Day Thirty One

Hey everyone. I know I haven't posted for a few days. I just needed some "me" time. But I've still been doing RAKs everyday! So fret not =]
Day 31 brings the first month of RAKs to a close. It has been an awesome first month. I've already met so many awesome people doing this project.
So now for RAK: Day 31.
Think of someone you don't particularly like or get along with. Take out a piece of paper and a pen and write a list of 5 the things you like about that person (maybe they are admirably confident, or maybe they have great hair).

Day Thirty

Find a penny. Pick it up. All day long you'll have good luck! I realized that I had a cup holder in my car with a small accumulation of pennies; and maybe I'm a little corny but today I thought I'd help someone find a little bit of good luck. I left all the pennies heads up for someone to find.

Day Twenty Nine

So had some stuff I had to get done today off campus. The roads have been really slippery out because it just snowed so I always tend to drive a little slow. Today's RAK was something that every driver is capable of doing every day and that was to be considerate of other drivers. This is something I always try to do. I'm sure I could write a whole  entire page of things to do to be considerate on the roads (as I'm sure everyone who has ever driven a car could) but who would want to read that?
So i'll just leave you with a few!

• Wave someone in thats trying to turn into your lane 
• Get over for someone merging onto the highway. 
• Stop for a pedestrian who wants to cross.

Day Twenty Eight

So since going to college and getting a little older and having a whole new caste of responsibilities I have so much more appreciation for my parents than I ever did when I was younger or even when I was in high school. That's why today's RAK was to write a letter of appreciation to my parents.

It started a little something like this...
"Dear Mom and Dad, I love you guys so much and I just wanted to write you a letter to tell you how much I appreciate you and everything you do for me!..." of course I go on to get all gooey mushy mush but you get the idea.

Day Twenty Seven

So today I tried for something a little more ambitious. I wanted to send the end of Month 1 or RAKs out with a bang (even if its a little one). I printed out about 2 dozen fliers advertising a can drive and passed them out in mail boxes in my neighborhood. So 1 week from today I'll collect any cans that get donated and I'll bring them to the community food pantry in my home town. Hopefully I get a few donations! We'll just have to wait and see. I'll be sure to post a picture of the donations next Sunday!

Day Twenty Six

So just a quick and easy RAK today. You may have seen this done before and it always brings a smile to my face when I see one. So I made one and hung it in an elevator.

And I hope this one made someone smile as well. =)

Day Twenty Five

Another freezing day on the Maine coast! Hope everyone out here is staying warm. It was just another lazy Friday on campus. Today I drove my friend to the train station so she could go home to surprise her dad for his birthday. I also drove another friend to the tattoo shop down town to FINALLY get his new tattoo it only took about 3 hours and it looks fantastic. I'll see if I can snag a picture of it once he takes the bandages off =]

Day Twenty Four

Today wasn't any less hectic than yesterday. I got my laptop back from my friend's room so I can finally post! Anyway today it was about 5 degrees on campus (probably -5 degrees with the windchill) so I drove my friends to class because I had just gotten back from a doctors appointment off campus and my car was still warm. At least the weather is only really going to get warmer from hear on out, Spring can't come soon enough!

Day Twenty Three

Sorry this post is coming so late. I might have trouble posting every day on time during the semester. SO MUCH TO DO; SO LITTLE TIME! But there's always time for a random act of kindness. My mom came up with the random act of kindness for today. She keeps a board on Pinterest of different ideas that she sees.

My cellphone takes really bad pictures so you can't see what's written on the envelope but it says, "Enjoy this random act of kindness". Inside the envelope we put a dollar in quarters and taped it to the vending machine in my dorm building. 

Day Twenty Two

Today I really tried to live by the Golden Rule (i.e. "Do unto others...) With the semester in full swing there are lots of people walking around campus going to class and coming from class. So all day long I made a conscious effort to hold doors open for people walking behind me. And I even had a few doors held open for me in return.

Day Twenty One

So today brings week three of RAKs to a close. Instead of blogging about my Random Act of Kindness today I would like to blog about a Random Act of Kindness done for me by my friends. I moved out of the room I was living in last semester at school and had left a few things behind in my old room. My friends all helped me move the last of my stuff today; so thanks to them I only had to make one trip =]. So a special thanks to my friends. I love you guys.

Also, very exciting. Here's the article written about my blog on a local news website. Click here to read the article!

Day Twenty

Today was another easy one. I was driving with my friends this afternoon right after our campus was hit with some really strong wind. We drove up to a trashcan that had gotten blown over and was sitting in the middle of the road. We all thought it would be good to get the trashcan out of the road, so boom. Random act of kindness for the day. We flipped the trashcan over so it wouldn't blow back into the road and put it back in the person's driveway. Team work is the dreamwork.

Day Nineteen

So I went home for a few days this weekend and I've been told by my mother that I am the only one who her dog, Macy, will tolerate to give her a bath. No one knows why this is but apparently I'm the dog whisperer. No one really tries to bathe the dog at home because she hates it and then there was a rather unfortunate incident at the groomers where we all discovered Macy's nervous bowel tendencies.

So today my RAK was to give my mom's dog a bath and as usual Macy just sat in the sink and licked my arm while I scrubbed her down. There was no thrashing, splashing, or any otherwise messy occurrences. I even got her to sit still to get her nails clipped (although that may have involved my mother distracting her with some yogurt and treats).

Day Eighteen

Sorry this post is coming in a little late. Day eighteen I think is one of my favorites so far. I went to my mom's work and there was 1 lonely car parked in the long term parking section. It was covered in snow and ice and it's supposed to snow again in a few days.

My mom let me borrow that scrapey thing (I believe that's the technical term for it) that scrapes the ice off of your car. I cleared off the car and left the wind shield wipers up so they wouldn't get frozen to the windshield again.

Day Seventeen

Back at school I feel like it might be a little bit more difficult to complete a RAK everyday because I'm somewhat confined to staying on campus all week; so any and all ideas are welcome! (And much appreciated). Im sure there are just as many Random Acts of Kindness I can do without leaving school; I just haven't figured out what they are yet.

Today I went and got dinner with my friends and when we were done eating there was kind of a big crowd next to the trash can so I gathered up all of my friends' trays and brought them over.

Day Sixteen

So by now you might be able to tell I like to use my pocket change to work for a random act of kindness. Today I went into town with my parents and before we left we all put our change into the parking meter to fill it up for the next person who parked there.  And I'm glad my parents decided to put their pocket change to work today as well and help me with my random act. 

Some other exciting news; I got interviewed today by the lovely Shannon Bryan from Mainetoday.com about this blog. And I would like to extend a very special thanks to her for helping me get the word out about my blog so that we can inspire some change =] Look for a link to the article sometime in the next week; I'll be sure to post it as soon as it comes out.

Day Fifteen

Sorry this post is coming so late! I moved down to school yesterday and spent the better part of my day unpacking. Oy! However, I still found time to do my Random Act of Kindness because there's always time in the day to do a little bit of good deed doing. So I bought some of those "make your own business card" kits and printed out business cards with little inspirational quotes about kindness and left them on the windshields of parked cars across campus. Although, maybe I should've checked the weather because it's snowing today! Oh well, I still have a few dozen cards left so I can leave those for another day. 

Day Fourteen

So, more cleaning before I go back down to school tomorrow. I took all the books off of my book case and dang, I didn't realize how many books I had. So After pulling out all of the keepsake children's books and the classics I decided to donate the rest to my town's library. Hey I'm not going to read them again and they were just sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust.

Day Thirteen

Hey everyone, sorry I'm posting so late. I spent the day with family a few hours away and drove straight home after the football game. GO PATS! (sorry if your a Houston fan). Because I spent the whole day up north I couldn't really go out to do my RAK so I had to find something to do inside. Since my aunt cooked brunch for us I rounded up the dirty dishes for her and loaded them into the dishwasher. By now you guys should know what a fan I am of "the little things".

I kind of took it easy this weekend since it's the last weekend I'm spending at home before going back to school. I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow for a RAK yet because I tend not to plan these things in advance but I have something really good planned for Tuesday!

Day Twelve

Today I helped my mom run some errands in town. We tried to hunt down a flu shot but apparently those are in short supply these days. While we were out my mom suggested that we return a few of the shopping carts scattered around the parking lot to the cart return. You know... those little stalls that take up like one or two parking spots that no one can ever seem to find? So bam, there was my random act for that day.
And yes, I know it's just a little thing, but lets be honest... If everyone in the world took 5 minutes out of their day to do something nice I think the world would be a vastly different place. And thank you to my mother for her help today in completing a random act of kindness.

Day Eleven

Ahh, well today I had to run some errands in town and I had to take the toll highway. I usually use an EZ pass but I also scrounged up a dollar in coins and paid the toll of the person behind me as I went through the toll booth. I doubt I'll miss that dollar and I like to think I made someone smile when they went through the toll booth and the toll operator gave them a free pass.

Day Ten

Day ten took a little bit of heavy lifting. Today's random act of kindness was to shovel snow for someone. A friend, A neighbor, your grandma. It will only take you about a half hour; and it means you get to skip that trip to the gym!

Day Nine

So, today I went to the store to pick up a few things. You know those little cans that non-profits and charities leave at the checkouts? Today my random act of kindness was to donate my $0.66 worth of change to the Make-a-Wish foundation. I know that donating your change is just a small simple act but over time it makes a difference.

 What if everyone who went to the store today donated their change to the donation can? Let's do a little math here. Say the average amount of coinage a person gets back is $0.45 and say the store does ... ehh, lets call it 2000 transactions in a day. Thats $900 freaking bucks! Just something to think about. Maybe you'll let your change do some good today instead of it scuffing up the inside of your dryer.

Day Eight

I went to print something today and when I went and got it out of the printer there was a pile of empty ink cartridges sitting in a pile on the desk top. Did you know that many charitable organizations will collect empty printer cartridges and exchange them for money? Whatt? Yes! Donate your empty ink and toner cartridges and keep them from ending up in a landfill for the next 10,000 years AND help a good cause at the same time!

Charities will generally get between $0.50 and $5.00 per cartridge depending on the size and brand. 

These babies are on their way to HART (Homeless. Animal. Rescue. Team) to help out some kitties. =]

Day Seven

Today's random act of kindness. I clipped some of the shoots off of my spider plant and planted them and gave them to a friend. Spider plants are notoriously difficult to kill, I've had mine for 12 years now. Spider plants also are really good for purifying the air in your house.

In other RAK news I also dropped off the clothes that were posted on craigslist (Day Four) to their final destination today.

Bing Bang Boom. Day seven of 365 is complete and I only have 51 weeks left to go!

Day Six

Ah, well. Today was a very simple random act of kindness. Hug somebody! I spent the day with an old friend because it was her birthday and I love her. So hugs all around!

In other exciting RAK news my swab kit that I ordered on the first came in the mail (apparently on Friday but I just discovered the letter today.)

Here's a picture of my DNA ready to be sent out tomorrow!

Day Five

Alright, here's another easy one today. Today's random act of kindness was to write a thank you letter to someone who has influenced your life in a positive way. A teacher, a friend, a family member... Let them know they did something that changed your life for the better (even in a small way).

And none of that email crap. A HAND WRITTEN note. Signed. sealed. delivered.

Day Four

Okay. Day four. Here we go. I've been doing some spring cleaning while I'm home from school on winter break. How much junk can possibly fit in one closet? I'm sitting here with multiple trash bags of clothes I haven't worn in YEARS! Half of this stuff probably doesn't even fit me anymore.

So today I gathered it all up, BUT... now, I know what you're thinking, "Goodwill, Here I come!"NOPE.
Although donating these clothes to Goodwill would be an awesome idea I decided to skip the middle man and post these babies directly to craigslist. Free for the taking for anyone who has a real need for them. Hey, I still get rid of this stuff and someone else saves a few bucks on clothes for their kid. EVERYONE WINS TODAY! Isn't the internet great?

Okay So I might need to do some folding and consolidation before I send off the finished product. But hey, IT'S FREE!

And day 4 is down. Now I'm more than half way through the first week of good deed doing!

Day Three

Alright so, day 3. So far so good.

Today I had some errands to run and figured I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone for this one. 

I went to Rite Aid, armed with my Rite Aid rewards card, straight to the personal care isle I go. I picked up about $10 worth of toiletries from those bins with the trial/travel sizes of everything from tissues to shaving cream. 

My basket included:

• A 4 pack of tooth brushes
• 2 boxes of tampons
• 2 samples of shampoo
• 3 tubes of vaseline
• 2 bottles of antiseptic mouth rinse (non alcoholic)

On my way home I dropped the bag off at my local resource center (and picked up a donation receipt for a tax write off). 

Day Two

Alright, So yesterday was about a 5 on the ambition scale. Day two, lets shoot for something we can definitely all do. Today's random act of kindness: let someone know you're thinking about them, brighten someone's day with a quick little email or a text message.

Hey ______, I just wanted you to know I listened to _________ on the radio today and it reminded me of you. Hope you're having an awesome day!


Boom! fill in the blanks and we're done. Now, only 363 more days to go!

Day One!

Well, here we go. Day one and the year long journey is about to begin.
So today I signed up for the national bone marrow registry. I filled out a short questionnaire and found out I was an eligible donor.  It took about 10 minutes to fill out the application online. All you need is your social security number and a driver's license (if you have one, though it's not necessary).

CLICK HERE TO BEGIN THE REGISTRATION PROCESS!!

At the end of the registration process you fill out your shipping information and they will send you a swab kit free of charge with return postage paid as well. Two weeks later your kit arrives in the mail. A quick swab- swab on the inside of your cheek and back in the mail it goes! Now your DNA is off to the lab where it will be archived for a possible future match!

Your bone marrow has the potential to save the life of someone suffering from leukemia, aplastic anemia, or some immune deficiency diseases. Now, donating bone marrow is not what it used to be. You think of them sticking a huge needle into your pelvis and sucking out some think red goo. NOPE! most of the time blood stem cells can be extracted directly from the blood stream and the process is quick an painless.