I thought it would take me longer to miss Australia.
Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT miss the little apartment and watching too much TV because we didn’t have any projects to work on or stuff to make. We’ve gone crazy in our home already – taking on about a million DIY at once (and then starting even more while most are unfinished!). So that I love and that I don’t miss.
But my job – ah, my job...
Now I’m back and I feel a bit displaced. People are happy to see me in my old office, but no one is particularly interested in what I brought back intellectually. I don’t yet know what my new role is and I’m actually a bit bored (this won’t last, I know!). I’m still supporting the team in Australia, so that is still a thread of feeling needed, but other than that I’m not sure where I belong anymore…
It all feels a bit anti-climactic actually. It feels like it should have had a bit more closure – like graduating, you get a ceremony. Getting married, you get a ceremony and a vacation, having kids, you get a kid. But I just came back and came back to my old desk, wearing my old clothes… I think I should have had a bit more of a ceremony than this…
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
International Justice Mission...
Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!" -Proverbs 31:8 (MSG)
I am still figuring out what this blog is really about and some days I struggle with whether or not it quite encapsulates who I am yet. I certainly love fashion and travel and home projects, but much of my heart is for the poor and increasingly for those entrapped and enslaved.
Human Trafficking is getting a lot of publicity these days, and it should - the more people who know about it and are working to fight it and END IT the better. I just wanted to share a bit about an organization that we support as much as we can each month - just to give you an idea of some of the amazing things happening right now to free men, women and children from slavery.
International Justice Mission was founded in 1997 and they work tirelessly to stop slavery. They work with local agencies to train and educate them so that the crazy cycle can be slowed down and eventually stopped. They have a few different facets to the work. They work with local authorities to go in and rescue those who are enslaved - busts as it were. They work to prosecute those that perpetrate slavery in the countries that they work in. They also provide after care for those that have been rescued. The most impressive and amazing thing about IJM to me is, the money I have given them funds them literally going in and freeing slaves.
I cannot tell you the incredible feeling of getting an email from IJM with the most recent story of modern day rescue happening half a world away - maybe right now.
I thought it would be worthwhile to share something beyond you or me today...
Here is the official spiel from IJM's site on who they are and what they do:
International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems - police, courts and laws - effectively protect the poor.
IJM's justice professionals work in their communities in 15 field offices in Asia, Africa and Latin America to secure tangible and sustainable protection of national laws through local court systems.
Read More
I am still figuring out what this blog is really about and some days I struggle with whether or not it quite encapsulates who I am yet. I certainly love fashion and travel and home projects, but much of my heart is for the poor and increasingly for those entrapped and enslaved.
Human Trafficking is getting a lot of publicity these days, and it should - the more people who know about it and are working to fight it and END IT the better. I just wanted to share a bit about an organization that we support as much as we can each month - just to give you an idea of some of the amazing things happening right now to free men, women and children from slavery.
International Justice Mission was founded in 1997 and they work tirelessly to stop slavery. They work with local agencies to train and educate them so that the crazy cycle can be slowed down and eventually stopped. They have a few different facets to the work. They work with local authorities to go in and rescue those who are enslaved - busts as it were. They work to prosecute those that perpetrate slavery in the countries that they work in. They also provide after care for those that have been rescued. The most impressive and amazing thing about IJM to me is, the money I have given them funds them literally going in and freeing slaves.
I cannot tell you the incredible feeling of getting an email from IJM with the most recent story of modern day rescue happening half a world away - maybe right now.
I thought it would be worthwhile to share something beyond you or me today...
Here is the official spiel from IJM's site on who they are and what they do:
International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems - police, courts and laws - effectively protect the poor.
IJM's justice professionals work in their communities in 15 field offices in Asia, Africa and Latin America to secure tangible and sustainable protection of national laws through local court systems.
Read More
Friday, November 2, 2012
Remembering Fiji...
So we are home now - back to Philly and while we are certain to miss Australia in the cold months to come, right now we are happy to be home in our spacious and lovely home.
It's no surprise that we have started in on about a hundred projects right away. Hubby is job hunting which makes us (by us I mean me since he is as cool as a cucumber) oscillate between hope and terror. I'm trying to get over jet lag to spend time in my studio. So far I have made a curtain for our basement window, and have a pile of sculptures we pulled out of the closet that I'm going to try to revamp for wall hangings. We figured if I'm going to keep them (Link to my art site), then maybe we should try to look at a few of them instead of hiding them away in the closet under the stairs.
I'm still working on a style/scheme for our guest bedroom that I'm determined to redo for very little money, so more on that in the months to come...
With Hubby not having a job, we will also be making a lot of our Christmas gifts this year. Which is actually pretty fun, but I just need to think of some great ideas!
Right before we came home from Australia, we took a few days and went to Fiji for holiday. This was our final break and our 1 week of summer. It was just starting to warm up in Australia when we left and we knew when we got home it would already be beyond sweater weather, straight into jacket and hat weather.
Fiji was beautiful.
We laid around just relaxing, reading, talking and enjoying the sun. Next to us was the actual raft they used in the Tom Hanks movie Castaway, so that was weird and cool.
It's no surprise that we have started in on about a hundred projects right away. Hubby is job hunting which makes us (by us I mean me since he is as cool as a cucumber) oscillate between hope and terror. I'm trying to get over jet lag to spend time in my studio. So far I have made a curtain for our basement window, and have a pile of sculptures we pulled out of the closet that I'm going to try to revamp for wall hangings. We figured if I'm going to keep them (Link to my art site), then maybe we should try to look at a few of them instead of hiding them away in the closet under the stairs.
I'm still working on a style/scheme for our guest bedroom that I'm determined to redo for very little money, so more on that in the months to come...
With Hubby not having a job, we will also be making a lot of our Christmas gifts this year. Which is actually pretty fun, but I just need to think of some great ideas!
Right before we came home from Australia, we took a few days and went to Fiji for holiday. This was our final break and our 1 week of summer. It was just starting to warm up in Australia when we left and we knew when we got home it would already be beyond sweater weather, straight into jacket and hat weather.
Fiji was beautiful.
We laid around just relaxing, reading, talking and enjoying the sun. Next to us was the actual raft they used in the Tom Hanks movie Castaway, so that was weird and cool.
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