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For the last four months, I have been working as Event Director for the Coldest Night of the Year.  And, now, the actual WALK is less than a week away.  Where has the time gone?  I’m excited, nervous and obsessed with checking the scoreboard.

Goals are a tricky thing.  You set them on the one end of the planning and then work, almost blindly, away at them the rest of the time and hope, pray and sweat that you’ve done enough to meet those goals.  And there are some goals that can’t quite be measured.  That’s hard, too.  Have we reached out to enough people?  Have we spread the right message?

A few weeks ago, we offered the people who were taking part in the WALK a tour of The LifeShelter.  While we were there, I was speaking with the Volunteer Coordinator.  I was saying how much I wanted to raise the goal we set in beginning.  Heather told me that it already was a success in her mind.  More people knew about the event and the shelter, we had already had a good chunk of the goal on the scoreboard and we had more walkers signed up than had taken part last year.  And when she put it that way, she’s right, we’ve already succeeded!

It’s so easy to get caught up on the number on the scoreboard.  That goal is limiting my vision.  I forget about the other amazing things going on behind the scenes for the long-term support of the shelter.  I forget about the friendships that I’ve made through this adventure.  I forget about the ideas that we have up our sleeves for next year.  I just get too caught up on the scoreboard.

But, regardless of the number on the board, we are going to have fun!  We are going to WALK together, we’ll snack, we’ll greet friends, we’ll laugh at ourselves at the photobooth and we’ll eat some more.  We will join together as a community and take a little WALK for a big problem.  It isn’t just about the numbers on the board.  It’s about the homeless, hungry and hurting.  It’s about giving a hand up to those who are down.

Regardless of the number on the scoreboard, we have already succeeded!!

To be continued,

Lori

PS If you felt inclined to led a hand….you can donate here!

Photo credit to Coldest Night of the Year – next year we’ll have our own to use!! 🙂

Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would share a fun project you can do for Valentine’s Day decorating.  It’s actually a project I did back in the fall as decorations for the surprise wedding shower we threw for Christine.  You can read the original post here.

If a little love is good, than giant X’s & O’s are better!!

Here are the steps I took, without pictures because I was in too much of a hurry!  Why do I always do that!??!?!  I need to make a sign that says, “Take pictures, you’ll want them later” and stick it above my work table!

Anyway – here it is!

Step 1.  Mark your letters on foam core.  Cut out the letters. (I used a steak knife, worked really well but BE CAREFUL, its a knife afterall!)

Step 2.  Modge Podge your paper onto the foam core letters.  I used pages from an old road atlas Mom gave me.  Let that dry.

Step 3.  Sand the edges a little.

Step 4. Brush a little Modge Podge along the cut edge and onto the front of each letter just a little.  Then sprinkle with chunky glitter.

Step 5.  Glue little triangles onto the back of each letter so they will stand up.

Done.  Easy Peasy!!  And so fun!!

The options are limitless!  Any combination of papers and letters or shapes would work.  You could do them for smaller for kids bedrooms, for weddings, for teachers…for just about anything!!

I hope you enjoy Valentine’s Day and that someone goes out of their way to make you feel special!

To be continued,

Lori