microcredit

of all the things I know very little about, microcredit seems to be the best way of actually helping fix some of the world’s problems. at the very least, it helps real people get out of poverty.

unfortunately, microcredit is mostly about money, of which I have very little. I’ve found a lot of organizations that are intermediaries between lenders and borrowers, but aside from making a donation, there isn’t much I can do. for now we just give what we can to the church humanitarian fund, since I think they’re one of the most effective aid organizations in the world. it’s nice that even when we don’t have much we can spare a few dollars to help someone else.

it’s interesting how simple little things really do make a difference. due to a miscommunication, jarom’s dad thought we were down to our last $100 (which is coming up close…but tomorrow is payday), so he brought us the rest of the fresh fruit from the birthday celebrations last weekend. “you can’t get coupons for fruit,” he said. “let us know if there’s anything you guys need.” I really enjoyed the fruit, especially since this is my first summer away from the plentiful orchards of california.

surprise! a new family member!

we are proud to announce…

we bought a rat!

his name is puppy and we bought him yesterday at petsmart. so far he loves exploring the apartment and eating trail mix (and nutritious rat food too, don’t worry!).

in other news, we both got jobs working at the same company for the same 6am-2:30pm shift. the pay is good and the company is pretty relaxed, so now we’re just waiting for the money to roll in!

euphoria

this weekend was amazingly wonderful, and I’ve never felt so peaceful and happy before. it was definitely nice to have all of my worries and anxiousness about the wedding go away. now I just have to wait for the rest of the week to go away!

hopefully this coming weekend will be a million times better, regardless of what little details may go wrong.

ah, it’s good to be back in california! very good indeed!