10,000 Villages- and other updates on the List :)

I'm getting so excited/nervous about the 10,000 Villages festival sale this weekend!!! I went to one last year at 5th Ave. Baptist, and was so impressed with the pieces of art and with the organization itself that I asked Katherine (who hosted it last year) if she would care if I hosted one this year (because she couldn't do it). All the posters are up around town (Marshall, Starbucks, Empire Books, Pita Pit, the Y, churches), the press release was sent last week, the facebook invites were sent out- and today all the boxes arrived! I realize that I still have the majority of the work ahead of me, but I'm glad I haven't procrastinated everything as badly as I usually do :) I just found out that Marshall's fall break starts on Friday- which is a bummer because I was counting on MU students, and now they'll be leaving the day before the sale :/ But I'm not going to worry (which sort of is my forte.) Friends have been amazing to offer to volunteer their time and help work the festival- just another reminder of how blessed I am :) Anyway, the big event is this Saturday and Sunday, so we'll see how it goes!! (If you're interested in finding out more info, check out http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/. It's basically a nonprofit group that works with artisans in 38 3rd world countries and pays fair wages for the pieces.)
Other updates:
#5- I'll start with the one I'm doing poorly on :) Not only have I failed to add much to my savings, but I KEEP TAKING MORE OUT!!! No idea how this is happening... unless I have a drug habit that I'm unaware of. I really am baffled at why my money wants to run away from me so badly. Maybe the horribly messy state of the inside of my purse is scaring it away??

#10- I'm definitely not blazing a trail through the Bible, but I'm at the end of Exodus. Yes, I know- that's only the 2nd book of the Bible. But the OT is a little rough for me, and also, I did start with the New Testament, and read about 10 books in that first. But with Christmas coming, I'm now going to skip back to the NT and read some of the Gospels, to get me in the spirit of the season. The OT is hard for me to really embrace sometimes. The God in the OT seems so drastically different from the God in the NT- and I definitely prefer the loving, forgiving characteristics that are emphasized in the NT. But I have been surprised by how much I've learned, just by actually reading it through instead of skipping just to the parts that are my favorite.

#28- I tried my best to get the cool wine rack from St. James art show this year!!! The art festival is in Louisville the 1st weekend of October every year. I was so excited to finally purchase the wine rack that I've been regretting that I didn't buy 2 years ago- and the booth for that group was nowhere to be found!!! I was seriously bummed! I'm still determined to find it though- or at least one similar. It saved me $150 at least- but I'm such a penny pincher that it takes me a lot of consideration to part with that big of a chunk- and I was so ready and knew it would be worth it :/ All was not lost though- it was one of the most gorgeous days of the year, so I just walked around for a few hours and enjoyed hundreds of talented artists. And then I got to see my friend Jess, and meet her little baby Kate for the first time :) AND, I found a new project that I'm determined to make eventually. Here it is:

www.secondchanceart.net/item_147/His-Hers-Hers-towel-or-coat-rack.htm

#52- I'm only about 120 pages into Pride and Prejudice, and I can't figure out how I made it this long without reading it before. It's definitely more enjoyable than I was expecting- and I really love that Elizabeth is so fiesty :)

#55- Just wrote Oswaldo's Christmas card. But I got a letter last week informing me that Christine and her family moved out of the area that World Vision works in, so they have no way of providing her with care anymore :( They're going to assign me another child now, but I'm still sad that I'll no longer be able to keep in touch with Christine.

#56- Christmas cards!!!!! Started these about 2 weeks before Halloween :) Still only about 1/3 of the way through, but I'm gonna make it by my Dec. 1st deadline.

#61 & #62- Hosted 3rd family night last night, and Poppi came over also. I somehow always stress myself out in the process of getting ready, and then feel exhausted once dinner's on the table. And I hate that, because then it's hard for me to fully enjoy the evening.

#64- Had the 3rd friend night last Friday, and it was so fun :) We just ate goodies that are very autumn appropriate, and sat around and talked for hours, drinking apple cider and wine.

#69- My 3rd "just because" gift was Steph's care package that we sent to Elon a few weeks ago. I always loved getting care packages in college, so I thought she'd enjoy getting some random stuff :)

#70- Revising this one. I'm now going to count the movie if it was nominated for an Oscar, or if the lead actor/actress won an Oscar. I watched Revolutionary Road the other day, thinking Kate Winslet had won Best Actress for it- and later realized she won the Oscar for The Reader. So I spent 2 hours of my life watching a terribly depressing, dark, void-of-hope movie and then it didn't even count for why I was watching it lol :) I'll admit the acting was phenomenal, but the story was so depressing- and none of the characters were at all redeeming. I just kept thinking, "These people need some Jesus."

I've added a few new goals.
#89- After my 1st marathon is now accomplished, I now want to actually run it for a good time. I'm still frustrated that I didn't do what I trained to do, and it's my worst time of any race. So I want to run one in under 4 hours... unless a baby comes along (unexpectedly) and I have to wait a little while to accomplish this.
#90- Nick's parents' neighbor had advanced cancer about 2 years ago, and they asked Nick to do a buccal swab test to see if he might be a match and be able to donate bone marrow for the neighbor. It just brought to my attention something I hadn't really thought much about before. I know this is an extremely painful process, but to be able to save someone's life would be so worth it. And I know if it was my loved one, I'd really hope people would be willing to do it. Nick already did his test and is now in some national registry, so that they can keep him on file and call him if he's needed. The kit is about $50 and has simple instructions on how to do it, and then I just mail it in. So I'm adding this to my list.
#91- Go to the memorial service at the Marshall fountain. Nick and I already did this on Saturday. I've been wanting to go for a few years now, but am usually working during the service. Since November 14th fell on a Saturday this year, I got to attend the memorial service for the Marshall plane crash. I was impressed by how many people came to pay tribute to the 75 who lost their lives, and the speakers did a great job. It reminds me why Huntington is such a close-knit community, and what they had to help each other through during those difficult days.

That's it for now!