What do you mean its Christmas next week?

Chimbote is shouting out "Christmas!" day and night nowadays. The market is full of everything jolly and our neighbor Doña Cristina has put up a huge nativity scene. Just in case I forget, there's the big question that comes up quite often in conversation, "What are you doing for Christmas?" Then I realize, Christmas is next week!

The heat along with the blooming flowers and the singing of the birds is very misleading. It is spring here, almost summer. Kids are out for summer vacation and families are getting ready to head out to the beach. I can't complain of course, I left the States along with its winter and arrived in Perú to continue celebrating the sun of summer sweet summer!

Christmas for me is wrapped up in my grandmother's delicious "rosca" and my mom's sweet kisses. With a big bouncy bow of girl time with my sisters and coziness sitting by the chimney in my grandpa's arms drinking hot chocolate. I can't help but think of how much I will be missing them. It will be a new experience to spend Christmas away from them but I have accepted that it is okay. Yes, we are over 3,000 miles away but we are close at heart.

When you think of Christmas, what do you think of? Remember the true essence of Christmas...

"Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto other as you would have done unto you."
-Steve Maraboli

Here are some ideas:

• Invite someone who doesn't have anyone to spend Christmas with, to spend the day with you and your family. Maybe a boy or girl from an orphanage? Two years ago, my family invited an elderly man from the local nursing home over for Christmas. A friend that cannot go home for Christmas? 
• Keep small gift bags of whatever you'd like in your car to give out to the homeless at intersections. 
• Gather a group of friends and collect money to buy blankets for families this winter season and help them stay warm.
• Volunteer, shop for gifts at a fair-trade market, visit patients at your local hospital... everything counts if it is done with love and good will. 

I know Christmas is just around the corner but regardless, you CAN find the time and create the opportunity to do something nice for someone this holiday season!
Everyone deserves to be loved.

In Bloom

My journey has started! It feels more real than ever before...very soon I will be living in Peru! 

It has not been an easy decision. At times I wonder if I am doing the right thing...leaving my loving family and friends behind..."going the distance" from the man that I love...but this is something that I am hungry for, something that runs deep into my soul. I want to help people and contribute to something greater than myself. I have the opportunity to do it now and if I don't take it, I might never get it back.


I will be working with Women's Global Connection, an organization that focuses primarily on empowering women all around the globe.

"The mission of Women's Global Connection is to promote the learning and leadership of women locally and globally, particularly in the least advantaged regions and countries. WGC is building a social network where women can strengthen their capacity to create a more just global community."

I will be working side by side with a group of brilliant women in Chimbote, Peru who want to raise health awareness in their community by opening up their own artisan bread business, Pushaq Warmi. I will also be involved in a project in which the main objective is to open up a pharmacy that will help raise funds to support the existing hospice.

It all happened so fast...I did not have much time to mentally prepare for this new chapter of my life before I boarded the plane to Mexico City. I have been in training/orientation for a week now and it has been completely amazing. I finally met Jackie, my future house-mate/partner in crime, and she is so much like me. I am beyond excited to share this chapter of my life with such an amazing person. We will also be living with Tessa from Ireland. We have not met her yet but we can not wait!

We are currently in Cuernavaca at a beautiful house surrounded by nature, nature and more nature! I love it here, it feels like paradise. We were brought here to give our brains a break from the extensive amount of information we have been receiving. We have been doing a lot of mediation and yoga, swimming, reading, journaling...anything and everything that fills us with peace and allows us to connect our mind, body, and soul.

We will be leaving Casa Provincia in Cuernavaca soon and head back to Mexico City to continue with our presentations. I wish we didn't have to go...but it is all part of this process. At least we will be starting off fresh and a lot more relaxed. As for now, I will breathe in the fresh air and contemplate everything that surrounds me!