A Year of Centuries

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A Year of Centuries

I love to ride my bicycle. In April 2012 I was involved in a serious crash in a bicycle race. A Year of Centuries is a way for me to express my gratitude for my recovery from the crash. In 2013 I will ride one century (100 miles in a single ride) each month. Each century will highlight a charitable organization that is particularly meaningful to me. I hope youll come along for the ride, supporting these groups and maybe even pedaling a few miles with me! - Betty Jean Jordan

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Charity of the MonthCHARITY OF THE MONTH - HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

In December I am riding for Heifer International. Founded in 1944, Heifer International works with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. Its approach is more than a handout. Heifer provides animals (e.g., heifers, goats, water buffalos, chickens, rabbits, fish, and bees) and training to impoverished people in over 30 countries. The animals can give milk, meat, or eggs; provide draft power; or form the basis of a small business. Communities make their own decisions about what crops, animals, and market strategies make sense for their everyday conditions and experiences.

Heifer International is based on 12 Cornerstones, such as Sustainability; Genuine Need and Justice; and Gender and Family Focus. Perhaps the best known Cornerstone is Passing on the Gift, in which Heifer recipient families pass on the offspring of their animals to others in need. In this way, whole communities can raise their standard of living.

A donation to Heifer International also can make a wonderful alternative holiday gift. Instead of yet another sweater for Grandma that she really doesnt need, why not donate a Heifer animal or a share of an animal in her honor? Does your child really need so many new toys? Instead of five new toys, give him/her three new toys and a Heifer flock of chicks. Heifer has honor cards to let your loved ones know of your gift on their behalf.

I have set up a Team Heifer page to support Heifer International through A Year of Centuries. My goal is to raise $500. Please make your donation through https://teamheifer.heifer.org/AYearofCenturies. If you would like more information about Heifers work, please visit www.heifer.org. Whether you give to honor a loved one or make a regular donation, thank you for taking steps to transform the world for the better.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013 A Year of BlessingsA Year ofCenturies has been one of the best experiences of my life. At the beginning of 2013, I had no idea justhow wonderful it would be to combine one of my favorite activities (cycling)with service to others, all from a sense of gratitude for my recovery from theterrible crash I had in a bicycle race in April 2012. I still cant say that Im glad for thecrash, but I wouldnt trade A Year of Centuries for anything. Ive had some of my most memorable ridesever, and Ive met so many terrific people.

Throughout A Year of Centuries, I have prayedthat God would do good things. Myintention was for these good things to be on behalf of the people and animalsserved through my 12 charities. God hasanswered these prayers but in typical fashion in an even bigger way than Ianticipated. I myself have been so blessedthis year! On this last day of A Year ofCenturies, Id like to share a few of these blessings:

1) As A Year ofCenturies was just getting started last January, Robert and I went on a cyclingvacation in Costa Rica over the week of New Years. One of the books I took along to read was Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie,which describes his founding of TOMS shoes and the ideals the company is basedon. TOMS doesnt just make comfortable,fun shoes (of which I happily own several pairs); for every pair of shoes thata customer buys, TOMS donates a pair of shoes to a child in need in anothercountry. What a fabulous business model! This turned out to be a really inspirational bookas I started A Year of Centuries because its not just for entrepreneurs; itencourages all of us to look for ways to give in our everyday lives.

Our cycling trip was an organized event that included about 20 people from across the U.S. and even a few foreign countries. Robert and I made a great new friend named Jose, who is from Spain. Jose works for a company called Stravalue, which advocates good corporate citizenship, i.e., giving back to the community in addition to making a profit. This is exactly what I was reading about in Start Something that Matters! I told Jose all about TOMS and gave him my book at the end of the trip. He was also interested to learn about A Year of Centuries because it's about giving back at the personal level. Jose has been a big source of encouragement to me throughout A Year of Centuries - all the way from Spain!

2) OnMarch 2^nd I participated in a community event called Seuss on theLoose. It was a fundraiser for theFerst Foundation for Childhood Literacy, my September charity, but I also gotto promote Bicycles for Humanity (B4H), my March charity, at the sametime. I set up a booth at Seuss on theLoose based on Dr. Seusss book Oh, ThePlaces Youll Go! Bicycles were theperfect tie in! An amazing thinghappened. I spoke with a fellow JasperCounty resident named Bruce, briefly describing the work of B4H. It just so happens that Bruce is the housingdirector at Kennesaw State University.At the end of each term, students leave behind perfectly good bicycles. Bruce had a warehouse full of about 70bicycles that he needed to get rid of. Iwas able to put him and B4H in touch with each other. Those bicycles made up a significant portionof a shipment that went to Namibia, Africa in June. The people of Namibia have a great need forbicycles for transportation. I still getexcited when I think about being in the right place at the right time on thatday back in March.

3) InApril I rode one day of the BRAG Spring Tune Up. I especially wanted to ride that weekendbecause it was the perfect chance to meet the BRAG Dream Team, my May charity. About a week later, BRAG posted on Facebook abeautiful picture of a field of flowering canola plants from that weekend. The photo was taken by Bonnie Chislett, someoneI worked with over 20 years ago when I was a co-op student at LawEngineering. I commented on knowingBonnie, and she saw my post. Were nowreconnected as Facebook friends :)

4) A Facebookpage called Why I Ride was launched in late February. I started following it shortly thereafter andhave enjoyed reading the wide variety of reasons why everyday people like melike to ride their bicycles. Sometimesthey are fighting back from difficult circumstances, or they might simply get arush from feeling like a kid again. Isubmitted my own story about my crash and how it led me to do A Year ofCenturies.

As theone-year anniversary of my crash approached in April, I tried not to make toobig a deal of it in my mind, but Ill admit that I had a slight uneasiness thatday. Can you believe that that was theday that Why I Ride published my story?(Somehow, I dont think this was a coincidence.) What a gift to read all the affirmingcomments from so many people. Itreminded me that we all need to encourage each other and share the positive asmuch as possible.

Theres even more to the story. The creator of the page Why I Ride isStephen Auerbach, director of the film BicycleDreams. This movie chronicles theRace Across America, which is a bicycle race that covers the entire U.S. inabout 10 days. Stephen Auerbach is nowcompiling a book of Why I Ride stories from Facebook. It may be published as an e-book rather thana hard copy book, but either way, I eagerly anticipate reading it!

5) BatConservation International (BCI) saw my blog, sent me an encouraging messagethrough Facebook, and asked for more information about A Year ofCenturies. They happened to contact mejust a few days before my July century on behalf of BCI. I gave them a brief description of A Year ofCenturies and said that I would be posting a ride report the next weekend. Afterwards, BCI shared my report on its ownFacebook page! What thrilled me the mostabout this was the list of people who liked BCIs repost of my ride report. I could tell from the peoples names thatthey come from a number of different countries.One like even came from a nonprofit group whose name was inHebrew! I love that, even in thissmallest of ways, I am connected to people all around the world whom I donteven know and that bats helped make that connection.

6) Over thesummer, my pastor Rindy planned a series of sermons to help our congregationstart focusing on our upcoming 185^th church anniversary, which willbe in 2014. She even asked severalmembers to deliver the sermon on a few of these Sundays. I was one of those members. Rindy was going to be out town with ourmiddle school youth on a mission trip, and because of A Year of Centuries, shethought I would be a good substitute to speak on Transformed by Grace: APeople Called to Serve. I was humbledand pleased to do so, but I have to admit that Im glad that I dont have topreach every Sunday. As my friend JohnStork said, Its a lot easier to ride a bicycle a hundred miles than it is topreach. Amen, brother! Despite my nervousness, I pray that my wordswere Gods words. That days worship servicecertainly was a blessing to me. Rindyhad prepared the order of service before she went out of town, and later I foundout that she selected the particular prayers and hymns with great purpose. (There was even a prayer by my hero St.Francis.) I had told Rindy that I wouldbe preaching from the entire chapter of II Corinthians 9. However, I dont think she knew the significanceof the particular verse that she chose for the front of the bulletin that day. I had first noticed this verse right beforeEaster when there was a bulletin insert for a special offering called One GreatHour of Sharing. It made such an impressionon me that I adopted it for A Year of Centuries:

AndGod is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by alwayshaving enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. II Corinthians 9:8
7) Laterin July, Robert and I went to North Carolina for a weekend of cycling. He did a road race, and I rode while heraced. The finish line was on amountaintop. I could climb the backside,which offered me a great workout without having to get on the racecourse. Before I started my ride, I hung out for alittle while with a few friends in the local coffee shop. When I went back outside to my bicycle, ayoung man asked me if I was familiar with roads in the area. I replied, yes, a little bit and describedthe route I was about to do. Heexplained that he was with the Changing Diabetes team. This team consists of young people who allhave Type I diabetes; being on the team helps them to manage the disease. Many of the members are from othercountries. One of the riders was a16-year-old girl from The Netherlands.She had ridden in the pro race earlier that morning but got dropped, andso she wanted to do some more riding.The man asked if she could accompany me on my climb to the finish line,and I enthusiastically said yes! Hername is Susanne, and I thoroughly enjoyed riding with her up thatmountain. It was that unexpected butwonderful ride with Susanne that particularly opened my eyes to Gods goodnessand graciousness on every single ride.In fact, that day I adopted a new motto for myself: Expect Adventure.

8) On August 29^thI posted about Bruce McDonald, a fellow greyhound and cycling enthusiast wholives in Indiana. Bruce had a personalcycling challenge called Climb for the Hounds that benefitted two terrific greyhoundrescue groups: Greyhound Pets of America Indianapolis and PrisonGreyhounds. I was so excited to hearabout Bruces Climb for the Hounds. Isent a donation for both greyhound groups.Bruce wrote me the nicest note, and he also made a donation to SoutheasternGreyhound Adoption, my April charity.

As a follow-up, youll be happy to know thatBruce did successfully climb Mont-Ventoux on his bicycle six times in one day! Amazing!He is now a member of Club de Bicinglettes, a group of only 69 people (and2 Americans) who have accomplished this feat.

9) AlthoughI personally know most of the people who have liked my Facebook page for AYear of Centuries, a few are strangers to me.They come from several other states, and recently I even got a likefrom someone in Brazil! I dont know howeveryone found me, but Im thrilled that they have come along for theride. I wish them all the best on theirown journeys.

A commonthread runs throughout these experiences.That common thread is the importance of connections: connections withGod, connections with each other, and connections with all of creation. As much as I love the solitude that I oftenfind on my bicycle, these connections are what matter most in the end. (And riding my bicycle energizes me to stayconnected!) Its like were all piecesof a giant quilt that is sewn together to make a whole. Each piece is important and necessary tocomplete the picture, even if we dont see right now what that picture is. It might turn out to be a crazy quilt, butits still beautiful. Our job is toattend to those places where the threads are loose. As Neil Peart puts it in Rushs song EntreNous:

Just between us
I think its time for us to recognize
The differences we sometimes fear to show
Just between us
I think its time for us to realize
The spaces in between
Leave room for you and I to grow.

I could fill many more pages with the blessingsthat I have received through A Year of Centuries. My greatest wish, however, is that God hasblessed many people and creatures of all kinds in hundreds of ways that Illnever even know of. Ride on!Posted byBetty Jeanat6:07 AMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Sunday, December 29, 2013 Everyone is Buzzing about Heifer Bees
Bees helppollinate plants and provide a sweet treat to eat. Their travel from plant to plant means moreproduce from crops, gardens, orchards and flowers, too. Beekeeping can be done part-time tosupplement family income, with small start-up costs and homemadeequipment. Honey and beeswax can be soldfor income that allows families to meet basic needs.
Bee FactsBees produce about three times as much honey asthe hive needs.A bee colony includes one queen bee, a fewhundred drones, and many workers.When a bee returns to the hive, it dances totell other bees where to find pollen.A starter colony is about 20,000 bees and isshipped to Heifer International partners in a 3 -pound package.
Bee TaleHeifer International bees helped Agaba Jimmy Zab ofUganda buy a bicycle. As instructed, heplaced beehives near his field of maize, beans and tomatoes. Crosspollination by the bees resulted inbetter crops than ever before, and he got a good price at the vegetable market.With that money and the sale of honey,he bought the bike and is saving to buy land. He happily passed on a bee colony to a neighborand says, Long live Heifer!Posted byBetty Jeanat2:42 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Friday, December 27, 2013 Hound HaulToday Ifinally reached a goal that Ive had all year: helping with a hound haul! Volunteers with Southeastern GreyhoundAdoption (SEGA), my April charity, transport greyhounds from the racetrack toour kennel in Acworth, Georgia. This isthe first step for these newly retired greyhounds to find permanent, lovinghomes.
Hound haulsoccur about every six weeks or so. Iveparticularly wanted to go on one this year, but the scheduling has never workedout until now. The hauls usually occur onSaturdays and are announced about a week in advance. Every other time this year, I had already planneda century or other big commitment on hound haul days. This time the haul was on a Friday, which isunusual, but I could finally make it work by taking a half day of vacation fromwork. Im so excited that I got in ahound haul just under the wire during A Year of Centuries!
Most of SEGAsgreyhounds come from Florida. They usedto come primarily from the Jefferson County Kennel Club in Monticello, Florida,but that track has closed within the last year or so. Todays greyhounds came from various unknownplaces in Florida, but they were processed through the adoption kennel at theEbro racetrack.
There is aspecial place reserved in heaven for Pam and Glen Davis, two saints who transportthe greyhounds on the first leg of their journey. Pam and Glen live in South Georgia and pickup the greyhounds at the track. They carryas many greyhounds as possible and meet other SEGA volunteers farther north in Georgia. Todays meeting point was near Newnan,Georgia at Summerwind Farm, the home of John and Laura Parker. John is president of the SoutheasternGreyhound Club (SEGA's parent organization), and both he and Laura are longtime, avid greyhound supporters. Four other haulers and I gathered atSummerwind Farm for the greyhound handoff from Pam and Glen.
We unloaded the greyhounds one at a time and letthem walk on leashes and take a nature break.It was so fun getting a first glimpse at all of these new greyhounds upfor adoption. Todays haul included four males and six females in a rainbow of colors.I walked Superior Tally, a large, beautiful female:



Hereare the other nine hounds:



















Thisis Pam and Glens greyhound haul vehicle:




Today theycarried the females in crates in the van and the males in the trailer, whichhas a separate space for each dog.
Because I was driving by myself and dont haveany crates, I was assigned to carry Dancin Tweety and Flying Stella, two prettymellow females. They were extremelysweet, despite not cooperating for this photo opp:

If thegreyhounds arent transported in crates, they are muzzled to make sure everyonestays safe during the drive. Riding in acar along with just about everything else is brand new to thesegreyhounds. If only they knew all thegood things in store for them!
Stella and Tweetydid fairly well on the ride. Tweety didtry to climb into the front seat with me a few times, but I managed to keep herin the back. Particularly when we wereon the interstate, they mostly lay quietly on the dog beds that I had spread inthe back of my vehicle.Tweety also tweeted(barked) a time or two; she has a cute bark.
I had beenlistening to an audio book on the way to pick up the greyhounds, but I was toofocused on driving safely and keeping an eye on the dogs to listen to it afterthe pickup. Instead, I turned on theradio. They liked Lenny Kravitz thebest.
Pretty soon we arrived at the SEGA adoptionkennel, which is located at the Lake City Animal Hospital in Acworth, north ofAtlanta. Additional volunteers were onhand to help unload the hounds. A few ata time, the greyhounds were turned out into the fenced-in run:

Tomorrowmorning, still more volunteers will bathe the new arrivals. Dr. Toby Carmichael and his staff at the LakeCity Animal Hospital will check the hounds over, spay or neuter each one, andprovide any other needed medical care.
I dont knowwhat the plans are for these particular greyhounds, but some newly retiredgreyhounds go into foster homes. Byutilizing foster homes in addition to the SEGA kennel, we can bring in evenmore greyhounds.
As you can see, greyhound adoption is amultistep process that involves numerous volunteers. Im honored to work with such a great groupas SEGA and to help these magnificent greyhounds find their forever homes.Posted byBetty Jeanat8:44 PM3 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Wednesday, December 25, 2013 The Kingdom of Heaven Is at HandMerryChristmas! Today Christians celebratethe birth of Jesus.Emanuel. God with us.During his ministry, Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heaven is not just someplace we hope to go afterwe die; we can be partners with God to start bringing it about here and now. Heifer Internationals work on behalf ofimpoverished people gives us a glimpse of heaven.
1A shoot will come upfrom the stump of Jesse;


from his roots a Branch will bearfruit.
²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him
theSpirit of wisdom and of understanding,
theSpirit of counsel and of might,
theSpirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord
³and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.He will not judge by what he sees withhis eyes,
ordecide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴but with righteousness he will judge theneedy,
withjustice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
withthe breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵Righteousness will be his belt
andfaithfulness the sash around his waist.⁶The wolf will live with the lamb,


theleopard will lie down with the goat,


thecalf and the lion and the yearling together;


and a little child will lead them.
⁷The cow will feed with the bear,
theiryoung will lie down together,
andthe lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸The infant will play near the cobras den,
andthe young child will put its hand into the vipers nest.
⁹They will neither harm nor destroy
onall my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
asthe waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:1-9Posted byBetty Jeanat6:24 AMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Sunday, December 22, 2013 Get Someones Goat No Kidding!Goat milk isrich in protein and makes tasty cheese and yogurt. Goats thrive on otherwise unproductive landand are often fed in zero-grazing pens to keep them from eating ground coverand crops and damaging fragile terrain.Their families supply them with food and water, including twigs, leaves,and grasses.
GoatFactsA goat can give up to a gallon of milk a day.Keeping a goat costs about one-sixth as much askeeping a cow.Children who cant digest cows milk can oftendrink goats milk.Goats often give birth to twins or eventriplets.
Goat TaleGoats are friendly creatures that nuzzle your hand and nibble your buttonstheyrecurious to find out all about you. Sometimes,Heifer goats build friendships where there were only bad feelings before. Thats what happened in Albania. An unsettled political situation and economichardship had everyone on edge, especially in Alarup, a mountain village whereHeifer has a goat-development project. Peoplethere depend on goats as a primary source of income. Two families, both members of the Heifergroup, had been feuding over politics for decades. Things came to a head when a young man fromone family and a young woman from the other wanted to get married. Their families refused, and the unhappy youngwoman was married off to a lad from another village. Twenty years later at a Heifer group meeting,the two saw each other again. How would the families react? The Heifer groupcame to a wise decision. We will passon the offspring of our gift goats to these two families first, they said. A longstanding feud ended; the villagerscheered, and, from all appearances, the goats were happy, too!
But Wait,Theres More!If you wantto give a Heifer animal in honor of a loved one, heres a fun add-on. Along with the Heifer honor card, give yourloved one an inexpensive item associated with that animal. It might be something very practical, too. For example, for Christmas I gave my motherand stepfather a Heifer International goat plus a variety of productscontaining goats milk, including soap, lotion, cheese, and caramels. Additionally, I made them a crafty goat withclothespins, a Popsicle stick, and a piece of pipe cleaner (see my Living GiftMarket post on December 13). Also, mymother had said she would like a purse hanger, which allows you to hang yourpurse from a restaurant table rather than place it on the floor. Can you believe that for just a few dollars,I found a purse hanger with a goat on it?
I added one other item to their gift assortment:a yeti Christmas tree ornament. This hassignificance for several reasons. First,I bought the ornament at a bazaar that had merchandise from Ten ThousandVillages, a fair trade retailer.Proceeds from the bazaar benefitted needy families in my own communitythrough the MLJ Fund, my June charity in A Year of Centuries. In addition, the legend of the yeti comesfrom Nepal, a country where my stepfather has done extensive work. Finally, Heifer International has a specialgoat project in Nepal this holiday season.Nepalese women are now facing extreme gender discrimination. Heifer will provide goats and businessdevelopment training to these women, allowing them to transform themselves intopowerful small-scale farmers and business women. Even more potent, a group of generous donorshas given $3 million in matching funds for this initiative. Therefore, the gift of a Heifer Internationalgoat provides not one, but two animals. Thatsa goat worth getting!


Posted byBetty Jeanat12:46 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Friday, December 20, 2013 Early Christmas Present!An early Christmas present just arrived. Its a quilt made from the T-shirts from my centuries this year! I am so thrilled to have this special memento of A Year of Centuries. My quilt is a wall hanging made from nine T-shirts. Seven of my centuries March, April, May, June, July, September, and October were part of organized rides that had T-shirts. Although my other five centuries January, February, August, November, and December didnt have T-shirts associated with them, I came up with just the right T-shirts to fill in my two remaining quilt squares. One was the T-shirt that I bought in October at the Buddy Walk, which benefitted the Middle Georgia Down Syndrome Society. Finally, I included my Life Is Good T-shirt that has a guy on a bicycle and the phrase Ride On, which has been a theme and inspiration for me throughout A Year of Centuries. This made the perfect center square! (kind of like Paul Lynde)
A number of years ago I had a T-shirt quilt made for Robert. We both had accumulated beaucoup shirts from various 5Ks, triathlons, and charity bicycle rides. I had a T-shirt quilt made for him as a Christmas present. A few months beforehand, I raided his T-shirt drawers and picked out an assortment for the quilt. Whats so funny is that he didnt even notice that they were gone! (This goes to show just how many T-shirts we have). He did mention later that it seemed like his drawers closed a little easier, but he didnt give it much thought at the time. I hired a friend of mine who is an avid quilter to make Roberts T-shirt quilt. She did an excellent job, but I think it was a bigger project than she anticipated. I wasnt about to impose on her for my quilt for A Year of Centuries, and so I looked online. I hit the jackpot!
I researched several companies and decided on Keepsake Theme Quilts (KTQ) in Columbus, Ohio (www.tshirtquilts.com). They did an outstanding job for a very reasonable price. Their ordering process is easy, and they worked with me every step of the way. I even made several changes, which they graciously and professionally incorporated. Also, theres something else special about KTQ that made me want to choose them. KTQ is a mission-driven social purpose business of Deaf Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. KTQ was created to hire, train, and promote deaf employees in an environment free from communication barriers that limit deaf job seekers. Almost their entire staff is deaf, and every employee is fluent in sign language. KTQ has a deaf friendly work environment with features like large, open rooms to promote communicating through sign language. I cant think of a more appropriate group of people to help me commemorate A Year of Centuries.

I arranged my shirts in chronological order, starting in the top left corner and going clockwise.
March was the first century this year with a T-shirt. It was the St. Patricks Century in Dublin, Georgia. My charity of the month in A Year of Centuries was Bicycles for Humanity.

Aprils century was a Journey for Autism in Macon, Georgia. My charity of the month in A Year of Centuries was Southeastern Greyhound Adoption.

Mays century was Up the Creek Without a Pedal in Rome, Georgia. My charity of the month in A Year of Centuries was the BRAG Dream Team.

Junes century was Wheels to the World in Athens, Georgia, a benefit for Women to the World. My charity of the month in A Year of Centuries was the MLJ Fund for Children and Youth.

Julys century was Pedal for Pets in Senoia, Georgia, a benefit for spay/neuter programs. My charity of the month in A Year of Centuries was Bat Conservation International.

September was the Nut Roll Century in Albany, Georgia, a benefit for Chehaw Park. My charity of the month in A Year of Centuries was the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy.

Octobers century was the Ferst Annual Lewis Grizzard Catfish Memorial Bike Ride in Moreland, Georgia. (Notice the blue silhouette of Lewis Grizzard in the background of the shirt.) It benefitted the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy in Coweta County. In addition to this extra connection to my September charity, I also rode for the Jasper County Community Food Bank, my October charity in A Year of Centuries.

Although the Buddy Walk doesnt involve cycling, this T-shirt that I purchased at this event is a wonderful way to remember the Middle Georgia Down Syndrome Society, my November charity in A Year of Centuries.

KTQ includes up to three lines of embroidery for free. I included my motto for A Year of Centuries: Expect Adventure. Also, the embroidery is usually placed on the bottom right edge of the quilt, but I asked KTQ to place it in the center square. This balanced out the blank space in this square and gave the embroidery a more prominent position.

At no charge, KTQ will embroider a hand making the American Sign Language symbol for I love you. At first I wasnt going to include this symbol, but then I thought about how love is really the basis for A Year of Centuries. The symbol is on the bottom edge of the quilt and will always remind me of the wonderful way that KTQ supports deaf people.

I got a kick out of an extra item that KTQ included in my package:

I was all smiles when I saw my quilt, though no tears for me! However, Ill put these tissues to good use over the next few months; when you ride your bicycle in cold weather, a runny nose is inevitable.Posted byBetty Jeanat4:11 AMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Wednesday, December 18, 2013 What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the WorldIn the book Hungry Planet, authors Peter Menzel andFaith DAluisio have compiled an amazing array of photos that show what a weekof groceries looks like in a number of countries around the world. Its a study in nutrition as well as thecultures and economics that shape what people eat. Although this isnt specifically a post aboutHeifer International, Heifer works in countries as varied as the foods in thesepictures (and actually does provide services in many of the countries shown). We all can strive for a world where everyonehas adequate and nutritious food.

Photos from this book are available at a numberof websites, but I like this link because it gives some good cultural contextwith each photo. Interestingly, thephotos from some of the less affluent countries depict a healthier diet thanthat of the typical American.

http://humansarefree.com/2013/08/a-week-of-groceries-looks-like-around.htmlPosted byBetty Jeanat5:23 AMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)My CharitiesJanuary - Face to Face/Partnership Against Domestic ViolenceFebruary - MATHCOUNTSMarch - Bicycles 4 HumanityApril - Southeastern Greyhound AdoptionMay - BRAG Dream TeamJune - ML 2013(159) December(15)A Year of BlessingsEveryone is Buzzing about Heifer BeesHound HaulThe Kingdom of Heaven Is at HandGet Someones Goat No Kidding!Early Christmas Present!What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the WorldBuy Your Mama a Llama!Living Gift MarketYo! Buy a Water Buffalo!Twelfth Ride in A Year of Centuries A Benefit fo...Ride Two-GetherHeifer CornerstonesGiving TuesdayHeifers Are Udderly Cool! November(12) October(15) September(16) August(18) July(17) June(10) May(11) April(18) March(8) February(13) January(6) 2012(8) December(4) November(4)

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