"Life's too short, eat dessert first!" --Grandpa Chuck

I was little when my Grandpa Chuck passed away, unfortunately I vaguely remember him... but I love him. My family always tells me stories about him, they say he was a kind and generous man. My grandma says he is the best man she has ever known and loved. He used to say "Life's short, eat dessert first!" a phrase that I say every time I eat ice cream before dinner or for breakfast. It's not that life is short it's that it just feels like it goes by so fast. I know he is proud of me for taking this opportunity. I am "eating my dessert first" which is gelato (get it because I am going to Italy). I will be on a plane to Europe in about seven hours and you know what? This trip isn't just for me it's for my family that worked so hard to get me where I am, it's for my friends that live in lower/middle class families like me, it's for everyone who didn't believe in me, it's for my great grandpa who told our family to eat dessert first, it's for my community that supported me, and it's for my mom who spent her teenage years raising me and her youth taking care of a family and a husband who is kicking cancer's ASS. My mom is a phenomenal woman and I love her and I am thankful that God blessed me with such a great mom, an amazing family, and everyone in between.

Arevaderche!!!

Arevaderche California, Ciao Italy!

So about seven months ago I started fundraising for this trip and I made it! My family and I tried at least 101 ways to get money for me to go. Many people didn't have faith in me and sometimes I didn't either, but I made it. This program is really designed for kids whose parents could write a check for $7,000 without even blinking, but that doesn't mean it's impossible for others. I never would have thought I would be presented this opportunity but I am grateful that I was. I would have never been able to pull this off without my family, friends, the Pilgrim Congregational Church, and generous strangers. I believe everything happens for a reason and I believe that this trip was meant to be because every month we were able to scrape up money, even with being busy with school, work, community service, prom, and being a teenager we (my family and I) were able to raise $7,230 in seven months. I strongly believe with all my heart that God had this in his plans for me because if he didn't he wouldn't have given my family and I the strength and the determination to not give up when things got hard. So the theme of my story is never give up, nothing is impossible, dreams really do come true, never stop dreaming and never stop trying to achieve your goals!

P.S. You can't just sit around and wait for your dreams to happen you have to get out there and make them happen!

Thank you everyone!

Scratch that, I'm NOT $500 short, I am $180 Short....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SO CLOSE!!! How much do you think little brothers go for these days? Just kidding.


I can't believe I've almost got it....Not quite there yet. I have until Friday. But I think with the help of a few more awesome strangers and friends and family digging in their couches for chance this may really happen.

Almost there!!!!!

2 weeks ago, I needed to come up with a seemingly impossible amount of $2700 to make this trip happen. To be honest, I had prepared myself with the thought of not getting to go to Europe. I was a little sad, but mostly happy to know that there are so many giving people just a stone's throw away: my Mom who has been key in our fund raising and selling efforts, my Aunt Andrea who helped me get this thing going, Big Mama, I couldn't have done it with out her, and so many others. It all adds up and I am so grateful for what I have learned about myself and my family through this journey. It might seem trivial to some to be raising money for a trip when there are so many people in need in the world. But I believe that this trip will give me the tools and education I need to help when and where I can when I am put in the position of "can you help?"

I have about $500 left to go in about a week. And 6 months ago that amount was HUGE, but now doesn't seem so out of reach as I look around my room for things to sell. hahaha

I don't think God would let me come this far, surviving even the rapture yesterday ;-), to just give up and say, "oh well, there is nothing more I can do."

"There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can." -- Henry Ford

I would never have expected to get to do something like traveling abroad and now, it's almost a dream come true. Just $500 more. 

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"- Gandhi

I started this journey of trying to get to Europe with nothing but the hopes and dreams of one day being able to go. The journey I am going to take to Italy this summer is about 6,000 miles and 3,000 air miles, and my first step was to apply for the trip and now I will be on my way. My only problem is that I have $800 more by the 30th of this month, it sounds impossible, at the beginning of this journey almost everyone thought it would be impossible for me to even get this far, but obviously nothing is impossible if you just believe. I know that with the love, support, and prayers of my friends and family I will be able to make this dream a reality. I thank everyone who has supported me this far and I know that without these wonderful people in my life I wouldn't have even got this far. I thank God for not only blessing me with this dream-fulfilling opportunity but also for the people he has blessed my life with.

Race to the End

So here we are, three weeks until my final payment is due for People to People. I can't believe how far I have come in the last 6 months. And how it keeps just falling together at the last minute. This month will be no exception to that rule. With the help of friends and family I have raised over $5000. I have been humbled by the kindness and encouraging words of strangers. I still have to raise the last $2800. We're still fund raising and selling, and while I feel I'm so close I know it's still scary and far out of my reach. So today I'll close my eyes, and say a prayer that this can really happen. There was a purpose in my journey, and even if I don't get to go on this trip in the end I will still be incredibly grateful for the adventure and what I've learned from it. And I think I'm a better person because of it. Before, if I earned $20, I would blow it on something stupid, but now, every dollar is valuable to me, priceless, going to something important and life changing in the long run. well, important to me, anyway ;-P

I can see the finish line, I'm going to sprint to the end!

How do you eat an elephant?

I started this journey with $400 and seven months later, I now have raised $3,410. I am not done yet I still have two more payments to go. On April 1st I have to pay $990 then on May 1st (the final payment) I have to pay $2,800. I am so close I can almost taste the Italian gelato. With all the help, love, and support from my family and friends, I am eating my elephant.
So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.