Day 2: Saving our Daughters

I am thankful for the group Saving our Daughters. It is a group of kids I mentor through church. I love them!! The mentors, the girls, the lessons, and activities keep me on my toes. Yes, I mentor to give back, but I have been poured into through this group also. We have our ups and downs, but in the end we are a supportive group trying to make a difference in the lives of the next generation. 

This Weekend

This weekend I organized a weekend retreat for the girls and mentors that I work with.  We had a blast! The girls had bonding time they got to pig out on food and just have good clean fun.  We rented a vacation home in Lieper's Fork, TN and it was GORGEOUS!!! See.....

They want to make this an annual event.....we shall see. I know next time I can't plan all on my own (not my choice).  That was one reason I have not blogged or posted pics for the photo challenge lately.I am trying to be more consistent with my posts, but been ripping and running the past week and I have not had time.

Next weekend's project is to find a car.....I HATE car shopping. Hope everyone starts the week off great!

Day 20: A hobby you have

Scrapbooking...picture of a scrapbook of the mentoring group that I work with.

Been on Vacation!!!!

Well I have bee on a semi vacation for the past week and that is why I have not posted on either of my blogs. I wanted to, but I was so tired :-(. Each year I take a trip with the teenagers I mentor through a program at my church called Saving Our Daughters.  We attempt to take them to places their parents might not normally take them or can not afford to take them on their own. We try to expose them to new things, cultural & educational sites, and just let them have a great time. This year we took them to Philadelphia, spent a day in New York City, took a short trip to the beach and shopping over at Atlantic City, and then ended the trip with a day at the amusement park in Maryland. We had a ball and below are a few of the pictures from the trip. Hope you enjoy!

This is a picture of Amish Country. We road past while on a dinner train ride.

Me and some of the girls I mentor after the train ride

The Statue of Liberty

In front of The Apollo Theater in Harlem

The gate into China Town given to Philadelphia by their sister city in China

The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia

The steps from the movie Rocky in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I ran down them, but did not run up them.

Well these are just a few of the pictures from the trip.  I have tons more, but these are just some of the highlights. I hope to go back to these cities to visit by myself to enjoy more of what each city has to offer. Hope you enjoyed!!! Will be back to my regular posts soon. Taking a few days to recuperate from the trip before I go back to work....I need it!

What is Racism???

Last night I was working with a group of teenagers that I mentor and we were discussing stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. This brought up interesting conversation and thoughts that everybody had. It was good to get thoughts out even if they were wrong because this is how they felt or things they thought. How can we change problems if we do not know the exist???

During the conversation there was an older mentor who really irked my nerves (she usually does, but last night was worse) because of statements she made. She has a problem of going on and on and on and on...Get my point??? Okay. She first made me upset because she called my Alma Mater racist...they got me real heated. Then she made the statement that you can only be a racist if you have power. I was like serious??? I have heard this argument before, but it is so flawed. I then had to look up the definition of the word to make sure I was not crazy. Merriam Webster's dictionary defines racism as follows:

1. a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and
capacities and that racial differences produce and inherent superiority of a
particular race.
2. racial prejudice or discrimination

With this being stated...what does power have to do with it? I am pretty sure some of the people who did not vote for our President because he is African-American are racist and they have no power. Then you might argue that everyone has some type of power so therefore everyone can be racist.

So what is your definition of racism? Do you think it has to do with power?