Random Acts of Kindness Adventure 2014 Week 4

Well, this was the last week of the adventure!

I hope many of you made time to spread some kindness

around you.  Notice I said 'made the time', as Lydia

reminded me last week.  We have time...it's whether or

not we choose to use it!  One of my acts was planned

and the other spontaneous.  Both equally fun to do!

1.  At the beginning of January I talked about having a word

of the year instead of resolutions and chose 'healthy' as my 

word.  Someone in my little village commented on my post

on Facebook and said "Draw me a picture of it for my kitchen".

I 'liked' the comment but didn't say any more yet I knew

exactly what I wanted to do!  I did have a drawing in my

file that would fit the healthy theme and would look cute

in a kitchen!  So today I pulled it out, ran it through

my copier and packaged it up to send to her.  It will

go in the mail tomorrow.  I hope not only will it remind her

to make healthy choices, but that I like her a lot, too! :)

2.  The other one was more spontaneous! 

Remember my 'not-so-secret admirer' at the auctions?

Well, he drives 65 miles to come to the auctions and doesn't 

have heat in his truck!  He's one of those millionaires many

times over but won't spend a cent on anything!

It was only 15 F degrees yesterday morning!

When he came in half frozen (literally!) I found him in the

crowd and gave him a package of Hot Hands.  I always

have a few in my auction bag in case we are outside

during the day.  He seemed genuinely touched at the

gesture.  I hope he survived going home. ha.

If you did any acts of kindness you'd like to share,

please link up your blog post below.  I know I'd love

to hear about them and be inspired by you, too!
Link up will be open until Friday the 28th, 9:00PM EST.

An InLinkz Link-up

And thanks to everyone who joined in this month!

I hope we'll continue to do things and share them even

though the adventure is officially over!

♥

Random Acts of Kindness Adventure Week 3

Ever since I saw the idea of giving an extra generous tip

to a waitress or waiter, I've wanted to do it!

There are those huge tips, $1-5K, that hit the news

that are always amazing to hear about.  I'm not able

to do something that huge, but I did like the idea of 

tipping the same amount as the bill!

Today I got to do that!

So much fun! 

 I was eating lunch out today because I invited

  my elderly neighbor lady to go with me.
I went to college with one of her sons

we've been neighbors for 26 years! 

 Her granddaughter and Taylor were friends in school.

She lost her husband last year due to Parkinson's Disease

after caring for him for a long 14 years!

I suppose asking her to lunch was a RAK, but she's done

RAKs for me over the years, too.  She used to invite

Taylor over to play when she babysat her granddaughter.

With three babies at home, that was much appreciated by me!

 Taylor knew if for some reason I wasn't home when

he got off the school bus, he could always run over to

Lydia's and stay there until I got home.

We had a nice lunch and chatted a couple of hours away

about our families, parents, kids and life's experiences.

We talked about random acts of kindnesses, too, because

she does read my blog! (Hi, Lydia! ha.)  She shared some very

sweet things that she's done lately.  But I wasn't surprised.

I've always known her to be a caring and giving person.

We stressed how important it is to make time.

Everyone is busy and uses it as an excuse for why

we cannot do things for others.  But it really comes down

to whether we want to make the time or not.

I'm glad we both made time to have lunch today!

And as far as the waiter... we still happened to be there

when he picked the bill from our table and he came

back to say thank you and that he would be passing

along the kindness to someone else!

So fun.

If you did a random act of kindness this week that you

want to share, please link up your post below so we

can read about it and be inspired, too!

The link will be open until tomorrow, 8:00PM EST.

An InLinkz Link-up

Some Random Acts of Kindness Inspiration

I saw this on the news today and thought it was the sweetest

thing!  This little boy with autism LOVES garbage trucks and

waits every Monday for the truck to come.  Inside, he lines

his stuffed animals in the window so they can watch, too!

He watches and waives to the garbage man each time.

His mom records the visits on her phone so he can

watch them again during the week!

Then one day, he gets a surprise!

Don't you love it?

The garbage man does the RAK!!

So sweet.

I'm inspired!

What will you do this week?

Come back Friday and share!

♥

Around Here, Lately....

We got covered in a layer of ice and strong winds Monday evening!

The power went out for a couple of hours,

but the internet connect never came back up.
Did you miss me? :) 
It had been quite a while since we had to light candles
and do without electricity!  The boys did relatively well,
and I was thankful it was nearly bedtime for them anyway.

A tech guy had to come out this morning to give us a 

new router box.  Turns out he went to school with

my nephew and I know his dad.  ha.  Small world.

 

I've been enjoying my coffee in this mug and nibbling

on Cardamom Snaps, thanks to a sweet package that was 

in the mail the other day.  Yes, I was the 'victim' of Martha's

random act of kindness for our adventure this month!

Have to say, it's really fun to be on the receiving end!

Thanks, Martha.  The cookies are delish!

Before the ice we had more beautiful snow!

Took this though the window as I sat at my desk and

watched the big flakes fall down.  Lovely!

There were cute and cuddly, grey and white

fur balls to snuggle with inside....

And not-so-cute and cuddly, grey and white 

fur balls outside!

Without the internet, I had more time to 

photograph my favorite crush, Mr. Cardinal!

He was flattered to get the extra attention. :)

 

And I baked Linda's lemon blueberry breakfast cake again.

This time I used blackberries.  yum!

Today is blue sky and 40F degrees.

Heat wave!

I have gingerbread in the oven as part of my

Winter Fun To Do List.

I cannot tell you how wonderful the house smells!

Please join me for the Random Acts of Kindness Adventure!

Be ready to link up on Friday right here!

♥

Random Acts of Kindness Adventure Week 2

First of all, I want to say a big thank you for all of your thoughts,

comments, emails and great discussion on my last post about

random acts of kindness.  Wow, when I say "I'm serving coffee,

stay and chat" you guys really can take it to heart! ha.

I appreciate each thought and suggestion.  So great!

You know, when I first became aware of the uncertainty of some

people sharing how they spread kindness, I had an evening of

soul searching.  I almost ended the whole adventure!

I didn't want to be misunderstood and was wondering if

the whole thing was worth it.  I was sadly puttering around

in my studio and came across this sheet of stickers....

Yeah, who wouldn't smile through their tears at that?

Kind of like an answer thrown right in my lap, don't you think?

And look...she isn't wearing a disguise but spreading sunshine

right out where people can see her!  Love that.

I also thought it was interesting that without any effort of my

own, the 2nd link up day for this adventure fell on Valentine's

Day...and my preparations for that seemed to be pink!  And hearts

 were popping up everywhere.... like on that sticker!

Even on the spatula I grabbed from the bunch!

And on my muffin pan!

So why fight it?  ha.

Pink frosting and heart shaped sprinkles ended up on

vanilla almond cupcakes.  They were a nice contrast to

the chocolate and peanut butter!

The cupcakes went to work with The Mister.

I thought it would be fun for the boys to take some

treats in to their 'school' for their classmates.

There isn't any organized card trading going on and 

I doubt if they get many treats from each other,

so I hope this makes them all feel special!

The pink theme continued with some chocolates for

my sweet little candy dish....a little kindness to myself.
Although, The Mr. keeps snitching them...

...even the sunset joined in!

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet blog friends!

And if you want to link up and share how you spread some

 sunshine this week, please link up below

 so we can be inspired by you!

The link will be open until Saturday the 15th
7:00 PM EST.

♥

An InLinkz Link-up

We Need To Talk...

 The Mister hates it when I start out a conversation like that.  :)

Last evening I had a comment about the Random Acts of Kindness 

Adventure.  The point was that some people might think doing

kind deeds and posting about them is in poor taste and could

be seen as bragging.  Kindnesses should be done, but never

publicly talked about.  She gave an example of a wealthy friend

who gives a lot of money to charity and would be upset if

that fact were made public.  She also pointed out that

the kindness adventure could be misunderstood

 as trying to make a deal with God and improving

your chance of getting into heaven by doing good things.

Then I received an email from someone who read her comment

and agreed with her, giving me these two quotes....

"Do what ever you can

when ever you can

where ever you can 

 for who ever you can

and expect no reward"

"Thou shalt not brag unto others what thou doest

lest they scoff and say unto thee: Big Head".

Both people, who do not live in the USA, said the

Pay-It-Forward and Random Acts of Kindness is an

American thing and both would be considered in poor

taste and bad etiquette to talk about kind things you 

have done for others.  

If two of my readers could have felt this way,

I imagine there might be even more who remained silent.

So let me just share a few thoughts I have on that subject...

• I think we are talking about two different things here.  One is an organized effort to spread kindness and coming here on Fridays to share and inspire each other.  The other, would be in poor taste, telling how much money you gave a charity, how much you put in the offering plate at church ...most money subjects like that are off limits, just like you shouldn't tell how much money you make, what you paid for your car, etc.  
• Nobody is expecting any kind of reward.  Just the blessing of giving.
• I have never gotten the feeling while investigating how to do this adventure on blogs or on facebook, or even here with participants, that we were prideful in the little things we did.  Honestly, giving a handful of chocolates to the mail man is hardly worth bragging about, in my opinion.  I think it's all in the motive and our attitude.  And I think we are to share what we do~

"Let us consider how we may spur one another

on to love and good deeds."  Hebrews 10:24

• I do not believe that doing good things gets you to heaven.  We do good deeds because we are Christians...not to become Christians.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to

do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Ephesians 2:10

• If we only did good things in secret, how would our children and others learn from our example? Jesus certainly did many good things publicly and we are to imitate him, right?  And I believe we are supposed to shine love as a light all around us.  

"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be

hidden, or under a bowl.  Instead, they put it on it's stand,

so that those who come in may see the light...in the same

way, let your light shine before others, that they may see

your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Luke 11:33, Matthew 5:16.

 I also wanted to let my two friends know that 

Pay It Forward and Random Acts of Kindness are

alive and well in Europe! Just do a google search

for "random acts of kindness in europe" or "pay it

forward in europe" and you'll see what I mean.

 And the most interesting thing of all is that the

 Pay If Forward with a cup of coffee originated

in Naples, Italy over 100 years ago!

It's not American in origin!  

 
"When a person who had a break of good luck

 entered a cafe and ordered a cup of coffee, 

he didn't pay just for one, but for two cups, 

allowing someone less fortunate who 

entered later to have a cup of coffee for free.

It's an elegant way to show generosity: 

an act of charity in which donors and

 recipients never meet each other, 

the donor doesn't show off and the

 recipient doesn't have to show gratitude."

source

 I hope that at least explains a little better my motives

and intentions in doing this adventure.

It never occurred to me that someone could think

sharing and inspiring each other to spread more

kindness could be seen as prideful.

So, I apologize if you felt that way.

Let's just 'spur one another on to love and

 good deeds' like we're supposed to!  And you

can't do that if you don't share and talk about it!

If you read all this, thanks for your time. :)

I promise a photo and minimal chatting next post!

Now, I'm off to make dinner and enjoy the big kids

as they come over this evening and visit!

♥

This And That

1. A fresh bloom for Valentine's Day.  Wasn't sure this little rose bush would survive inside for the winter.  So far, so good!
2. A monochromatic fruit salad.  It wasn't planned that way, but when you only have grapes, blackberries and blueberries, that's what happens! ha.
3. The little fern came home with me from the grocery.  The tag said her name was Lemon Drop.  The little carved wood bird came home with me from the auctions.  I love her painted flowers.
4. New shoes.  Things are just more fun in threes. ha.  Well, except the bills. ;)
5. It's hard to photograph sparkly snow, but I tried.  It looked like white glitter in the morning sun!
6. Mrs. Cardinal enjoying some sunflower seeds.
7. Marmalade, looking lovely against the snow, and finally providing an outside shot that didn't look black and white!
8. My next project.  Can you tell he doesn't belong to me?  A little disheveled, dirty, and homeless looking?  I found him on the back porch sleeping in a chair, curled up with Tiger.  Tiger must be practicing the Random Acts of Kindness Adventure. :)  He also brought Cocoa to us about this time last year.  So, this is Slate.  Some of the cats are friendly to him, some not so much.  He's come by a handful of times but doesn't stay.  He lets me pet him.  He acts starving when I give him food.  I told him if he sticks around he has to clean up and eventually go to the vet for shots and a little outpatient surgery. ha.

And thank you to all of you who participated in this first week

of the Acts of Random Kindness Adventure.  Not many linked up for

a post on their own blog, but several of you left comments here giving

your stories that were heart warming and also quite funny!

I hope more of you will join in next Friday!

♥

Random Acts of Kindness Adventure Week 1

"It's more blessed to give than to receive."

Well, isn't that the truth!  This week I really had fun

preparing a few little acts of kindness to surprise some

unsuspecting people!  Sure, I did the normal smiling and

saying hello to strangers and things like that, but these

two things were especially fun to do~~

I always have the post office come and pick up my

packages of sales from my etsy store.  It's wonderfully

convenient and it's a free service the post office offers!
But it does create more work for our mail carrier because
we don't have our mail delivered to our door.
It is delivered to the entrance of our neighborhood,
where all the mailboxes are lined up in a row.
So she has to drive back to my home to pick up my shipments.

 I left a bag of chocolates and a note just to thank her.

And guess what?

I got a thank you note in the mail the next day. :)

For the second one, I stopped by the hair salon and talked to

Megan, who cuts my hair.  I gave her this envelope and told her

about the random acts of kindness adventure I was doing.

I asked her to give it to someone this week to pay for their

cut.  And I asked her to pick someone that may need

it a little more than others....and that I wanted it to be

anonymous.  She was as excited as I was and gave me a big hug.

It ended up being fun for her, too, since she got to

pick someone and see the surprise happen.  :)

If you did any acts of kindness this week, I'd love for you

to share by posting about it on your blog and linking below.

That way we can all share and be an inspiration to each other!

If you need some ideas on what to do, click on the link on my sidebar

for the original post and a list.   Some cost no money at all

and others can be as big as you want.  It's the thought that counts!

This post will stay up until Saturday evening 7:00 PM EST to give everyone

a chance to participate that wants to.  If you still aren't ready, then you

 can always wait until next Friday when we do it all again! 

 

The Random Acts Of Kindness Adventure

We've all heard about people doing Random Acts of Kindness

and Paying it Forward, such as paying for the coffee order for

the customer in line behind you. I love this stuff and I do

random acts occasionally, but I thought it would be fun

to do it in an official way, documenting the acts and 

encouraging my blog friends to join in the fun!

I thought the month of February would be the perfect time

to do this.  For one, it's the month of love, right?  And for another,

most people are getting a little sick of winter, they may be a little

down after the holidays, their new year's resolutions are petered

out and they just have the blues.  Everyone could use a little 

sunshine right about now, don't you think?

Random Acts of Kindness can be as simple as leaving a

quarter in a gum ball machine....

or leaving a tip the same size as your dinner.

...As little as a handful of Hershey Kisses in a bag for a teacher,

to new boots for the custodian, who was wearing shoes

held together with duct tape.

How about a little package of M&M's with a note left on someone's

windshield?  Or visiting Santa, not to ask for things, but to give him

a Starbucks gift card!

I loved this note left for a tenant and their laundry...

and the post-it note just to tell someone that

they matter and somebody noticed!

You could take cupcakes to The Wounded Warriors

or cookies to your local fire station!

How about leaving change on a vending machine inside a hospital?

Or just saving someone the hassle of a car theft.

The best part of this adventure is that you can do as many

or as few as you like.  You can spend no money at all or as much

as you want!  And just like karma, or reaping what you sow,

I think the kindness will be returned and the blessing will be ours.

If you need a few more ideas, here's a few ~

1. If you reach a stop sign at the same time as another driver, let them go first.
2. Thinking of getting a new pet?  Rescue one on death row at 'The Pound'.
3. Leave a note and little treat in your mail box for the mail carrier.
4. Shovel your neighbor's driveway, rake their leaves, cut their grass...especially if they are elderly or sick.
5. Forgive someone who wronged you in the past.  Go out of your way to do them a favor.
6. Leave a coupon taped to the appropriate item in the grocery store.
7. Put an umbrella in your car (buy one or an extra one that you have) to give to someone next time it rains.
8. Take your old magazines to a doctor's waiting room.  Be sure to black out your address.
9. Hold the door or elevator open for someone coming along behind you.
10. Give blood.
11. Bite your tongue next time you feel the urge to give a piece of your mind.
12. Tell a cashier-in-training that they are doing a great job.
13. Fill a Zip Lock bag with travel sized toiletries, candy bar, Hot Hands and a bottle of water.  Put it in your car to give to the next homeless person that approaches your car for a handout.
14. Let someone in a check out line go before you.
15. Have friends with kids?  Offer to babysit so they can go out to dinner.
16. Be a courteous driver and let someone merge in front of you.
17. Compliment someone who deserves it.
18. Smile and say hello to a stranger.
19. When walking into the grocery, help someone elderly put their bags into their car.  Take the cart for them.
20. Empty your closet of unused items and take them to the thrift store.
21. Send an email or message to someone saying you're thinking of and praying for them.
22. Offer to walk someone's dog when it's cold or rainy outside...especially the elderly or the sick.
23. Bake a treat and take it to work to share with your coworkers.
24. If you receive good service somewhere, call the manager and tell them so!
25. Offer to buy a homeless person a meal.  Post your story on facebook and encourage others to pass it on.  
26. Organize a drive to collect blankets and other items for the homeless in your area.  Deliver them to their gathering spots.

Are you as inspired as I am? :)

I will post my randoms acts of kindness for the week on each Friday in

February.  

.
And I'll put Mr. Linky up so if you want to join in on

Fridays you can do that and we can all share and be inspired by

each other.  It doesn't matter how many you do.

You can do one a week or as many as you wish!

.

Some acts take a little prep, so I'd encourage you to

decide the act, write the note and take your camera with you.

Posts are always more interesting if they have a photo, don't you think?

Also, don't forget the Scotch tape, if you are sticking something 

on a vending machine or windshield.

.

And one more thing, if you have other ideas let me know and I'll add them

 here.  That way we can refer to an idea list here throughout the month.

OK...hope to see you back here on Friday, Feb 7th!
.

******
.

All photos here were taken from randomacts.com and

26randomacts.com.  Many of the ideas were my own...some

taken from these sites as well.
.

I also want to thank many of you who visited and donated

to little Tavin's cause that I posted about earlier this week.

Talk about random acts of kindness! Wow.

They are almost to their goal, too!

 ♥