The Very Last Cobbler

   Today we got together with my husband's family for Easter brunch at one of our favorite local spots B. McNeels. It's a great little place with an awesome Sunday buffet that has fabulous desserts. When we went today we were seated upstairs but that awesome buffet I mentioned a moment ago is downstairs. Now while I don't mind huffing it up and down several times for more green bean casserole, fresh fruit, ham, cornbread and coconut pie... it's a bit harder for my husband's grandmother. After my second, no wait... third trip down to sample another dessert it was brought to grandma's attention that there was peach cobbler on the buffet. She then looked at her coconut pie sitting in front of her and you could just tell by the look on her face that she would much rather be staring at peach cobbler instead of coconut pie. She then commented that she wished she'd seen that or had known it was down there. So for today's good deed and act of kindness, I jumped up and told her I'd gladly go back downstairs and get her one so she didn't have to make another trip. I headed down and over to the dessert bar and saw that the peach cobbler was very popular because there was only serving left. I snatched it up before others behind me could and yes... I grabbed myself something else to sample as well. I then took her cobbler upstairs and she was so very appreciative that I made the trip for her, especially since it was the last one.

Who Let The Dog Out??

   Please excuse the awful song reference in this blog post's title but I just couldn't help myself. Today for my act of kindness I helped out my cousin who was in a bind. He called this afternoon from the restaurant he runs and told me that it looked like he was gonna be there much later than anticipated and since his wife is out of town, there was no one to let their dog out and feed him. So I went on over and let their dog Roger out to go to the bathroom, run off some energy, and of course get a few treats and rubs. Another easy breezy good deed today, but very glad I could help out in a pinch.

Office Breakfast

   After a family outing last night we ended up leaving my husband's car at his work, so this morning me and the kids needed to take him in since he had no car. It's no big deal really since he works fairly close to home and his employers are pretty flexible about his hours. My husband's employer and coworkers are also incredibly nice and caring people who have been more than generous to us since he began working there. Many of them have been very complimentary and supportive to me as I have been completing my acts of kindness as well. Today I felt it was there turn to receive a random act, so we stopped at Dunkin Doughnuts for a couple dozen doughnuts and McDonalds for some chicken biscuits for breakfast for everyone. James assured me it would go over well and hopefully it helped them get through the last workday of the week and into the weekend. But we of course couldn't stop and get doughnuts and not get something for my daughter.... She got to benefit from today's act as well with a huge cinnamon roll to herself! But try and ignore the bed head, lol!

Lucky Lotto

   My husband and I don't buy lottery tickets very often, but every once in a while one of us will get a "feeling" and we'll get a few. Obviously we must misread the feelings because we have never won, lol! Sometimes when the jackpot is really high my husband and his co-workers will start a lottery pool in hopes of hitting it big. Even though the odds of winning are enormously stacked against you, it can be fun and exciting to play because someone has to win right???  So today after getting gas, I walked inside the station and bought one Powerball ticket and then asked the cashier to give it to the next person that came in to buy a ticket. I thought it would be nice to give someone that little rush and excitement you can get from knowing there is a teeny tiny chance you could win millions for free. I also gave the cashier one of my cards explaining my acts of kindness this year and asked them to give it along with the lottery ticket. While I'm pretty sure they won't hit the jackpot, it can't hurt to let them know where the ticket came from in case they do, right....

Sweets For a Sweet Friend

   For today's good deed I took a mom friend of mine some yummy sweets to help cheer her up. It seems this winter that her family has had more than their fair share of illnesses and sickness, they've had family members pass away and most recently her mom has been in and out of the hospital with heart problems. All this on top of the everyday things like taking care of her home, husband and one of the sweetest little boys I've ever met.
   She's been on my mind the past few days and I thought I remembered her saying how much she liked one of our local bakeries so I stopped by there and picked her up a few goodies in hopes it might lift her spirits a bit. She was surprised when I brought it by and so thankful. In overwhelming times like these I have always found chocolate to be a great friend. I sure hope she enjoyed them!

Got Hangers?

Since I started this challenge at the beginning of the year, my family and I have been able to give a good amount of clothing and outerwear to different charities This has helped us clear out our closets and left us with more hangers than you can imagine. We had more hangers than we needed before we started donating and now they have slowly taken over. So today I gathered them all up to find a place that could use them. First I tried goodwill but found that hangers are one of the few items they don't take. Then I tried a dry cleaners down the road but they said they didn't really need them. After striking out twice I found a small independent alterations and sewing shop not far from my house and offered all my hangers to them. The lady at the counter gladly took them off my hands and said they could always use extra hangers. She thanked me for thinking of them instead of just throwing all the hangers away. So glad I found someone who could use them!

Need A Cute Bag??

 For today's act I'm helping my sister-in-law a bit. She asked me if I could help get the word out about an event she's hosting for the Thirty-one products she sells and help her expand her customer base. I don't normally like to do this sort of thing because I don't like being put on the spot to by something or being bothered by a sales pitch but.... she is family.... and I want to help. Plus the products are great and the way she is doing it eliminates the pressure sales tactics so I don't feel bad letting people know about it if they are interested. So to help her out, I went and posted about it on social media like Facebook and twitter and then emailed friends as well to get her name and business out there. And of course writing about it on this blog also helps spread the word as well. If you have never heard of Thirty-one bags and their products  you can find out more by clicking here. I'm hoping she has a good turn out and the she's able to expand her business. It can be hard to get things off the ground and running, especially in today's world, so I'm glad I could help even it was just a tiny bit.

Earth Hour... A Day Late...

  After getting online last night I was bummed to find out that I had missed participating in Earth Hour. I had planned on it being what I do for a good deed but I thought it wasn't until the end of this month or closer to Earth day in April. But it was actually last night from 8:30 to 9:30 pm. Earth Hour is a global event where for one hour people turn off all their lights and electricity to reduce carbon emissions and raise awareness for global warming. But after thinking about it, it doesn't matter if I did it last night when so many others did. What matters is I I did it at all. So for one hour today we turned off all the lights, unplugged everything and turned off all electronics... including my phone. This initiative started back in 2007 and has spread around the globe. Now in addition to turning off everything for one hour they also have other challenges and calls to action you can take to help reduce our impact or footprint, if you will, on the environment. You can find out more about this by clicking HERE.
I never really thought about this kind of thing until I had kids of my own and the world that they and their kids are going to inherit someday. I figure I need to be doing what I can so that they can enjoy our home as much as I have.

Racing For Special Kids And Team Christian

Today I got do one of my more fun acts of kindness/good deeds. This morning I ran in the 2nd annual Special Kids Race. Special kids is a great non-profit organization  that offers therapeutic rehabilitation and  nursing services to children with special needs from birth to age 21 here in Murfreesboro. They have so many great programs and services. You can find out more about all the awesome stuff they do on their website at specialkidstn.com or by clicking HERE. In addition to supporting Special Kids, I got to support an awesome kid named Christian Buchanan by racing along with Team Christian.

 My cool Team Christian shirt...

Christian is one of the sweetest little 2 year olds you will ever meet and he receives services from Special Kids. I met him and his mom through one of my mom groups and their story is so inspirational and heart warming. Check out this video below to hear more of their story.

I was so happy to be able to get out there and run today to support Special Kids and Christian.

Bowl For Kids Sake

   Recently I was contacted by my former coworker and friend Megan, who now works for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee. She told me about a fundraiser called bowl for kids sake. The Big Brothers Big Sisters organization is a great youth mentoring program that helps out kids by providing them a one on one relationship with someone who can help them reach their full potential. They do so much and you can find out more about them and all the great programs they provide by clicking HERE. Bowl for kids sake is one of their primary fundraisers each year where you can put a  team together to bowl to raise money and awareness for the organization or if you don't want to actually bowl you can just simply donate to a team or individual that is. So for today's act I made a donation to this great organization in honor of my friend Megan. I think it's so great what she's out there doing for youth each day, so I was more than happy to be able to contribute.

A little Inspiration

   Today's random act of kindness was inspired by my oldest and dearest friend Aimee. We've been friends since freshman year of high school and she's just all around great. For my 30th birthday a few years back, she made me an awesome gift. She took a cookie jar and filled it with all kinds of funny, sweet and inspirational quotes and messages and any time I'm feeling down, anxious, overwhelmed or jaded by life I can reach in and pull out some inspiration to make me feel better.

There have been days where just pulling out one message has picked me up and others where I have needed to dip into the jar 10+ times, lol. But in the end the result has been the same, I've been reminded that I'm lucky, blessed and should be thankful. Since I know how powerful one little slip of paper has been for me I thought I should pass on a little happiness and inspiration to others. So today I took several quotes and messages that I find either uplifting, funny or mood changers and headed over to Barnes and Noble bookstore and slipped them into random books all over the store.

 I tried to match them where I thought they might do the most good, for example I put the ones I found humorous or positive in books in the self help section or books dealing with depression. I'm hoping when these messages are read people will find just what they need or have been looking for.

Military Family Coupon Project

Today while going through my coupons, I pulled out the ones that were expired or were going to in the next day or two to make way for the new ones I have clipped and printed recently. When I end up with expired coupons I usually just toss or recycle them but I had heard somewhere that you can send expired coupons to the military and their families stationed over seas. So I hopped online to search around and see if I could find any more info and details about this. I found a website called grocerysavingtips.com that said that this was in fact true. Actually military families overseas can use coupons for food, household items and toiletries for up to six months after their expiration date. This website had all the info I needed to send my coupons to the Military Family Coupon Project like what coupons are allowed vs. what aren't, how to package them, addresses on where to send them, etc. They even had a small letter you could print out for the military base to include with your coupons if you like. It was all very simple, so I gathered all that I had and put them in an envelope to send off to help some families. It was a small gesture to help families who sacrifice on a daily basis for their country.

Food For Sharing

  For today's act of kindness I donated to the Publix Food for Sharing program.This program helps feed the hungry by encouraging customers to make a donation and then Publix takes food to local non-profit organizations to distribute to those in the community that need it.  The way it works is when you are at one of their stores you can pick up a voucher to sponsor a meal from one of the display boards. Then when you are ready to check out you give the voucher to the cashier and they add it to your bill. There are three different levels you can choose from ranging from around five dollars to fifteen dollars and the voucher shows you exactly what food you are donating and what organization it is going to. This was another easy no-brainer act today. I literally just had to choose how much I wanted to donate and then tear off a sheet of paper and hand it to the cashier. In addition to helping feed others, Publix gives you one of these nice re-usable totes as a thank you.

Passing On The Purse

   This weekend I found a deal I just couldn't pass up on a new and much bigger purse. After getting home and transferring everything over to the new one, I started to take the one I had been using to put it up in the closet. But I really am a one purse kind of girl, meaning I rarely switch them out and once I've used one for a year or two I move on to another one. So as I was starting to put it up, I thought of my friend Gina who had told me how much she loved that purse and really loved that I found it at a yard sale for less than a dollar. And sadly she's gonna be moving away in a few months, so I thought it might be nice to pass it on to her and she'd have a little something to remember Murfreesboro with. She was delighted to receive it today and seeing how big she smiled made me feel so great. I think it looks much better on her than stuffed in the back of my closet!

In related news, I got another great idea for a RAK from my friend Kendra today, so that means more change went into the "change for a cause" jar. So please keep the ideas and comments coming. Each time I get one or someone follows or subscribes to the blog I add change to the jar.

Out There Workin' It

   This weekend has been filled with lots of fun and family that have kept us pretty busy. So much in fact, that I didn't realize until we were leaving the grocery this evening that I hadn't really performed a random act of kindness for today. So once again I turned to my daughter and asked her if there was anyone she knew of who could use some help or someone who could benefit from just some little nice gesture. Today she was all out of ideas, but as we were brainstorming in the car we spotted a sign twirler out close to street really working it, and I mean working it. He was running back and forth, tossing his pizza sign all around and waving to all the traffic. Of course my daughter yelled out, "hey, look at that guy!" So we pulled over across the street and watched him for a few minutes. I was impressed by how hard he was working out there when he really could just stand there holding his sign. As much as he was running all over and jumping up and down I figured he could use some kind of refreshment. So we drove over and and gave him a cold bottled water and told him he was doing a fantastic job. He was surprised and thanked us for thinking of him. He even gave the kids a special wave as we left. Glad we could give him a little break today!

Missing Hat

   Today I got to spend the afternoon with my daughter and mom and a teddy bear tea for girls at the historic Sam Davis home. It was so cute and fun and I highly recommend it to you who are local and have young girls. While we were there an opportunity to help came about. After the tea we got a guided tour of the property and home. While going upstairs to see more of the house I noticed a small hat laying on the floor and realized it was a little too modern to be part of some of the displays in the house and knew it had to belong to one of the little girl's dolls. So I began searching around to find the stuffed owner of the hat and perhaps a little girl looking around too. I asked around about the hat and finally came across a girl who had just realized that her doll's hat was missing. She was very sweet and so happy that someone had found it. She was also very polite and thanked me right away. I have enjoyed all these acts of kindness so far, but doing ones for children are even better, they seem to always get so much more out of it.

Passing On The Stories

   The last few days I've been packing up some of our books that we have read and enjoyed and are ready to pass on to someone else to enjoy. I wasn't sure who I wanted to donate them to so I stuck to the plan that has been working for me so far and just waited for an opportunity to present itself. This morning it hit me like a ton of bricks and has been obvious all week but I just now put it together. I already had plans to deliver some items today for an Easter egg hunt to a local nursing home for my mom's group and thought "Duh... why not take the books to the residents there?" So I grabbed the books and thought about what else they might like to have for some leisure time. I found some extra decks of cards, trivia we never play and some dominoes and added those to the books. When I took them over they were very grateful for new items and the activities director assured me that the residents would enjoy them and they would get plenty of use. I'm glad I could find a great new home for these items.

Letting It Go

  Today's good deed and act of kindness was not what I had planned at all but sometimes that's what it's about... Helping out or being kind in situations that I am presented with and come my way.  While dropping my daughter off at school this morning, another car backed into me while trying to exit the parking lot. I was waiting for others to drive by so I could park and another driver didn't see me when he was backing up. He jumped out pretty quick to apologize and make sure we were okay. There was no damage to his car and just some very minor cosmetic damage done to mine. So for today's act of kindness I decided to just let it be and do nothing. There was no need to make him go through the hassle of reporting it to his insurance and making him pay or his rates go up over something so small. He was so polite and worried and he clearly didn't mean to do it so why make a bigger issue of  it? Besides everyone was okay and that's what was important. Now I just gotta hope if I back into someone they will let me go and chalk it up as a random act of kindness, lol!

St. Jude Dream Home

  Those of you that follow this blog regularly know that I love St. Jude children's hospital and it is one of my favorite charities. Each year the St. Jude Dream Home giveaway is one of their largest fundraisers that brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars for research and for patient care. The way it works is in several cities a local builder with the help of several other businesses will construct a wonderful dream home free of charge and you can buy raffle tickets for a chance to win the home. Then all the proceeds from the ticket sales go to St. Jude. There are usually all kinds of other great prizes that buying a ticket makes you eligible for as well. So for today's good deed my husband and I are buying some raffle tickets as a way of donating to St. Jude. I don't actually expect us to have any real chance of winning a new home, but it is a nice perk to know that there is a teeny tiny chance that I could win a beautiful new home in addition to donating to a wonderful organization that I would donate to anyway. If you are interested in finding out more about the give away or St. Jude you can find great info by clicking HERE.

Checking One Off The List

   I may have mentioned this before, but when I set out on this goal of performing 365 acts of kindness and good deeds, I had a few in mind that I was really hoping would come my way. Some are a little cliche' but some of them are helping a stranded motorist, volunteering at a soup kitchen and taking gifts to kids in the hospital to name a few. Today I was able to cross one off my list... assisting an elderly person at the grocery with their shopping. While I was out this morning with my son, I met a very nice older lady who was having issues with her cart and was willing to let me help by pushing her cart for her. Then when she was finished and all her items were loaded up I returned the cart for her. I was really glad I got to do this, it felt great to help her and she seemed to enjoy seeing and talking to my son. His cuteness may be the reason she was willing to let us help because every other time I've offered help people at the store they haven't been very receptive and seemed kind of weary of me. In these days and times I know you can never be too careful so I understand people not wanting me to approach them. I'm hoping this blog reaches more and more everyday  so when you see me you know you're in for something good!

A Little Reading Material

Got a lot of back issues of magazines lying around taking up space? I do, well did until earlier today. I have a few magazine subscriptions that I love but they tend to pile up and create clutter in several rooms in my house after I finish reading them. I originally was going to put them in the recycle bin but I thought of a better way to reuse them. For today's good deed I gathered up all the piles of magazines I had and took them to my doctor's office to put in the waiting room for patients. They have tons of great articles that will be relevant for years to come, so now others can read them who are waiting and passing the time. I know whenever I'm at the doctor a little distraction from where I'm at and how I'm feeling is a good thing. Also, maybe it will save the office manager a little money on reading material purchases.

Scooping The Poop

  So from today's blog entry title it's pretty self explanatory what I did today for my act of kindness and why I felt it was better not to include a picture. Cleaning up the yard after our dog is one of my chores that I REALLY dislike and always put off for way too long. But today the yard was  over-do, so while the kids were playing outside this afternoon I went out and started scooping. To be nice I'll leave out the details of my scooping adventure but while I was hard at work I noticed the neighbors yard had a few landmines as well so here's where my good deed comes in... As much as I despise picking up poop, I helped the neighbors out by picking up their yards as well. While I was still happy to lend a helping hand and do something kind for someone else, I must admit this has been my least favorite task so far...

Helping Hand At The Playground

   So far today I have been able to do a couple of acts of kindness. It was finally warm enough to do something with the kiddos outside, so this morning we headed to their favorite park/playground to let them have some fun and enjoy the weather. The park we went to is pretty large and spread out so sometimes it can be hard to keep up with the kids, but since I had my husband with me today we were able to keep a man on man defense on the kids if you will. But there were other parents there today who weren't so lucky and were trying to keep up with and mange multiple kids by themselves. I've done this at this particular park before and it is nerve racking to say the least. So my husband and I both helped out fellow parents today by pushing several kiddos on swings, giving some a hand climbing up and down equipment and even helping some scared ones who got stuck on slides and ladders that were too high up for their liking. We all had a great time at the park and hopefully my husband and I were able to ease some of the craziness with an extra hand here and there for other parents. Also while out this morning I had to get my daily coffee fix and my barista was extra friendly for someone having to work on a Saturday as nice as this one so I helped fill up their tip jar with my change. Today has been pretty great so far and helping others always makes it that much more enjoyable.

Extra Extra, Read All About It...

   Today I am proud to say that it is my grandparents sixty-sixth wedding anniversary and to me that is such a huge accomplishment. They are a great example of the commitment of marriage to our family and to others. To celebrate this accomplishment we are having a large family dinner tomorrow night but my mom also took it upon herself to place a picture and an announcement in the local paper sharing my grandparents feat but also creating a keepsake. So for today's good deed and act of kindness I went and bought enough copies this morning to share with everyone in the family tomorrow. I wasn't sure who if anyone else knew that there was going to be an announcement, so instead of someone trying to tack down a paper after the fact, there will be one available for them and if they want to have a keepsake they can.

A Letter Of Recognition

   Today I got very lucky... On my way home from the grocery I got pulled over for speeding, which is kinda sad since I literally live just over a mile from the store. But I was not paying attention and talking to my son in the back seat and when I was less than two blocks from my home I saw the blue lights flashing behind me. I pulled over into a school parking lot, grabbed my license and registration and readied myself to get a lecture and looked down upon. But to my delight the officer was more than friendly and didn't talk to me like a child which has been the case in previous traffic stops. He took my info back to his car to write my ticket and while I waited I just kept thinking, "James is going to kill me. I still have a ticket on my record from a year ago." When he came back he told me in addition to speeding my license wasn't valid because it didn't have the correct address on it. But he said he'd let that citation go as long as I got it fixed soon and that even though I was doing more than 10mph over the speed limit (oops) he was only going to give me a warning this time. I was SO thankful and couldn't believe how nice he was being. If it wouldn't have been weird I would have gotten out and given him a bear hug for being so nice. But it wasn't even that he was letting me off the hook, but also that he was understanding and friendly. On the way home I kept thinking what can I do for him or the police dept? I got online and looked up our city police to see if I there was something I could do to show my appreciation. I found a section where you could write letters of recognition to the chief of police to let them know when an officer has done an outstanding job. As soon as I saw this, I knew what I was doing today for my act of kindness. I felt the chief needed to know how awesome this officer was and that he deserved some recognition. I'm sure the police department gets their share of not so nice feedback so I was happy to let them know that when they are doing a great job it isn't going unnoticed.

My Two Cents

   Today's act was a small one, but one that I still think is important and can make a difference to someone. As a rule of thumb I really try not to give my opinion or advise unless specifically asked by someone because I don't want to offend or hurt anyone's feelings. Also, in more instances than I can remember I've been given everyone's advise and opinion on a subject when I never asked for it in the first place. I feel like most of the time it is better to just be someone who is willing to listen or be a sounding board than to tell people how to handle their business and whatnot. But on two different occasions today with a friend and family member I was asked for some advise and opinions and to be "that" person. In both instances they seemed to happy to get some feedback and another perspective, but I was also there to listen and support them with their predicaments. By the end of each conversation they seemed happy to have been able to talk about it with someone else and get things off their chest. Giving advise and listening to someone when they need another person to talk to isn't a big act, but I found out today that it can make a big difference.

Help for A Friend

   My husband recently received a pre-paid Visa card and being the great guy that he is, he passed it along to me and told me to use if for an act of kindness when the opportunity arose. Well that opportunity arose today. The past week I'd had heard bits and pieces about a mom friend who has been dealing with some family health issues and at every turn it seems she hasn't been able to catch a break. These issues have also been putting a burden on her and her family financially. Then today while getting to have lunch with some mutual friends, I found out more and just wasn't able to get her out of my head. So I contacted some people who I knew would be seeing her soon and so I wouldn't have to bother her while she's trying to deal with everything she's got on her plate, and sent the Visa card with a note through them. It's in no way gonna fix all her problems but maybe it can help lighten the load somewhere a bit.

Penny Bank For A Cause

   So I'd like to think that great ideas just come to me naturally but that really isn't the case. I've gotten lots of great suggestions from family, friends, the internet and my own kiddos have even been the inspiration behind some of the RAK's this year. My hope is that the more people that read and follow the blog will: 1) get inspired and perform acts of kindness and good deeds of their own for others out there and 2) continue to pass on great ideas or names of those in need to me so I can continue this awesome journey. So with those two points in mind,  I came up with my act of kindness for today and it is to start a piggy bank for a cause to be determined later this year. The way it gets filled up is with your help... I started it today with loose change I found around the house, but from now on whenever someone follows or subscribes to the blog or sends me some ideas or feedback I will add five cents to the piggy bank. Then at the end of the year all the money will be donated. If you have already subscribed then I will go ahead and add five cents. To follow, Look on the right hand side of this page and find where it says followers and then click on Join this Site. Or you can scroll all the way down and click on subscribe to posts or enter your email address where it says follow by email. I'm hoping this takes off so we can fill the piggy bank and keep spreading more random acts of kindness!

Update: I heard back from GiGi's cupcakes today after stopping in last Friday and paying for the next person's cupcake. They told me that person was so grateful they paid for the person after them and this continued on through the afternoon. This is so awesome and the exact kind of response I'm hoping for. You can read about it on GiGi's cupcakes of Murfreesboro facebook page.

Be The Match

   For today's act of kindness and good deed I joined the National Marrow Donor Registry and it only took minutes. Sadly everyday more people are diagnosed with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma and a bone marrow transplant is usually their best shot at beating the disease and having a normal life again. By signing up and joining the registry, hospitals all over the country have access to possible donor matches that they may not have known existed before. All I had to do was fill out some medical history forms on their website and they are sending me a kit that includes cotton swabs to gather cells from my cheek with a quick swab of the inside of my mouth.  It was just that easy and now my name is on a national registry where I could be potential life saving match for any one of thousands of cancer patients. You can check out their website HERE and find out more information about what the donation process is like and get any and all of your questions answered. You just may be the match that someone out there is hoping for!

Helping Others With Ellen... Fingers Crossed

   I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of The Ellen Show. She's funny, has great actors and musical guests but the reason I really enjoy her show is because she is incredibly generous. She has had several different segments where she has given thousands of dollars to schools in need, the military and their families, disaster relief and so many charities that I can't even begin to recall then all. She has even been able to get other companies and corporations to donate their time and money to worthy causes as well. She is a huge believer in random acts of kindness and even has a page on her site where you can nominate deserving people who are in need of financial support, vehicles or just shed light on someone who is inspiring and deserves some recognition. Here's where I come in... For today's act of kindness I nominated several people who I thought could benefit from some assistance from Ellen and were more than deserving and inspiring to me. I've come into contact with so many great people through this journey so far and to be able to help any of them in a big way would be awesome. I know that all acts big or small can help others, but just imagine how much kindness and help I could give with the help of someone as big as Ellen. So keep your fingers crossed and who knows... maybe sometime this year one of you out there will be hearing from her!

Surprise Cupcake At Gigi's

   While running to the grocery for some unexpected last minute things this morning my daughter asked me what we were doing for our good deed today. I told her I was keeping my eyes open for any and all opportunities. She then proceeded to tell me we should by cupcakes for people who need them. After laughing for a minute, I explained that there are other things the I'm sure people "need" more than cupcakes. But she kept on with the cupcake idea and as much as I tried no one really wanted my help today reaching something off a shelf or loading their groceries, lol. So I started thinking perhaps a cupcake is in someone's future today... Besides, I could be wrong and someone out there just might "need" a cupcake. We swung by one of my favorite places GiGi's Cupcakes and I went in and paid for one cupcake. I then asked the nice ladies there if they would give the next person who came by and let them pick whatever flavor they wanted. They were more than happy to do so and even let me leave my card for the customer who received the surprise cupcake. I would have loved to see the person's face but I'm happy enough knowing they probably got a great start to their weekend.