Day 91: Lollipops for kids

Today we visited Grandmas house :-) enjoyed a bonfire, grilled food and amazing Neiman Marcus bars ;-)

The kids and I discussed what we should do as the act of kindness today. I figured the act would present itself like it normally does....and by george it did!!

After we left Grandmas house, I told Scott I wanted to stop by this cute little ice cream shop I saw downtown Delano, called 'Linnies Ice cream'. The kids got excited when they heard the word ice cream.

We walked in and instantly enveloped in a warm welcome. The girls picked out their ice cream, I of course, got my favorite - rocky road.

We all sat down, enjoying our cones. I looked around and noticed all the other kids. And then it hit me - opportunities present themselves - I had to do something for these kids.

So, went up to the counter, asked how much the lollipops were (reasonable price!) ok. Sold. I had our eldest daughter help pass them out.

The reactions from the kids is what really impressed and amazed me. One girl (about 11 years old) looked so genuinely appreciative. As I was explaining to her family about why we were doing this, her eyes lit up and she said enthusiastically "We do kind acts too". It made me excited and warmed my heart that looking in her eyes - She got it. At 11 years old.

There were hugs given. Parents sincere admiration and appreciation for the act of kindness shown to their kids. I KNOW that there was a true impact tonight....and it started with a lollipop.

Day 90: Donate toward Igors new shoes

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46897941/ns/today-good_news/#.T3YJDdXH58F

We've all heard of him, but maybe you haven't yet.

"Igor Vovkivinskiy is a big man with a big heart. A very big heart. It’s literally twice as big as the average person’s."

"From the perspective of most people, Vovkivinskiy is a giant. At 7-foot-8.33 inches tall, he’s the tallest man in the United States, and he’s been dealing with a colossal problem: He can’t find shoes that fit."

Vovkivinskiy moved to Rochester, Minn., from Kiev, Ukraine in 1989 at age 6. His mother was desperate to find medical care for her son, who already towered above her at 6 feet tall at the time. She made sure he was situated near the Mayo Clinic, where surgeons tried to remove a tumor in his pituitary gland that was overwhelming his body with growth hormones.

 The National Geographic Channel reported that the tumor was too deeply embedded to be removed entirely, so Vovkivinskiy kept growing, and growing, and growing.

I love that so many people have helped Igor. And even though Reebok has stepped forward and said they would cover the cost - people are STILL donating! Yes, yes yes!!!

Cheers Igor! To some comfort towards your feet soon <3 And much more!

http://www.gofundme.com/IgorNeedsShoes

Day 89: Share about other random acts of kindness

So, on my quest to figure out what to do today, I did my routine googling of random acts of kindness. Usually I hit the main site and start browsing. Sometimes things just present itself too.

However. Something interesting happened today. I saw a title of one link in my search that said "366 Random Acts of Kindness"!

At first I couldn't believe someone else was doing the same thing, so I researched the blog more -

http://www.366randomacts.org

And I found this article: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/mathie&id=8508734

Ryan, you rock! I'm over the moon excited that someone out there was thinking the same thing and that your acts are creating ripples too!

We'll have to swap notes at the end of the year! <3

Day 88: Facebook "likes" helps squash hunger

https://www.facebook.com/thesalarmy

An easy act of kindness :) See deets below:


"We are in the final days of MN FoodShare Month. You can be a Salvation Army volunteer by "sharing" this message with your friends and family. Every "like" to The Salvation Army - MN/ND Facebook page sends a meal to a hungry Minnesotan. Thank you!"

Day 87: Give away free wild tickets

On Day 78, I had posted about giving away free wild tickets - the goal was to inspire others to do a good deed and to submit their stories.

But I didn't receive any (don't be disappointed, I'm not - let me explain)

At first, I was a little bummed.

But then I realized that these tickets were meant for someone that is giving of themselves daily, every moment and second of the day. I noticed the sacrifices this person was making by some Facebook posts, and also noticed some hardships.

So, I sent this person a note and said I would like for him to have it.

Here's what I received back (see image below)

Yep. Even though the intent behind the initial goal of the ticket giveaway didn't transpire - what did transpire was that the person getting these tickets didn't do anything purposeful to get these tickets. He's doing these kind acts because it's the right thing to do, even when no one is looking (as the saying goes)

Day 78, Day 87 ;-)

I gave him the tickets today. And here's how thoughtful he was. He brought me a gift in thanks. Totally not necessary, but goes to show - an act of kindness goes much deeper in appreciation. You touch people's souls.

Day 86: Count your blessings

Today's act is pretty simple. Counting my blessings.

2011 was a tough year. I had a hefty medical bill, and in turn, confronted a real financial crises head on. Traded in my SUV for a better more fuel efficient car. Cut out a lot in my monthly bills. And just plain did without a lot. I truly knew what it meant to barely live pay check to paycheck. Not that I've never known that - I just thought that I wouldn't be facing it again....

But I got through it. It wasn't easy, but I had faith (and support) And every time I turned a corner where I didn't have money to do something - somehow something was presented to where I could do it. Like a friend (without knowing my situation) paying for my movie ticket. Or the other friend offering to get me a caribou. Or another friend picking up my tab for lunch.

This year is different. Sometimes sacrifice comes at a cost, but in the end - it all comes together. And you look back reflecting - I am so grateful of where I'm at now. <3

That hefty medial bill is paid off.
I'm getting offers to do things that I get paid a tad extra for.
Today was my 5 year anniversary at an employer that I love dearly (as well as my coworkers)
I have the miracle of life growing inside me.
I have good health and so does my daughter.
I have a good man standing by my side - good or bad.
I have the best of friends a girl could ask for.
The list goes on :)

For those that knew my situation and supported me - thank you.
For those that didn't know my situation, but was an angel in disguise - thank you. :)

You may wonder why I'm so open. Because I know I'm not the only one. I also know that life isn't perfect and we all can relate in some capacity. And - someone out there might be struggling.

No matter the struggle, you CAN overcome it. And you're not alone <3

Counting my blessings - on more then one hand this year. <3

Day 85: Support family

Today I called my Aunt to check in on how she's doing. Shes's going in for surgery tomorrow. Normally, I wouldn't have called. But these daily acts of kindness has provoked me to be more interactive, and purposeful in my actions.

She was in good spirits :) and I'll be praying tons for her (mind shooting up a few for her too?!?)

My aunt holds a special part in my heart. My grandmothers shadow lives in her and she has a special unique spirit!

Day 84: Make someone (lots) laugh

I mean. I do this all the time. I'm really funny ;-)

But specifically today, I got to emcee the Mayo Clinic Complimentary and Alternative Medicine event, welding some impromptu funny remarks and interactions as I interviewed experts from Mayo Clinic.

It was so much fun. Made new friends. (Dan, the camera guy guru. Incredible person. Barb, one of the coordinators for the event - exuberant and so kind. Natalie and Megan, both made me feel like their bffs! - Mayo Clinic has amazing people there!)

Another great day and experience down in the books!

Day 83: Mango Smoothie for the Administrative Assistant

I remember being an Administrative Assistant. It's a tough job. You're out in the open. Lots of interruptions. Lost of random requests. I wondered how I got things done when I was in that position. :)

Laura is a breath of fresh air. A smile on her face when she greets you and flawless returns on requests.

When I told her she was my act of kindness today and brought up her favorite caribou mango orange smoothie, she was so overjoyed and appreciative.

I love doing this blog and these acts of kindness. I can't imagine my life without them now!

(posted a pic of spring tulips too!!)

Day 82: Left over desserts save the day

Today I brought in the left over desserts from the party - oreo truffles, pretzel bites and rolo cookies.

The Oreo truffles looked a bit challenged but still tasted amazing!

Many smiles today :) and "oh, these are so good!"

I'm excited for Friday :)

Day 81: Host a party- collect donations

Tonight I hosted a party and as part of the party I put a call out for donations towards Channel One :)

Making a party a charitable endeavor is easy and a simple way for others to help contribute!

I really have incredible friends with huge hearts! <3

Day 80: Surprise breakfast and treats for a meeting

This morning I surprised those in my house with homemade cinnamon streusel muffin. Attached were personal notes telling them I loved them and to have a good day! (see pic below

Also surprised clients of mine at a meeting with treats. My coworker Lisa and manager, Rhonda both helped contribute to the fun treats. Our clients (whom I consider friends) were so excited and appreciated the yumminess!

Today was a fun day!

Day 79: Donate to Salvation Army

Dropped off the huge massive box of toys, stuffed animals and other loot today :) Its a nice feeling knowing that other children will be able to enjoy these things instead of it just collecting dust in our house, forgotten about. :)

Day 78: Wild Ticket giveaway

Yep. You read it right! I'm giving away TWO wild tickets!

Deets:

2 Wild Tickets
Thursday, March 29, 2012
7pm
Minnesota Wild vs. Florida Panthers

It's also 'Alumni Reunion back on home ice'!!

http://wild.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=78112

Here's how you can be entered in a drawing for these two tickets

Carry out a kind act (has to be significant - ideas can be found here: http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/)
Your name will be entered in the drawing as long as it meets significance criteria (pictures carrying out the act would be nice too!) Deadline for entries: Saturday, March 24th at midnight. Email submissions at teal.danielle@gmail.com (any submissions will and could be shared online on this blog - to inspire others!)

I will do a live feed of the drawing on ustream on Sunday, March 25th at 6:30pm.

Do more then one act - your name will be entered each time.

Goal: Inspire others to do a kind act = dragonfly effect :)

Who's excited?!? I AM!! I cannot wait to give these two tickets to someone, knowing they did something kind for someone else :)

Day 77: Strawberry pretzel dessert goes home with guests

Today we had a St. Pattys day party! Traditional Irish feast of corned beef, cheesy potatoes, fried cabbage and for dessert - strawberry pretzel delight! And delightful it is :)

Tonight our guests went home with additional portions. It's too good not to share :) If you have had strawberry pretzel dessert, you'd understand!

Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's day - Erin go bragh!

Day 76: Volunteer for United Way - Connect the dots

Today I attended an all day conference at the Nonprofit Technology & Communications Conference for United Way.

1. It was really neat to see different perspectives of technology utilized in a non profit avenues.

2. I became re-inspired in using unique and compelling ways to share/tell significant inspiring stories.

3. I love United Way, a lot. I was honored to be asked to attend because I know I can share effective knowledge with United Way and also incorporate it in volunteer efforts too.

The real impact anyone can make is by impacting others to be inspired and motivated. Just takes one. Then another. Then another.

Day 75: Donate to Faith Lodge

http://www.faithslodge.org/AboutUs.htm

Mission Statement
The mission of Faith's Lodge is to provide a place where parents and families facing the serious illness or loss of a child can retreat to reflect on the past, renew strength for the present and build hope for the future.

I've made a donation in memory of angels that have passed too soon.

A friend told me about Faith Lodge, what a beautiful place.

Where hope grows.

Day 74: Help a volunteer

Volunteering is important. Donated time towards a cause or organizations helps minimize costs, impacts a community in a positive great way - but mostly - shows others that they matter.

My friend Tim is volunteering on a mission trip with the 2012 Peru mission of the International Cervical Cancer Foundation (INCCA).

INCCA volunteers provide cervical cancer prevention services at a clinic in Cusco known as CerviCusco. The clinic staff are all volunteers and include clinicians, medical students and medical residents.

The costs of volunteering are covered totally by those volunteering.

Here's the act of kindness and I could also use YOUR help. I'd like to help Tim with the list he has of items needed donated. Most are medical supplies but there are things that any one of us could give.

I'll collect the donated items until next Wednesday, March 21st. Then I'll pass them on to Tim for his big trip!

Tim, you are doing a beautiful thing - volunteering to help sustain and better women's health in Peru.

Willing to donate? Here's some suggestions:

Hand Sanitizer
Cotton balls
Q-tips/small cotton swabs
Large cotton swabs
4x4 sponges
Tampons - boxes
Medium gloves
Small gloves
Large gloves
Face masks
Sanitary pads
Scissors
Pens
Spiral notepads
Scotch tape
Packing tape
Surgical tape
Staplers
Table wipes
Liquid soap bottles
Scrub brushes
Flashlights
Air freshner
Lysol spray cans

If you are in the medical field and have access to potential donated items, there's a separate list of medical supply needs.

Comment here, Facebook me or tweet me if you can help!

Day 73: Surprise Bank Tellers with Shamrock Cookies

Banks. The places the hold your most precious loot! Today, I wanted to show them that they were appreciated!

I just dropped off Daube shamrock cookies to the bank tellars at my bank.

Top o' the day to ya, ladies!

I thanked them for always being so kind, helpful and that I appreciated the great service.

One of the ladies showed pure delight and surprise. She said "Thank you" over and over again. It was clear that this totally made their day.

I love kind acts!!!!

Day 72: Tell your friends you are grateful for them.

One of the things I hold dear and close to my heart, are my friends. They're practically family.

If I needed a ride, I could call Karlys.
If I needed someone to sit beside me in the ER, I could call Alissa.
If I needed some delicious cupcakes, I could call Kary.
If I needed someone to rescue me from myself in a pool, I could call Tara.
If I needed someone to pick me up from jail, I could call Angie.
If I needed flowers to pick up my mood, Laura would send them.
If I needed someone to help with a charity I'm involved in, I know I could call every single one of you on my Facebook.

I'm grateful for all my friends. Notes have been and are getting sent out :)

Day 71: Give feedback on good service

Today we went to Applebee's for dessert. I was craving the lava chocolate cake. (mmmmmmm)

The server, Vanessa, was absolutely exceptional. In this day and age, great customer service is a dying breed. If a business provides that, they truly set themselves a part from the rest of the pack.

I was delighted to see an opportunity to submit a survey about our service. Tipping a great server well is the most direct way to show appreciation for service, but I also think providing feedback so administrative personnel can understand the full impact of what their great employees are doing too!

Day 70: Put money in candy/ toy machines

Tonight I put quarters in the candy toy machines. I did an entire row :) When a child walks up, they get a free toy!

Day 69: Labels for Education

This one brings back fond memories! My grandmother use to collect Campbell soup labels. I remember having to cut them just so, count them and get them ready to donate.

Now it looks like its just this small upc label you collect and not the entire Campbell label.

AND there's way more participating products! Here's a list :)

http://www.labelsforeducation.com/How-to-Earn/Participating-Products

Like I have said before, I'll start collecting these. If you want to help and collect them too - we will combine them later this year and donate them at the same time

Education leads the way to many opportunities. <3

So, today we start the Labels for Education! Can't wait to see how much ends up collected!

Day 68: Volunteer at a school

This morning, I volunteered at my daughters school. I've done this a few times and she absolutely loves it. She'll even ask me when I'm going to volunteer next.

The reasons why I enjoy volunteering at her school is obviously, I get more time with her. But I also get to see what they teach and what she learns.. And wow. Do they learn a lot!

I'm often proud of how well mannered she is. Today I heard many of the kids saying "Thank you" and "excuse me". To me, this instills the first seeds of kindness!

I think every parent should volunteer at least once in their child's school. It certainly made me appreciate her teacher and the staffs efforts.

Day 67: Purge and donate toys

I never want to see a stuff toy, animal, doll again. Lol

Tonight I went through my daughter entire room from ceiling to closet to floor. That Hoarders show sure can motivate a person to purge and organize.

She was so adorable deciding between what to keep and what to donate. And she said a special goodbye to certain things that she would miss but understood the mountain of stuffed animals had to go.

And her room isn't the only room getting this spring cleaning. Mines next. And then the garage.

What better use for others to be able to enjoy things that are not being played with or used. A small child will enjoy the tiny soft rabbit or the horsey purse :)

Three things happened here:

1. Passing on and teaching my daughter acts of kindness, awareness of others needs and being generous when we have plenty to share and give

2. A clean happy home without clutter

3. Children will enjoy things were not using or playing with

Day 66: Help March of Dimes

Mission:
March of Dimes help moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/mission/mission.html

Today, I made a donation towards the March of Dimes campaign. :)

This one touches close to home and I know many others that have experienced heartache or unexpected obstacles.

More research. More awareness. More support. Always needed <3

Day 65: Appreciate a teacher

This morning, rolo cookies were given to my daughters teacher.

It totally made her teachers day, and my daughter was so excited watching how overjoyed her teacher got. :)

and I passed on the easy recipe!

Day 64: Share positive affirmations

(I moved the rolo cookies gift to tomorrow, giving them to my daughters teacher :)) this act overtook today )

Today, I was reminded of this video I had seen before on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Many people have seen it, many haven't. It's a must see. The video is of a young girl (about 5-6 years old) that tells herself positive affirmations in the mirror.

Some people may find this a little wacky.

But studies have proven that negative self talk takes over the subconscious AND a lot of perceptions start at a very young age -basically, this girls age - and creates a foundation that helps form individuals views as they get older. Start the positive self talk young! And if you haven't started yet - do it today. Right now :)

So, today, I showed this video to my daughter. She loved it and said "I can do anything!"

We will be doing our own version of positive affirmations from now on.

An important one "True beauty is not what you see on the outside, it's how you give from the inside"

Day 63: Bake with kids

It truly is an act of kindness when you let a kid in the kitchen to help make cookies. But to have three kids in the kitchen - that gives you sainthood. ;-)

Tonight was just that! Three little girls helping make cookies. (and me praying that each little rolo morsel made it to the bowl and not directly in their tummies :-p )

It was an absolute joy watching them help, and even greater joy watching them savor the cookies they made :)

Pinterest - putting families back in the kitchen together.

I think that's super cool.

Rolo Cookies

1 bag of Rolos
1 box Devils Food Cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. oil


Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs. Take a small ball of dough and form a ball around the rolo. (Only use enough dough to cover the rolo so it can spread through the cookie.)


Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. Yields about 3 dozen.


Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

(Some of the cookies we made tonight will be apart of an act of kindness for tomorrow :)

Day 62: Measure your carbon footprint

http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/?src=l12

Today it's all about finding ways of reducing my carbon footprint.

A carbon footprint is an estimate of how much carbon dioxide is produced to support your lifestyle.

I calculated mine (see pic) and wow. I've got some work to do.

Here's a list of ideas on reducing your carbon footprint.

http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumed/tips.html

A biggy - ditch water bottles - many plastic bottled waters are not recycled. Opt for a canteen or use your original water bottle over and over again. I do now :)

Day 61: Save a life

This topic isn't often discussed. In fact, it's almost taboo and sometimes minimized because people just can't deal with the reality of it.

However, it happens. Suicide. And while it's an ugly word, it takes beautiful lives from us. And that's just not ok.

I was taught a huge lesson last year - one that I won't ever forget. That lesson was ensuring that every single person that crossed my path will know that they matter - no. matter. what.

A couple of months ago that lesson came into play. I saw someone I didn't know personally, struggling. Without hesitation, I let this person know that they mattered. I could tell that there was an apparent cry for help and it wasn't a joke.

Err on the side of caution and always, always take a cry for help seriously.

A couple of weeks later, I received a note from this person expressing gratitude for simply caring. That my words of encouragement and kindness helped them in their darkest moment.

One earnest gesture. Word. Thought. Prayer. Hug. Could AND Can save a life.

Today I honor a very special man who taught me this important lesson.

Don't shy away from those that need help, support or love. They may share their darkest sorrow. They may just need a shoulder or body to lean on. Be there for them.

Every person matters in this world. And that means YOU.<3

http://www.save.org/