Genius Cleaning Schedule

First off, I'm so excited that the Compassion Bloggers made it to Tanzania and have started sharing their journeys with all of us! Check out the first few blogs here:

  Gussy Sews

The Nester

...and others here

I read both of these ladies posts late last night and had chills afterwards (especially after watching Gussy's video)...I just can't tell you enough how much I am in awe of what they're doing and hope to one day get to experience a trip like this for myself.

There are many more posts to come from these bloggers...so stay tuned!

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Because it's the beginning of the week, and I spent a good portion of this past weekend cleaning my apartment...I wanted to share with you this weekly cleaning schedule that I'm going to be trying out. Honestly, I hate to clean...I'm sure many of you also feel this way, so no news there. I've been fairly lucky over that past few years because I've only lived in apartments, smaller apartments at that, so I haven't had a lot of area to cover. But that doesn't make cleaning them any more fun. I realized that my problem is that I get to the weekend and have so much cleaning/laundry to do that it takes up a good portion of my weekend. And who wants that?! :( I vaguely remembered finding this weekly cleaning schedule (probably on a blog) years ago and writing it down somewhere. After some searching & digging, I came across it scribbled in an old planner of mine...so here it is:

I'm going to try to stick to this and see how it goes for the first few weeks. My thinking is that, by spreading it out AND taking a day off on the weekend, it won't feel like I'm doing an enormous amount of cleaning. Granted, I realize that you all may live in a house with multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, etc...so you may need to tailor the schedule to fit your own home. But it is doable! I think my only other edit to this schedule would be that I tend to do some form of laundry daily or every other day...just can't get around it, especially with all my sweaty running/yoga/work out clothes. :P

 Do any of you all have any other cleaning schedules or methods that work well for you and your family?

Compassion Bloggers

I wanted to share with you all, an organization that I just recently found out about by following other bloggers. It's called Compassion International - a faith based organization, founded in 1952 by Rev. Everett Swanson, that exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. It is similar to other child sponsorship organizations, however it distinguishes itself by being:

Christ Centered. Child Focused. Church Based. Committed to Integrity.

Their two main programs are:

(1) Child Survival Program - supports and feeds malnourished children while training mothers to sustain the growth and development of their little ones.

(2) Child Sponsorship Program - through monthly gifts, prayer and letter writing, sponsors invest in the lives of children living in extreme poverty. A tax-deductible $38/mo. provides sponsored children with: food & clean water, medical care, educational opportunities, life skills training, and much more.

Their website also provides crisis updates (earthquakes, flash floods, landslides, etc.) and asks for specific prayer requests.

They work in Africa, Asia, Central America & The Caribbean, and South America

Also important:

Compassion consistently receives high ratings for financial accountability and integrity. Charity Navigator, America's largest charity evaluator, has awarded Compassion its highest rating -- four stars -- for nine consecutive years, placing Compassion in the top one percent of all charities.

So why am I talking to you about Compassion?

At the present time, I don't sponsor a child, although it is definitely something that I am interested in doing (the conversation has to be had with the hubby). Back in 2007-2009, I sponsored a child through a different organization, and I can already tell that Compassion goes to greater lengths to allow sponsors to actually see the impact that they're having and allow them different avenues to give to the children. But let me tell you, my heart is definitely there...it is something that I desperately want to do.
Two bloggers that I follow,

            The Nester   Maggie @ Gussy Sews

kept mentioning this trip that they had coming up...to Africa, Tanzania to be exact. I kind of dismissed it at first, but then started to get really interested in what they were going to be doing. And I am amazed after finding out...Compassion has partnered with them, and 4 other bloggers, and they are traveling to Tanzania (May 6 - 11) to see the ministry of Compassion themselves and write about it (read more here). I am in awe...what an amazing, life-changing experience I can only assume that they're going to have. And prior to the trip, these bloggers have been using their influence in the blogosphere by spreading the word about Compassion! And to be honest, I feel compelled to do the same.

Over the past few days, I've watched these ladies post about getting shots after shots (immunizations), stocking up on everything they need for their trip, packing, and asking for prayers from their readers. It's inspiring! To me, they have been given an experience of a lifetime and I don't know how anyone could go on a trip like this, and not come back changed in some way.

So if you want to follow the bloggers, you can check out each of their blogs daily, starting May 6, and also through these social media outlets:

Facebook

Twitter

Compassion Bloggers website

Compassion Blog

And feel free to join me in spreading the word about Compassion - find out how you can become a Compassion Blogger here!

M.I.A.

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever...or at least given a substantial post worth viewing! ;) I have so many things I want to blog about (e.g. reviews on places to go/eat/see in Monterey; my friend Jenn and I sewed together an apron...yes, an apron, and I love it; and of course I'll want to blog about the road trip)...the blog just might be on hiatus for the next week or two while I get through this moving across country!! I am always a "list maker", but boy oh boy, you should see all of the lists I've been making...ridiculous!!! Hopefully it'll keep me on-task, less stressed and make things run much more smoothly.

But real quick, I just wanted to say how glad I am that I started blogging...I'm not sure my posts have been super exciting or have changed anyone's life...but it has opened up this whole new world to me. I *love* reading all of these other blogs...they are so inspiring (craftwise, foodwise, exercisewise, etc.) and everyday I take out time in the morning to read up on all of the blogs I follow. When my husband and I reunite, I'm sure he'll think I'm crazy and "blog obsessed", but it's so easy to do. Anyway, I'm just really enjoying this new place for creativity, collaboration and just pure FUN! That's all... :)

I Left My Heart in San Francisco!

So, one of our goals before Cody leaves Monterey was to take a trip to San Francisco...so we did just that! We took a day trip yesterday and really enjoyed ourselves...we did just enough but didn't feel like our day was too jam-packed.

First off, we had lunch reservations at this amazing restaurant called The Stinkin' Rose!

My friend Joel introduced me to this place when I was at a conference in SF about a year and a half ago. It is a restaurant whose slogan is "We season our garlic with food!" So, as you can imagine...everything on the menu is garlic, garlic, garlic! But delicious!


We ordered the famous appetizer "Bagna Calda" which translates as "hot bath" in Italian and is described on the menu as "garlic soaking in a hot tub!" Hahah (there's even a little picture of little cloves of garlic soaking in a little hot tub in the moonlight with glasses of wine). How cute?!

I ordered the ravioli stuffed with potato and cheese smothered in garlic basil Alfredo sauce...

And Cody ordered the pork chop (topped with garlic), garlic mashed potatoes, and caramelized apples (no garlic in these I don't think)! I just couldn't resist taking pictures of our food...it was all so yummy and we were so full by the time we were done.

We decided to walk off our meal through Chinatown which was close by:

We even stopped into one of the local Chinatown bars and had my favorite...

Tsingtao

Then, we headed back to Pier 33 where we boarded a ferry for the final portion of our trip. A night tour of Alcatraz!! This was probably the highlight of our day...and definitely worth the trip. The ferry took us all around the island, included a 45-minute audio tour which featured commentary by actual correctional officers and prisoners of Alcatraz, and allowed us to walk around Alcatraz at night (which, yes, definitely added to the spookiness)!

Listening to our audio tour in the cell-house

I look pretty happy for being jailed up :)

View of beautiful San Francisco all lit up! Successful trip indeed!