The Facebook Dilemma...

Today I was faced with a decision that I've had to make a lot lately--whether or not to "unsubscribe" from someone on Facebook. It is basically unfriending them without them knowing it because their name stays in your list, no feelings get hurt, and yet you don't have to see their posts.

I'm on Facebook a lot...A LOT. It is a fun way to stay in touch with family and friends who live all over the country. But what I really don't like are seeing posts fraught with profanity. It is like having dirt running down my screen. I don't like it, I don't want to read it, and I don't think it is funny. People fail to remember that what they post ends up on MY page. It ends up on all of their friends' pages.

The one time that I did mention my dislike for such things on posts, I got a lot of negative responses. "Facebook is a place where you should be able to post whatever you want, just unsubscribe," several people said. Well, fine, I will. In fact, one person, who used to be a really good friend, posted something so incredibly offensive that it led to me unsubscribing, then unfriending on Facebook, and then, unfortunately, unfriending him in real life.

Extreme, but we all make our own choices. Thanks for letting me vent. And if someone wants to unsubscribe from my posts, I tell them to go for it. You make your page the way you want it, and I'll do the same to mine.

And no, I am not down to about 5 friends that I do subscribe to. I really do love my Facebook friends!

Wow, I feel better.

Taking Down Christmas...

I read on another blog that taking down Christmas decorations is one of the most depressing chores ever. I don't know about THE most (I, personally loathe cleaning the kitty box because it feels like I'm doing it all the time,) but it is certainly up there.

There is a certain irony to that prized window of time when Christmas decorations are acceptable to have up. We scoff at the over-efficient neighbors who start putting their lights up the minute they digest their Thanksgiving turkey, and yet there is a certain jealousy too that they got them up before we did. And when we have everything done and see people buying their trees on December 20th, there's a certain sigh of relief there too. "Whew! At least we didn't wait that long!"

But after Christmas is a whole different story. When I was teaching I would really try to take my decorations down before the vacation was over. If I didn't, then my first weekend after returning to work had to be devoted to the task. But now, what's acceptable?

This is the first Christmas EVER that I have woken up on Christmas morning in a hotel room. It is also the first Christmas ever that I went to Disneyland on Christmas Day (never again!) And, even though we came back to our house in WA on January 5th, Christmas and its decorations already felt very out of date.

Our neighbors across the street are of the uber-efficient sort, so everything of theirs (lights, tree, etc) was all down by the time we pulled into our driveway after that 2-day, 1000-mile drive last Thursday night. Eric and I have been productive these last few days, but not extremely so. It wasn't until today when he looked at me and said, "Um, are we going to take the Christmas decorations down soon? Or are we just getting a jump on next year?" that I realized it was time to get a move on.

Thankfully, taking them down takes a fraction of the time it takes to put them up. I'm about halfway done at this point. All that is left is the main tree in the living room and the 2 nativities. The 2 smaller trees and all of the boutique decorations are put away. The outside lights are the hubby's job for his days off. Lucky him. It is cold outside!

But thinking back to the statement I heard about taking down the decorations being the most depressing chore in the world...maybe it isn't really about taking them down, but about what it represents. The hype and excitement of the holiday season is over and real life is making its appearance once more. I know lots of people who can't stand Christmas and the chore of putting the decorations UP, but I'm not one of those people. I LOVE Christmas and always have, including the frenzy of buying and wrapping gifts, fighting the crowds and all that. I love it. Don't judge me.

I see Christmas as a time when we remember the Savior even more, when we try to be a little kinder, when we separate the actual meaning from the hype, and pause to enjoy the lights and hug our family members a little tighter.

Sure, we may be taking down the decorations, but the feelings are something we should hold on to all year round.

**UPDATE: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 5:30pm**
The decorations are all put away! Hooray!

Downton Abbey!

In this crazy world where most of television is absolute garbage, it is so refreshing to come across a series that is of high quality and has excellent storytelling. Downton Abbey is that series.

Written by Julian Fellowes, who wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film, Gosford Park (a wonderful movie,) Downtown Abbey is similar in its "upstairs/downstairs" storytelling. It tells the story of the upper-class Crawley family, led by their kind and honorable father, Robert. He and his American wife are parents of 3 daughters: the icy and beautiful Mary who is searching for a husband to secure her place in society; Edith, who suffers from the classic "middle-child" syndrome; and Sybil, who embraces all that is progressive in society, from bloomers to suffrage. The fabulous Maggie Smith plays the dowager countess in a role not unlike the one she played in Gosford Park.

The staff at Downton is just as colorful, headed by Carson the butler and Mrs. Hughes, the housekeeper. Constant scheming, alliances, secrets, and love affairs create a never-ending bounty of intrigue. It is a wonder they have the time to perform their household duties!

So many period pieces dealing with this kind of "estate dynamics" are set farther back in history, but Downton Abbey takes place right as WWI is beginning and the way of life of the house's inhabitants is becoming more and more obsolete. This is not a Jane Austen story, but perhaps the kind of story she would have written had she lived 100 years later.

Season 2 just began tonight and it has been too long a wait. I first discovered it on Netflix streaming and was hooked. There are only 7 episodes in Season 1 and it isn't difficult to get roped in right away as the first episode begins on the day after the Titanic's sinking, one of the victims of which was Mary's fiancee', and the heir of the estate. With his death, and a trust that does not allow female heirs, the Crawleys' lives have been turned asunder as the future of their home, their way of life, and the lives of their servants are cast into peril.

Who said being wealthy was without its challenges?

This is a fantastic series that has already won numerous awards. I cannot wait to see which twists and turns await us!

Kristie & Eric's California Adventure!

After weeks of planning, Eric and I packed up the dog and our luggage and hit the road to California! It was his first time there since we got married in August 2010 and it was our plan to make the most of this trip. Bailey (the dog) stayed at my mom's house while we were there and we settled into our luxurious room at the Best Western in Pasadena.

You know you're in CA when Mount Shasta makes its appearance!

We did the drive in 2 days each direction--1000 miles each way.

It was great to see family and very reassuring to see my brother looking so good after his horrible health scare 4 months ago. He's back to work as an RN, will be driving again soon, and he and his wife and kids just took their first family vacation. All good things!

The night Eric and I pulled into the ol' neighborhood, we rounded up Jonathan's family and all met for sushi at Zono Sushi, our favorite place to eat in Pasadena. It was a little chaotic and we were tired after being on the road for 10 hours that day, but it was fun to see the kids and eat something other than fast food, which is our only option while on the road with a dog!

The next day was Christmas Eve, and, believe it or not, I didn't get any pictures that night! What was I thinking?! We had it at my mom's house and enjoyed watching my niece, nephew, and little cousin open their gifts. We're still adjusting to new traditions on Christmas Eve after years of always having it at my grandparents' house. It's hard to believe that this is our 4th Christmas without them.

On Christmas Day, Eric and I decided to go to DISNEYLAND! It was Christmas, so no one will be there, right??? Wrong. We got there at around 10am and stayed for about 12 hours on one of the busiest days I've ever seen at the Magic Kingdom. I'm actually surprised that we accomplished as much as we did, because that park was jam-packed!! Live and learn! Now we know.

The next day, the 26th, we had a Christmas morning and breakfast with my mom and Jonathan, Quyen and the kids. They had spent Christmas Day with her family, which is why we postponed it a day. But you know? In the right setting and with the right people, Christmas can really be on any day you want. We had a nice time and then they took off on their family vacation to San Diego. That afternoon, Eric, my mom and I had another sushi lunch with a friend and made it an early night.

On the 27th we had a pretty open day, so we decided to go to our beloved Arboretum. On December 1st, a fierce and unexpected wind storm swept through Arcadia, Temple City, Pasadena, San Gabriel, San Marino, and Alhambra and a few other local cities and a lot of people went without power for days. There was debris everywhere and we still saw a lot of the results of the storm while we were there. There was a lot of damage at the Arboretum.

We have such a special feeling towards the Arboretum because my mom used to take us there when my brother and I were kids (and it was free admission!) The day we went was only the 2nd day it had opened since the storm and there were crew workers everywhere.

Sitting on the veranda of the Queen Anne's Cottage (Site of the show Fantasy Island.)

See the worker up on the waterfall? He was one of several who was clearing away accumulated debris by hand. Eric and I have a soft spot for this waterfall, as it is the site of one of our first pictures together during his CA trip in December of 2009.

Lots of workers, lots of chainsaws grinding away at the hundreds of trees that sustained damage from the heavy winds. We also noticed very little wildlife that day. Only a few peacocks, and most of them were not even in the Arboretum grounds, but loitering around outside the entrance. Could be that the noises from the saws scared them. Both big fountains were empty and closed too. A sad sight to see.

So, even though it wasn't the most fruitful Arboretum trip, it was interesting to see what had survived the storm and what didn't. Clearly, the cleanup is going to take months.

While on our way out, Eric had the idea to buy some of their little cacti. Yesterday he came up with this little arrangement. Pretty creative, I think!

That evening Eric stayed at the hotel to relax, my mom went and did her weekly receptionist job at Weight Watchers, and I spruced up a little to join some ladies for dinner at Mimi's Cafe in Monrovia. It was a mini Girl Scout Troop 498 reunion and there were only 3 of us! There are 12 of us on Facebook that have found each other, but 6 now (including myself) live out of state.

We were hoping to have at least 6-7 of us that night, but circumstances prevented it from being so. Despite the small size, Becky, Cathy (who was one of my closest friends growing up) and I had a nice time. Becky left at 8:30 to go and care for her baby and Cathy and I kept on chatting until 10pm. We've known each other since we were 5 years old, so there is a lot of history there!

Becky, Cathy, and me

Where are we now? Wednesday, the 28th! That is the day we went and saw my cute grandma, who turns 94 in June. She's still as sharp as ever, though! Eric, my mom, and I drove out to see her in San Dimas and went out to lunch at The Peppertree (lots of eating out on vacation.) Again, I didn't get any pictures. Just imagine a cute grandma fawning over my cute husband and you'll get the idea!

That night Eric and I went to Starbucks (I got their over caloric peppermint hot chocolate) and then I took him up into Hastings Ranch in Sierra Madre where the neighborhoods get together to put on some pretty great Christmas light displays.

Then the trip took an unexpected turn that night.... (cue ominous music...)

We don't know if it was the Starbucks, the Taco Bell we had at the end of the night, a flu bug or what, but Eric started getting sick around 11pm and was miserable in every way for the rest of the night and the entire next day. We had planned to go spend the day in Long Beach, but that was definitely not going to happen. Poor baby. He was really, really sick.

I went and did laundry at my mom's and did a little shopping at the mall (it is amazing how living in a small town for a year has made me less and less happy to be around hoards of people.) Every few hours I would check in at the hotel room and just see my poor husband sleeping fitfully and not feeling well.

He continued to be sick the next day, but vastly improved. I felt like I could leave him for longer stretches of time and didn't want to lose another day, so, after Googling "Things to do alone in Pasadena," I decided to visit The Gamble House.

The Gamble House was built by the son of "that" Gamble of Proctor & Gamble.

It was perfect outing for those circumstances. I had a tour time for 12:45, which I waited for about half an hour. The weather was ideal, so I just sat on the porch with my Kindle and enjoyed the sun and relaxed.

The house itself is a sprawling 9000 square feet, but not ostentatious and luxurious. Everything, including the furniture is practically original and done in the craftsman style of the 1920's. No pictures allowed inside, but here's one I snagged off the web of the inside view towards the front door:

Very pretty! I love the craftsman style of architecture.

The next day was Saturday, New Year's Eve! Guess who felt sick that day?! ME.

I was supposed to take my nephew to Kidspace that morning and I woke up feeling so, so lousy. I felt bad having to cancel. Eric was actually feeling a lot better, but still needed another recovery day. So we pretty much had the most uneventful New Year's Eve ever! I slept all day long and still slept that night. My symptoms were not as bad as his, thank goodness!

On New Year's Day we decided that we had to go out and do something together. It had been 4 days since we'd been out at the same time, thanks to that lovely bug we caught. So we decided to drive to the Rose Bowl so that Eric could see it and also see a few of the Rose Parade floats that were being finished up for the parade the next day.

Eric in front of the Rose Bowl. Is that a California shot, or what?

Me in front of the one of the floats. Good day to wear a bright color!

The float that caught our attention the most was the one dedicated to the memory of old time western star, Roy Rogers. It was Eric who first said, "That looks like a real horse!" He was right. Roy Rogers famously had his horse, Trigger, and his dog, Bullet, stuffed, and they were actually ON the float. There used to be a Roy Rogers Museum outside of Los Angeles, but I heard it shut down. I'm not sure how I feel about seeing his stuffed horse and dog on the float, but it was certainly original. And the float rules do say that everything has to be covered in natural materials. I guess these qualify! Ugh.
After staying at the Rose Bowl for about an hour, the 2 sickies (us) were ready to bring our post-bug adventure to a close. After all, the parade was the next day and that was going to take a lot of energy!!

Rain or shine, my mom goes to the Rose Parade every...single...year. She doesn't care if she has someone to go with or not, she goes. Of course the Rose Parade is partly famous for the thousands of people who camp out overnight (sometimes days ahead of time.) I've camped out one time and vowed never to do it again. You end of with loads of stuff to haul. You're dirty, exhausted, and have to walk blocks and blocks to the car. No thanks, not for me.

The thing is, it is easy to see the parade without camping out and without paying $90 for a bleacher seat. The parade starts at 8:10am and goes for 5 1/2 miles, so if you park a few blocks south of Colorado Blvd (the street on the route) and set up at the end of the route, you're good. We got to my mom's at 7:30am, caravaned to a street about 3/4 mile from the route and walked the rest. We walked until we found a family in chairs and just stood behind them. There were bleachers behind us, but the seats are so high up that we didn't block anyone.

It was fun! Eric had never seen the parade before, not even on TV, so this was a momentous occasion for him. We had also followed the past season of Dancing With the Stars (first time ever) and it was cool to see JR Martinez as the Grand Marshal. He was a ham in person too! We also saw Kenny G and Dick Van Patten (Mr. Bradford from Eight is Enough,) and some of the hosts from HGTV, don't ask me their names!

The opening of the Rose Parade

Kenny G

Grand Marshal, DWTS champion and veteran JR Martinez
We like him!

This float was very touching. It was dedicated to organ donation. Each of the faces on the float is someone who lost their life but donated their organs and gave the gift of life to someone else. Many of the people riding the float are alive because of organ donation. There were also the parents of the little 9 year old girl who was shot and killed the day Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was attacked. She was also an organ donor. Eric and I are both big supporters of organ donation and really loved this float.

This was a beautiful float by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth Taylor with the words "Our Champion."

Here are a few other random floats from the parade. And can I just say, "Look at that gorgeous blue sky?!" We almost always get incredible weather for the parade:

And, I didn't take a lot of videos this trip, but I had to take a video of this marching band from Japan. Definitely the hardest-working band I have ever seen!

I'm so happy with the way the colors turned out on the parade pictures! The colors that day, including the blue of the sky, really were that bright and vibrant. It was a tiring day, but fun. Eric and I ended up having lunch at Claim Jumper (I was dying for a salad and some lemonade! The temperature was a record-breaking high for parade day,) and then took it easy for the rest of the day.

The plan was to leave the next day, but after watching the sun set and thinking about the days we lost because of illness, we decided to extend by one more day. We would cap off our trip by going to Long Beach and visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific and enjoying the gorgeous weather for an extra 24 hours.

I hadn't been to the Aquarium since they first opened around 12 years ago and was pleasantly surprised at the way it has evolved into a very neat place to visit. We bought a ticket to the aquarium and for their 45 minute harbor cruise. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful day!

The Aquarium of the Pacific (Jan. 3, 2012)

View of downtown Long Beach from our boat during the harbor cruise. A very relaxing 45 minutes!

The lovely Queen Mary. I look forward to taking Eric there on another trip.

Two buddies hanging out on a buoy in the middle of the harbor

And there's my sweet husband and travel buddy! We ate at Bubba Gump's after the harbor cruise. Cute place, good service, cool gift shop.....very over-priced and unspectacular food! You're pretty much paying to say you ate at Bubba Gump.

I took a ton of pictures at the aquarium but, let's face it, you had to be there to really appreciate it. Here are some of the best of the bunch:

This spider crab was enormous. Probably 4-5 feet from tip to tip.

I think I see Nemo!

The Aquarium is very kid-friendly and not so big that you get lost. This was a cool Q&A that we saw with one of their divers. She was hooked up to a microphone and would take the kids' questions.

See the seahorse? Isn't nature amazing? I think I'm more fascinated by undersea creatures than the ones who walk above ground!

A little known fact about me...I love sharks. I think they are one of the coolest creatures. When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to read about was sharks.

Another favorite undersea creature is the jellyfish. I love watching the way they pulsate and pump their incredible bodies through the water. How do they do that when they have no brains or eyes?

I am SO glad that we extended our trip by one day. I really have to thank Eric for that one, because he knew it meant a lot to me and I knew that he was giving up a day to relax at home before having to return to work. The day we spent at Long Beach was ideal and the perfect way to cap off our vacation.

What a great, great day!!
The next day we headed back to Washington! We picked up a grateful Bailey who was very ready to go home after 2 weeks. Maybe he was just excited to go in the car, who knows?

We said goodbye to my mom, our hotel room, the warm weather and hit the road once again.

Some great shots of Mount Shasta on our way home:



Somewhere in Oregon we were greeted by a double rainbow:


We had to laugh, because the sunny weather changed to gloom and overcast almost IMMEDIATELY after we crossed the border from California to Oregon. We were definitely back in the Pacific Northwest!
Still, we felt very lucky that the weather was very kind to us during our drive. We never ran into any major issues, the snow chains were not needed, and the car functioned 100% all the way.

We had a great trip! And it is good to be home.

We're home!

Two weeks and two thousand miles later...we're home from California!

We had a great trip with few bumps and I'm excited to share more and post pictures. Today has been all about decompressing, doing tons of laundry, and enjoying being in our own house after 2 weeks in a hotel.

Hope everyone had a great new year! More to come!

Holiday Hiatus...

I will be taking a break from updating my blog for a couple of weeks as the holiday adventures begin. All of the shopping, wrapping and planning is about to pay off.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Joyous and Happy New Year!! May your 2012 be the best ever, full of love, laughter, blessings, and gratitude.

Here are 2 of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. They aren't traditional ones, but I think both of them are just gorgeous. Enjoy, everyone!

CANDLELIGHT CAROL


WHEN A CHILD IS BORN

Christmas is About the Christ...

This week has been a series of delays in all of the things I've wanted to accomplishment. My Relief Society lesson isn't done yet, the house isn't as clean as I would like it to be, the presents were only bought today for the kids in the family and still aren't wrapped, and all of the upcoming obligations are a little overwhelming to think about.

Last night, though, while working on my lesson, I took a few breaks to watch parts of the Christmas Devotional. I was especially moved by a part of Pres. Uchtdorf's talk. His words helped to bring me back to what is important and why we celebrate this season. If you haven't noticed, I tend to focus on the unimportant things more than I'd like and often need reminding.

I'm going to post the section of his talk here, with links to the entire devotional. It was so beautiful--both the words and music--and relaxing to listen to:

CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT THE CHRIST
by Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Christmas Is about the Christ

In these precious moments we realize what we feel and know in our heart—that Christmas is really about the Christ.

Christmas and some of the cherished traditions of the season remind us that we, like the Wise Men of old, should seek the Christ and lay before Him the most precious of gifts: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We should offer Him our love. We should give Him our willingness to take upon ourselves His name and walk in the path of discipleship. We should promise to remember Him always, to emulate His example, and to go about doing good. ¹

We cannot offer Him the gift of perfection in all things because this is a gift beyond our capacity to give—at least for now. The Lord does not expect that we commit to move mountains. But He does require that we bring as gifts our best efforts to move ourselves, one foot in front of the other, walking in the ways He has prepared and taught.

And what are the Savior’s gifts to those who are willing to bring these gifts to Him?

This may be the most one-sided gift exchange in the history of the universe. The Savior’s gifts to us are breathtaking.

Let us begin with immortality. Because the Savior overcame death, all men and women—both the just and the unjust—will live forever. ²

Then, forgiveness—even though our sins and imperfections be as scarlet, they can become white as snow because of Him. ³

And finally, eternal life—the greatest gift of all. ⁴ Because of the Atonement of Christ, not only are we guaranteed an infinite quantity of life, but He offers the possibility of an unimaginable quality of life as well. ⁵

Some of His divine gifts are reserved for that glorious future day when we return to His presence.

But He extends many gifts and His grace to us every day. He promises to be with us, to come to us when we need comfort, ⁶ to lift us when we stumble, to carry us if needed, to mourn and rejoice with us. Every day He offers to take us by the hand and help transform ordinary life into extraordinary spiritual experiences.

I just love the way he expresses himself in these paragraphs. They really spoke to me on a personal level. To see the entire devotional, or just specific parts of it, click HERE.

A great Christmas flash mob...

As I said before, there just seems to be an abundance of great videos that people are sharing during the holiday season. I'm reserving the best ones for my blog.

This is the best Christmas flash mob I've seen, partly because of the way the shoppers react and get involved. I love how these fun musical moments make everyone stop for just a few minutes during the Christmas craziness and remember what it is that we are really celebrating:

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies on the Glass Harp..

This is beautiful to hear and to watch...turn up those speakers!

Live! From my new iMac...

Well, it is official. I'm the owner of an iMac. Yesterday my Toshiba laptop started acting up again. Windows did one of their fun updates and the computer restarted by itself. When it did, the graphics on the screen went all crazy. It had been only 8 days since the last time it did that.

I took it to the local computer store where they tried to work their magic--last time they were successful. This time...nothing. So, instead of spending the day working on my lesson for church, I spent the day transferring things to my external hard drive.

When Eric came home I got to give him the good news--not! The sad truth is that these days, a computer is essential for so many things. My sweet man told me to get whatever I wanted, although we had already discussed the transition to an Apple. I assured him that I would get the most basic, inexpensive one. And that is what I did.

Setting it up has been a little time-consuming, but not bad. A lot of my installation CDs for things will not work anymore, which I was prepared for. Not only because of transferring to an Apple, but because they are just too old. Thank goodness for online drivers! Installing my printer was my biggest concern, but only after a couple of minor hiccups, I did it. Whew!

Other things will not be possible to transfer over, mainly my music from my Zune player, which uses an Mp3 format, while Apple uses an Mp4. Tricky! My Zune player is nearly full anyway, so I can live with not adding/subtracting anything from it.

I do love having a big 21" screen to look at. The resolution is amazing and bright. It makes everything look beautiful!

Everything that needed to be done to make the iMac feel like "mine" is essentially done. This and all of those changes on Facebook on the same day!

I just feel blessed that when something happens, like my laptop becoming unusable, that we can just say, "go get a new one." That in itself is something to be very grateful for.

The BEST Christmas Light/Music Display I've Seen...

It is so fun to stumble across cool videos of people doing fun and creative things, especially during the holiday season, when things can get a little crazy and it is easy to lose sight of what the season is really about.

These videos are courtesy of R. Holdman of Pleasant Grove, UT. You can visit his website at: www.holdman.com/christmas/video

Turn up those speakers and enjoy!

Carol of the Bells

Carol of the Bells - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

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Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle from 34th Street - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

P.S If you are one of those people that just has to know how this is done, you can get your answers at HERE. It takes a lot of patience!

The Spirit of Christmas

There have been so many great videos put out by the church this Christmas. And, no matter what your faith, the messages speak to all of us. Here's another one:

What are your thoughts?

This picture has been making the rounds on social media sites lately and has been getting a lot of attention. Some people see it at face value. Some see it as a metaphor. Some find it offensive. Some find it extreme.

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section....

Christmas at Arlington National Cemetery

I was sent these images in an email today. For many, Christmas is the time to remember those who are no longer with us, especially those whose lives were cut short while defending the rights of others.

"Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine . The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one of the poorest parts of the state."

The Coat: A Story of Charity

Lovely...