Wishful on Wednesday

I'm wishing everyone a very merry Christmas & a happy new year!

Please remember the reason for the season!

Favorite Christmas Songs

I couldn't pick just 10, so here are all my favorites:

* Oh Holly Night

* OH Come All Ye Faithful

* Jingle Bells

* Silent Night

* Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

* All I want for Christmas Is You

* I'll Be Home for Christmas

* Silver Bells

* Do You Hear What I Hear?

* Little Drummer Boy

* The 12 Days of Christmas

* Sant Clause Is Coming To Town

* Mr. Grinch

* Frosty the Snowman

* Jingle Bell Rock

* Here Comes Santa Clause

* Winter Wonderland

Monday's Animals!!!

So cute! Enjoy!!!

This Is A Christmas Tree (warning: you could be offended)

My grandmother sent this to me in an email and I thought I would share it because I agree. I'm not saying you're wrong for celeberating any other holiday but I will proudly be celebrating Christmas and I shouldn't be made to feel bad or feel the need to be politically correct about it. I"ll celebrate CHRISTmas and you celebrate your holiday and we will all be happy campers!

THIS IS A CHRISTMAS TREE,

NOTHING ELSE.

This is NOT a Holiday Tree

This is a CHRISTmas tree.

It is not a Hanukkah bush,

It is not an Allah plant,

It is not a Kawanza shrub

It is not a Holiday hedge.

It is a CHRISTmas tree.

Say it... CHRISTmas , CHRISTmas , CHRISTmas

Yes. CHRISTmas - celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ!!!

Jesus is the reason for the season... Amen!!!!!

Merry CHRISTmas to You!

The Spirit of Giving

Today's giving idea is green! Instead of buying wrapping paper, use old newspapers you should have recycled (cough cough) to wrap your presents. You can even use your 2008 calendar to wrap small presents! And if you need some color in your life and under your tree, you can still decorate with pretty ribbon or bows to give it some za za za. Or if you're already spent a fortune on pretty paper, next year buy some wrapping paper/holiday cards made out of recycable materials. Help save our planet one present at a time!

Secrets

Post Secret

The Spirit of Giving

So today I was finishing up my Christmas cards and realized I had more left over than I realized I would (those people who forget to call me back or ever call me period aren't getting them this year and I'm not sorry about it!). Anyways, on my flight back from Thanksgiving break a girl sitting next to me on the plane was writting Christmas cards to soldiers a local hospital near her college and I was inspired! I mean here I am, a soldier (airman actually but that's a minor detail) shouldn't I want to help my fellow soldiers? I was so inspired I thought I would do the same thing with my extra cards and I think you should too! I did some research and found out the American Red Cross is heading up an effort for soldier's, veterans, and their families. Here is some more information if you're interested:

The ARC is sponsoring a national "Holiday Mail for Heroes" campaign to receive and distribute holiday cards to servicemembers and veterans both in the United States and abroad.
Holiday Mail for Heroes, which began Tuesday, Veterans Day, is a follow-up to the 2007 effort that resulted in the collection and distribution of more than 600,000 cards to hospitalized servicemembers. This year's program will expand its reach to not only wounded servicemembers but also veterans and their families. The goal is to collect and distribute 1 million pieces of holiday mail.

"As we enter this holiday season-a time to celebrate with family and friends-it's important to remember the thousands of men and women who serve our nation in harm's way and those who are recovering in military and veterans hospitals," said Army Col. Norvell V. Coots, commander, Walter Reed Health Care System. "The Holiday Mail for Heroes program is a wonderful outreach effort and a great way to acknowledge the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform."

Holiday cards should be mailed to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes

P.O. Box 5456

Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456

All cards must be postmarked no later than Dec. 10. Cards should not be mailed or delivered to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For more information, visit http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/ or www.redcross.org/holidaymail for Holiday Mail for Heroes program guidelines.


FYI: Walter Reed is not accepting mail addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier."

Fascinating People

Did anyone catch Babara Walters's 10 most fascinating people of 2008 on TV last night? There were several choices I definitely agreed with and some left me scratching my head and wondering why? Here was her list in no particular order (because frankly I don't remember the order nor do I think the order is very important):

* Tina Fey

* Will Smith

* Michael Phelps

* Rush Limbaugh

* Miley Cirus

* Frank Langella

* Tom Cruise

* Sarah Palin

* Thonas Beatie

* Barack Obama

Your thoughts on her list? Who would you have chosen?

The Spirit of Giving

I really like today's way to help make the world a better place: give a car! No not a real car, but a rental car. For $50 You can provide a rental car for a wounded soldier's family while the soldier is in the hospital. There are also other opportunities to give at Yellow Ribbon


The organization: The Yellow Ribbon Fund, which was created in early 2005 to assist our injured service members and their families while they recuperate at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center. Our mission began when the father of an injured Marine introduced two of our volunteers to staff at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval and they told us what needs were not met by other donors.
In almost four years contributions made through the Yellow Ribbon Fund have provided the following for injured service members and their families: 900 free rental cars: over 11,000 free taxi rides; over 4,000 free hotel room nights; and 38 families have used our five apartments for almost 4,000 nights; and hundreds of free tickets to sporting games, concerts and plays, and hundreds of lunches, dinners, golf games, duck and goose hunts, fishing trips, and other activities.

Thanks to Glamour for today's idea!

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Did anyone catch the fashion show last night? I always enjoy watching it and I think that the women are so beautiful, but sometimes I really question what they are wearing. Honestly, who would wear a see-through skirt made wire or a $5 million bra made of diamons and jewels (sounds uncomfortable to me!).

However, I do love their wings! They really rock!!! Anyone know how can I get pair without paying a fortune (and know wear can I wear them out withing out looking like an idiot?)

The Spirit of Giving

Today's gift is that of self-sustainment and can be found at Heifer. For $120 you can buy a goat for a family in Africa, $150 can give a beehive to five families in El Salvador, $500 can give a cow to a family and they're are many other gifts to chose from. If you can't give $500 to buy a cow, you can give $10 and up to help buy a portion of any of these amazing gifts which will help improve a family's crop yeilds, help boos their incomes, and help them become self-sustaining.

The organization: Heifer International is dedicated to ending world hunger and caring for the Earth. In 2007, Heifer had 867 active projects in 53 countries/provinces and 28 U.S. states. Heifer projects around the world help families achieve self-reliance through the gift of livestock and training. Gifts are passed from recipient to recipient until entire communities are transformed.

Thanks Glamour for today's idea!

The Spirit of Giving

You can buy jewelry, bags, or even holiday cards made by survivors of sex trafficking (from all over the world) to support their rehab programs and help then get a chance at getting back on their feet to support themselves. You can even host a party to sell their handcrafted items in your own home (like tupperware or candle/jewwlry parties we're all familiar with)!

The Organization: Emancipation Network (TEN) is an international organization dedicated to fighting human trafficking and modern day slavery. They help survivors of slavery rebuild their lives after rescue from slavery, with sustainable income, education and help reintegrating into society. They work to prevent slavery in high risk communities such as red light and refugee communities, by creating jobs for adults and through volunteer trips and donations to our shelter partners for rescue, school fees, emergency needs and reintegration.

TEN imports and sell beautiful handicraft products made by survivors of slavery and persons at risk of being trafficked into slavery, which can be found at TEN.

Thanks to Glamour Magazine for this idea!

Wishful on Wednesday

My Christmas List:

* a new Chi straightener because mine shoreted out a few weeks ago :(

* Army Wives, Jeff Dunham, & Planet Earth DVDs

* A crockpot & deep skillet/pan

* GPS so I won't be lost and late all the time

* buisness casual clothes and nice jewelry

(I need to get away from the cheap looking stuff and dress more grown up)

* a duvet for my bed (I have a cover but no duvet)

The Spirit of Giving

Today's gift is that of inspiration! At Unicef Inspired Gifts you can give the gift of nutrition to a child for as little as $40, $18 will buy a mosquitto net to prevent malaria and other diseases, $12 will provide a vaccination carrier to deliver vaccines, $40 will provide a child with a vaccination, or $35 buys a bicycle to get a health worker into remote areas to provide care.

The organization: Inspired Gifts is an innovative program that allows you to purchase real, lifesaving products--like bednets and vaccines--to be shipped directly to one of over 150 countries where UNICEF is saving children's lives.

10 Ways To Save Money:

1. Eat out less & cook more. I love to cook! I just don't like eating leftovers for a week (guess I can freeze the leftovers for later).
2. Buy less groceries at the store & go less often. I never eat it all and my pantry is full. Plus my fruit goes bad before I can eat it all.
3. Use coupons more. I like to cut them out of the paper on Sunday!
4. Go green! Use energy efficient light bulbs (most of my house has these), turn off the water while brushing my teeth, and recycle more (since I pay for it montly)!
5. No more buying bottled water! I have a filter & I'm going to start using it with my big 1/2 gallon water bottle (2 = daily reccommended water intake). Plus the bottles clog up the landfills.
6. Make less trips to walmart and only buy what I NEED! No more random shopping and spending $100 at a time on who knows what.
7. Stop buying scrabook stuff (except the basics I need like paper or adhesives that I run out of) like the expensive embellishments & use all the stuff I have. I have so much I'm not even sure exactly what I have.
8. No more drinks at dinner and cut back on the Starbucks. I got a really nice coffee maker for free from Govallia and I need to use it with some coffee mate. Plus, if I cut back that means less empty calories!
9. Carpool to work and take my lunch to work. Driving home or out to lunch everyday really adds up. Plus I'm eating out less (see #1).
10. Give handmade gifts & cards. Recall all my scrapbook stuff! There are some really cute things you can do with a little bit of paper, ribbon, and embellishments.

What are your thoughts?

The Spirit of Giving

Today's gift is that of water. Give bottled water for a week; skip buying your own (the tap water won't kill you; we actually learned at field training that many companies don't meet the standards *cough Sam's club & Aquifina* for that of what the FDA requires for bottled water) this week & donate your savings from the water this week to h2o where only $20 can give one person water for 20 years!

The organization- Charity: Water which is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. They give 100% of any money raised directly to project costs. With the help of exemplary organizations on the ground and individuals they can drill wells and provide people with this basic, essential need.

Thanks Glamour Magazine & Emily for this gift giving idea

Monday's Animals!!!

I hope you enjoy!