Blown Away...

Blown away hardly describes how Ben and I have felt over this last month. I didn't expect this "dog journey" to be so emotional... and really, we've only just started. Seriously, some days I don't know if my heart can even take one more ounce of kindness!! We are so touched by the generosity from all our family and friends, friend's of friends and complete strangers. I keep getting notifications of donations and going... "who's that?" and after a few texts and phone calls I find out it's somebody that somebody knows that read about Benjamin's journey and wanted to contribute... and I cry. And then, I get a face book message that a friend and her friends are gathering items for our garage sale... and I cry some more. Then a phone call from a friend wanting to help us with a fundraiser... more tears. And then another donation from family members we rarely get to see and only wish we knew better, and then I cry all over again! An old co-worker I haven't seen in years... new co-workers I'm only getting to know... And we know there are lots of stories like Benjamin's out there, great causes and organizations to fund-raise for, and yet, people are giving to my little Benjamin. We're just completely humbled and in awe of this major village we have surrounding us. We are so thankful... and so very blessed... 

As of the beginning of June, we are at $5,140.00!!!!! Only $7,860.00 to go!!! Definitely not a bad start! We are able to get updates on our donations from 4Paws for Ability on the 1st and 15th of every month.

I know many of my friends are very curious about this whole process... and how we're going to fund-raise so here's what we have planned for upcoming fundraising events so far: 

- Craigslist... I'm living and breathing it. If it isn't totally necessary in our house right now... it's being sold. And let me tell you... it is another full time job! So if you're buying anything off Craigslist in the Milwaukie area, you might just want to contact me directly because I'm pretty sure we're the one's selling it! :) It's hard work, people are totally flaky, but it's still worth it. I've found it's the fastest way to make some money. (We've had some very generous family and friends give us items to sell too. And some great items! The rule in our house right now, "You can't keep anything that anybody donates to us" and there are some items I'm drooling over...but I just keep telling myself it's all for my Benjamin!) 

- Consignment shops: I'm not super experienced with these so I'm still learning the tricks of the trade. It's quite a bit of work and I'm actually contacting them this morning to see how my stuff is selling. I'll have to see if the work is worth it though or if I need to find a different avenue. I'll keep you posted.

- Benjamin's birthday party is this Saturday. (Isn't his birthday in May??) Yes... but we couldn't get one free weekend where both Ben and I would be home and at least the grandparents could come until this Saturday. So June 8th it is. Benjamin does not need one more toy or any clothing, and is only getting one present this year (you'll have to wait til after Saturday to hear about that!) so we asked if people still wanted to do something for his birthday they could contribute to his service dog... that will be his best gift ever! 

- We also had a generous photography promotion offer from one of our friends where she would shoot mini sessions and all profits would go to 4 Paws for Ability. Details to come on this! But here's a peek at her work because she took our pictures and did an AMAZING job! I'll share more when we start off the promotion. Pretty cool story behind our "photo shoot" experience with her too!

This is our June plan which is really about as much as I can handle right now. At the end of June we will regroup and put together another plan of attack. Thank you so much for your love and generosity and prayers and your interest in our little family. It keeps us going strong!!