Danke. Gracias. Merci. Terim Kasih. Salamat Po. Khob Kun Ka. Asante. Webale Nyo. Thank you.

As I was starting to write my blog today I had to count the weeks from when I launched The Bernie Project....you should have heard the surprise in my voice when I counted 6....6...really...just 6...6. huh...6 weeks. It feels MUCH longer than 6...not in a bad way...just longer than 6. In fact I just went back to count on my calendar...still 6.

There have been numerous times since June 21^st where I have been overcome by the love, support and generosity of friends, family and strangers. On more than one occasion I have asked myself “How do I adequately express the gratitude I have for the love and support I have experienced since launching The Bernie Project?” 

On June 21^st I sent an email to pretty much everyone in my address book about the launch of The Bernie Project. I received my first PayPal notification email (PS- Love those emails!) from Roger from Visions Made Viable the non-profit incubator who manages all my administrative and financial needs. My first donation was substantial and from a former colleague and her mom. That email made me realize for one- this was real and two- people were already behind me. I cried. Since then, the donations that have come in both small and large with their own stories and reasoning behind why they support me, why they support The Bernie Project and our mission to positively impact the lives of the kids at the Wakiso School of Hope, has been awe-inspiring and overwhelming. 

The notes from friends who have shown their kids The Bernie Project website and had discussions with their kids about what life must be like in Uganda and how they can help their peers half way across the world. From selling their own beloved possessions, donating part of their allowance or raising money for The Bernie Project for their birthday instead of accepting gifts is a tremendous display of generosity.

The collaborative discussions with old friends about how the US organizations they work with can partner with The Bernie Project whether it’s creating a pen-pal program, planning a trip for 2014 and or raising funds and awareness to The Bernie Project is so awesome.

The examples above are just a few of the amazing  moments that have happened since the launch of The Bernie Project. I’m 11 days away from leaving on a 9-day trip to Uganda. It is action packed and I can’t wait to share with you all the fantastic things you have made possible.

I’ll continue to express my thanks on my blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, in handwritten thank you cards (yours will be in the mail soon, I swear), in person, out loud, via text and in my head. I don’t know when I’ll be satisfied that I’ve adequately expressed the gratitude that is in my heart.  Until then….Thank you.

With Abundant Gratitude,

April

LIVE while you're breathing.

It could have been my grandma dying unexpectedly when I was 15 that left the impressionable realization that life is damn short and you better make the most out of it.

If it were up to me I’d live 50 lives, I often play the “in my next life I’d like to come back as a lead singer of a band or an Olympic gymnast”. I can tell you those things were never and will never be attainable in my current lifetime.

Some of the more realistic things I’ve wanted to be or do in my lifetime-- In first grade I wanted to be a world traveler, in high school I wanted to be a teacher and I wanted to go into the Peace Corps, in college I wanted to be a fashion buyer. I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur. I’ve wanted to teach English as a second language. I’ve wanted to own a Bed and Breakfast. I’ve wanted to import cool things from different countries into the US. I’ve wanted to be a philanthropist. Life feels like all of a sudden all of these careers are snowballing into one thing, which is so cool and I’m so thankful.

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day and I said without question this move to Uganda is a “universe inspired, God-thing”. She pointed out that I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am today, and while I agree, I must say “at the point of commitment the universe conspires with you”, is a seemingly true statement.

There are also HUGE moments of self-doubt: Will I be successful at running The Bernie Project? Will I adapt to living in Uganda? Will people come visit me? What if I get malaria? Why did I just sell everything I own? And then I breathe through it and I tell myself those are all fear based thoughts and I know based on my experiences in life that I will adapt and while I’m sure there are going to be days that I want to quit and continue to live a really cushy, fab life planning corporate events all over the world, there will be many more days I know I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

In recent weeks I’ve had conversations with two friends, one who is battling a persistent case of MRSA and another who just had a bilateral mastectomy on Friday. As I celebrate the launch of The Bernie Project, I just can’t get over both of their personal health struggles. It makes me so thankful for my current health and also reaffirms that life is indeed short and we should make the most of it.

Yesterday, after the Asiana Airlines plane crash in San Francisco, I emailed my friend who is a lawyer, with the intent of creating a will, funeral planning, whatever else I need to do so that when I die, whoever is dealing with my death, knows what I want, how I want my body and funeral arrangements handled. I’d like to state and this will be written down and notarized…under no circumstances should anyone pay for my body to be flown anywhere, just cremate me and spread my ashes in a few key locations worldwide.  While morbid and many of you will say come on you’re only 36, it’s something we should all be thinking about.

Me and Thomas on the Charlotte Speedway,
so glad I let him drive, even though I really wanted to!

This morning, I woke up to an email that my friend Thomas died on Thursday, cause unknown and he was only 45ish…I’m still in shock. I really can’t believe he’s gone. The strangest thing happened on Friday, there was a little kid’s chair in this antique market in Healdsburg and it said Thomas on the back of the chair. I almost took a photo of it and texted it to him, just as a thinking of you, should I pick up this chair for you kinda funny. He was already gone, but I didn’t it know yet. I knew Thomas for a little more than a year. At first I wanted to choke him, he was persistent and slightly irritating. But on MINI Takes the States we ended up driving together for about 5 legs of the trip. If you stick two people in a MINI and make them drive 100s of thousands of miles together, they’ll either kill each other or learn to love each other. 15 minutes into the first leg as we were barreling down the Jersey Turnpike on the 4^th of July with the top down and the A/C on in 90 degree weather, singing our hearts out to Kelly Clarkson, we knew it was love. We had a lot of fun driving from Jersey to DC to Charlotte to Nashville and then back together again for the Lincoln to Denver haul down I-80.

Life is short. Do what you love. If you don't like something in your life do your best to change it. Be grateful even on days when you don’t want to be. Smile at strangers. Practice grace. Go on that trip of a lifetime now. Hug your kids even when they are being naughty. Forgive. Most importantly LIVE while you’re breathing.

Leaping

At the beginning of the year I chose two words "Leap" and "Stretch" as my words for the year. Leap because I knew I wanted to do something big by the end of the year that would take the most courage I have yet to personally express and stretch well because creating a yoga habit is forever on my annual list of New Year's intentions. While my down-ward dog needs improvement most of you now know that I have definitely leapt.

In January I started mulling over what it would take for me to leave my life as I know it and move to Uganda. I had a few ideas: I could work for an established NGO, I could create a tour and travel company, I could go back to being a TD or I could create my own non-profit. I then had to decide what life changes I was going to need to make in order to be comfortable with quitting my job and moving to Uganda. I moved out of my apartment and into a house with roommates cutting my rent in half and I put myself on a serious spending diet. I have sold a lot of what I own and I plan on selling the rest in the coming months. The moving sale I had in February I made $1100 in 2 days, I can tell you I don't remember what I sold and I clearly don't miss any of it.  People say "ahh you're not going to put anything in storage? but what about all your stuff?" People it's just stuff, ask anyone who's ever had their house blown away, burnt to the ground or flooded....you can always get more stuff.

I then started plotting out The Bernie Project, which at first was just the project's code name, but after trying out a few other names, The Bernie Project stuck. I love it, some of my friends love it, some of my friends don't love it. I'll tell you why I love it, it's a constant reminder for me why I'm doing what I'm doing. When I hear Bernie, I automatically think of Mahadi, which then makes me think of the other kids at the school and how I know they deserve better and how we will make it better.

I don't know how long I'll live in Uganda. I don't know if it will be for 6 months, the rest of my life or somewhere in between. Jack and Josephine both think I'm soft. I'd be willing to say they have a side bet between the two of them to see how long I stay. I'm not sure they realize how stubborn I am. I fully suspect some full on come aparts, when I'm hot, frustrated and things aren't moving as fast as I'd like or someone won't negotiate with me in the market or I'm lost or hungry or thirsty or craving Starbucks or all of the above.

For now this move is to be closer to Mahadi on a more consistent basis. I have no expectations of what will happen with this move. I don't know if he will live with me. I'm not seeking to adopt him. I just know I need to be there.

The Bernie Project will be my primary professional focus beginning in 2014. I will still keep a big toe in the event and meeting planning industry which will give me the opportunity to come back to the States a couple of times a year and execute a couple of fundraising events as well.

I'm really excited about what The Bernie Project has in store for not only the school, but for everyone who comes in contact with the project. The ways to engage with The Bernie Projet are endless and I can't wait to see them all come to fruition.

For all of you who have given your support, thanks! It's going to be one hell of a ride and I look forward to sharing it all with you the good and the bad.

xoxo,

april

Bali

One of the last mornings I was staying at the Grand Hyatt Bali, I woke up early and headed down to the beach to watch the sun rise. I sat down and noticed a guy standing in the low tide with his camera and tripod. I was very curious about the shots he had captured. But the other thing that was pulling more was the intuitive knowledge that he and I were going to have some sort of exchange. It felt as if he kept looking back at me on the beach. I carried on with meditating and appreciating the sunrise. As he started to gather his equipment and head back towards the beach he veered away from me and I thought no no you're supposed to come and say hello and he redirected his position and headed straight towards me.

Our exchange was simple and fleeting I said "did you get some great shots?" We carried on for a brief moment. He was from Singapore. I mentioned I lived in Berkeley. He said San Francisco is gorgeous. I've been before when I go to Illinois to visit family. Funny I said I'm from Illinois. We introduced ourselves and wished each other safe travels and that was it.

I'm a believer in serendipity, sliding doors, fate, whatever you'd like to call it. But what I've learned when you open your heart to the world and the people on this planet, amazing life changing things can happen.

Now my interaction with Veraj was not life changing but it was proof of following your instinctive gut reaction and how by listening to your inner voice you can guide your life down the path you are supposed to take.

Don't get me wrong there have been many times where I've neglected that inner voice and found myself on the wrong path only to re-correct my direction. I take these detours as part of life and don't feel like anything happens in vain. As I've gotten older my intuitive self has gotten much stronger and being on an island like Bali only increases that energy.

Bali is a sacred spiritual land and once you get out of the hustle and bustle of Denpasar, Kuta and Nusa Dua, you can feel the energy all over the island. If you go to Bali it's imperative you get out of the touristy beachy areas to truly experience the beauty, love and spirituality of the land and people.

People come and go in our lives sometimes fleeting like Veraj and others like one of my dear friends Melissa, who I've had the pleasure of knowing since we were 10. Our friendship over the years has taken many forms, but it wasn't until we were in our late 20s that our friendship solidified into a life long friendship. It was great spending time with Melissa on Bali, we initially were supposed to leave on Thursday, but Melissa didn't want to go back to Thailand and I didn't want to go back to the states, so we both changed our flights. I really should know better now, Bali is the only country I've been to where I've extended my trip BOTH times.

It would have been such a shame if we hadn't gone with our impulse to change our flights, the experiences and people we met in those extra days have created lifetime memories.

We decided to leave Ubud and go up to Munduk, the mountainous area of the island with rice paddies, water falls and views that go on for days. We were told to go to the Banyan tree, the oldest and largest on the island. We hired motobike drivers to take us to the tree. Initially, I wasn't that impressed, but then I remembered reading somewhere to walk amongst the roots. In we went walking through the maze of the roots, touching the limbs feeling the energy radiating off the tree. Our motobike driver told us we could climb it. As a child my cousins and I would climb the trees in my grandparent's backyard and it came back naturally, though now as an adult I'm scared of heights you can fall off of, I climbed about 12 feet into the tree. I had pumas on with zero traction and I knew I needed to be careful. The rise of panic started to boil but I tamped it back down and wasn't scared, yet I knew I was going to fall. I started to make my way down and I grabbed this thick yet short nubby limb that I had used earlier to climb up. As soon as I heard the snap, I knew what it meant and down I went. I could have hit one of the many limbs, I could have landed in various positions. Aside from a scrape and a bruised bottom (which doesn't hurt) I was fine, convinced angels were watching over me.

Saturday, Melissa left for Bangkok and I headed back to Ubud. I went to see another healer and that whole experience will be told at another time, but while I was waiting to see him I was growing impatient. I had a plan for how the day was going to go I was going to be checking into my hotel by 1 (at least that was the plan in my mind) but this guy was not going along with my plans. I still had to go to the Ubud market and could tell that my arrival time to my hoteI was going to be pushed back. I took a few deep breathes, reminded myself to not be so American and just be. The day unfolded just as it was supposed to and everything that happened the last night in Bali happened exactly as it was meant to happen. And for that I am thankful.