this weekend

LOL

No, it's not the popular acronym that you're think of, laugh out loud, it stands for Live On Less. It's been a popular phrase lately in the Mayotte household. A couple of weeks ago at a Lydia meeting, the human rights group Mark and I volunteer with, Sandie, the founder was talking about her experience living in Greece. After 13 years of living overseas she was shocked to move back to see how much excess we live in.
This is an obvious concept to anyone with the slightest awareness. And I have always tried to remain conscious of my consumption and waste, but Mark and I have made it into a game in our house, to see who can come up with the most Eco friendly idea. Here are a couple:

-Burying our dogs waste to naturally biodegrade instead of throwing it away to fill up already over-full land fills.
-Hang drying our clothes on the clothes line
-Saving left-overs and making new meals with them
-Shopping primarily at thrift stores for clothes, furniture, art, or presents, or trading clothes at vintage shops
-Trading old CDs for new ones
-Picnics at the park/beach/anywhere instead of eating out
-The crock pot
-Making gifts instead of buying

These are just a few fun ideas, post some if you have some other ideas!

Some haunting facts...

-one million children each year are exploited in the global commercial sex trade

-50% of all trafficking victims worldwide are children

-70-95% of the women in prostitution were sexually assaulted and/or raped according to a study of nine countries

-50% of HIV-infected children, in the absence of any treatment, die by their second birthday

-2.3 million girls and women work as prostitutes and madams in India

-2,000 girls are rescued from sex-slavery each year in India

-200,000 persons are trafficked into, within or through India anually

-$400 million in revenue is generated in Bombay's red-light district

I don't really know where to start...

After spending a much-needed summer in Oregon, Mark and I are back in the OC. I don't really know how else to explain it but we just knew we needed to have some refuge away from the fast-paced living in So Cal. We knew two things we were looking forward to in Oregon, Family and space. Suprisingly, what we were looking for in Oregon, we found in Tustin.

We are living in a cute little 20s house in Old Town Tustin. We have 3 bedrooms, a backyard and an orchard. That's our space. As for family, my little sister decided she couldn't get enough of Mark and I this summer and followed us back to Orange County. She is living with us and going to school at Biola to become a Nurse. It's amazing how all this worked out, just not in the way that I had imagined. It has been so great having family close, but also being in the place that we love, close to all of our friends.

Mark is loving his new job. He is learning great leadership as a Supervisor for a local carpenter and really enjoying working on our house, his basketball league and watching college football.

As for me, I am currently working with a local non profit called Lydia Today: http://www.lydiatoday.org/, which I am very excited about and also volunteering with a group of special needs girls.

More thoughts to come...

Rest in Peace

William Smith

1981-2007

my girls...

It's quite an odd thing to be sad and excited at the same time. I am at such a crossroads here. Any time spent with friends takes me to a place of sadness and depression knowing that I will never find friends like this anywhere. And yes, I know, they will always be my best friends. But it's quite different to be a part of the daily happenings in each others lives.



I will miss...

shopping at Goodwill with Tawny...

drinking too much wine and then trying to sew with the "domesticated" girls...

many breakfasts at Gypsy Den...

double-dates with Crystal and Sam...

laying poolside at Martinique...

all the journaling and tea drinking...

bounce house at Dawson street...

random road trips to Joshua tree...

cooking ethnic foods together...

bike rides...

dancing with my girls...

praying for each other...

late night talks from our hearts...

reminiscing...

Positano, Italy and bathing in the Mediterranean...

laughing...

painting, scrap booking, writing and trying to study...



I love you girls! You are my best friends and my sisters!

Blessings...

Ask anyone, I'm not a raging optimist. An Idealist, yes. But I definitely feel the ups and downs of life and I don't like to sugarcoat anything. But lately I just can't help but smile at all of the beautiful blessings around me. How about a list:

So it's official...

Mark and I are packing up our things (what little we have left after selling most of our furniture) and we're headed up north to Oregon.

I'm sure that there will be many questions as to why the sudden change (and yes, it is VERY sudden)...but I'm still not really sure why. I love it here! Granted, I don't love Orange County. But I love my job. I love my community. I love my friends and all the quality time. and the beach and wonderful weather...that should be enough reason to stay, huh? We'll tell that to the Big Man (GOD). Over the last couple of weeks Mark and I have had this feeling that we're to move on. I'm not sure why, or even how long, maybe just for the summer. We just know that it's time for change.

More to come...

A day at the Beach

Dog Park

So I really don't want to be that weird pet owner that refers to their dog as their "son" or "daughter." But I will admit that the dog love is in full affect. Last Saturday Mark and I took Nola and Mark's dog Bubba to the park. We had a great time....see for yourself...

twentythree

I would love to say that I am one of those people that humbly thinks nothing of their birthday and desires nothing for it. The reality is: I couldn't be further from that ideal. I try not to have such high expectations, I know that I'm spoiled rotten, but it's something that I just cannot help. Here is the birthday DL (down low):

Birthday dinner with the Fam:
Tea Party in Long Beach with my girls:Lot's of flowers:Dinner at La Craperia with friends:

Think about it...

-35% of the world's grain and 70% of the United States' grain are fed to livestock
-Some developing nations grow and export grains to feed livestock in Western nations while their own citizens are starving
-Every steak has the same global warming effect as a 25-mile drive in a typical American car
-Livestock production is the largest polluter of water in the United States, topping all other industries that produce toxic wastes
-Cattle ranching has destroyed more rain forest than any other activity in Central America
-Most Americans eat 4 to 6 times the amount of protein required for good health. This extra protein is wasted and can cause disease.

"When cattle ranchers clear rain forests to raise beef to sell to fast-food chains that make hamburgers to sell to Americans who have the highest rate of heart disease in the world...we can say easily that business is no longer developing the world. We have become its predator." - Paul Hawken
Author of The Ecology of Commerce

The Stand

If you have not been to The Stand in Laguna Beach you are missing out. Not only is this little hidden treasure Vegan friendly, they use no animal products or bi-products, but they serve up some of the most tantalizing food that your body (or your hippie friend) won't hate you for indulging in. Believe me it's hard to find really tasty and inexpensive vegan food. But The Stand does things right.

...I'm not one to throw around cliche Christian lingo

...and sometimes I am too careful, not for the sake of tolerance but for the sake of authenticity...but I'll just be blunt here...I cannot do anything without Christ!

So where am I going with this? Well as many of you know I juggle many hats at my job with Mercy House. With nothing more then the determination of a eager post college student I have been wearing very thin. I have been hanging on with the nothing but ego and despite many attempts for the Lord to extricate me from my pride, I have still managed to make this all about me. SO how many times did I have to fall on my ass to realize that I cannot do this without HIM? Well I'm much to prideful to answer that (ironic huh?). No but really, I have finally come to a point where I have set boundaries even when they make me look weak (hint: I am weak). I am ready to let God lead this crazy train, not because I am so humble to let him, but because He has made it my only option. I am learning...slowly...

Thanks for listening to my mantra...more ramblings to come...

Nola...

OK...some more info on the new pup aka Mark's daughter:) She is as sweet as can be and well worth the work (I say that only as she is laying peacefully asleep on my lap). She is a pure-breed French Bulldog from champion lines and she knows it! She has a playful personality and is loved by all who meet her. She is also stubborn as an ox...I think that's the saying. She loves playing with Mark and to follow me all around the house, including to the bathroom and while I'm in the shower. She is spoiled rotten-which includes sleeping in bed with Mark and I. I know it's a bad habit...I just can't stand to hear her cry.

So, I guess you could say that we're parents. It makes the thought of actual parent hood seem to fade further into the distance...just don't tell my mom:) Mark and I are both learning a lot of nurturing skills and who is the good cop (Mark) and who is the bad cop (me)! Who would have guessed (said with heavy sarcasm). Anyone who knows us could have guessed that...

Well let me know if anyone has any puppy advice...

My Valentine's Gift!!

Let the DOMESTICATION continue...

Thank you again my darlings for yet another wonderful night of deliciously hand-crafted food, meticulous material creations, late night talks and slumber parties!! Oh the comfort of conversations that flow through politics and current events to the names of our unborn-adopted children. Then on to social stratification found in poverty and then to our "colors" and International make-out sessions. I love you all more than words can say! You are my best friends and my family, I truly don't know what I would do without your love, support and constant laughs!!

My Birthday wish...

Why do I allow the emotions that follow my circumstances to rule me?

I love the sensative beating heart inside my chest...but I do not love way that I allow it to rule my life. I desire to walk a steady balance between heart and logic. I cannot handle the feelings of being tossed in the wind of emotion like a ragdoll.
I fell helpless.
I fell enslaved.
I fell weak.
At times I feel that I fit perfectly in the steps I have chosen. At other times I feel like I am much too weak to be working with the kinds of people I do. But that is the problem, the "I feel.." statement. I want to start thinking more, and feeling less. Or maybe I'll just trying to do both at the same time...

Just braggin' on my boy...

My husband is a carpenter...he built this custom cabinetry last month. I just wanted to brag on him!!

Christmas Pictures

Yes...my mom is reaching for my...

Warming up by the fire















Sporting the original design of my new clothing line...aprons and oven mits.

Our Charlie Brown tree...

it was brown and dead within two days...
guess were not ready for a puppy yet!