are Indian kids the cutest kids ever?

maybe it's just because I have the pleasure of knowing the beautiful kids :-)

a few photos from India...

after a little photoshopping :-)

phun with photoshop...

places i've been...

missing the northeast...

I was able to talk to a friend of mine from New Haven, CT. It was really nice to hear her voice. They were having a game night. And I'm missing it. I'm missing New Haven. I'm missing my NH friends. These are 2 of my favorite places to walk around and take pictures in New Haven. I used a little photoshop, obviously :-)

India 2010!

Hello everyone! This may have been a long time coming but... I'm going to India again! I had the pleasure of going to INDIA for the first time with a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) team in January 2006. We stayed and worked with an orphanage in the city of Pune for a month. During that month, we helped get the kids ready for school, shared meals, helped with homework, taught Bible lessons, made crafts, played games, and sang songs. We did this at least 5 days a week. With that much time with the kids it was very hard to leave them. It was about a 4 hour drive from the orphanage to the airport and most of cried, at least, half way there. A few of the girls from the team were already trying to figure out when they could come back. I'd just say that if God wanted me to come back, I would.

Fast-forward 4 years later and I think GOD IS CALLING ME BACK. This past December, a friend of mine invited me to go with her team in January and, to my surprise, my heart was like "YES! I want to go!" Yes, I wanted to go but I was unable. About a week before that call, I had met with Patty Bauman (who works with YWAM and Streams of Mercy) to chat about what I was doing next. Since I didn't know what I was doing next, Patty shared, among many things, some of their thoughts and plans for India. She started me thinking so we met again, and again, and pretty soon, we were planning a trip to India.

This is kind of a SCOUTING TRIP to visit several different ministries in the Pune area. I've known, for a while,  that I want to use art and maybe work with kids and/or young people. There is a rescue and restore house for former prostitutes that we are looking to teach them how to make jewelry. I would love to use the knowledge that I have for creating jewelry to help get them started. We will also be doing an art project with a children's home for kids who have been taken in from the streets.

Patty with a group that we will work

Part of MY HEART for wanting to go is to bring art and creativity to children. On my first trip to India we were able to bring crafts for the children at the orphanage and the street kids. It was so wonderful seeing their faces light up with the simplest of crafts. I was very blessed to come from a creativity-encouraged home with the funds to provide the supplies. I want to bring this opportunity to the children of India.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: I need $2200 for airfare, boarding, and food. I am going with a small team and we will be there for about 9 days. I would also ask for prayer. I feel like this trip to going to help me determine my next step. I see that God is leading me to India and I want to know exactly what He had planned for me there and for this next season.

CONTACT: If you are interested in supporting me financially or have more questions on the trip, please leave a comment or email me: craftykellyjo@yahoo.com

Me and David on my first trip 4 years old

top 10?

Well, 'top' 10 may not be quite accurate. It's the end of the year and every t.v., blog, website, magazine, etc. starts posting their "top 10 whatever" of the year - you name it. There's best movie lists, top scandals, favorite trends, greatest youtube videos, funniest pets, great moments in history, and so on and so forth. So, i decided to have my own list. Is it a top 10? no. But it's a picture from each month of '09 with a memory to go with :-)

JANUARY - I was in Texas for most of Jan and for Dad's birthday the family went mini-golfing (sans Ryan) The picture is a little dark but it's my favorite from that night!

FEBRUARY - I was back in Connecticut and I was a teacher's assistant for a week long art class. These were the two students who gave me the most trouble but both wrote me thank you notes and hugged me at the last class :-)

MARCH - The start of many, many cupcakes. Why? Because I like decorating (and eating) cupcakes.

APRIL - Easter. As soon as Cora discovered that the eggs had candy, we couldn't stop her.

MAY - Cora-bora :-)

JUNE - Me and Nourtney singing together. First time ever.

JULY - In Germany with the lovely Anne-Kerstin :-)

AUGUST - Two words: Chocolate. Fondue.

Two more words: In. Switzerland!

SEPTEMBER - My wonderful and crazy room-mates, Celine (right) and Rocio

NOVEMBER - Don't adjust your screen. I don't seem to have any pictures from October so I'm showing 2 from Nov. This is one from my visit to Kansas City to surprise Nourtney on her birthday. They are watching a video of the family (in Wylie) singing Happy Birthday.

This one is from the Grimm Family Thanksgiving. That's my grandmother (Granny) giving my great-grandmother (her mom), Mama a hug. Mama is 99 years old! She doesn't usually make it to the family events because it wears her out, but she was a trooper that day :-)

DECEMBER - well, I'm waiting for Christmas pictures :-)

do-do-do, lookin' out my backdoor...

my room is in the main building of the YWAM campus. And instead of having a window, we have doors that open up to a nice, big balcony that overlooks the back parking lot and the rest of the property...

yes, those are cows. we use their milk everyday and if we wind shifts, then we get to smell them...

for those of you who don't have facebook...

i posted some of these pictures on my facebook account. i realized that not everyone has an account - or is one of my facebook friends. So i decided to post them on my blog too! These are pictures from my quick trip to Germany, before i came to Switzerland. My friend, Anne, took me to Koln (pronounced like cologne) where we visited The Dome - a church building that was started in 1248 but wasn't finished until the 1800's!

The Dome...

the back of The Dome...

just a really funky fountain near the Dome...

me and Anne...

inside the Dome...

this guy is just chillin'...

crazy-cool pipe organ...

one of the many beautiful stained-glass windows...

one of the beautiful cobble-stone streets in Koln...

the Rhine River...

there was just so many gorgeous buildings in Koln...

the West Gate... i think...

the Koln train station...

we then took the train to Dusseldorf...

this building had a wonderful chocolate shop on the first floor. very tasty!