Awesomes and Awkwards

To give you a smile. 

Awesome:

Getting to see my old Bible teacher, you may recognize his name, Buddy Shuh, oh yeah, he just happens to be on The Biggest Loser this season and he looks incredible. Everyone kept telling me how they didn't recognize him when they saw him, but I thought I would, I mean I was prepared because everyone had told me, plus I've been keeping up with the shows and his facebook. Nope, I didn't recognize him, after a moment I placed the voice and almost screamed. So exciting. He so deserves this, he looks great.

I learned how to take a picture of my i-phone screen. I don't know why, but I believe this will be of the upmost usefulness.  

Two Kindergarten boys who walked up to me and said, "I like your boots." What fashion forward little guys.  

The book The Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen. First of all, Gary Haugen is one of my heroes, he started International Justice Mission and spoke at Fourth Estate, which in my book pretty much makes you one of the coolest people that walk around on the planet. There really is no second of all. 

Finding out that the Ugandan Roadie for my district last Spring (who I talked to and was going to pick me up from the airport if I went to Uganda last summer) now works at the orphanage I'll be volunteering with this summer. How cool is that??

Awkward: 

An old babysitting Mother of mine noticing my purity ring and gasping, "Oh my gosh, is that a RING?" "Umm, yes, but not...that."

Talking to my school health department about Immunizations. If I hear one more time that I am "a risk to the community around me" with out all my childhood shots I may scream. 

Telling Ethan I have to run to Target and him saying, "Oh, I'll come too, unless you need...girl stuff.." No, bud, even if that was all I needed in the whole wide world I would never admit it to you, I prefer you stay completely oblivious to that aspect of my life. But he asked me three times, I was starting to worry if I was sending off a "girl stuff" vibe.  

This little girl: She had been running up to me all day long. Finally I tickle her and she laughs and suddenly stops, turns to me and says, "Stop that, you old goose!" Then she followed me around for the rest of the day. 

Nuts

Oh, Girl Scout Cookies, how you slay me. 

A quick list of things that will make you go nutty:

• New professors half way through the semester
• Searching through an entire book for one quote because you neglectfully forgot to cite the page number. I've now read said book about 6 times. 
• Way too many girl scout cookies
• The dastardly 12 hour "How to Teach Health in the Elementary Classroom" class coming up this weekend.

Way too many nuts!
What makes you go nutty?

Some Steve Jobs for You

-Steve Jobs via Invisible Children

Awkwards 'n' Awesomes on Thursday

 Skirt and Top: Salvation Army  Belt: Bella Mia  Sunglasses: Von Maur 

Awkward: 

That middle picture, not sure what's going on there.  

The 16-year-old boy who blushed straight up to his ears when Mr. Qdoba man asked if I was with him. Poor 16-year-old boy and unobservant Mr. Qdoba man, the kid was obviously with his Mom.  

 Dancing barefoot. I'm literally the world's least coordinated dancer, and unfortunately, dear Ethan doesn't much have rhythm either. Sore toes. 

The whole dining alone at a restaurant thing. I personally don't mind it. I'm perfectly happy with my book and a few empty seats around me, but where it gets awkward is when a couple from school comes and dines at a nearby table. It continues to get awkward when you catch them looking at you with sympathetic faces. The awkwardness all culminates when you and the couple walk into your dorm at the same time afterwards. How does that happen?  

Awesome: 

Leaving the window open all the time. All night long, all day long. Ah, it's quite nice. I will happily continue to change in a ball in the corner if we can continue to leave the window open at all times. 

Professors who move back paper due dates.  

Playing with little second cousins.

Although he may only be here for another day, Mr. Sun. He's just so handsome. Can't get over him.  

This piece of prose a dear friend of mine sent me. I believe it to be true. It's in the format of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis but it's about the Invisible Children movement. Please do go read it. 

Braggin

So, please do excuse me, but I just have to...
Brag to you about Ethan.
Because he's pretty stupendous. If I do say so myself. (Why shouldn't I say so myself, it's not like I can take any credit. So I DO say so myself.)
But anyways, I must now tell you how he enjoys doing terribly nice things for his slightly scatterbrain-ed girl.
First, he bought two different types of green tea for me to enjoy when my skin turns yellow (yep, yellow fever, I know you're hiding inside me. Travel-nurse told me so.) Then, he bought my family dinner (not just me, my family). Then, he fell asleep on the couch (which was just funny, I guess not so much of a bragging point there, but you should have seen him, drawing a mustache was a serious temptation). Then, he stayed late to finish a terribly thrilling episode of The Mentalist that he had already seen but because it included ghosts and I felt that finishing it alone sounded...gulp (and he fell asleep again). And soon he will be on his way to a wedding with my entire family- including the 5 uncles- all over 6 feet and 200 pounds.
Also he's tall.

But mostly he bought green tea. That was nice.

Have a fun St. Patty's day.
(er, not tooo much of that fun, you hear?)

Awesome and Awkward!

Awesome:

Crepes for breakfast: first these made me feel decadent and second, it was with Caroline! Caroline's engaged to Ethan's brother. I feel the need to tell everyone this. Did you hear? Daniel and Caroline are engaged!

The little boy at the toystore (who had two different boots on) who walked around with a t-rex saying, "I may be big but I'm very nice!" 

 Mom being terribly Mom like and buying a dress for me. It's actually a night gown, I swear you can't tell.

The SUN! 70 degrees in March? Well, if you insist.  

Getting shots from the travel clinic. This sounds like a bad thing, doesn't it? But it means that I'm going! I'm going to Uganda, I mean, I knew before but it's really, really real!

Awkward: 

Mom quoting Ghost Town at a funeral, specifically the line "everybody dies" to the deceased's grandson.  

 My dream where I was quite certain I forgot to put on a shirt before going out in public. I'm incredibly disturbed that dream-me didn't seem to mind. 

Asking the checkout lady to check a price for me. The price was overpriced, "no thanks" I say. "So you just want this top?" Holding up what I just no-thanks-ed, "nope, I'm good, thank you!" I say. "So you just want this?" She holds up something I had returned to her earlier, "oh, no, nothing today, thank you," I say. "So both?" ..She almost convinced me that I did actually want both. 

 Getting locked in a dressing room and knocking on the door (rather desperately), "let me outtttttt...please?" for about 5 minutes. When the lady did arrive I realized that I probably should have put on..er..more clothing before she got there. 

Your Kony 2012 Questions Answered

Jacket: CAbi  T-Shirt: AE Jeans: Nordstrom Shoes: DSW 

Disclaimer: I do not speak on behalf of Invisible Children, I am only a member of their Fourth Estate


1. I've heard the Invisible Children (IC) only uses one third of their funds to work in Central Africa, is this true?
Invisible Children's mission is three fold:
 The first is sustainable programs on the ground in Central Africa. These are things like the first Rehabilitation Center in the Congo, renovating schools, providing scholarships, creating jobs, etc.
The second is educating the Western World about what is happening to their family in Central Africa.
The third is to create advocacy programs for those in the Western World who want to help their family in Central Africa.
 In Fall of 2011, Invisible Children raised approximately 8 million dollars. 37% of that money went directly to programs on the ground, 17% went to films and products to make the Western World more aware (after all, you heard of Kony2012, yes?) and 26% went to Programs in the States for people who have become aware and want to do something. The remaining 20% went to fundraising and operating costs.
For a break down of these financials, go HERE.

2. I've heard IC isn't independently audited, isn't that illegal?
Invisible Children is independently audited every year and the findings of this audit is published on their website. This is a rule that all Non-Profit organizations must follow.

3. Didn't IC only receive 2 out of 4 stars on Charity Navigator? 
Charity Navigator gives Invisible Children 3 out of 4 starts. It giver their Programs 4 out of 4 stars. As for Accountability and Transparency, the score is currently 2 stars due to the fact that IC does not have 5 independent voting members on their board of directors; they currently have 4. They are in the process of interviewing potential board members and will add an additional independent member this year in order to regain a 4-star rating by 2013.

4. Does IC support the Ugandan government?
No, IC does not support any government or condone any negative behavior that the government may have performed in the past. They do not pay any money to the Ugandan Government. However, working with the local military forces who are most familiar with the LRA is the only way to truly stop Kony's terror. This also makes it easier to create sustainable programs. IC never wants to be "the Westerners coming to take over," so they partner with citizens in Central Africa.

5. Didn't IC say that Kony was in Uganda? I heard he hasn't been there in years. 
You're right, Kony isn't in Uganda and he hasn't been there since about 6 years ago. The Sudanese President was previously giving Kony resources to live on the border of Sudan and Uganda. The deal was, the Sudanese President would give Kony supplies and weapons if Kony would keep the South Sudanese "rebels" from getting out of hand. In his free time, Kony could do what he liked in Northern Uganda. However, the Sudanese President himself became indited as a wanted criminal and he could no longer aid Kony and the LRA. Therefore, Kony moved into the jungles of the D.R. Congo and Central African Republic (this is on the Kony2012 video at 15:00). The jungles there are about the size of California which made it easier to hide and the villiages were more remote- they couldn't call for help when the LRA would attack.
So, back to the question at hand: Kony isn't in Uganda, IC never tried to claim otherwise. He only started in Uganda. This does not mean that his terrors have stopped, he has only moved. Therefore he must be stopped.
For more information about the damage Kony has done and is doing in Central Africa go HERE.

6. Why now?
IC has been working to end this war for years. Recently, as you may know, President Obama fufilled the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act that was signed in May of 2010. He did this by sending approximately 100 advisory troops in October 2011 (read more about this HERE). This was a crucial last piece of the puzzle. As soon as this development happened, IC knew they had to keep the troops there. If the troops pulled out, they believed there was no way U.S. aid would ever return to combat the LRA. The only way to keep the troops there? Keep pressure on Congress- they had to know that U.S. citizens wanted to aid in the arrest of Joseph Kony and his top commanders. The best way to do that? Make Kony famous. Everyone must know his crimes and must want to see him brought to justice.


7. Isn't there really more to the story?
There is a lot to this story, after all, it's been in the making for over 26 years. The Kony2012 video breaks it down to it's simplist components; it's only half an hour long. In the Kony2012 movie, the LRA violence is explained  to the public almost exactly as it would be explained to a four year old (hence Gavin being a centerpiece to the movie). I completely and whole heatedly back this choice. I have been involved with Invisible Children for years, but only became an advocate a year ago. I've described the complexities, the maimings, tha rape, the terror that has been inflicted on Cnetral Africa and it still it was difficult to get people to listen. I've shown other films of Invisible Children's, which are lengthier and dive more in depth into what has happened during this 26-year war, and still I couldn't get many to listen. Invisible Children's movies are not new to the internet, but it was this one that went viral. I believe this is because of two reasons. First, I believe that this is God's movement and he took it and ran with it. And second, that it broke down what's going on so that people could understand. It was not meant to be comprehensive, it was meant to get your attention. For a better understanding of the LRA go HERE. And also HERE: it details what has been going on in Central Africa for the past 26 years.

Sorry that was so lengthy, guys, but there are a lot of questions out there!
For any further questions, please contact me. I'd love to answer any questions or criticisms you may have.