Blog talk, Juice & chili, Rwanda Baskets

Merry Christmas Eve!

So far, we’re having a good time at my family’s in Nebraska. It’s been full of relaxation! Ha. I’m hoping to get a little baking done today … if I do nothing for too long I’ll go stir crazy.

Blog Talk

Yesterday, Andrea picked us up and we went to one of McCook’s hot spots for lunch … Sehnert’s Bieroc Cafe. I really don’t remember what my sandwich was called but it was on rye bread and was topped with veggies and “special sauce”. The taste wasn’t bad but I’m not sure how nutritious it was because to me the sauce tasted like a mix between mayo and Dorothy Lynch.

I took a picture of Andrea, but I don’t think she’d like me if I posted it because it didn’t turn out the greatest. But here is one of Erik instead …  

We had a good time talking food, health, nutrition, fitness, etc and our talk inspired me to want to post more helpful, informative posts that have more of a purpose. Sometimes I feel like my blog is boring and all about ME. However, I’d like to help and inspire others and I’m not sure how to successfully go about that.

Granted, it is hard to have a successful blog when you work full time and have a life outside of the internet … but I have fun blogging. I’m not sure what direction I’d like to go with Lesley Lifting Life or where my niche is but hopefully over time I can find it!

Juice & Chili

After lunch, Erik and I ran some errands and while out, I picked up a Naked juice.  A little birdie told me I’m getting a juicer for Christmas so I’m preparing my taste buds ; )

For dinner, my mom made a big pot of chili … it tasted great and was perfect for a cold winter’s night right before Christmas! Erik and I both went back for seconds a few hours later.

Poor Wilber doesn’t know what to do with all these dogs around who took over her house. She’s finding solace on my mom’s shoulder and in other high places …

Rwanda Baskets

My mom gave me a trivet from Rwanda Baskets and I thought some of you would be interested in hearing about the company. 

As their website says, “The Rwanda Basket Company is a program of Rwanda Partners that is working to change the lives of impoverished weavers in Rwanda. Rwanda Partners is a nonprofit organization that is working to restore and heal the people of Rwanda through reconciliation and poverty reduction programs.”

“The vision of the Rwanda Basket Company is to empower the impoverished women of Rwanda to rise above their subsistence level existence by providing them with the training, tools and support needed to sell their baskets in the west. The Rwanda Basket Company accomplishes this in several ways:

• Providing “Master Weavers” to work with these impoverished women to help them improve and expand their weaving skills
• Paying the weavers directly a premium wage for each of their baskets
• Supplying high quality sisal, dye and other materials needed to ensure a quality product
• Making available to the weavers (many of them genocide widows or wives of imprisoned perpetrators) such life skills training as healing and reconciliation workshops, trauma counseling, and basic medical assistance
• Opening up multiple markets in the west for the weavers’ baskets, thereby ensuring them a much better wage for their products than they could ever hope to receive in Rwanda “

I love companies like this, who are simply in business to help others in need. They are the kind of companies I like to support and promote!

They sell baskets, trivets, fruit bowls, and bread baskets on their online store. Check it out, buy a neat handmade basket or bowl, and know you’ve helped someone in need this holiday season : )

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!!

 

-Lesley