skirt!

So last night was skirt! magazine's October event to present some of the featured ladies in this months issue. I was fortunate enough to have the editor get excited about Bedouins and what we do there so I was actually one of the ladies featured this month. She wanted me to speak at the event a little and talk about what Bedouins does. I've never really been to an event like that, so I was slightly intimidated, but it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I met some pretty amazing ladies who are also doing their own little part to help where they can. I really hope we all keep in touch!

And for those of you who haven't heard of skirt! they are a really cool nationwide magazine that talks about the women in their local communities doing good things and other related goings-on. Check them out HERE.

Peace out,

Jessi

Hanson!

So for any of you that know me, you probably know that I am a fairly huge Hanson fan. They are the only band that I have consistently listened to over the last decade. So of course, I was super pumped about them coming to play in Birmingham where I live. I was even more pumped when my super great photographer boyfriend got me into the show for free because he shoots for that particular venue.


And then my mind was blown when I got to go backstage and hang out with them in the Green Room.



AAHHH!!!!!

That's what I was thinking. But I was super cool in real life, barely let on that I loved them. :)

Pictures!

So we made it back from the long weekend in Nashville. Besides our meetings for Bedouins, we also got to go to the zoo and hang out downtown. I am exhausted and really not looking forward to being at work at 6:30 in the morning, but I have to pay my bills somehow. Here are some pics from the trip...


Downtown:
"The Batman Building"




The Zoo!


The trainers got the elephants to pick up logs and carry them...Stephen bought me a stuffed elephant. His name is Abner and I love him.






Sometimes I get to model while Stephen sets up his camera before a shoot...hehe

Nashville

Stephen and I took the weekend to come up to Nashville. It has been a blast. I was born in Tennessee but somehow I have never made it to Nashville, so it's been fun. We came up to meet a bunch of people who were interested in learning more about what we do at Bedouins International, and a few are going to end up doing some work with us, which I'm really excited about. We're definitely going to be working with an organization called gi*inc, which is another cool media organziation who needs some help with their new website. We may also be working with Audio Adrenaline's organization the Hands and Feet Project. They also work in Haiti, which is how they heard about us. So we may get to go back down to Haiti with them to do another documentary about them and how they started Hands and Feet.

God has been opening so many doors for us, and I am so excited to see what is yet to come. By the way, for those of you who haven't seen many pics from our last trip, you can go HERE
to see some!

Love you guys!

Jessi

Joy Ike

Just found this girl through an article on Wrecked for the Ordinary...I am now a fan. Check her out here: Joy Ike

Wow the last four days have been incredible. I am here in the country of Haiti and it has been quite a wild ride. From being mobbed at the airport by people wanting to help us carry bags (because they needed money) to riding for 3 hours in the back of an old pickup truck over nonexistent roads to get to a village where some of the inhabitants have never seen a white person before, then buying gas out of gallon jugs for $13 US a gallon because the gas stations are out of gas...it has been intense to say the least.

There are so many people here, and most of them have no jobs (because there are none) and no money (because there are no jobs) and no food (there is no money)...it is incredibly sad.

But then again there are the people like Allan and Vlademir and Joelle who have educated themselves (or come to the US for an education), and wow what a difference it makes. Education is so powerful. I am so glad I was forced to go to school. I have met people who have never even held a pencil before - they wouldn't even know how to sign their name. This is why they have ni power to better themselves and better the state of their country - first of all they don't know how and second of all they just don't know any better.

I am going to come back from this trip not only incredibly appreciative of what I have, but also with a more motivated pursuit of truth. Ignorance may be bliss, but it takes knowledge to realize it.

More stories to come from Haiti! Here is a pic near the village I was talking about...Love Love Love!!!


-Jessi

mmm taco bell

well, we made it to ft lauderdale! praise the Lord we weren't deterred by any weather; everyting has gone quite smoothly, and we are looking forward to our flight to HAiti tomorrow morning. we were surprised by a free hotel stay (thanks to dr. reynolds, the woman we are travelling to haiti with) for the night...we had originally intended on staying overnight in the airport so this was a magnificent surpise. and then of course we walked down to taco bell for our last "american meal" before we leave tomorrow morning for haiti. i am so excited about the trip. stephanie and paul are talking now about video ideas and the footage that they want to capture on the trip. i can't wait to see what we come back with. for those of you who wanted more info on what we are doing in Haiti, you can check out the Bedouins blog or go to our facebook group for a description of the project.

love you guys mucho!

On my way to Haiti...

Hey guys, for those of you who don't know, I am leaving for Haiti today! I will be down there for 10 days with Bedouins International to help document and provide media for the people down there. Our original intention was to provide media for a school down there and for a project that will help provide the families with a sustainable income. This would be huge considering the fact that most of the people who live down there have no job and no way to get one. Now we will also be covering the destruction due to the storms that went through there.

We're about to leave so I can't write much more, but please keep up with my blog and with the Bedouins blog (www.bedouinsinternational.org/blog) to keep up to date with what we're doing.

Love you guys!

Jessi