Send your prayers and best wishes to a friend in need

This post is a case of "better to ask for forgiveness than permission". I want to share with you what is going on in Missy's world in the coming week.
Some of you know that Missy's husband is a Marine pilot and was scheduled to deploy to Iraq on August 17th. Unfortunately,Missy and Chris found out Friday that his deployment has been pushed up and he will be leaving August 3, just a little over a week from now. He will be in Iraq until February.
So here is what I am asking of you, faithful readers....please pray for Missy, Chris and their children, leave Missy some words of cheer and encouragement and thank those brave soldiers who serve our country for their sacrifices are great.
Thanks for your help!
Liz

DR, more

 

Our "kitchen"

 

Sad goodbyes

 

Freddy, he broke my heart. I would have happily taken him home with me.

 

Hard at work repairing the wall.

More DR, the lighter side

 

We are the hands and feet of Christ

 

My husband Lee and his two little buddies, Willie and Freddy. Willie walks with an limpy sort of gait due to Polio. Polio...a disease none of our children will never have. He has had several surgeries to allow him to walk at all. He had the sweetest soul and was a very hard worker.

 

One day we went to the beach, our group and their Dominican "buddies". We stopped to look at the view which was incredible

 

This is Josie (Jose') who we are sponsoring at the University where he is studying languages. He hopes to get a job in the tourist industry once he completes his degree.

Dominican Republic Mission Trip

 

Hello, I(liz) am back from my mission trip to Bombita, Dominican Republic. Evidently I cannot post more than 4 pictures at a time, so several more posts will follow this one. The pictures don't tell the whole story, and I am not sure I can express it as I am not really a writer. I chaperoned this same trip 2 years ago with a different group of kids. What we saw then was a very poor village much like what you see in the third picture. The children are clothed in rags if they are clothed at all. There is no running water or indoor toilet facilities. Animals run loose and their droppings litter the "streets" such as they are. Do you have a picture in your mind? How could that picture be worse?

November 2007, Hurrican Noel sits over the DR dropping tremendous amounts of rain for several days. The village floods. People who have nothing lose everything. The men will not leave because people who have less will come and take what they can while the village is unguarded. Eventually, the waters receed leaving 18 inches of mud in every house (most of which had dirt floors to begin with). How do you clean a house with a dirt floor after that many days of rain? Mud has also filled most of the shared latrines. There are now only 18 working latrines for 1300 villagers.

Our group of 20 worked very hard to make a difference. We built a wall that had been knocked down, we cleared debris, we repainted classrooms and refinished ruined doors on the school. There were endless jobs that we could have done. The most important thing I think we gave, is ourselves. For one week, we worked hard to show these people that we care about them. Our kids (and us chaperones) formed lasting relationships with kids from the village and missionaries on site. I think we made a difference. I also think we wish we could have done more. I don't think we could have ever done enough. Look at the faces. It is hard for me too look at the first picture in this post and not cry. You see those ads for "save the children" and such, but they just aren't real until you see it in person. Hug your kids, be thankful for all God has blessed you with, do good whenever you can. We are all so lucky.

 

 

 

Win this quilt

I ran across this online today and had to share the love. Although, I really, really, really want to win this for myself! :)

Click the picture to visit the blog to enter:

Blog Catch up... part one

I have been meaning to get some blogging done for awhile now, but time got away from me and then the move happened. So, I haven't had a chance to blog about a few major things. This post is about Georgia's soccer season. Last fall, she took a soccer skills class called smart start. It is a really neat program they offered on base where preschoolers could learn about kicking and some of the fundamentals, without the pressure (and chaos) of team play. She enjoyed it pretty well, although I am not sure if it was the soccer she really liked, or the rice krispie treat snacks they got after class! So, we signed her up for team soccer this spring. Her team consisted of 8 five year olds, six boys and two girls. It was the funniest thing you have ever seen to see these kids try to play soccer! They would go out four at a time on each team and the field was much smaller than a normal soccer field. They named their team themselves, they were the orange dolphins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feels like Home to me...

Things are starting to feel like home here. I snapped a few pictures to share for now. I will share more later, as I get pictures hung and all of the clutter hidden!! But for now, a little taste...


My studio is unpacked and up and running! Thank goodness! I was starting to go into fabric withdrawal!!




A peek into several rooms. The red sofa is in our main living room, and the window behind it has a GORGEOUS hydrangea blooming just outside! My favorite! The pink and green loveseat is in our family room. We have not had two separate living room areas before, so we just purchased the loveseat at Ikea. The girls love it - so girly!
The rooster is in the kitchen/breakfast room.


I clipped a hydrangea bloom and put it in a vase next to a beautiful dish I got in a swap (thank you Gina!) last year. It sits currently on my kitchen island. Love the shabby vintage look of it!


We didn't want to lose any more of the summer growing season, so we made it one of our first projects to plant a garden. We are new to the vegetable gardening thing, so wish us luck! Chris built the box and we filled it with topsoil, compost, and steer manure (ew!) and planted some plants. They are looking a little wilty currently, and we are crossing our fingers that it is a case of transplant shock and they will recover. If not, we are going to have to adjust our soil mixture and try again!
The plums are on a plum tree in the backyard. The girls are absolutely loving going out to the backyard, shaking the tree and eating fresh plums. They eat several each day!



There are a couple of rose bushes in the yard as well. So pretty!

Picture of the Day

 

When we were at Nana and Poppy's recently, I went in to check on the girls before going to bed, and this is what I found. Olivia in her pack and play, had apparently gotten bored after going to bed, and reached the lincoln logs and dragged them into bed with her, and then fell asleep with her hand in the bucket while playing!!

Good Food Fast

I made the yummiest meal the other night so I thought I would share the recipe.

Mediterranean Shrimp

Makes 4 servings, Prep: 5 minutes, Cook: 15 minutes

1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes with burgundy wine and olive oil marinara (I would increase this to two cans)

1 jar (12 ounce) quartered marinated artichoke hearts (my store only had 7 ounce jars, so that is what I used and it was plenty)

1 1/4 cups orzo pasta

1 lb cleaned and deveined medium-sized shrimp (my store only had 10 ounce packages, so I used two)

1/2 cup crumbled feta

(adding some sliced ripe olives and some fresh basil would make this even better, I think!)

1. bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling
2. in a large skillet, simmer diced tomatoes with marinara plus the liquid from the artichoke hearts over medium high heat. Once simmering, cook for 10 minutes, until some of the liqued has evaporated.
3. Meanwhile, cook orzo in the boiling water as directed. Drain well and transfer to a large serving bowl.
4. Stir artichoke hearts and shrimp into sauce. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through. Add to orzo in bowl, toss with cheese.

Yum!

Fall Trunk Show Season

We are putting the finishing touches on our fall trunk show season and we couldn't be more excited! Starting in August, our trunk will be visiting Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Tallahasse, Florida, San Diego, California; Sacramento, California; Charleston, South Carolina; Beaufort, South Carolina; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Maryland; and Hawaii!!!

Liz and I sure wish we were going to Hawaii with the trunk!! :)

We do have a couple of open dates, so please email if you are interested in hosting a trunk show. We have great hostess benefits you can read about here. In a nutshell, though, we ship the trunk with samples, fabric swatches, line sheets, and order forms, etc. to you and you invite over your friends! When they place orders, you earn credit towards clothing and gifts from Sweet Funky Vintage. We also work with charities if you want to donate your credit to a charity instead. When you are ready, we will have the trunk picked up from your doorstep - so easy!

I'm dreaming of a PINK Christmas!

Sweet Funky Vintage is proud to be a sponsor year for the annual PINK CHRISTMAS! You can sign up to participate anytime from July 1-31st. Come celebrate Christmas, have a little fun, meet new friends but most importantly.. benefit a family in need.
Pink Christmas is a fun gift swap that is organized by Kristi and Everything Pink.
You do not have to have a blog to join, so come join the fun!
Click here to sign up!