after Story was shared, I tuned out every other person on that bus, each story told his eyes got a little glassier and so did mine until a few tears made their way out of our souls and down our cheeks.

I heard stories about the wise women of the eldoret  http://blog.christianrelieffund.org/the-wise-women-of-eldoret/.

And another  about two girls with the same beginning, but a different outcome due to a monthly sponsorships 

http://blog.christianrelieffund.org/what-a-difference-a-sponsor-makes/#more-169 

and a few others told by the very man whose hands and heart shaped lives in Africa…

Many other stories can be found on their webpage at https://www.christianrelieffund.org/. I wanted to use this opporuntity to shine a light on wonderful people and a wonderful foundation giving so many children hope. The passion, love and empathy I saw in the director’s eyes as he  was telling the stories was nothing short of genuine concern and passion to “pay it forward” and change lives.

Please pass along their information, Sponsor a child or buy some coffee beans… One More Child = Hope for one more life…

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” Mahatma Gandhi

Photos Compliments of Mr.Unkown

2010….Arizona Road Trip…

Next week I am embarking on another trip west to Arizona… First half of my trip I will be buttoned up in my suite working in a hotel, but once my conference is over I am trading in my high heels and black suite for a pair of hiking shoes and my LL Bean jacket. However, this blog is not about the trip I am about to venture on, but more so a reflection of a past Arizona road trip… I figured before I return and blog on my upcoming second trip to the west, I better rehash about my first experience out west. But beware.. this is a long one! I experienced to many adventures to not share them all!

My brother moved west two years ago to pursue his love for flying, which lucky for me, it gave me a reason to travel, to spend time with my wonderful brother and a place to lay my head for a few days. He lives five hours (driving) north of Phoenix Arizona in a small town called Page where he flies twin-engine airplanes and gives tours to the French tourist.

My Journey started from my flight from Orlando, FL to Phoenix Arizona. We did not have much of a plan in place except to rent a car on our arrival and to head north…. Five hours north…Hop, skip and a jump from Utah North. We were a race against time, or more so, against the “Painted desert”. We were chasing the sunset in hopes to watch god’s face “Paint the Dessert”. We made it to the painted dessert at the very end of God’s face dissipating into the earth. A combination of the stratified rock layers and the dusk sky looked like someone took a painters bush and fine oils to the earth… if only we made it 15 minutes earlier… Could you imagine?!?!?!?

 September 22, 2010

Page, AZ 8 pm arrival

We settled into our new little home and then set out to a local bar- “Kens”- where we sipped on beer and listened to a Lynard Skynard Cover band. We made it an early night due to the East coast/West coast time change that our bodies had not yet adapted to.

Morning came and we sat on the front porch drinking hot tea enjoying the sun birthing over the Indian reserve creating silhouetted plateaus and watching a line of planes take off ( Literally only a small street and a chain linked fence were the only barrier to protect us from those choppers!)

My brother picked us up to go peer over Glen Canyon Dam:

Then we headed to the runway to see the West from the air.

The Best Pilot EVER aka The Best Brother Ever

  

 

Glenn Canyon Sky View

What a View from the Airplane!

  

What we looked like in the air...

After we landed we changed into our bathing suites and headed to lake Powell on the high-water side of the dam where we bravely plummeted to the freezing water below ( I stuck to the small Cliff– I learned that day I have a fear of heights!)

 My Brother, brave and “macho”, took to a higher cliff with a running start:

..Hike to Horseshoe Bend..

Looks like a horseshoe... Hints to the name...

Relaxing...

Pk & I

…Beaching it in UTAH….

After our short hike to the Horseshoe we headed to Lone Rock Beach in Utah where campers resided next to the water and dogs and children danced in the water.

We left mid afternoon to gather supplies for a return to Lone Rock Beach that evening for a bon- fire.

Supplies:

• Smores ingredients
• Hot Dogs
• Miller light

We set up our bon fire close to the water, enjoyed ice-cold beer, snacked on dogs and  and admired the diamonds in the sky and even a shooting star ( or two)!

That was our last night in Page, AZ before we jumped back in our rental and headed back south… with no plan…

“Half the Adventure is not knowing what the next adventure holds”- ME (Written in my travel diary)

7:30 am start on September 25th, 2010

First Stop: Grand Canyon

I decided I didn’t have the words to paint the picture of how surreal the Grand Canyon was to see, actually I don’t even have pictures that capture how utterly incredibly amazing and massive this natural wonder is! but i’ll share anyway:

After admiring the beauty and greatness of the Grand Canyon and receiving a short history lesson from the State Park Ranger on ” Theories on How the Grand Canyon was formed” we headed to higher elevation…. Flagstaff, AZ. 

We drove for a few hours into Flagstaff, then found ourselves on a desolate road where the closest gas station was 25 miles away (according to my handy App on my iphone, “Around Me”) .We drove until we found a dirt road that lead us far in the woods where we set up our parachute hammocks in the trees.

Middle of nowhere, AZWaking up in the forst

 We laid in our hammocks and listened to elk buguling and the wolves howling… It was incredible to feel so apart of nature and so far away from the real world.

Morning came, we packed up and headed south…

Red Rock Country and a visit back in time to the Wild West of Jerome, AZ.

Walking the streets in Jerome, AZ

   Our trip concluded the next day and my new adventure begins in 1 day…. Page, AZ here I come to conquer you again… round two!

Growing Green Edibles…AVOCADO!!

Thanks to my foodie roomie, Google and Mr. Jube- The chef/ philosopher who knows everything about everything-I received a lesson on how to grow my very own “Green Edibles”- avocado tree. So I have taken on the challenge to nurture and grow my very own avocado tree.

To Start you will need the following:

• Avacado
•  toothpicks
•  a cup
• water

Cut open the avocado and remove the pit.

Stick 3-4 toothpicks through the thickest part of the avocado pit, push each toothpick approximately 1/2″  into the seed.

The toothpicks should be evenly dispersed around the center of the pit. Then balance the toothpicked avocado pit on a glass. Be sure the pit’s point is pointed to the ceiling and the larger base is faced towards the water.

Fill the water up to the base of the avocado pit ( Above photo)

Set in doors where the sun indirectly hits it.

NURTURE:

Change the water frequently and watch that baby grow!

Hopefully if I do not kill this thing by next week I will be able to return with a report of her sprouting process. ( Yes, I did refer to this “pit” as a her- maybe next time I report “she” will have a name.)

If I manage to keep her alive and growing, the following will need to take place:

Once a stem grows from the seed it is time to plant the pit in the soil of mother nature. Place the sprouting pit in the soil leaving the top of the pit free from the soil. Water frequently.

Pictures of either my diseased tree or my sprouting tree to come…

…Georgia Moonlight…

The moonlight reflected perfectly off of the clouds in the sky and the fog that settled on the land below. I sat out on a porch in a Clayton, GA home admiring the beauty that sat below us. Luckily I had my camera and tripod handy to snap the shot. The camera was set at an extremely low shutter speed, this long exposure allowed more light to enter the lens so I could catch the true beauty of the night sky. Always use a tripod with exposures of 1/60th or below.  

Enjoy the “Georgia Moonlight”…

A New Beginning… VB Sunrise Jan. 2012

 “Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.” Jim Rohn

Sunrise Photos: Compliments of Mr. Unkown

Vintage in Color…DIY

In college I picked up a vintage cabinet from a garage sale down the street. It had sliding doors with glass green panels and my favorite part: chicken wire (hard to see in the picture below)..  I am guessing the glass shattered and the previous owner replaced it with chicken wire… BRILLIANT!

There are to many memories to chunk my favorite piece of vintage, so instead  I decided to give it a little face lift , a splash of color and attempt the “distressing” technique on it.

 “Before“. (Post Sanding)

After

(Above: I couldn’t part with the chicken wire!)

The Process:

Step 1: Sand the heck out of it!

Step 2:  Clean off all dust and sanding particles, wipe with a wet rag. (I was to impatient for this one.. But now I see why it was so important, I painted dust onto the cabinet.. I always let my impatience get the best of me!!!).

Step 3: Paint a base color of white and then run through it with a wire brush. Let dry and run some sand paper over the edges. *Note: Remove all drawers and paint separately or they will be painted closed (Mistake two)

Step 4: Let dry for a day or so (And don’t leave it outside, I woke up to a soaking wet piece of furniture and had to wait a few more hours for it to dry)

Step 5: Remove glass panes, replace with wood panels (I would have prefered a clear or crackled glass.. but I was workin’ on a budget!)

Step 6: Add color! Then to begin the distressed look, use a dry brush to go over it (Don’t do it immediately while it is still wet, but don’t let it dry completely) . Let dry before Step 7

 Step 7: Distressing the vintage piece: 

More Sanding… Sand the edges and random spots. Sand anywhere where there is raised detail of the wood. Also, I incorporated a brush I used the day before to stain wood (I did not add any more stain, there was enough residue left on the hairs of the paint brush and after a night of hardening the hairs where very coarse which cut into the paint, adding to the distressed look). I applied the “stain residue” randomly over the cabinet.

Step 8: Add the knobs

Step 9: Dress it up! I added a chic mirror to counter act the “shabby” cabinet and a vase filled with bamboo sticks!

**Note: There are many other ways to distress furniture. I more or less winged it and used some techniques I picked up from an episode of  HGTV. However, I now know the real technique thanks to YouTube and other bloggers and will attempt to do it correctly next time… Stay Tuned…

Frugal.. Why yes I am:

Cabinet: $5

Paint: Martha Stewart Seaglass $1.50

Scrap Wood: $1.50

Paint Brush: $2

Silver Knobs: $2 a piece = $6

Total: $16

August Skies…. Mr. Unknown Shares Another Sunrise

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” Theodore Roosevelt

Photos: Compliments of Mr. Unknown

Exploring the Nature “Around” Culpeper, VA

Whenever I make a trip somewhere new I am determined to discover the natural wonders it has to offer. On my final day in Culpeper, VA when the clouds subdued and the rain disappeared we made our 45 minute drive to Luray Caverns and the Shenandoah National Park where we took the Skyline Drive.

First Stop: Luray Caverns

We entered the caves through a glass door unsure of what the underworld held… And that is exactly what it held… a little world of its own.. Six stories deep, filled with “speleothems (columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, mirrored pools)”- Thank you WIKI for giving a better description than I could! I met PLUTO “God of the underworld”, a Princess (Well not technically a princess, but the tour guide introduced us to a column they refer to as the princess column where they found partial remains of an indian woman from many years before embedded in the caverns walls and columns), I even listened to a stalacpoipe organ (Some sort of Big fancy word used to describe playing music through the cavern’s hallow  sediment deposit columns)

Tour admission: $24 per adult ticket

Second Stop: Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive, Overlooks and “Little Stony Man” Hike

We drove up the Skyline’s mountain roads making periodic stops at overlooks. We drove on the edge of the winding roads on the  Blue Ridge Mountains, having a perfect view of neighboring mountains, farm lands and the city that lies in the valley. Next time I will be sure to make a trip up the mountain’s edge during fall when the leaves are changing!

After making a few stops, debating which trail to ascent and  factoring in our time dilemma, we chose a short hike, Little Stony Man, approximately 3/4 mile summit to the top. Once we reached the top it gave a perfect view of the endless miles of natural beauty…What a perfect spot to watch a sunset!

 

The Shenandoah National Park offers approximately 500 miles of hiking trails even including 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Easy, Moderate and strenuous hikes (For the adventurer!)… Even some options for an overnight backpacking hike– This is in the works for my next visit!

Bon Voyage my fellow adventurers and outdoor lovers,

For The Virgina Wine Lovers: Prince Michel: Culpeper, VA

On our route home from visiting a closed distillery we decided to make a stop at “Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery”. We explored the gift shop (Most Unique gift store I have seen yet) and went on a short tour, all while contemplating if it was too early to have a tasting… at 10:30 am… When in Rome ( or on vacation)…. Why not!

Tastings range between $5-$10 and are well worth it… Some of the best Virgina Wines I have tasted!

We started with a few selected white wines, all of us favoring Mt. Juliet Petit Manseng, an intense tropical aroma complete with citrus nuances. Comparing oak barreled Chardonnay to stainless steel barrels (Oak took the lead in my opinion).

Followed by the whites we indulged in rich, earthy and berry Merlot’s, Cabs and Syrahs.

We even ended with lush Peach Bellinis!

Our wine connoisseurs gave a great presentation and their kind service made the experience that much better!

Be sure to stop by to get a morning wine buzz on your next trip to the Culpeper, VA area!

Visit them at http://www.princemichel.com