NEW LOOK AT the paper-roSe!!!

I am married to a dream-maker! I tell him my vision/dream...he makes it happen! Ok. Maybe not ALL the time. But, he tries! If you visited the paper-roSe, you know that my shop is actually a 2-car garage that I have taken over. Last summer I had this idea for removing one of the garage doors and filling it in with a double set of old doors and a window. I came home one day to find it done! A couple of nights ago I woke Rich up with my latest idea. On the other side of the shop there is a large screened in room. We had a set of french doors we had found in the trash......the picture above (taken from the screened room) says it all! I LOVE it! It not only lightened it up I have almost double the space!

This is a picture taken from inside the shop. Still have some electric work to do before we can start putting the walls back up.

The date has been set for spring sale..MAY 18-19th. As you can see I am literally stacked to the rafters with things!

I will be posting some pictures later this week with some finished things!

WHY HAVE I NOT BLOGGED IN 8 MONTHS?

Why are these three beautiful young ladies so happy? They have all been redeemed by the wonderful grace of God!

8 months ago I received a call from a good friend telling me that God had given her the names of 6 ladies who she was to travel with to Uganda. I was one of them! I wept through our conversation, because barely 2 weeks earlier I had had a conversation with Rich concerning the fact that I really felt like God was urging me to go on a missions trip. ME????? I had always loved mission conference time at our church. I loved hearing about "their adventures"...but ME?

My sweet friend Jade, and her husband adopted a precious little boy by the name of Ezra and brought him home approx. 1 year earlier from Uganda. I also had other friends, Bridgette and Trey who were just starting their paperwork for adoption. I thought of myself as the one who would be the cheerleader from here.....doing all that I could to help, in any way. Fundraiser....count me in.......prayers? hey, they could count on me! But go?

So, when I received the call from Jade.....I knew immediately.......I WAS going to Uganda.

As it turned out, there were 10 other amazing ladies from our church that heeded the call. Our church's first all women's mission team! We spent the next 8 months preparing our hearts and raising funds for our trip. We left March 6 on a 24 hour plane trip to Uganda.....a trip that has changed my life forever.

We stayed in the Sanyu babies home(www.sanyubabies.com) and volunteered our time there. We also had the awesome privledge of spending time at the Kwagala Project (kwagalaproject.org)

The Kwagala Project is a home and rehabilitation refuge for women who are victims of the sex trafficking trade. The girls here are age 10-early 20's.

Just wanted to share a few pictures.

Andrea and a sweet friend

Victory is 15 years old.

How cute are these girls? Hayley,(on the right) is the director of the Kwagala project. I cannot believe I forgot the other two names. I do remember that the girl in the center is the one that does the blogsite/facebook page for the project.

What a face this is! Don't you just love him!!! Rian was the son of Rachel, one of the girls at Kwagala.

This was looking down on the wall that surrounds the Kwagala Project.

Yep, if you look close those are broken pop bottles. I think that would discourage me from climbing over!

The girls served us an amazing lunch! Here some of them are preparing it.

And YES! It was delicous. Fresh avacado, beans, collard greens and 2 kinds of rice.

Just a few street scenes. Plantains seemed to be on every corner. Tried them twice while I was there. Must be an acquired taste. Did not like them at all.

A very common scene in Uganda.....a child begging on the street

Milk in a bag?

I WILL go back!

VALENTINE'S TEA

My friend Liz and I decided to have a Valentine's Tea Party for a few of our friends. What a fun idea! We wanted to shower them with love and make them feel special! A great time to bring out the PINK! It was a such a special day. There will be a follow up tea!!

What's a tea party without lots of food?

These 3 cuties added to the fun! Sophie and Maddix Metz and Elli Vinluan

Besties Bridgette and Jade.....self portrait

Jade with Sophie and Maddix

Andrea and Elli

Jade and Lauren

Maddix, Elli and Sophie.....you are all just too cute for words! I cannot wait until Maryn is old enough to have tea parties with! You made the day so much more fun with your sweet smiles and giggles!