You say tomatoes.....

Jason, my husband, has a green thumb that I will never have. This is the results of his dedication to the garden, from planting, watering, nurturing and loving, we have heirloom tomatoes coming out of our ears. The names of the tomatoes are Jersey Devil, Green Zebra, Marble Stripe, Cherokee Purple, and Black Plum....who knew. We (as in Jason), harvested and canned until we couldn't can anymore. I'm sure we will enjoy them for the rest of the year. If you are interested, I'll hook you up with some wonderful salsa or pickles. Even better, if you have recipe ideas, let me know.

Home Sweet Home

I am finally home for a while after a whirlwind of trips all over the world. I don't deny that I am a lucky girl! All trips were equally gratifying in its own way. You read all about Mexico in my previous post, then I was off to "exotic" Florida to visit my inlaws. It was nice that the whole family could get together again after 3 years and also great to get to know my nephew Nicklas better. I love being called Aunt Winnie. Here's a picture of my favorite little man.

Then I was off on a work trip to Europe. Sounds pretty glamorous, but I swear I worked during those 10 days....London, Paris and Amsterdam. I learned more about the business I work for and it was great to talk to the consumers, buyers and retailers that actually buy the product I work on. Nice change of pace from the office environment.

Now that the travels are all said and done, I'm looking forward to fall: celebrating a lot of birthdays, including mine and Jason's, cooking and baking more and just being here at home.

I love Herve Leger

So most of you who know me, I love wearing dresses. The best fashion advice I read was "if you don't want people to know the circumference of your thighs, wear a skirt or dress." I love this motto and it makes getting dressed so much easier since you don't really have to think about separates when you slip on a dress. Needless to say, I cannot coordinate separates now.

Anyway, I was checking out all the NY Fashion week images and designers and ran into Herve Leger. I went to the website and found some really beautiful dresses. I love the lines, colors and the ready-to-wear factor of these dresses. If I had a few grand to spend, I think I would buy one of these dresses. But where in Portland would I wear something this fabulous?

It starts with a few....

So here I am in Florida on the 2008 Callough summer vacation, which included a stop to magical Disney World. I've been a few times before and every time I'm amazed at how well Disney transcends all boundaries: age, race and religion. After a full day of rides and shows, we head to the amphitheater for Fantasma, one of the most popular shows at Disney. We were there about 45 minutes early to get good seats and as we waited for the show to start, I was impressed that there were 2 boys about the age of 12 that were trying to get the whole audience to do the "wave." I thought, no way this is going to work, I would have given up by now; but these boys were persistent. After about 10 minutes, enough people had caught on to what was going on and it was amazing to see the whole crowd (about 1000+ strong) doing the waves caused by 2 young boys sitting in front of us. Made me think. It doesn't take many to make a difference.

Perfect Summer Weekend

Cabin on the river + 3 days + good friends + sun + good music + no agenda = the perfect summer weekend. I'm gonna bottle this up and open it in February.

It's not too late to make a difference

Now that I'm back from Mexico, I've learned that donations are critical in helping the people in Oaxaca. If you're still thinking about supporting me in Mission Oaxaca, it's not too late to donate.

Donations can be done 3 ways and they'll send you a tax deductible receipt.

1. You can give it to me in person.
2. Online at www.centerforsharing.org/makeadonation.htm with my name in the subject line.
3. Snail Mail: Mission Oaxaca c/o Center for Sharing, 723 W. Clark Street, Pasco, Washington 99301. Please make sure that my name is in the subject line.

Thanks for giving me this opportunity to share with you my wonderful experience in Mexico. I know I'll be going back there soon.

Portraits of Mexico

Just when you think you don't have room in your life for another relationship...you meet more incredible people. Here are some photos of some of the wonderful people I met in Mexico, even if it was for a small moment in time.

This is Pastor Beny. He's only 24 and his whole family is in ministry. He was a gracious host.

This is Lucie. She came up from Jichitan to help us build pisos. Her family lives in really a rural area where there is no schooling so she lives at Casa Isabel (http://casaisabel.org/) while she attends school.

Carlito and his grandpa. He is the cutest kid. I love this shot. There is no doubt they are related.

These kids were running after the truck when we were leaving the house.

This is a native Zaportec woman in Jichitan. She is selling her goods at the market.

These kids lived at the first house we did the pisos. When we showed up the little boy didn't have pants on. They helped haul buckets of water for the cement mixer.

These girls have a really sad story. I met them at church on Sunday. Their mom is a single parent and left for Mexico City in search of work, leaving the older sister who is 11 to care for her younger siblings.

Gorge (Jichitan local), Beny (pastor from Oaxaca), Clay (sponsor from Oregon) and Brea (teacher in Woodburn) in Juchitan all sharing the same heart to serve others in Mexico.

Kids at Pimpollo. These were the kids that were couldn't understand that I was Chinese and American. We tried to tell them that I was in the gold medal Olympic swimmer. We had a lot of fun hanging out that afternoon.

This kid was helping his father deliver water to houses in the community.