Adventure Ideas 5, 6, & 8

5) Work in a coffee farm with my wonderful friend in St. Louis.

6) Go to Spain to visit my Aunt (maybe with my lil sis).

AND

8) Just move to a Spanish speaking country for no reason.

I put these last three ideas from my original list together because they are still possible dreams for the future, but they will probably not happen this year--which is okay.

Kudos to T. Bill

Being a Barista in the coffee industry, I would still love to visit a coffee farm with the intent of learning all I can about the process. Tom Billionis, owner of The Coffee Ethic (my boss), visited the Los Planes farm in El Salvador. I would love to spend some time there someday.


My friend, Lizzy, is also interested in learning this process, and we have tossed around the idea of going to work on a farm together, but the details are probably not going to work out this summer. She is applying for an internship with the Bread and Puppet Theater, and I really hope she gets it. I think it is still a good possibility for the both of us in the future. We both love adventure, the Hispanic culture, travelling, and coffee.

Kudos to Weheartit

Spain. I want to visit Spain a lot. My mom's sister, Lynne, lives in Spain with her husband and adorable son, Andrew. I would love to visit her with my mom...possibly with my sister as well. This is still a possibility, but it would be a short trip. 

Originally, I thought it would be awesome to spend a month there with my sister because she and I both like to expand our Spanish skills. She is also graduating high school this year, and I want to take advantage of the time we have together before we live miles apart from each other.

Kudos to Me

Moving to a random Spanish-speaking country was appealing to me at one time because it would be much cheaper than studying abroad. Who needs school credit anyhow? However, this suggestion is probably the most "dangerous" adventure because I would be alone in a foreign country for a significant time period. I would learn Spanish really quick though and be able to eat Pollo Campero whenever I want. I love Pollo Campero!

Kudos to Weheartit

I have been thinking all semester about my possible summer adventures. I have made a decision, but I am not going to tell you yet. I will announce it on January 15th, so be looking. 

P.S. I am going to be starting a new blog series on January 3rd involving coffee tips. It will essentially be a weekly post with coffee making and history basics. I am no expert, but I hope to share my little knowledge of the coffee industry with you. 

P.P.S. My blog's one year anniversary is right around the corner, and I plan on having a special for it.


Good-bye 2010! Hello, 2011!
Happy New Year! 

Train Ride Across America

10) I want to leave room to DREAM.

So I have been thinking a lot about adventures I want to take over the last couple of months. For much of my life, I have been focused on getting out of America--seeing the WORLD. I love other cultures and languages and traditions. I have always fast forward through American history classes and over-studied zealously for World history classes. I take culture classes like it was my major or something (it is not). 

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Anyway, I got to thinking the other day how as much as I want to see the world, I really haven't see much of my own backyard, which is a shame. I have been to Chicago, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, and I am told that I went to New York as a baby (which doesn't count).

America is such a melting pot, and I have neglected to consider all the rich culture I could find in it.

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New Possible Plan: 1)Take my last General Education course, Geography. 2)See America. 3)Tour and volunteer at non-profits  and drink good coffee in that city.

In other words, I am considering visiting some close friends across the States, staying with them for a week or so, setting up a volunteer gig at a local non-profit, and visiting the local coffee shops.

For example, my beau's mom lives in Tulsa, OK. I have thought about visiting her for a week or so, volunteering at the Hispanic library (because they have a large Hispanic population) and frequenting a shop like Topeca to learn more about their coffee process. 

I want this to involve a train as a side note.

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My American Bucket List:

1) Visit Travis' mom in Tulsa, OK and volunteer at the Hispanic library and go to Topeca.

2) Visit Robbie and Katie Britt in Seattle, WA. Possibly tour World Vision Headquarters and visit as many coffee shops as possible.

3) Visit my current roommate Mallory Roth and former co-worker Jon Freihofer in Portland, OR. Drink LOTS of coffee.

4) Visit my friends, Jay and Amber, in Pittsburgh, PA. They are doing some great work with Americorp, and I know their is a lot of coffee and history there.

5) Visit my friend Lizzy in St. Louie, hang out with the Kaldi's coffee crew, and possibly work with Three Avocados, a non-profit coffee company.

6) Visit my Aunt Pam in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a PR professor at Belmont University.

7) Visit my former RA, Megan Eubanks, in Chicago, IL, check out World Vision, and Intelligentsia. 

8) Go home to Cape Girardeau, MO to be a part of the re-opening of my mom's cafe, and possibly work with Room for One More, an adoption awareness non-profit.

9) Visit my cousin, Christy, in California. Period.

10) Tour Compassion International in Colorado Springs, CO.

11) Visit my Aunt Sue in Indiana.

12) See a Broadway show in New York...for no apparent reason. :)

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OK, so there is my new idea. I definitely want to complete one of these bucket list items this year, but I think I can do more.

Thoughts? Comments? Ideas? 

This Christmas

With Christmas only an half an hour away, I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and remind you of something special about the season.

One of my favorite original Christmas songs is "This Christmas" by Tobymac. It reminds us to think of others less fortunate than ourselves this Christmas--especially the orphans.

This topic resonates strongly with my heart because I am passionate about orphans and caring for them.

So as you celebrate with your family, remember the children all over the world who don't have a family and breath a small prayer for them.

Adventures with Ladybug

7) Visit my friend's (let's call her ladybug) sister in South Korea.

Do you have a friend who knows you better than anyone? Who know matter how much time you spend apart it is like no time has passed when you talk? A friend who brings out the side of you that no one else can?

I do. Her name is Suzie Delacruz. Today is her 22nd birthday, and this post is dedicated to her.

As you can see, we kind of look at like. We were always either mistaken for each other or thought to be sisters. I am okay with that mistake because she is beautiful, and I think of her as my second sister. My parents even refer to her as their other daughter, and she has a key to my parent's house (I don't). 

We met a little place called Peaceful Valley Camp, where we started out as campers and ended up as counselors. This photo is us being silly for our girls in our cabin. (They like seeing their counselors be goofy...)

Our friendship blossomed when I transferred to Jackson Senior High School, where she went to school. She was there for me in a time of life most people hate, but we lived it to the fullest. We were not the coolest, prettiest, or smartest girls in the school, but we had each other and that was all that mattered.

We compliment each other well. I am organized, academic, a bit shy, and a not very flexible. Suzie is extremely responsible, hates school, is everyone's friend, and refreshingly spontaneous. I helped her with homework, and she helped me live. Seriously, I would be such a boring person if Suzie had not shown me it is okay to go with the flow sometimes and just let loose. 

We went on our first road trip together to visit her sister and sister's husband in Ohio before they left for South Korea. It was such a fun trip. Suzie got a tattoo, and I got to meet one of her good friends from elementary school.

This past summer, we went to Chicago together with two other girls. Again, we had such a great time.

It has been over two years since Suzie has seen her sister, and she really wants to visit her in South Korea this summer. With our history of adventures, it would just make sense for me to accompany her. Finances are a big obstacle, though. Neither one of us know if it is possible with the cost of the plane tickets.

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I treasure my friendship with Suzie. We have been the best of friends since sophomore year of high school. Even being in college 4 hours a part from each other for 3 years, we have managed to maintain our friendship.

I would love to have another adventure with her before either one of us settle down.

Ladybug, I love you! I am sorry I can be with you on your special day, but I am thinking about you. I can't wait to see you next week for Christmas! With love, Beb. 

I Got a Pen

 So I got a new pen this week...

This doesn't mean a whole lot to any of you, but the reason I got the pen means a lot to me. 

I am a PR student, as you may know. This semester, I was in Dr. Dyer's Public Relations Writing Class. We got "clients" to write our pieces on; mine was AIDS Project of the Ozarks. And Dr. Dyer always encouraged us to get our work published.

Well, this past Wednesday, I had my first PR piece published in the Springfield News-Leader.

Dr. Dyer promised a pen if we got published. It says: 

"Personal Excellence Award

Dr. Dyer says: Well Done".

I have had pieces in the paper before, but not like this one. The News-Leader did not ask me to write it (nor did they pay me for it); I annoyed them until they put it in the paper. Well, annoy might be a strong word--you get the picture.

Do you know what the best part was though? The first person to congratulate me that I did not tell was my former supervisor at Ozarks Food Harvest. Lindsey Neddenriep tagged me in a her Facebook status, and it made my day.

The best part of the pen is it lights up!

If the coolness of this pen is any indicator of my future in PR, I would say it is bright! ;)

Coffee Kids?

4) Apply for an internship with Coffee Kids in Sante Fe, NM.

So I have no information on this, but I wanted to hear feedback anyway.

Coffee Kids is a now-profit organization whose mission is to "work with coffee-farming families to improve their lives and livelihoods." It is located in Sante Fe, New Mexico. In essence, Coffee Kids seeks to help build the communities of Latin America that are affected by coffee reproduction. Many coffee companies such as The Coffee Ethic partner with Coffee Kids as a way to give back the the communities who are supplying them with fabulous coffee.

It is not just about the coffee, though. Coffee Kids works with farmers and villages directly helping them develop and well-rounded economy, so that they are not reliant upon fluctuating coffee prices. Their focus is on grass root efforts, micro-finance, etc. For more info check out their website.

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So there is no "formal" information about an internship with them on their website, but I do have a contact person who used to work there as the Communications Manager. I would essentially e-mail them to see if it is even possible.

This definitely is adventurous (I have never been to nor do I know anyone in New Mexico). It involves coffee, culture, community, AND PR.

So what do you think?