Challenge!

Ok, I'm not the best at these... and after watching this video (I'm slowly making my way through his book!), I realize I have a LOT of work to do. But, here is a challenge for us all. And if you've not read Crazy Love, READ IT. I'm only on the third chapter and it's GOOD.

World Water Day

Today is World Water Day! Did you try the water challenge? How's it going? I've not been the best but just being involved and attempting has made me more aware of how fortunate I am to have access to safe, clean water.

Some facts...

3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.

43% of water-related deaths are due to diarrhea.

84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 - 14.

98% of water-related deaths occur in the developing world.

884 million people, lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people.

The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.

Less than 1% of the world's fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use.

An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.

Without food a person can live for weeks, but without water you can expect to live only a few days.

The daily requirement for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, as well as for assuring survival, is about 13.2 gallons per person.

Water projects in developing countries fail at an average rate of 50% or higher.

Only 62% of the world's population has access to improved sanitation - defined as a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact.

2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who have no facilities at all.

At any one time, more than half of the poor in the developing world are ill from causes related to hygiene, sanitation and water supply.

Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.

Children in poor environments often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies at any time.

What can we do? Research - there are quite a few organizations on a mission to end the water crisis. Interested in a specific country? Email some local groups there and donate. Pray. Join the water challenge. For more water info, visit Blood: Water Mission's website.

40 Days of Water: Challenge!

Challenge time!



In November, Abbie set up a Fast and Feast Challenge for Thanksgiving... I didn't fast, but I did pray during my time slot and at random times throughout the day. This idea sparked D and I to try our own challenge... but it didn't exactly go as planned...



So I'm trying yet another challenge. This time, I am going to do better!



Here's the plan... to drink only WATER for 40 Days!



We'll begin on March 1st and continue through April 9th (lenten season). Blood:Water Mission, the organization hosting the challenge, is suggesting that the money participants would have spent on beverages be donated towards their well fund. I think there are a few options here; that is one, another is sending the money to your favorite charity, or simply using this challenge as a time to reflect and remember those less fortunate and to remind ourselves of Him who truly satisfies thirst.

BWM was founded by Jars of Clay, a passionate group of musicians with a heart for Africa! Read more about how BWM was founded here.

"Blood:Water Mission is partnering with groups and individuals to empower Africans to build healthier communities through sustainable clean blood and clean water solutions, while developing social responsibility in the U.S. through initiatives that provoke personal engagement and ownership."

Blood:Water Mission has a shop on their site that has some really neat water bottles. I happen to be a fan of Nalgene myself and even contributed my two cents to our company's blog.

Don't forget to check out Blood:Water Mission's blog!

I'm sure I'll post more about this later... lunchtime blogging is just not sufficient enough! :)

JOIN ME!!!

Challenge Update

Why haven't I posted about the challenge? Well... let's see, Monday: great. Tuesday: Great. Wednesday: it all went down hill. See, I realized that Britt and Ben would be staying with me Friday night when they returned from the Cayman Islands and my guest room was a mess. (Read: DISASTER!) I didn't have time last weekend to get the ridiculously-expensive-piece-of-foam-strip that you put in between two twin beds to make a king sized bed, so I did that yesterday.

Well...then it occurred to me that I didn't have king sized sheets. Yep, went to Linens 'N Things and bought a set for $22.00 on top of my $14.99 ridiculously-expensive-piece-of-foam-strip. So.... safe to say, challenge is corrupt. It was a nice thought. And did I mention that I bought a Hershey bar at the grocery store? I needed a little pick-me-up after I realized I'd broken the rules.

I called D to tell him about my mishap with the challenge. His response, "Oh, well I had a coffee on Tuesday." WHAT?! Yeah... nice. Thanks for telling me on TUESDAY... After I so politely refused a homemade (HOMEMADE) cookie from the most awesome baker at our office.

Awesome baker: "Cookie?"
Me: "Can't, thanks."
Awesome baker: "Really, are you okay?"
Me: "Yeah, D and I are doing a $1/day challenge and we also can't have sugar."
Awesome baker: "Hm, well are you suuuuurrre, I made them last night..."
Me: "Uhuh... come find me next week, bring fudge."

So, yeah. I turned down only the BEST cookies ever and he had COFFEE?! Crap. It made me want to go find a coke. I'll wait. I do have some self control.

What we did realize with this little mini challenge though, is that we really didn't need to spend much money. I did buy some crackers for $.60 on Monday because I had a headache from the beastly puppies and needed something to take a giant 800mg ibuprofen with... otherwise, I spent no money.

We decided that we'll do a real challenge sometime in January and we'll limit ourselves to spending $10 at the grocery store on food for the week. Or something like that. It may change. Who knows...

Challenge!

I've talked about it long enough... it's finally time! Tomorrow, we start THE GREAT ESCAPE: Keep in Simple Challenge!!! Here's the deal... me and the Caveman will be living on $1/day for a week. Beginning Monday, December 8th through Sunday, December 14th.

Here are the rules:

-Prior weekend grocery spending can be no more than $20.
-Gas, tolls, and regular monthly bills that are due, not included.
-$1/day can be just that or can be $3 one day and $4 for the remaining days.
-No coffee, soft drinks, or refined sugar allowed.

This probably doesn't sound so bad, and it may not be, but we're going to try a much more difficult challenge of $1/day in the next month or so that will be just that, $1/day. Mostly it will be food since neither of us are able to ride our bikes to work. This is a prep challenge to see how we can do. The idea is to familiarize ourselves with what the rest of the world faces each day. Since more people than not live on less than $1/day, we're going to put ourselves in the higher income bracket and assume we do indeed have $1/day. We'll be posting updates about how it's going so be sure to check back in with us! Caveman has some sort of training and an interview (yay!) this week so he may be a boring blogger but I'll get updates and post from him!

Join us! It should be a fun and sorta easy way to get in the habit of frugal living!

Not much...

I don't have anything too insightful to chat about today. It's been an exhausting week with all that's going on for World AIDS Day [Week]. I did manage to make lasagna last night for dinner and I'm sooo ready to head home for lunch!

I have some things to post about soon... including The Great Escape: Keep it Simple Challenge (which, for the record, we've pushed back and are obviously not doing this week!) and my favorite dog things. Til then, bear with me as I ramble about my crazy week.

As a complete side note, last night when I ran into the mall to pay a department store bill, I was happily greeted by a person who was standing beside the door, ringing a bell and collecting money in a red pot. I hate this. Not because it's giving, because I enjoy giving. But I hate it because every time I walk past them, I feel like my lack of giving is being judged. I hate it because I feel guilty for NOT giving despite the fact that I still GIVE... just not to that particiular organization. I hate it because of the way it makes me feel when I don't give. It shouldn't be that way. Giving should be an enjoyable experience. I wish they'd find another way of fundraising. Maybe it's just me being selfish... yes, again.

Ok, I hadn't planned to get all serious today. I have a pile of paper on my desk that has to go somewhere, but instead of tackling that, I thought I'd blog for a bit. Now I have a string of thoughts going through my head but, lasagna calls so have a happy Wednesday!

Contest!

Want to win a $500 gift card to Wal-Mart? Check out this blog for more info! What a great way to finish shopping for Christmas gifts!

Stay tuned for info about The Great Escape: Keep it Simple Challenge!

Keep it Simple Challenge

Beginning December 1st through December 7th, I challenge you to join me and Caveman as we attempt to live on just $1/day for seven days. Originally the plan was to spend no money at all, but because Caveman has tolls to cross on the way to work, an ammendment was made.

Remember the post last week about how over one billion people live on less than $1/day? Well, we'll assume we're the rich of that group and actually have the $1 each day. We will use $7 cash for the entire week and post updates as we go.

We'll post the guidelines before the challenge begins so if you plan to participate (or if you don't but still have input!) feel free to comment with your suggestions!

Not up for this but still want to be creative? Try fasting on Thanksgiving day; use your time to think about and pray for people around the world without access to clean water and food.