It’s an Advent Conspiracy type of Christmas

Hey folks! I’ve got a special blog post for you today. I’m going to talk about Advent Conspiracy. Advent Conspiracy started in 2006 by a few pastors to make Christmas a revolutionary event. In the hopes of spending less money on wasted presents you can donate that extra money to help build wells in third-world countries.

Advent Conspiracy means to worship fully, spend less, give more, and love all. Yes, it sounds over the top cheesy and impossible. However, I’ve decided to work hard at Worshiping Fully, Spending Less, Giving More, and Loving All. That’s what Christmas is all about, right? We all talk about giving meaningful gifts, going to church more, spending time with family every single year, and before you know it, the year has come and gone. Again.

This year I’m taking small steps to accomplishing just that.

Worship Fully

Be present at church, and by “present” I don’t mean to simply show up. Be present in mind and spirit. Give yourself completely and fully.

Spend Less

I think we all find ourselves saying this before the Christmas season starts. Then before you know it you’ve got to spend a little extra on someone because they got you something nice. Or there’s a last minute White Elephant Gift to get. Or there’s this cute gift bag that would go great with that present. Or….or….and it could go on. I’ve had to set a budget for myself and others. While this is the first year of actually setting a budget, it has really helped me to think about if they really need that extra bag of chocolates or that cute vase from Target. The clinch is to stick to that budget! Here are ways that I’ve stuck to that budget, while still providing thoughtful gifts.

Learn a craft, or use an existing one

Earlier in the year I learned to knit, I hadn’t expected to use this craft for Christmas, but here we are! I knitted a few scarves and some nice pot-holders are in the works.

All beautiful scarves

I do recognize that not everyone can appreciate yet another scarf, hence why there is only three! I picked up knitting so quickly, as well as my ADD sister! It is a great craft to learn, and the types of yarn and the patterns that are available are mind-boggling! If you choose to pick a craft, I would recommend this one.

Painted wood ornaments

I found these ornaments at Michaels for .20-.50 cents! You really cannot beat that price, and I intend on attaching these to gifts.

Yes, I painted these by hand. And, no, it did not take that long!

I bought some wood paint ($5) and paintbrushes ($5) and badda-bing-badda-boom you got yourself a nice addition to gifts, plus a keepsake for someone to enjoy every time they put up the tree. I did paint these, but the lines were already there! All I had to do was fill in the lines!

Rubber stamps

I just love giving that little extra something to make something as simple as a card awesome

Buy rubber stamps when they go on clearance at the end of the year, or by using a 40% off coupon at Michaels or Hobby Lobby! It is a fantastic way to add something different to Christmas cards. I found that I really only needed 2-3 different stamps. This is also a cute way to add your own personal touch for any season of the year. I will work on building up a rubber stamp collection over the years.

Give More

I know it’s hard to give more. There seems to be organizations needing money left-and-right, and Christmas is the right time to pounce. I say, choose an organization that you care about and commit to it! We have a few organizations that we like to give to during the holiday season, that includes Advent Conspiracy, Unicef, and Angel Tree. Try not to get overwhelmed by Christmas giving, do give what is within your budget.

Unicef

I like to purchase at least one pack of Christmas cards by Unicef. Unicef uses every penny towards clean water, food, and medication for children in third-world countries. If I don’t donate outright, I like to support them in this way.

My teeny tiny, yet significant part to change the world

Unicef cards are available at most Hallmark, Barnes and Noble, IKEA, and Pier 1 Imports stores. The cards are cute, a good price, and I can help save a child’s life! Win-win!

Giving more doesn’t necessarily mean giving more money. Giving more to me means giving more time. I hold bake-a-thons every year, and they are gaining popularity! What a great way to spend time with people you love, and also give others your tasty treats!

Some gorgeous snowflake cookies that my friend made!

My highly requested peppermint bark!

Love All

These all seem insignificant, or cheesy, or time-consuming. But let me tell you, I have had more fun this Christmas season making crafts, spending time with family and friends, and NOT shopping! I can’t tell you what a relieve it is to avoid those holiday lines, to open the closet door and forget what I bought everyone, and to avoid the punch of the credit card bill in January. Taking all of these little steps has saved me money, stress, and grief.

What we plan to do with the extra money that would have been spent on gifts is going towards Advent Conspiracy. To build fresh water wells in third-world countries. So while technically we’re not saving any money, we are saving lives. Which is soooo much better.

So I urge you, this Christmas season, even if you don’t give to an organization, make time for family and friends! Make time to create crafts. Make time to make something personal. Make time to make something intentional. Making time is what will create memories and traditions.

Thank you for letting me jump on my soapbox, and now I’m off to watch an awesome video from Advent Conspiracy

Advent Conspiracy 2011 video

Guns “allowed” in National Parks

To all those who are reading my blog, I apologize. I am really very fired up about this regulation change, some of you may already know my feelings based on a paper I wrote a few years back called “Safety should supercede the right to bear arms”. But things are changing due to changing laws.

So here’s the 411.

There has been a gun ban in ALL national parks for almost 100 years and a reform in 2009 is dropping that gun ban. Now national parks will have to look to State laws to determine if a loaded weapon can be brought into the parks. I feel like this was a bad move and gun advocates are simply looking to “win” in every area that they can. I know that it’s about making a point not necessarily about practicality.

Here is why I think that this move is not only dangerous, but costly. About 20 national parks still will NOT allow guns because of state laws. Not only that but a few national parks cross different states which will have different state laws. This will be very confusing for the general public to understand. Not only that but how will the national parks provide CLEAR signage so that the public can understand these laws? Every park will need different signs and the rangers will have to properly sign state boundaries in the backcountry. This will be very expensive and our national parks are already struggling to keep up in this economy. Just watch, entrance fees will increase and impact ALL users. I hope that fees on gun licenses increase to go toward this apparent increase on costs for signage.

Ok, so sure, loaded guns (yes, even semiautomatics) are now allowed in most of our parks, but then what? You still cannot FIRE in a national park. What good does a gun do if you can’t fire it? I realize that there will be exceptions to this rule, such as in self-defense. Before you know it there will be stories of people shooting bears or lions for “self-defense”, when in actuality there was no threat. I firmly believe that most animal attacks can be minimized by precautions while hiking. Even if there was a threat there are things you can do to neutralize the situation. I believe that a gun would truly be needed in about 2% of those situations.

Bringing guns into parks is just opening doors for poaching. Rangers can’t be everywhere at once and it will be difficult to check the backcountry where poaching may be occurring. Not allowing guns at all minimized this threat (even though people snuck them in anyways, I’m sure).

Next time I am camping next to a rowdy party I am going to be more worried because I will not know what they are going to do if they are intoxicated.

Keeping guns out of our national parks is smart, safe, and protects our wildlife.  

I am highly opposed to this new law. I hate it.

P.S. The reason why I put parentheses around ”allowed” is because of all the stipulations that come with bringing  a gun into a national park. You still have to be licensed, you cannot fire a firearm in a national park, you cannot carry a firearm into visitor centers or federal buildings, and you need to conform to state laws and boundaries.