Category: On the Side

December 10, 2023 On the Side

Volunteer Work

Over the summer I started volunteering as an English reading and writing tutor (and sometimes math) for NoVA RAFT (Northern Virginia Resettling Afghan Families Together). The program works with recently arrived elementary, middle, and high school age Afghan refugees to improve their reading and writing skills.

What originally started out as a summer-only tutoring program was so successful in improving reading levels that it has been continued into the school year. The number of students that can be helped relies directly on the number of volunteer tutors. The number of tutors has increased in size this fall thanks to the efforts of the Afghan Refugee Mentorship Program started by the students at George Washington University. You can keep up with their efforts via their instagram page here.

Summer tutors.

The students attend tutoring on two weeknights and on most Saturdays and it is really exciting to see their improvement from month to month! NoVA RAFT is always accepting donations for various household and clothing items for the families and supplies for the program. If you feel so inclined, you can find various ways to donate via their donation page.

October 7, 2023 On the Side

My First CrossFit Competition

I will be doing my first CrossFit competition on Sunday, October 8, 2023 at my local gym, Nevermore CrossFit. We do a variation of this competition every year to raise cancer awareness and support organizations working with the cancer community. This year we are supporting Ulman Foundation.

As a gym we are trying to raise a collective $10,000. You can support my individual fundraising efforts to help reach this goal by donating here – every little bit helps, and thank you in advance for your generosity!

For this competition we work in teams of two to complete three workouts (WODs – Workout of the Day). My teammate Mike and I are team “Down & Dirty 4:30.” We have planned our outfits, made custom shirts, and strategized the most efficient ways to complete each WOD. Our heats will go at 8:00 am, 9:31 am, and 11:10 am. You can follow along and track results here. We are looking forward to competing and supporting the Ulman Foundation with their important work.

I will be sure to add final results and any photos after we are finished, so you can see how we did and how much we raised!

My teammate Mike and I took second place!
January 31, 2021 100 Day Project, On the Side

My Very First 100-Day Project

Have you ever heard of or done a 100-Day project? I started hearing about them a couple of years ago on Instagram through my quilting friends that were participating in a 100-Day Project of their own. I always imagined I would want to do one but the thought of organizing and planning it seemed like a daunting task.

This is officially the eighth year of the project and the idea is pretty simple. According to 100dayproject.org, all you need to do is choose a creative project to do for 100 days and share your process online. Participation is free and happens all over the globe!

I decided one of my personal goals for 2021 was to complete a 100-Day Project. Many of the ideas I’ve seen online have been in relation to sewing and quilting. For example, last year my friend Sarah Ruiz (@Saroy on Instagram) made and mailed over 100 fabric postcards! You can check out her project and a complimentary tutorial here. Below is the postcard I received (thanks, Sarah!).

A colorful fabric postcard being held up against a backdrop of the Inner Harbor and downtown Baltimore City.
Fabric postcard from Sarah Ruiz (@Saroy)

I knew I wouldn’t be able to sew every day, so I needed to think of a project that would actually be achievable for me. I really enjoy calligraphy, and I really, really enjoy calligraphy with florals, but I am terrible at them. I decided I needed to learn how to draw better florals! Thus, my 100-Day Project was born, “100 Days of Florals and Plants.”

Since I do calligraphy I already had many of the tools I needed, including an empty sketchbook, different size pencils, and pens. I also found the book 100 Flowers and Plants: Step-by-Step Realistic Line Drawing by Melissa Washburn in the Draw Like an Artist series on Amazon. I couldn’t make it much easier for myself – draw one flower or plant for 100 days!

Check back here to see how I’m doing, hold me accountable, and follow along with others on Instagram using the hashtags #the100dayproject, #100dayproject, and #100dayproject2021. Have you ever done a 100 Day Project before? I’d love to hear about it!

100 Days of Florals and Plants