It's My Birthday and I'll Model If I Want To

A few months ago, The Pioneer Woman highlighted The International Princess Project on her blog.  I dutifully followed her instructions and hopped on over to their website and ordered a pair of pajama pants and helped spread hope.

The International Princess Project (IPP) rescues women from forced prostitution in India. There are over 3 million women and children who are prostitutes in India.  Some as young as six years old have been sold by their families, kidnapped, tricked and lured into this lifestyle. The IPP offers these women a way out with a roof over their heads, a job to earn and save money and emotional support. They offer the women Jesus (many are Hindu by birth and practice) and let them stay even if they don't accept Him.

I searched a little more on their website and realized that their home offices are about five minutes away from our apartment.  I sent in a volunteer application and will begin working with them to spread hope.

Today, though, I am going to help with an ad campaign and be a model. Nothing fancy, nothing too serious, but hopefully a lot of fun!  I'm off to Newport Beach for the day and then Earl and I will be going out to dinner tonight.

I'm bringing my camera and my Flip with me, so I'll hopefully have some fun stuff to share!

GLEE-ful!

Last night was the DSAOC Teen Club game night.  Somehow it became an ode to Glee. We talked Glee episodes, danced to the soundtrack and discussed the characters.  AND I found out that Lauren Potter, the actress who plays Becky the cheerleader on Glee, will be attending the Red Carpet Ball next weekend. One of the young men who is going to the ball Facebooked her and she is going to be his date. I'm so excited!! I will be following her around and taking pictures and getting autographs ALL NIGHT LONG!

Up and Running Again

Here are some of the interviews I took after the half marathon.  This was a more rewarding experience than I imagined it would be. Please also head over to the new foundation related to our running group: Up and Running Again.  You can see more of our clips at my YouTube account: http://www.youtube.com/3505mnm.

Article in the OC Register

Go to this link: http://www.ocregister.com/news/running-232576-tierney-run.html.

Read it.

Look at the pictures.

And if you live in the OC, come out on Sunday and support us as we run 13.1 miles!!

And now for the surprise...

This morning I drove to the OC Rescue Mission to see my running friends off on their 11 mile run.  This is the last weekend before the race.  We have our matching shirts, hats and enough injuries between us all to cover the entire body. 

The Orange County Register has decided to write a story about Hope's Heros running club.  They all are getting their picture taken before they head out on the run.  I did not have time to hop in the picture, so I'll have to cut and paste my face in there for my copy! 

It's been a great experience starting from day 1 with 20 or so participants and watch the numbers whittle down to the 11 who show up (sometimes sporadically) and run. Many weeks later we are entering the final week. I am really looking forward to crossing the finish line with my new friends!

Operation Christmas Child

A little while ago Mommy said that cancer wasn't going to define her, so in honor of that statement, I am going to post some non-cancer things.

Today at work we did something so cool. I have participated in Operation Christmas Child for about 12 years. Whether at school or through church, every November/December we gathered our shoeboxes and stuffed them full of goodies and then sent them off to be distributed. Today, we arrived at one of six distribution centers in the US and helped sort through the boxes and prepared them for shipment via plane, boat, train, canoe, bike, and camel.

They have scheduled 400 volunteers each hour from the morning until 10pm at night. Since Monday of last week this distribution center boxed and shipped over 400,000 boxes. They are expecting 8,000,000 boxes to go out worldwide this year! We were put through an orientation and got to see how the boxes are brought in, sorted and filled to the brim and then packaged for shipment. It was truly incredible.

We were put in charge filling the candy baggies to be put in each box. We also filled boxes with shoes, socks, pouches and toys. I have included a few pictures (we weren't allowed to bring in purses or use our phones on the distribution lines) I managed to sneak during the candy bagging time.

One of the coolest things was that we stopped every hour and laid hands on the boxes, candy, etc and prayed over who was going to receive the boxes and the gifts the boxes would bring. One thing a pastor prayed was that while they would find gifts inside, he prayed for the children also to find hope, encouragement, strength, love, joy, peace in the boxes. That these boxes would provide those words in reality to the children.

One great story was of a kid who received a box and told them he didn't want it. They asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said a family. Then told him they couldn't give him that, but would he please take the box. In the box was a picture of a couple and their address on the back. They began corresponding with him and have since adopted him. He did indeed get what he wanted that Christmas.

Temporary Home - Edited

This morning was day 2 of the OC Rescue Mission Running Club.  We may have settled on a name: Gunner's Runners.  One of the volunteers, Beth, brought her Weimaraner, Gunner, along for the runs. He is seven years old and in need of some exercise. A sweet dog we are all starting to fall in love with. Everyone was excited to be back out running this morning. It was cool and foggy this morning - pretty neat running weather. Everyone is already improving in their abilities. It was very neat to hear from various people that they have never done this before: "I can't believe I ran all three sets of 5 minute running this morning" and "We went 2 miles today!" There was a lot of excitement this morning!

Carrie Underwood's third album just came out today. I eagerly downloaded it this morning after the run and synced it to my iPhone and left for work. Exept, I forgot my headphones at home so I can't listen to it. But one of the main reasons I was so excited for this album is her song: Temporary Home. Temporary Home is a song about more than just foster kids, single mothers and dying grandfathers. It is about how this world is our temporary home and we are passing through to eternity. As much as I was excitedly waiting for her album to drop today, I am anticipating heaven so much more!

Tomorrow we are going to a luncheon at Olive Crest. My boss, Paul, is on the board of directors for Olive Crest. I am excited for this luncheon and so glad that our firm partners with such a great organization. Paul and his family serve as respite foster parents and have had numerous children through their home. Go to their website and check them out. Pray for them as they continue to serve those in need and pray for homes for all these children.

Running With A Mission

At the beginning of 2009, we revamped our work mission statement at the firm I work for. One arm of the firm we created was a charitable service committee. We meet once a month and have established multiple projects for the firm to take part in: food drive for the OC Rescue Mission, Buddy Walk for DSAOC, supplying Bibles for James 1:27 Ministries, and a running class with the OC Rescue Mission. We will have our own booth and play games at the Buddy Walk next Sunday. This should be a lot of fun, although contributions were down by 2/3 of last year's amount last I heard. These contributions fund the staff's salaries and are going towards building a pediatric clinic in the OC area. In case you feel so inclined, you can donate here.

Now, tomorrow morning, bright and early, I will be driving to the OC Rescue Mission and meeting up with 2 coworkers, a client of ours, and 18 to 20 "students" of the OC Rescue Mission Village of Hope. The Village of Hope is a one- to two-year program for individuals, families, and single parents who are currently homeless. They go through job training, education, counseling, and work at the VOH. One of the partners at my firm, Steve, thought it would be valuable to basically train 20 or so individuals to run a half-marathon. Tomorrow is our first day of training.

We will be spending four mornings a week for the next fourteen weeks working together as a team to prepare to run the Huntington Beach Half Marathon in February 2010. There are a number of ways we feel this will be so beneficial. First of all, the weekly encouragement of going farther and doing something you have never done before. Secondly, on the day of the race, everyone at the starting line is equal. We all put in the effort to train; we all are there with our shirts, shorts and shoes. There is no indicators of class or status. 15,000 people will be running this race. Finally, there is something for saying "I have run a half-marathon, 13.1 miles. What else can I do?" We are hoping to reinforce discipline and teamwork in each student. The director at VOH - Nathan Bates - said that this is the first time any group of volunteers has ever spent such a concentrated and long time with their students. He is thrilled at the idea of what type of ministry could take place.

So, at 6:20 tomorrow morning we begin. We will be taking video footage and pictures to update everyone along the way. Stay tuned!