off expanding my comfort zone

12 year old girls...

The Girl Effect

waiting for superman

Waiting for Superman - take action - pledge now
... and a great NY Times article and Time Magazine article

incredible

sign the petition
join the campaign for food safety.

Four Feet Two Sandals

 Four Feet Two Sandals is a wonderful book about friendship between two refugee girls in Peshawar, Pakistan. A pair of bright yellow sandals bring the girls together. Through sharing, both loneliness and fear are soothed. By the end of the story (sniff, sniff) children will be aware of the plight of refugees - 20 million globally, the majority of which are children.

Want to help children in need get shoes? Check out my blog post on Toms Shoes.

May we honor those who have died by how we choose to live.

Before you speak to me about your religion,
first show it to me in how you treat other people; 

before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all His children; 

before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. 

In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give.

polar bear hug

What can you do to earn a polar bear's appreciation?

beauty

Samaritan Blog tips its hat to Operation Beautiful

"A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."  -- Gandhi

These were as much fun to make as they were to post.

"Smile. You are Beautiful."

Susan Retik

Susan Retik was pregnant when she lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks. After September 11, 2001 Ms. Retik bonded with Patti Quigley who was also pregnant and whose husband had also died in the attack. Together they met hate with love and formed the nonprofit Beyond the 11th.

Read Nicholas Kristof's NYT article The Healers of 9/11

money tree

Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Money Tree

How many money trees have you passed by... only for the lack of seeing

thought bubbles

thought bubble explained from ThoughtBubbler on Vimeo.


check out thought bubble. What do you fill your thought bubble with?

need to smile today?

Watch this fun video

operation beautiful

Have you checked out the blog Operation Beautiful?
The goal of Operation Beautiful is to end negative self-talk.

You can participate and/or start a local chapter in your town or state.
Here's my favorite post:
Jenna gave her 17 year old sister a "beautiful" surprise.

pennies for peace

If Lucy doesn't convince you to start a "pennies for peace" collection at your school... then no one will.

Danny and Annie

Know that as you're watching this...
I'm probably still crying.
Beautiful.

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Story Corps always breaks my heart in the best possible way.

A time to speak

Charles Morgan became a leading civil rights lawyer. His words here ring true today...

"Every person in this community who has in any way contributed during the past several years to the popularity of hatred is at least as guilty, or more so, than the demented fool who threw that bomb."  - Charles Morgan