Dear Reader, Tuesday randomness (the zoo, a recipe, and Compassion)...

We had the best weekend out of town!  I got a TON of Christmas shopping done, The One and Bo hung out with family, and we all got to enjoy the zoo.  (I am slightly obsessed with the OKC zoo now and can't wait to edit all my pics and post them.)


I had the best pumpkin pie shake this morning (link to recipe not working so here's the modified version I made using the ingredients I had available):

1/2 c nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/3 c pumpkin puree

1 c milk

1 t pumpkin pie spice

Stevia (or any sweetener you have on hand) and ice to taste

Do you know about Compassion?   It's an incredible organization that seeks to release children from poverty through 3 programs:  a child survival program, a child sponsorship program, and a leadership program.  We began sponsoring a little boy, Jeeva, in India several years ago, and I can't tell you what a blessing it's been.  Aside from the obvious monthly sponsorship which provides Jeeva snacks, meals, educational opportunities, and medical checkups, we are able to send him birthday presents (selected by those close to him who know his needs/preferences), Christmas presents, and each year we choose to send a family gift (also selected by those close to the family who know their needs).  One year, it was a mattress, and another year it was a goat.  We correspond through letter writing, the letters translated by the Compassion field workers.  Though I love traditional letters, you can now send correspondence via email, which makes it so easy to write to the child and attach pictures (they love pictures!).  The biggest thing we are able to do is pray for Jeeva and his family.  He is part of our nightly prayers with Bo; I can't wait to hear Bo say his name one day!

I am a skeptic by nature (hello---lawyer here), and I did a ton of research before sponsoring through Compassion, and my, oh my, talk about financial integrity!  Over 80% of their expenditures go directly to program activities for the children.  That's huge, folks.  Huge.

Anywho...one of the ways Compassion raises awareness is to host blogger trips.  They have "well known" bloggers go to a Compassion field site and blog about their experiences.  It's how I first heard of them and found Jeeva.  Several of the bloggers I follow (truth be told, I actually read all 6 of their blogs--Boo Mama (Sophie), Big Mama (Melanie), Amanda Jones (daughter of Beth Moore), Ann Voskamp (author of 1000 Gifts), and Kelly Stamps (from Kelly's Korner Blog)) arrived in Ecuador last night.  I can't wait to read their posts.  And this long winded three paragraphs is to encourage you to follow them, too.  All their posts can be found here, and also on their individual blogs.

See?  I told you this would be random...