Peace to DC and Beyond! ~ With the link ;)

Hello friends,

Sorry for not including the link before ~ here you go! http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=183052
I cannot tell you how much asking for $$$ scares me, and yet... I'm always fundraising. I think in life it's a good think to face fears head on, or at least look through the peephole first before opening the door.

This entry is dedicated to another person I've never met. Her name is Sierra ~ very similar to Sarah. She's a young girl selected by Kids for Peace to be sponsored to go to Washington DC on the Peace Pledge Tour. I'm helping her personally by setting up a page where people can donate or simply spread the link on their facebook. Simple as that.

Breaking it down ~ If 50 of my friends donated only $10, then we would make the goal and Sierra experience spreading peace in a way that will shape her future and perhaps the future of many others.  

What is the Peace Pledge?
I pledge to use my words to speak in a kind way.
I pledge to help others as I go throughout my day.
I pledge to care for our earth with my healing heart and hands.
I pledge to respect people in each and every land.
I pledge to join together as we unite the big and small.
I pledge to do my part to create peace for one and all.


What is the tour about?
Kids for Peace members from all over the United States will unite to present our Peace Pledge to Congress as well as other important sites throughout DC. The children will present at all the major Memorials, the US Holocaust Museum, the Kenyan Embassy, the Institute of Peace, a homeless shelter and The White House.  An inspirational documentary will be created about the DC Peace Pledge Tour and shared world-wide.


Thank you for spreading the peace!

Annie

The Way of Tea & How to Get a Koi Kiss

So here's my friend, the golden koi in the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park ~ through Sarah's fancy sunglasses. This isn't the first time I've blogged about this Garden. Last time, I was watching a Tea Ceremony... this year I'm learning how to do one, and I'm totally geeking out over it!

Yes my friends, I am taking a class on how to serve tea. It's actually called 'The Way of Tea'. There are 4 classes total each one is an hour. So far, we've learned how to fold a 'fukusa' or napkin (that only took a half hour and I still don't have it down). I can also bow, receive a cup of tea, and eat a sweet. Don't ask me how to make the tea... I just know there's whisking involved and somehow you use a very thin bamboo rod that looks like a miniature hokey stick in order to transfer your high-grade matcha green tea powder into a ceramic cup without spilling a gram.

Anywho... after the class I got to feed the fishies with a new friend and fellow tea geek. The way of feeding the koi isn't as ceremonial, but I'm sure you could come up with one. Place pellets in hand and close hand. Submerse in water. Let fish approach and suck it out of hand, slowly releasing the food. Fishy kisses :)

The garden is on its way to completing an expansion that will nearly triple area they currently occupy. More paths to meander, more rocks to ponder, and plenty of grafted cherry trees (because we don't have winters cool enough for their liking). So the trunks are actually apple, only the branches are the cherry part. That reminds me of a grafting experiment that my Grandpa did in his backyard. He put together a variety of branches and called it a fruit salad. I'm amazed it worked.

Domo arigato gazaimasu ~