PORTER FOUND HIS FAMILY!

There has been quite a lapse in posting due to a cross country move over the summer (Baltimore to Seattle...phew!) and so I regret that I have taken so long to share that PORTER HAS A FAMILY!

The family rescuing this sweet little boy is the Eriksen family.  I am beyond excited for both them and for Porter and I have been in touch with them on how I can best support their efforts. I will be posting updates here, but also please check out their blog and follow their journey. They are close to traveling but still need our support to bring Porter home.

SO EXCITING.

Year of Yoga X2- Update

I wanted to give an update of my second Year of Yoga. It's going great! Making a commitment to do yoga 6 days a week for a year is such a blessing to me. Lately, there are things by which it would be easy to get overwhelmed. When I get down, I tell myself- I'll deal with it on the mat.

This is especially helpful when I've spent some time thinking about Porter and the other orphans and the conditions in which they live- or anything in the world that seems negative and insurmountable. It is easy to get overwhelmed and down- so I remember that when I do my yoga, I can meditate and send positive energy in the direction that holds my concern. It's wonderful. As I do the poses I send that positive energy, pray, and know that every positive thing I do, no matter how small, makes a difference. I am so thankful for having this outlet, as it is so easy to stay emotionally down once you're there- or to go even lower- yoga is my 'reset' button and pulls me back up to a much more positive place.

Actually, thinking about it, yoga itself is a good teacher that every positive action, no matter how small, makes a difference. Any yoga, no matter how short the practice or how 'easy' the pose, makes a positive impact on your body and your life. I am thankful for the lessons it teaches me.

Namaste.

Flight Platform Living: Orphanage 50 Picture Updates

The below blog is written by Jane from Flight Platform Living (she's the one who also visited Porter's orphanage) and highlights several children from Orphanage 50, children she was lucky enough to get to spend time with on her recent visit.
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Flight Platform Living: Orphanage 50 Picture Updates...Just Saying!

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All the faces are darling and so deserving of loving families, but the one that struck me the most is Evan. The description says that he is a 'gentle soul'.

Can't you just see that from the picture? What a wonderful soul this child has- you can tell that his spirit would be such a blessing to any family- despite all the daunting medical issues. Today's post is in honor of Evan. Please pray that he finds a family to love him before he gets sent to the institution. No innocent soul deserves to be shut up in an institution, but his especially seems to need to be out in the world. Such gentleness would be such a blessing to the world. Someone bring him out into the world.

A Glimpse Into Porter's World

While on the Reese's Rainbow group on Facebook, I stumbled upon the best thing ever. TWO best things ever actually. At least to me anyway.  I found the blogs of two people blogging from the region and orphanage where Porter lives. They were actually there at the time I found their blogs!- so in real time, I got to see and read about their visits to the place where my little Porter lives.

So there are two awesome things about that. The first awesome thing, is that the posts are about another little girl in Porter's orphanage being adopted. There is one less orphan in the world TODAY! The other awesome thing...is that I got to live vicariously through Lora and Jane to visit Porter's orphanage.

So. Wonderful.

I would of course love to get an update on Porter and see an updated picture, as the one that's on the site looks like he's about two years old when he will be seven in August, but if I can't have that, reading these blogs was SOOOOOOO the next best thing! :)

Here are the links to the blogs, but over the next few days I will link to specific posts.


Lora's blog (Vi's new mommy!)
Jane's blog (Vi's Reece's Rainbow warrior who was with Lora in Vi's country for part of the adoption)

Year of Yoga X2

I finished my Year Of Yoga back on October 31st, it was a wonderful experience. Trying not to 'mess up a streak' made me practice when I didn't feel like it, when I didn't think I had time, or when I wanted to do something else instead- and it was invaluable.

I cannot tell you how much it affected me for the better during that year. It was like my 'reset' button everyday. If I was grumpy, I was less so afterward. If I was anxious, I was calmer afterward. If I was happy, I was happier afterward.

For full disclosure I must mention, my year of practicing was not perfect, there were days that were totally busy and I completely forgot that I hadn't practiced that day until it was 11 and I was lying in my bed almost asleep- but there weren't too many of those, and when one is doing yoga 6 days per week all year long...even with mistakes, there is much accomplishment.

After I finished the year on October 31st, 2011, I took a break. I think it's important when you push yourself to accomplish something, that you give yourself rest afterward so you don't burn out. I felt that I was in danger of that, so I took a break for November. Then in December, I decided that I would get back into it, but not as a 'have to' thing, just as a normal exercise during the week.

Well...I can't be trusted to do things that are good for me I guess unless I have some kind of goal I have to meet. Even though I enjoy it, even though I know how amazingly beneficial it is for both my body and my mood, even though it only takes 20-30 minutes of my time, there were too many days that I just didn't get to it.

SO...because this is going to be another big year and I need all the help I can get to cope with the uncertainty and change, I decided last Sunday to do another Year of Yoga. Six days a week for a year. I will finish up next year in January. Already I can see what a giant difference having a goal I'm trying to reach makes. This week I made time every day of the six. I just made time. I guess goals are what I need.

I feel so much better today after six days of practice. Better in body than I have in two months.

As I do this Year of Yoga, I will continue to dedicate my practice to Porter from Reeces Rainbow. He doesn't have a family yet, so I continue to pray for him and send love to him as I complete my practice every day.

Please join me in another Year of Yoga for Porter and all special needs orphans.

Wonderful!

Porter's grant keeps going up! I check in with his page on Reece's Rainbow almost every day, to look at his little face and say a prayer for him; and was thrilled to find, about a week ago, that his grant had gone up! Well I just checked in today, and it has gone up again! He now has more than $300 in his adoption grant!

I do not know who donated, but I thank you. Thank you for supporting little Porter and helping him get closer to a family. I do not know if you are one person or a few people, but I am sending out my heartfelt thanks to you.

I have not met this little boy, but I love him all the same, and I hope and pray that his family finds him soon.

Thank you so much, donor(s), for also caring about this sweet little boy.

Wishes and Wondering

Little Porter. I go to his page everyday to look at his sweet face and to pray for him. I wish I could adopt him myself for sure, but since that is not presently realistic, I pray daily for his family to find him.

One other thing I wish for is an updated picture. In this picture he looks to be around two...? Not sure, but my son is two and a half and it looks like this picture is from a similar age. However, Porter is already five years old, so I hope the orphanage sends updated pictures soon. I wonder what he looks like now, how he's doing, what are his favorite games? Toys?

Orphanages vary greatly, and I pray that his is a good one. That the caretakers truly care for the children and that each child feels some love from someone.

I also hope that somehow Porter feels the love being sent to him by me and his other sponsors from far away. I don't think that love just disappears into the universe when you send it out, so I hope when it's sent out there, it makes it all the way over the ocean and into little Porter's heart.

These are my wishes for this precious child.

A Week in the Practice of a Budget Yogi- Monday

This post is the first of a short series of posts that documents a week in the life of my Year of Yoga. I call myself a Budget Yogi because I mostly do DVD's at home. DVD's are fine for the most part; I really enjoy the collection I have. Would I like to practice more in a real live studio? Sure, but but it really depends on my bank account on any given day, as well as child care, so mostly it ends up being just me, my cluttered living room, a two year old, a dog or two, a cat, and an onscreen Rodney Yee. Rock on!

Today I came home at lunch to do my yoga for the day. I only work 5 minutes or so away from my house, so sometimes this is a nice option- especially if I know the evening is going to be busy. It's also a nice break from everything to come home to an empty house and to light a candle and mellow out for a half hour in the middle of the day.

The DVD selection for today's practice was Yoga for Stamina- a nice 20 minute flow that includes my favorite Tree Pose. :) My mood for today's practice was half way between 'Totally Distracted Lets Just Do This So I Can Check It Off the List' and 'Totally Blissed Out'. My mind wasn't completely on task, but I wasn't completely unfocused either.

What I have found during this year is that I'm not going to be Totally Blissed Out everyday. Some days it will just be a check off the list- but that's ok. I'm there, I made the effort to pull the mat out and practice, and my body will get the benefit. When I'm conscious of a mindset like that, I try to focus more and be present, but sometimes it just doesn't stick. On days like those, I concentrate on the fact that I made good choices in getting on the mat, even if I wasn't totally present. What matters on those days is that I showed up.

I think life is often like that, no?

Balancing Heavy with Hope

My last post was a downer, I know. The plight of orphans around the world is a downer. To balance out the downerific-ness of it all- today I am going to post about the hope. The hope all those children have to find families.

The most concentrated source of hope, for me anyway, is the 'My Family Found Me' page on the Reece's Rainbow website. That wonderful organization has helped over FIVE HUNDRED orphans worldwide find their forever families. These children have come home, or are on their way home, to families that will love them. To birthday parties and peanut butter sandwiches. To picnics and to building snowmen. Never again will these children suffer days, weeks, months, years within the confines of a crib or single room in an institution.

Children like...

 

Dmitry    

 

Lori

 

Michael

Mason

And don't forget...

KAYLEE!!!

Those are just a few of the children- please go to the actual page to see many more. It is truly a blessing to see their faces. And because people like you and me are aware of the others- orphans not yet with their families have hope too...

...And I think that's pretty awesome. :)

Beyond the Bars

I think of Porter, and by extension all orphans, at random times. Of course I think of them in my prayers and when I'm 'scheduled' to think of them, but they also come to mind when I'm not doing something actively associated. Today my son was having a bit of trouble settling down for a nap so I was sitting in the glider in his room, reading a magazine and waiting for him to settle. He was in his crib, with his back against the bars, reading a book. I glanced over, and all the sudden I was reminded that, whereas my son will take his nap and then get out of his crib to play and be loved in other areas of his own home, so many orphans- especially those outside the U.S. where Porter lives- spend most of their days within the confines of those bars.

That thought, like most of the thoughts I have in regard to Porter, was heavy and tinged with great sadness. No child deserves that.

To counter the sadness, I sent prayers out for all those children spending their time in bleak situations. I can not fix everything, I know that. I also know however, that its important to do what one can. I hope by putting his picture out there and by helping to raise money for his adoption fund, that I can help Porter find his forever family. That he will be saved from the institution that will be his fate if he is not 'rescued' by the age deemed too old for the baby house. I am humbled by that opportunity, but also sobered by its importance.

Thank you so much to all those who are also helping Porter- I am most definitely not alone in my efforts, and I am eternally grateful for that. Please continue to pray and send good thoughts for Porter to find his forever family.

Namaste.

New Beginnings

Hi Everyone!

I have been taking a little break from blogging, it wasn't a conscious decision, I just couldn't think of anything to write. I think I was getting a little emotionally spent thinking about little Porter, and I just didn't know what to write about him. I actually had to limit myself to checking his page on Reece's Rainbow only once a day, because I was checking over and over and making myself sad with his little face. So I took a little time to recenter.

During that time I continued to check in and of course pray for him daily. I also revitalized my yoga practice a little. It had gotten a little mechanical. Put the DVD in, do the poses, on with the day. I definitely needed something to help break the blahs.

So I started to really concentrate on being in each pose and not just moving through one to get to the other. Its been much better. Also, while I do that, I concentrate on really being present in the moment and I send prayers out to Porter at the same time. That has helped me not to get emotionally overwhelmed. I remember that I am not in control and I can't fix everything, but I can do good where I can and pray. Also that God has a plan for everyone, including Porter.

This has helped.

So I have been feeling better and new life has been breathed into my yoga practice (which is especially helpful since my commitment is to do it six days a week- not being present and focused makes every one of those six days hard, and not as beneficial as they could be). Doing yoga mindfully really has an amazing effect. I hope to write more about this.

I hope everyone had been enjoying the warmer weather! Please help me continue to raise funds for Porter's future family- and please join me in praying for his daily well being.

Thank you for continuing to read and support my journey through this year of yoga! 3/4 of a year down, 1/4 to go!!! :) :) :)

Namaste!

Weekly Yoga Breakdown

I haven't posted one of these in awhile, but I've been successfully completing my daily yoga. Here is this past week's breakdown. Not the most varied week ever, but I did what I needed on each day, which this week, meant a lot of relaxing AM Yoga.


Day One- AM Yoga

Day Two-AM Yoga

Day Three- Yoga for Stamina

Day Four-AM Yoga

Day Five- 15 Minute Results Yoga: Upper Body

Day Six- Yoga for Stamina


This makes six months and 2 weeks of yoga 6 days a week. Half way there!

Reece's Rainbow 5/5/5

In the last post I introduced little Porter, the second child in the Yoga for Kaylee project (now that Kaylee found her family- yippee!!!)

In addition to the Yoga for Kaylee project- having people sponsor my Year of Yoga- for Porter, I am also participating in the 5/5/5 Warrior program through Reece's Rainbow. Here is a description of the program from the RR site (I tried to summarize, but their words are better and hold more information):

Our 5/5/5 Warrior Project is new for this year, and specific to 2011 as we celebrate our 5-year anniversary!  
After five years of service and more than 500+ children who are orphans no more, we have much to be grateful for but even more yet to do!   
SIGN UPS OPEN NOW!
From May 5 – July 31, 2011, our 5/5/5 Warrior Project will bring greater awareness and grant funds to all of our 5-year old children, to include those with Down syndrome and our Other Angels. 
 *********Instead of preparing for kindergarten like they should be, these little ones are hidden away and facing life-long suffering in adult mental institutions around the world.  
  Your donations and advocacy efforts truly can bring every one of these children HOME into loving forever families.   They should never have to step foot into a mental institution.  Money is the only thing standing in the way.   They deserve friends, a family, and a future.   Help us raise $5000 or more for each of our 5 year olds to celebrate our 5 year anniversary!
Funds raised during this special warrior project will be HELD for your child until January of 2012, without risk of it being reallocated to the older child pages.    This is a great opportunity to help these kids and make sure your efforts go for them to find a family.

1. View the children who need 5/5/5 Warriors on these links:  BOYS and GIRLS.
2. Sign up to be a 5/5/5 Warrior for a waiting child by contacting Laurie.   (Or write to laurie@reecesrainbow.org) 
3. Use our graphics for Facebook and your blog
4. Purchase 5/5/5 shirts, mugs, and other cool stuff in our store at www.cafepress.com/reecesrainbow so you can share Reece's Rainbow in your community.
5. If you are an RR adoptive family, please join us over the 4th of July weekend for our first reunion! 

So that's the 5/5/5 program that I am working on through the Yoga for Kaylee project. $5,000 is a big number, but little by little we can help Porter's 5/5/5 fund creep upwards toward that goal! Were you blessed with a big tax refund? Consider sending a little bit Porter's way! Good month at work? Pay those blessings forward!

The economy is not good, I do realize this- but I have also found that giving a little to help someone else, even while I am struggling, takes me out of my own worries and helps me to remember that I am very blessed, even in the midst of difficulty. And remember- any amount helps! Even a dollar or $0.50, is a dollar or $0.50 that helps little Porter get closer to finding his family. :)

All children deserve families that love them as the beautiful individuals that they are. Please help me raise the funds so that Porter's future family can bring him home!!

Meet Porter!

I will write more about Porter and what it means that he has a 5/5/5 Warrior (that's me!) tomorrow or Sunday, but in the meantime...I wanted to post his picture to get people thinking of him and praying for his future family to find him soon!

Prayers work people! Kaylee has a family! Let's find little Porter a family too!

For those of you who know me personally, the fact that this child caught my eye is no surprise. For those of you who don't know me, my maiden name is Porter. :)

Quick stats- this picture is old- Porter's birthday is August 10, 2005 which makes him 5 years old now.

As always, thank you for reading, and for your support, and for helping these children find their familys. :)

{kaylee's.hope.}: The Beginning....

{kaylee's.hope.}: The Beginning....: "It all started with God's whispers. His whispers to help the orphan, the broken, the lost. He calls us to get uncomfortable. He calls us o..."

KAYLEE'S FAMILY FOUND HER!

Good, good, good news today!  Kaylee's profile has been taken off the 'Waiting Children' page and has been relocated to the 'My Family Found Me' page! :) I am SO happy. Kaylee finally has her family committed and working to bring her home.

Derek and Alyssa Chirch saw her and knew that she was the one for them. They still have a long road ahead- lots of paper work and unknowns and lots and lots of fundraising- but the process has been started and Kaylee now has a family working just for her.

They will still need lots of support, so please keep in touch with their journey to adopt Kaylee on their blog, Kaylee's Hope, and on the Facebook fan page of the same name. Please share with your friends too, it takes a village to get one of these sweet little ones home!!

As for me, I will still be helping with the efforts to bring Kaylee home in any way I can- look for a few pieces of my hand painted childrens clothes to be part of the Chirch's fund raising efforts!- but since Kaylee doesn't need a Warrior anymore (she has a family!) I will be using the rest of my Year of Yoga for another child still on the waiting list.

I will share posts from the Chirch's blog over here to keep all of the Yoga for Kaylee's sponsors updated, so don't feel like you won't get regular dose's of Kaylee info...but be looking for posts on the newest recipient of my Year of Yoga efforts very soon! Let's help bring another child home to their family!!!

Congratulations to the Chirchs and congratulations to Kaylee!!!

THREE HUNDRED!

Kaylee's adoption fund is at $300!!!  Three hundred dollars and one cent to be exact. I don't know who the person/people is/are who donated the amount to bring her fund over $300, but whoever you are, THANK YOU! Most importantly Kaylee thanks you. (And if you'd like to be featured on the left in Kaylee's list of sponsors, please let me know, I'd love to know who you are!)

I am so grateful and humbled to be able to be a part of Kaylee's life as her warrior and I thank all of you who are helping me raise funds for her adoption. :)

WOW!

Guess what!  Kaylee's adoption fund has almost reached $300! Within two months its gone from $22.50 to $283.90. That's so great and I just wanted to share that this morning. I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Spring is here already!

Wow, its already a week into April. Where is this year going? I feel like November and December went by at a normal speed and then January 1st swooped in and since then 2011 has just been dragging me forward at warp speed.

I'm sorry I haven't written too much lately. I am still diligently doing my yoga six days a week but life is a little disorganized feeling right now, so I am just now trying to catch up on things that were in a holding pattern during the past few weeks. I'm taking steps to move forward with the things that I have control over. Limbo is a weird place to be for me, but I can't tell you enough how much yoga has helped me during this time. Some days have been well...blah, but as soon as I step onto the mat, my breathing calms, and my brain resets itself into a more positive space. It's awesome. I don't really know how yoga works on so many levels, but its enough to know that it does and I'm thankful for it! This year long yoga project has been such a blessing to my life during the year I probably need it the most.

Yay for yoga.

And Yay for Kaylee. As we move into the spring, don't forget little Kaylee and her need for a family who loves her. All the things you enjoy doing with your families during this beautiful time of year...keep in mind that Kaylee doesn't have a family of her own to do those things with. Let's help her family find her, shall we? Please forward and share Kaylee's information (or this blog) with everyone you know...you never know who might be the person who knows the person who will go bring Kaylee home!

Happy thoughts indeed.

March- Week Three- Week of Yoga Breakdown

Well, my plan was to do one of these weekly breakdown posts after completing each week, but the past few weeks, when I get to Saturday, I can't remember what I did on Monday. Sad, I know. Things are a little crazy here. I need to just write it down every day so that when I get to Saturday...I can see what I did on everyday.  I will try to do that from now on so I can give a breakdown each week instead of sporadically.

In any case, here is this week's yoga breakdown:

Day 1: 15 Minute Results Yoga: Upper Body

Day 2:  Yoga for Stamina

Day 3: 15 Minute Results Yoga: Lower Body

Day 4: AM Yoga

Day 5: AM Yoga

Day 6: Yoga for Strength