Random Acts of Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness

or RAK as I like to call it!

When is the last time you did something to make someone else’s day better?

Just because?

How many times do you see stray carts sitting in the parking lot when you go to the store?

Someone has to come get these. If the wind is blowing it could blow into your car OR hit someone else’s car.

We are going into the store anyways right?

Why not grab a cart and take it while you go?

I know someone will appreciate it!

This is a random act and we don’t know who it will impact. I love doing things for others! 

What kind of difference can you make in someone’s day?

Kindness of Others

This past weekend really gave me that little nudge I needed to remind me that there are great people in this world and people that look out for others.

Friday I went to Target on my lunch break and I was just grabbing a few things and her over the loud speaker.... Shanna .... please come to the service desk.

Hhhmm.... Now I was thinking. Does anyone even know I am here? Did they really say my name? I slowly walked towards the service desk thinking what in the world do they want me for? Did they see me taking some of the peelie coupons off the boxes for my future shopping trips?  Surely there is no harm in that!?

Remember this really cute card of mine?

Well I guess I left it in my lap after I went through Sonic to get my  liquid heaven. I always have a habit of putting my card in before driving off but my hubby had called and I was just not in my routine.

Someone had found my card and returned it inside! Can you believe that?! I live in the number one State for identity theft and someone was nice enough to turn it in! 

When I went to my car this is what I found.

I challenge you to do something nice for someone today!

A random act of kindness can really make someone smile. Please take a moment to do something nice. It doesn't have to be big but it is amazing knowing you made someone else smile.

More Than One Kind of Family

When you look up the definition of family there are many different versions to describe what a family is. One of my families is my church foundry. I started attending my church The Foundry back in the fall of 2008.

Our church was started by a planter church. Our pastor Ashley Evans and his wife Briggette felt the calling to be missionaries and uprooted and moved their entire family out to Tucson to minister to our community and teach about God.

Over the past few years we have taken part in many church activities. Our church is awesome at involving the community and reaching out to the families and youth to get everyone involved to have a great time while learning about God.

Pastor Ashley at Make a Difference Day - We planted trees for our local middle school! That was hard work!

Pastor Ashley at one of our Memorial Day celebrations - Our church honors and supports all of our military and veterans.

Pastor Ashley manning the grill! Not only can he grill but he can make a mean brisket!



Pastor Ashley, Mike, Matt, and Teresa helping out with UFC Day with Youth!

Our church's youth group is awesome! We call them G.I.F.T (God Inspired Foundry Teens).  We love our youth group!



Pastor Ashley as always doing an awesome job leading our youth group!

I think for many people life gets busy. Weekends are busy.  I love my church and I love my church family. Over the last couple of months I haven't been attending on Sunday afternoons like I should or would like. I can make every excuse possible but bottom line I should be there, I should have my family there. I know though however, that God loves me. God forgives me for any of my sins. I am fortunate that I have an unbelievable Pastor and church family!

Pastor Ashley and Briggette are an amazing asset to our community and I know that God spoke to them and placed them in our small community for a reason.

I encourage each and every one of you to find where  you are needed. Find where God is calling you! Know in your heart that just because you don't make it every Sunday that God still loves you and God still forgives you for your sins (when you ask).

Pastor Ashley and I at Corona Kids Camp in 2009

Pastor Ashley doing what he does best - Sharing God's Word! What an awesome pastor he is!

Pastor Ashley and our live nativity scene at our Christmas Eve Service

An unbelievable day of celebration as Pastor Ashley performed around 10 baptisms of our youth!

What a celebration!!

Pastor Ashley being a hoot with Cody and Dakota on a fall Sunday Cookout!

Thank you Pastor Ashley and Briggette for everything you have brought to our community! Thank you for your continued sacrifice to share God's word and provide a welcoming Church to anyone that wants to attend!

Life Savers

I am sure you all have read that poem about how we have friends come and go in our lives for a reason for a season and so on and so forth. I think it is a great poem and I really believe that this is true too.

I often tell my friends that are having kids for the first time to make sure they keep close with their mommy friends and make sure they ask lots of questions. If it weren’t for my mommy friends I think sometimes I might just lose my mind.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love all my friends even those without kids and they bring a very important side to me out and they offer a lot to my life as well. But there are times that I need my mommy friends. We are all at different stages and it really helps so much to bounce off ideas and how you are feeling to know you aren’t going crazy and you aren’t going to ruin your kids forever!

My first mommy friend - My Sister Brooke! I am not sure what I would do if I couldn’t call my sister every day!

This was from a trip when my sister came out to visit me for a girls weekend! We are at Tombstone, AZ here.

Our kids are stair stepped so they go like this Cody (my oldest) 12 (1/2), Anna (her oldest) 11 (1/2), Haley (my youngest 10 (will be 11 in 15 days!) and Abby (her youngest) 10.

This was a long time ago but a really good pic of all them together!

We are always bouncing ideas off and reminding each other that our parents are still around so obviously we didn’t kill them and didn’t put them in a crazy house! She’s my older sis but she is also my best friend and mommy friend!

Then I have Mindy! I refer to Mindy by lots of different names but often times she is my saving grace!  I love that she has already been through the stages before me and I know that no matter what and no  matter how brutal she will be honest with me and tell me if I am screwing up as a parent. She will also tell me if I am being too soft and reminds me that it isn’t just me. I love her and just don’t know what I would do without her friendship. Mindy has stood in for me when Cody needed to go to the Dr. when he was sick and I was out of town on business and Mike was at work. Mindy has met me at the airport to take my kids so I could run to work and not have to take another vacation day after flying across the country -- I think there are too many to list! Thank you Mindy!

Mindy and I on vacation in Phoenix

Eve is one of my mommy friends that I have been friends with the longest. I love to know that I can call or text Eve about the  most ridiculous thing that my kids have done and she doesn’t judge me and she just reminds me of all the crazy things her kids do too. She always makes me feel better and she can always make me LOL seriously.  Eve took care of my kids for days when Michael collapsed his lung and was in the hospital for 8 days. I didn’t have to worry. Eve and Mindy took Haley to her music performance the night of my eye surgery. So many to list! Thank you Eve!

Eve and I at the Ugly Christmas Sweater  Party!

Teresa is one of my mommy friends that I made when I first moved out to AZ.  We have kids that are similar in age but she has so much mommy experience since she has 5 kids and I love to hear all of her ideas! She was a stand in momma for Haley in 4th grade since Haley had a student council meeting and  needed a parent present and I had a previous engagement that I couldn’t miss. Teresa came running over when I was at the store and all the smoke alarms went off and the kids were home. Gosh so many memories! Thank you Teresa!

Teresa and I are rocking it out at Cody's 11th Birthday party themed for the 70's, 80's, and 90's!

Nikki is one of my friends that is probably one of the newest mommies that I know!  There were some issues about 28 weeks into her pregnancy and she was in the hospital which seemed like forever until she had her gorgeous baby girl! She is such a great new mommy! I love experiencing the joys of babies through her eyes! Thank you for all the times you have listened to me, helped me, and met with me for a girls lunch! It was such an honor and blessing to be in the hall when you delivered your gorgeous precious baby girl!

Nikki and I after a make-up  makeover!

Tess is one of my other mommy friends that is fairly new to the  mommy world! Her son (my God Son) will be turning 2 in a couple of weeks and it is amazing how quickly time flies! It has been amazing watching her too become a mother and experience the joys and highs and lows that come with having a baby and now a toddler! Tess is expecting her second baby (A GIRL!!!) Thank you Tess for all the times you came and got my kiddos for a night or two to give us some reprieve. Thank you for all the help with my princess' room! I am so honored you chose me to be the God Mom!

Tess and I leaving our girls weekend

Jen is my longest mommy friend (other than my sis). Jen and I have known each other since I was 18 years old when I moved to KS. Both of us have many experiences in common like moving, moving, moving, continually supporting our husbands in their field of work. Our friendship stood the test of both of us moving internationally, her to Germany, me to Panama and Puerto Rico. We grew up, had more kids, moved back to the States, and then found ourselves living in the same city 10 years later. Thank you Jen for all the times you helped with my kids, listened to me vent, helped when Mike was in the hospital, you name it how can I say thank you enough?

Jen and I celebrating at our first Halloween Party in Arizona!

Now, I wasn't able to list every single mommy friends that is important to me. My blog isn't nearly long enough!  I have so many mommy friends! It is amazing and I am blessed to have so many that I can't nearly list them all in this blog. I love you all - you all bring something important and special to my life and I believe having mommy friends is what really keeps us grounded, connected, and honestly keeps us from losing our minds!

BIG SHOUT out to my mommy friend Erin! I love you girl! You are an awesome mom and it has been a pleasure and honor to watch you grow as a person and obtain goals that seemed impossible at times! I wish I had a picture of us on my computer!



Honored and Humbled

Back at Christmas I brought my parents up to Scottsdale, Arizona to enjoy the experience and see how beautiful the area was. I wanted my parents to feel like they were actually on vacation and not just visiting family.

We had a great time spending time with each other but our experience was less than we had wished it was due to numerous inconveniences at our hotel. At first I didn't say anything to the hotel because they were seriously small things but over the several days we were here they really started to add up.

One instance in particular really upset me because I had specifically told the hotel about the mini bar being removed from one of our rooms and was assured that we would not be charged. About a week later I was checking my statement and BAM! there it was a charge from the hotel.

At that time I decided I wanted to inform the hotel/resort of all the issues we had while visiting. I constructed a professional letter just explaining our experience and provided constructive feedback.

The response I received from the resort/hotel was welcoming and appreciative of my comments and they assured me that many of the suggestions I made had already been implemented and offered to provide us with a weekend to try the experience again since changes had been made. Although this is not what we were seeking out we said we would be honored to take them up on their offer. The front end operations manager said he would try to upgrade us the closer it got to our arrival.

Did he EVER! Upon arrival he advised they had a cancellation so they were putting us up in the Presidential Suite.

The Living Room Area

The Dining Room Area

Master Bedroom with Fireplace

The Master Bathroom - seriously my dream bathroom with a whirlpool jetted tub with glass enclosure and shower. There is a separate glass enclosed shower and the room is lined with mirrors and lights which is awesome when doing your make up! The closet is enormous! There is another bathroom with another glass enclosed shower!

Because the Presidential Suite only has one bedroom with a king bed they also provided us with the adjoining room with 2 queen beds and another bathroom for the kids. There was a full functioning kitchen, 2 fireplaces and a balcony.

We just couldn't believe the generosity and we were humbled by someone else's generosity to provide us with a better experience then we had before just because I had chosen to give constructive feedback. We were so curious about how much something like this costs and when I checked it online I couldn't believe what I saw. For us to stay in the accommodations we have been able to enjoy it would have ran us $4600.00!

Again, we are honored to think that someone really took into consideration the feedback we provided and we are humbled that anyone would go this much out of their way to provide us with an experience of a lifetime! I only hope that I can pay it forward to someone else!

Challenge and Choices

Last week I challenged everyone to Pay It Forward and to do a Random Act of Kindness each day for a week. I want to hear from everyone! How are you doing? Have you done it yet? What happened?

I have followed through and some things I could see an immediate reaction and it was so gratifying! Other things I have done I haven't seen a reaction but that is ok because they don't know it was me and that is perfectly fine. 

One thing I have done is given some co-workers thank you cards in their mail boxes for the hard work they do and let them know someone notices and pays attention and it is appreciated. (not if any of them read this blog my cover is blown and SSSHHH don't tell any of them). I know it can be a great feeling to know someone is paying attention to the positive.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Paying it Forward - This is a Challenge!

Wow the last two days in Tucson, Arizona have been crazy and we have been dealing with weather that simply just doesn't normally occur in our region (one reason I missed being on here yesterday!). Yesterday morning on my way to work it was 15 degrees!

I know some of you are freezing in Nebraska, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee! But I have to say that we just simply are not equipped in southeastern Arizona to  handle such temperatures.

I have had many friends lose water and gas over the last two days. They are without water and heat and it is still going to be cold tonight but not as cold. Unfortunately some very sad news is that there have been lives lost in Tucson due to the cold.

I want to take this time to tell you about my passion of providing kindness to others. I love random acts of kindness! I love knowing that I have done something for someone or did an act that brought a smile to someones face and they don't know who or why someone did this for them.

What is something you have done to spread kindness and happiness to others? With the recent events in Tucson it just re-energized my passion to do for others! I witnessed people going out of their way to help their neighbors, friends, and people they didn't even know to help them out in the time of need.

It's nice to give some kindness even when there isn't a time of urgency but doing it just because. It doesn't have to be big, it could simply be smiling at someone you normally don't, or holding the door open for someone, or even putting a nice note in their mail box at work.

Random Acts of Kindness really ties into Paying it Forward as well. When someone does something nice for you pay it forward to someone else. If you haven't ever seen the movie Pay it Forward - wow it is awesome and movie and I encourage you to take the opportunity to watch it.

One thing I am trying to give my children is the sense to help others and give back to the community and do nice things without wanting recognition. We have participated in Making a Difference Day, sending packages to our military, to putting care packages together for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

I want to do more! I CHALLENGE you to a very simple task. Do one random act of kindness each day for a week! It doesn't have to be big! Please comment back and let us know how your random acts are going and what types of things you are doing! My family and I will be participating also!

"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."~Scott Adams