moving forward

it's been too long.

I've been really busy at home doing lots of things but I do have some news.

1. I went to a conference two weeks ago called ARW, the Annual Recreation Workshop. There I took classes and my Grandfather started the conference with a friend so my family is very involved. Every year there is an auction where people bring donated items to put in the auction and all the money goes toward the scholarship fund. I decided to print and frame 4 of my Haiti pictures. Well, these turned out to be the talk of the conference. It was great. I got to educate people about my trip and Haiti. One of my pictures sold for 145.oo. They were hot items and everyone seemed to want them. This caught me off guard completely and I was overwhelmed with complements. After the auction I then had people come up to me telling me that they
wanted to buy my prints. I had no clue what to say or do but here is my plan. I sell a print for 50.00 and the print framed for 75.00. Half of this money goes to the orphanage. I'm just about to put up some prints in our local coffee shop to see if they will sell and raise more money. What a great way to share Haiti with others, raise money, and educate all at the same time!

2. With my attention being brought to my photography skills some people have pushed me to look into going to a photography school. I'm talking just photography, like an intense 1 to 2 year program that I can graduate from. This is just kind of a new door that has been presented to me and I don't know if the Lord will open it for me but it's just a thought. Photojournalism might come of it but i really don't know where
that could take me.

3. I'm still very excited about this summer. I'm a youth intern at a church in florida and I'm working on my lesson plans for the kids. I am going to flip their world, I hope to change their lives. My passion is loving children, orphans. My theme for this summer will be global issues, to educate, take action, andempower the youth. Haiti has taught me so much. It's no longer a "global issue" to me, it's real. I know the names, faces, and hearts of the ones that are suffering. Haiti has changed my life.

4. I feel like all my friends are going to Africa. I'm jealous. That's where I wanted to go from the very beginning but God had different plans. Now that all my friends are going I have mixed feelings, I'mjealous but at the same time it makes me not want to go to Africa. They've got it covered, and my job is to find the invisible
children of the rest of the world, like in Haiti. I never would have thought Haiti would be where it all starts but God is good.

5. How I miss it. All of it. I have a pain in my heart that won't go away. I want to go back now. I miss the kids, I miss you-you and her moon, I miss the boys, I even missWa-Wa . Oh how my heart drifts back to you every day but even more so now. I am praying for all the kids, for the staff, for all the parents waiting to bring their child home, and for you-you...for strength, wisdom, dedication, and peace. I feel as if I am your number one fan (other then your mom and dad) and still sent all my support and love from the states.