March 27, 2013

Spring Break


Spring is in the air!! O wait- so is snow. What?! What?! We kicked off our spring break with a bit of snow this week in PA!  Can you believe we have been waiting for a snow day all season with no luck? (My husband Brian is a teacher).

Luckily we headed south to visit my brother and his family in TN for my nieces first birthday! 12 hrs later we are here. 

This book was waiting for me - I had it shipped in no time flat to meet me here. I do have another 12 hour car ride home ya know ;)  I can't wait to dig in - I'll let you know how it is. 

See ya’ll next week!


March 25, 2013

In Love


After shooting my video and having the opportunity to talk about CooCube and my aspirations for it - I can’t seem to contain my excitement for the journey ahead. 

It’s been a reflective day today as I was thinking about the evolution of my heart for CooCube.  When I first started down this path my motivations were coming from a different place.  The idea of CooCube was initiated by a passion and love for creating beautiful things. I saw it as a potential way to provide for my family while doing what I love - not to mention it was on my list of “to-do’s by age 30”.  Does anyone else out there have one of these lists? Build a successful career, check. Buy a house, check.  Married, check. Kids, check. Start my own business…

And then my life took a sudden detour after the stillbirth of my son, Aidan. My heart opened up to so much more. It’s ironic how experiencing pain and very low points can inspire honest reflection from so deep within. I began to really challenge who I was and what I wanted out of this short life.  Instead of thinking about what I could accomplish and obtain I started to think about how I could leave an impact. I dream to play a part in the love and restoration of children in need.

Recently I’ve been struggling with reconciling this gap  -  starting the CooCube business that was set in motion a while ago while my heart has been opening up to serving others. What did this mean? A career change? Did that mean heading into missions? But I have a family that I need to support. What exactly did that look like?

After much prayer and contemplation – it hit me! Think TOMS shoes business model –they are "transforming everyday purchases into a force for good around the world. One for One." A for-profit company that is committed to giving back in a tangible way! A spark was ignited in me. Of course I am still motivated by my passion for creating beautiful things but that has been eclipsed by my awareness of others, particularly the suffering of others – it’s like I’ve woken up.  And I found that when I was no longer motivated by selfish ambition I was set free from all the fears that surrounded them. What will I do without my job? Will I loose everything? What will others think? Will I fail? Can I do it?  

Who knows how it will end but I am hopeful that it will be a richer, much more fulfilling journey.  At the start we plan on supporting an orphanage in Bolivia, The Judah Quy home for Precious Little Ones, that cares for infant orphans in need of intensive medical intervention. We would eventually love to support the abolition of human slavery with organizations such as Love 146, etc. I dream to play a part in building an orphanage or safe house one day.  If I think ahead – it seems like such a steep mountain to climb, such a long unknown journey to walk.  I don’t have experience in any of this - what am I thinking! But God is in the business of moving mountains and, well, I just can’t worry about it.

This weeks soundtrack: Faint Not (by Jenny&Tyler)

O my soul, faint not, no, faint not
O my soul, keep up, up
In love

It’s not that we don’t know or we’re not shown the proof of poverty
It’s not that we don’t have the tools to go to break this yoke of slavery
We quit because it’s not an easy fix and then forget that they are even there
We forget to care


O my soul, faint not, no, faint not 
In love


Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, let me pardon
Where there is darkness, let the Light come, come



O my soul, faint not, no, faint not
O my soul, keep up, up
In love


O my soul, keep up, up
O my soul, keep up, up
In love

March 22, 2013

Lights, Camera, Action!

Day 2 of the video shoot done.  Wahoo. It was quite the production – lights, camera, action! And action there was. Babies were crawling everywhere, doing what babies do. Laughing (okay- a little bit of crying), dancing and -of course- playing with CooCubes. My friends and their sweet little ones came over for a play date today and Brett was here to capture the action on camera. And what you see is what you get- there is no "acting" with babies- that's for sure.  I was; however, missing my mini “assistant” today- she was at school. Bummer.

After all the babies went home for nap time it was my turn to speak to the camera - to open up and tell my story. I’ve been a bit nervous leading up to today but you know what - it was very liberating!  It felt really good to share my inspiration, motivations, and aspirations (that’s a whole lot of tions).  When I let myself go – freedom to share the story – I found myself so reinvigorated! It did take me a little bit to feel comfortable behind the camera but I think we were able to get some good footage by the end of the day.  I haven’t seen any of it yet - a little embarrassed to check it out!

So now it’s time to put all the pieces together.  April is going to be an exciting month. Speaking of - I know we were shooting to launch the Kickstarter campaign in March but it is looking like April. It stinks to have slipped into April but I am proud of all that we have accomplished.  It will be worth it - we have some things up our sleeves so stay tuned.




March 9, 2013

Gearing Up

SO much has been going on! We've been busy little beavers over here.  Here are some behind the scene pics of our photo and video shoots. More details later but thought you might like a sneak peek. P.S.  I love our little assistant always ready and willing to jump in and lend a hand :)