Alternative Gift Giving.
Oct/091
We’ve been on the ball this year – we had about 5 birthdays to shop for in the fall, and we decided, what the heck, let’s knock out Christmas shopping as well. So yes, we are, effectually, done with all our “shopping.”
In 2007, I wondered how to incorporate a Christmas celebration that was more than just 1 day. This led to 2008, when Trevor + I decided to exchange 12 gifts. There was a catch, however. In our effort to live more simply and be less materialistic, we decided at least half of the gifts could not be bought. We then exchanged one gift a day for 12 days, starting on December 25th. It was great – albeit a bit exhausting, both in the making and then the waiting! This year, we’re following some advice taken from Go Green, Save Green about holidays – only exchanging 3 gifts – 1 gift is something the person needs, 1 gift is something the person wants, and 1 gift is a surprise. It incorporates a more simple idea of the holiday, while also being both practical and fun.
But we also have been thinking of alternative ways to exchange gifts. We’re posting this now, in October, in case any of these ideas might inspire you.
Some things we, or those we know, have also done in the past –
+Handmade gifts. A photograph paired with a poem; a small painting; recycling things to create something new; a handwritten letter.
+Support worthy causes. Some of my favorites – Harvest of Hope. Buy a gift certificate and let the recipient choose how to use it for the purpose they care most about. Just Love Coffee. Support adoptions, specifically, our sister and brother-in-law’s next one! Consider sponsoring a child in need through an organization like Compassion International or helping those in poverty. We’re looking to purchase some mosquito nets for those in malaria ravaged areas via Mosaic.
+Go culinary. Put your baking skills to the test and make edible gifts. Loafs of bread, cookies, cakes…
+Acts of service. Offer your skills as a gift and/or help to someone else; volunteer together in the community.
Share your gift-giving ideas in the comments!
More Road Antics (a.k.a. Part Three)
Oct/093
Location: Hostel in the Forest –
I’m an aspiring hippie. In fact, I thought to myself the other day that I was a “sophippie” (a sophisticated hippie — in my case, a hippie stuck in a 9-to-6er’s body).
Here’s how each part of my dichotomy breaks down:
My wanderlust has increased lately. I’m a natural loner. I eschew pretty much every form of authority. I delight in uniqueness. I love patchouli. I’m growing a beard. My hippie qualifications are endless.
However, I work on computers for a living — and that living is a standard, salaried, 40-hour work week. I drive a newer car. I live in a townhouse. I like watching HGTV. I like balancing my checkbook. Unless you knew me well, many of my outside characteristics would scream…and it hurts me to even type this…suburbanite.
So, when Kristi told me about the Hostel in the Forest (sleeping in tree-houses!) and we started planning a vacation to Georgia, I was adamant we had to stay the night. The hippie in me was elated, even if the suburbanite had forgotten the sounds of growing up in the country and grown somewhat uncomfortable with playing in the woods.
The 10-minute, snails-pace drive down one of the worst country roads I have ever encountered was almost enough to dampen my spirits. But, as soon as we finally caught sight of tree-houses (yes, literally built on trees) and the three-dome welcome/communal center, I was back to ecstatic again. It was child-like wonder mixed with trepidation (because we weren’t sure we’d even have a tree-house to stay in, despite reservations…and I wasn’t sure what kind of friendly folk the hostel workers would be).
Our very friendly hostess assured us we had a tree-house for the night (named after Elmo, and being the first tree-house built at the Hostel). The tour was interesting — our guide incredibly comfortable showing us the humanure toilets, letting us know that clothing was optional at the lake, and informing us of the specialness of three spiritual locations. It was somewhat surreal, and I spent most of the time kindly quiet.
The overnight experience was your average fare. We missed the communal meal, since we went into town to look around and made it back late. Our rest in the tree-house was normal — except for my re-adjusting to the sounds of the forest, and wondering what word was scrawled on the ceiling in glow-in-the-dark paint. We woke early to the rooster’s crow (another first experience for me) and hit the road without saying goodbye (since no one was around).
All-in-all, an enjoyable experience. I would say my only “regret” is not having more time to soak everything up. It really is a place that, I imagine, gets more special the longer you stay there. I would have loved to take one of their canoes onto the lake for a while. Or to have done more walking around the trials. Maybe even hang out at the communal meal and learn more about the hostel workers.
If we’ll ever go back, time will tell. Until then, I’ll store the Hostel in my brain along with other wonderful adventures and sport my coveted prize, a bumper sticker saying “May the Forest be with you,” on my lovely Honda.
{Still} On The Road Again (Part Two)
Oct/091
Location: Jekyll Island –
Her real name was Molly, but I nicknamed her Shadowfax (in honor of the valiant steed Gandalf rides in Lord of the Rings). She was to be the first horse I had ever ridden, and our delightfully eccentric guide assured me that if she could put an eight year old who had never even been on a horse on Molly, surely the beautiful beast could bear me safely.
And so our trek through the woods, and finally onto a driftwood beach at sunset, began. I was very nervous leading up to the first few steps of the horse, but with each passing moment I began to enjoy, thrill, and savor this first-time experience.
While on the beach, I closed my eyes and let Molly sway me back-and-forth with her gentle forward gait, as I listened lovingly to the softly crashing waves. I imagine that our guide gets somewhat bored treading the same path multiple times per day — but I also felt like it could be a wonderful job…riding your horse out front every night, experiencing the wonder of water and bird and crabs and sunsets over-and-over again.
As we made our way back through the woods, I was role-playing. I thought myself to be one of the Fellowship. I bid part of our team to take Frodo to Mt. Doom, to guard him and assure his passage to the place where the One Ring would be destroyed. Aragorn, Legolas, and myself would stay back, facing the nine Ringwraiths with courage and strength.
Yes, I have a healthy imagination — and my first horse ride was wonderful enough to let it fly freely.
On The Road Again (Part One).
Oct/090
Destination numero uno: Atlanta, GA. We caravan-ed down with Karen and Chad and niece Natalie to Atlanta for our much-anticipated Muse + U2 concert. The concert began at 7, so we checked in the hotel where Karen and Chad were staying (they were also attending the Catalyst Conference) and where we crashed on the floor for the night. We got to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta easily enough, with plenty of time to find our seats, buy some ridiculously expensive food for dinner, and chillax pre-show. The show, as we figured, started late. Muse played what felt like a short set, about 45 minutes long. I was elated that my current favorite song by them, Starlight, was one of the ones they performed. Trevor was ecstatic — he could care less about U2, but Muse was another thing, a much coveted show to catch. It was rocking and gave us a preview of what an awesome light and video show we were in for when U2 came to the stage.
(Camera phone pic of stage in GA Dome, pre-show.)
The stage itself Bono claimed was their space ship. Throughout their set, Bono talked to the audience, talked about connecting with us. He even referenced his infamous song by saying “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for… what I’m looking for is intimacy…” I took this also as the answer to that very song — wanting intimacy with the living God. We also weren’t surprised when Bono used the show to promote ONE, and to use the stage as a platform to talk about justice and poverty. Other musicians were there that night to promote ONE as well – including Third Day, Naomi Judd, and Michael W. Smith, whom we actually did see outside the Georgia Dome when we first arrived.
But now about the music. It wasn’t just music. It was a show. Moving bridges, pulsating lights, a massive screen that expanded to reach down to the stage, Bono swinging on ropes with microphones attached (which, IMO, was a bit overdone). The music was classic, good, moving, and the solos by the Edge were also memorable. Three encores to boot.
But when I left the concert that night, walking through masses of people, weaving in and out, and then sitting in traffic for another hour or more, the only song that was in my head was Starlight by Muse. Does that say something? Hmm. Not that U2 was bad by any means; they would still rank as one of my personal top 10 shows. But I think it was less about the music being awesome so much as the experience of seeing this classic band live was awesome.
Lessons learned: small dives are better than huge arenas to see a concert; eat beforehand and save your moolah; people want to hold hands and sway together at the concert but they hate you by the time you reach the parking lot… inconsiderate drivers, et al… so much for “intimacy.”
A Trip, By The Numbers.
Oct/092
0 – # of times we used the composting outhouse at the forest hostel
1 – # of sand dollars’ lives we saved
1 – # of mosquitoes killed by Kristi
1 – # of showers taken in 4 days
1.5 – # of hours it took us to leave the Georgia Dome after the U2 concert
2 – # of dead horseshoe crabs spotted
2 – # of ticks picked off of Trevor
3 – # of encores by U2
3 – # of horses on sunset beach ride
3 – # of sacred spaces at the forest hostel
4 – # of hippies met working at the hostel
4 – # of times driven down the long, bumpy, uneven dirt road to the forest hostel
4 – the hour of the morning when the rooster at the forest hostel first woke us up by cock-a-doodle-doing
5 – # of deer spotted
6 – # of gas fill-ups
8 – # of maximum miles per hour we could drive on the dirt road to the hostel thanks to the ditches we had to navigate every 1-2 feet
10 – # of minutes it took to drive one way down the dirt road to the forest hostel
12 – # of batteries bought for camping gear
13 – # of hours it took us to drive from Savannah to Lexington, 2-3 hours longer than expected
15 – # of live animal species seen on trip (including: dog, cat, horse, deer, duck, chicken/rooster, seagull, spider, mosquito, squirrel, lizard, crab, fish, sand dollar, raccoon)
16 – # of hours our leftover pizza sat in our car before we ate it in Savannah
24 – # of hours spent on Jekyll Island
26 – # of mosquitoes that succeeded in biting Kristi
34 – age of Elmo treehouse, which we slept in at the forest hostel
207 – # on Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home in Savannah
1,400+ – # of miles (approximately) driven
Innumerable – # of crabs seen and heard scuttling over the beaches at Jekyll Island
10K Training
Kristi's Training Mileage:
Trevor's Training Mileage:
Good Reads
Kristi's read shelf:
Trevor's read shelf: