Act 29

Today I donated some books to the Boys & Girls Club. I have a hard time giving up my books. I’m not sure why. I guess looking at them lined on shelves makes me feel like I’ve achieved something. However, I’m a strong believer that books are to be read and enjoyed. These were some newer books (Twilight, New Moon, The Notebook, ect.) that I knew I wouldn’t read again, and hopefully someone else can enjoy them.

Act 28

The church our family attends is making food baskets to deliver to low-income families for Easter. I bought some tasty nonperishable items and dropped them off. Since the weather was so nice, I was able to take Chloe to the park after we were done. She had never rode in a swing before, and she had a blast.

Act 27

This morning, I was wondering if I was making enough progress with this blog. I suddenly remembered a sticker I used to have that read, “May the journey be your joy.” Isn’t that the truth? The journey was intended to be a place of joy for myself and my family, not a race. I suppose it’s good for all of us to slow down and remember why we choose our paths from time to time.

When the country of Chile experienced disaster on February 27, my heart sank. They always say the more you travel the smaller or larger the world becomes. For me, the combination of teaching ESL and traveling has made the world feel much smaller. It’s easy to look at people from the other side of the world and think they are different from you, but everyone is really the same. It’s easy to forget that most of us just want the basics. We want love and peace in our hearts and family and friends who can share with us in times of joy and sorrow. Please remember the people of Chile. You can donate today, as I did, by visiting www.redcross.org.

Sasha Azevedo

“When you love people and have the desire to make a profound, positive impact upon the world, then will you have accomplished the meaning to live.”

Act 26

I gave the extra cupcakes to the guards at Main Gate.

Act 25

This afternoon I made dinner for an Army wife who started chemotherapy this week at Madigan. I have enjoy cooking, and I was happy to help. I made a comfort food dish. It had a cream of mushroom base with meatballs, carrots, potatoes, and I added in some baby corn since she has little ones. I was always more interested in foods that had baby corn as a child, and I don’t think I’m alone. I made some cupcakes for dessert as well.

The hot dish looked much better in person. Cream based dishes never seem to photograph well.

Act 24

I have a love/hate relationship with online shopping. I love that I don’t have to go from shop to shop looking for hard-to-find items, but I dislike all of the inconvenience that come with errors in orders.

My daughter and I have decided to have a land-animal free diet, and I was hoping to find some resources that would be helpful when the time comes to explain this decision to my daughter. PeTA has a great online store, and I was able to find a few interesting items. Unfortunately, I had trouble with the billing portion of the purchase. I almost decided to not call and just fork out the extra $10. I ended up calling their customer service line, and I received the best service. I was a little surprised, because you often hear so many negative things about PeTA. I sent them a letter of gratitude, and I hope the staff members who provided me with awesome service will be rewarded or acknowledged.

Thank you, PeTA!