Love is patient. 4:18 PM

Today is a rainy day. It's quite lovely. I was sad to see it stopped raining before I could get a nice rain dance in earlier. Now it's raining hard again but I think I'll just sit and listen to it along with Regina Spektor while I type.

While walking home and stepping over puddles I realized I've been home for a bit over a week now. And like Ginger said, it feel like forever. I think next week I will take a few days to visit friends nearby. The west coast is where I'd really like to go though, there's something about California I really enjoy. The people, the different cultures, the weather and landscape. I will be over there in August though, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

Today I helped out at Rainbow Express, a camp that welcomes all children and focuses on being accommodating for children with special needs. Usually people are assigned two kids to watch, but I was a bit late signing up so I was there to fit in where ever I was needed. Towards the end of the day one of the volunteers had to leave so I took care of her kids for the last two hours. I must say, working with children with disabilities really shows you what it means for love to be patient. The little girl I was watching loved the word "no", throwing things, and taking others kids things. She was fun to be paired with though :) by the end she understood that she needed to say please when she wanted something and sat on my lap for the closing puppet show.

Love is such a beautiful thing. It's amazing to see how the attributes of love apply to everyone in every situation. Whether it's a R&B artist dining beside you or a child with down syndrome during a camp. To show love to each of them patience is required.

It's cool. I love Love. I love being able to put it into practice with all different kinds of people :)

<33emilyy

i got this in a fortune cookie about a week before we began our loveeachone tour....

i recently found this photo on my cell phone so i thought i would share :)

ging

hey! welcome to our blog :)

thanks for still checking us out even though we're no longer traveling... it really means a lot to us!

its me, ginger..... down in FL :)

this is FL love !

I have officially been home for 9 days now.... it feels like an eternity!

and i don't mean that in a bad way! its just that after moving moving moving all the time its kind of weird feeling to stay in one place.

sometimes i think that our tour was just a blur... like it didn't actually happen... but every single day i think about something that i learned over the period of 7 weeks we were traveling. there's no way it was a dream because i see the world in such a different way...... sometimes i'm tempted to ignore everything around me and just do what i wanna do (and honestly... there have been times already that i have) but i know i know I KNOW that is no way to live. People are the important part of life.

showing love definitely looks different here.... i've spent the last 9 days applying for jobs within biking distance of my apartment for next year, reading books, and being home with my family. it can be hard to love them sometimes.... there aren't a lot of places to go and be alone around here.... but they are really important! i've been thinking about how each person has a love language... a certain way that they receive love the most naturally.... it can be through touch, gifts, time, words.... i really want to discover the love languages of the people closest to me so that i can be loving them in a way that they best understand.

i've also been thinking about how being positive is so important. and believe me, i know this is not always easy.... but when we keep a positive and encouraging attitude even when those around us are not we show so much love! also..... patience.

sometimes.... i'm almost positive that love = patience. the end. you know?

so, thats what i'm doing... putting a positive attitude into practice... along with speaking encouraging words and being patient (no matter what).

and believing i will get a job no matter what the economy looks like!

<3ging

for the soldiers 5:26 PM

Because of You. celebrating the difference you make. 1:28 PM

Does one person matter? Do the countless little things you do each day -listening, caring, reaching out- really make a difference? The truth is, there are no little things. Every act of kindness, contribution or example quietly touches one heart, that in turn touches another. And when you care, people notice.

This book celebrates the difference you make, not just to those who know you best, but to the world around you. It's true. Because of you, our world is a better place.

- the introduction to the book "Because of You", where we've been finding many of our quotes :)

loving Love. 10:04 PM

A great life is the sum total of all the worthwhile things you've been doing one by one. -Richard Bach

I'm sorry it's taken so long for another post. The last leg of the trip has been fast paced and jam packed with things. After leaving New Jersey we shot down to Charlotte, NC - my home :) it was really wonderful being able to see my family. This last part of the trip I've been thinking a lot about how I show love to my family.

While we were here we wanted to conclude the packages for the soldiers that we started earlier. We went off to Wal-Mart believing it would be a quick trip that would basically take care of all the packages and were quickly proven wrong. A friend from school met us there and we suddenly realized that Wal-Mart doesn't always carry 30 sticks of Gillette Clinical Strength deodorant, 60 packs of clean wipes, and 30 packages of beef jerky. Which I have to say did surprise me. So while we were here we stopped by a few different stores, currently we only need a few more deodorants and some clean wipes (yayyy! :)

After we left NC we went straight down to spend the night in Orlando at our friend's, Annie, house :) Her family was lots of fun to stay with and it was fun to hear all their family stories and experiences they've had in Columbia (which is where her mom is from).

The following day we drove to Sarasota to drop off Ginger at her home. It was strange to be back in Sarasota (which is where our school is) and to suddenly see our school friends. It's strange to think that they've been on summer vacation for these last seven and a half weeks. I feel like everyone we left should have still been in school while we were traveling.

I don't know how to explain those last hours of driving together with Ginger and Jason. I just kept thinking... this is the end. Not the end of seeking after love, or encouraging others to love. But just the end of traveling all together. The conclusion of the Love Each One tour 2010. The last time we would all be together for awhile. The end of a season.

We left Gingy with her family and thanked them for a very yummy dinner. Then we headed back to Miami, to end where we started. We stayed at Stan's home for a day and where able to go back to 'His House', the orphanage we volunteered at our first day of Love Each One :) they had asked us to fix up a few old childrens chairs and table. We were only in Miami for a day so we didn't have the time to fix them, so we really wanted to figure something out for them. Once again, Jason and I were only in Miami for the day to get my car fixed up and we weren't sure if we could fix up the ol chairs before six. So we visited a few different stores until we were able to find some really cute childrens chairs at Toys R Us. We were able to find our way back to 'His House' to say hello to our old friend Carmen and drop off the chairs/tables. It was really great being able to see her and share with her (and her family/friends that were with her) all the amazing things that have happened while on the trip and all the things we've been able to learn :)

One thing we prayed before going on this trip and during it was that we would always be in the right place at the right time talking to the right people. I cannot express to you how faithful God has been. Everything has worked out perfectly. Absolutely everything. And we've made some wonderful new friends. And run into some amazing strangers. Everyone we've been able to come in contact with, from our waitress in Las Vegas, to the homeless man in New York City, I believe they were exactly who we needed to talk to.

Being home these last few days has been wonderful. I love my family and I really feel like I've grown in how I love people, from strangers to those close to me. I can't wait to keep learning about love. To keep giving it to people.

I know love is a decision. I know it isn't always comfortable. And I know the power of love. The strength that love carries with it when used sincerely. The ability it has to break down barriers. To overcome fear, to eliminate anger. To reach out to a stranger. To make someone's day better. To change the course of someone's life.

Love holds an amazing power.

Love never fails.

nyc 11:58 PM

very belated, i know. and i'm sorry.

friday afternoon we took a train from Princeton, NJ into New York City with our friend Meg. It emptied us out into the center of everything - it felt like there were billions of people and they were all going somewhere. my first reaction is, "ah! crowded, crazy, confusion, too much!"

after getting mildly lost we found our way to 1st and 20th and met up with one of Meg's fiends, Nick. He was a really cool guy, very genuine and accepting. He took us on a mini tour of the area and showed us a cool pizza place for lunch and a dessert bar later for something sweet. There are so many things in nyc; so many places to shop, to eat, to chill, to work.

he took us to his favorite park, Union Square. This is where i really started to appreciate nyc. Here i began to see it as more than just a mass of people. There were people lounging on blankets in the grass, strolling through the farmers market, playing with their dogs and/or kids, reading books, enjoying the company of friends, strumming guitars. People watching was so much fun, i thought about all of my friends who love sketching and about how much fun they would have here. I looked at people and really saw them as individuals and thought about how they have hopes and dreams too and i enjoyed imagining what those might be.

we stopped to look at this big clock/countdown thing on the side of a large building and a man asked us if we knew what it was, we said we didn't and so he began telling us about it. We told him we weren't from around there and explained what we were doing with Love Each One and everything. we asked him if we could video tape him and ask him a question and he quickly agreed. His name was Ron, he was a tall slim black man who was very friendly and polite and he had a kind smile. He was originally from Charlotte, NC. he had fun talking to Emily about that. He said that love is a choice. Its a decision to respond in loving way when people are treating you badly. He said that he used to live a tit for tat lifestyle but now he's learned how important it is to turn the other cheek, to respond in love despite the circumstances.

As we walked away from him, Emily and i were approached by two girls who wanted to tell us about a salon that was offering this amazing deal for a haircut, manicure, massage, and more and after expressing how much we wished we could take part we told them we were only there for the day and explained what we were doing and asked if they would mind sharing their thoughts on love with us really quick. They both said that love is in the small things - like holding the door open for someone or smiling at the people you pass by. They said that in a city as big as new york those are the things that really stand out, just acknowledging people is love.

As we continued through the park we happened upon a performance by a group of very fit black guys who were break dancing and bringing in quite the crowd. The leader of the group, who was wearing a leopard print do-rag, started yelling for people to gather closer, he said, " heeey! whiiite people! come clooooser! we will noooot hurt youuu. there are toooo many of youuu!" he was funny. he jumped over 6 girls who were kneeling in a row. once the act was over we ran over to meet him and see if he would answer our question. He said that love is in the breath. as long as we're breathing we're loving.

We also got to ask Nick what he thought love was and after he talked about his lovely girlfriend Justine, he said that we were the best example of love he had seen in awhile. He talked about how he walks down all the same streets everyday and see's all those people that we had talked with but he just walks by without engaging. He said that we really inspired him to go about his daily life differently.

i feel like a big thing we were hearing in nyc was just to live love; to breath love, respond in love, see love in simple acts. its cool because i feel like that fits new york city. its a crowded extravagant place and so the love light that really shines is a small, daily love. love that is enduring and constant.

it feels like a perfect reminder for the end of this tour. we dont want everything we've learned to just fade away, we still want to focus on loving each person we encounter, only now it will be a much more simple, daily sort of love.

currently we are in Matthews, NC staying with emily's family. we've been working on the packages for the soldiers, yes, we were supposed to have done those a month ago... but we're doing them now. we also got to hang out with a friend from school and one of his good friends and talk to them about love. they introduced us to a lovely place called Amelies french bakery. emily will tell you more about all things charlotte/matthews tomorrow (hopefully!) though.

goodnight for now! :)

tomorrow we drive to orlando!

~ ginger