January's Charity of the Month and Laptop Issues

(Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com)

It all started so innocently. I had planned to start blogging, if not daily, then nearly daily. I had planned posts in my new daily planner. I had taken, or planned to take, photographs. Life, as they say, is what happens when you are busy making plans. I had made many plans, all involving my lifeline, aka, my laptop.
Then my hard drive decided to start making funny noises, the day before New Year's Eve.
Many loud, funny noises that a laptop, or any computing device should not make, the day before New Year's Eve.
Then I started getting notifications from Windows saying that my hard drive was dying. That was the worst part of all - by the time Windows starts sending you notifications, you know your hard drive is pretty much pooped. I tell, you, the whole world is against me! Okay, not really, but it felt like it.
So enter Brennan, who has spent nearly all of the last two weeks, not only helping me move my workshop around (which was supposed to be posts January 2-4), but also fixing my laptop by replacing my hard drive, recovering all of my documents, etc., so that I could get back to my online life, which is pretty much my whole life (which I love, and am pretty addicted to. When I don't have internet access...well, it isn't pretty).
By the way, have I said how lucky I am to have Brennan lately? No? I am VERY lucky to have him!
Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled posts.
And go through the 120+ emails I received in the past week. "Delete all", anyone? No? Okay, I'll get through them all... eventually.

In other news, the first post for January was supposed to be to tell you all about the charity that I will be donating a portion of my sales to this month.
This month I will be donating 10% of the total sales in my Etsy shop (before taxes and shipping) to Polar Bears International. They are a fantastic, registered charity, that is devoted to saving our white giants of the north. Polar bear populations are declining rapidly and Polar Bears International are doing everything they can to educate us as to how important they are, and how we can do even the tiniest things to help them. Not just donating money, but small things, such as turning off lights when we are leaving a room, turning down our thermostats, etc., all in the name of saving these wonderful, enigmatic creatures.
I encourage you to visit their website, and see for yourself the wonderful work they are doing, in addition to the great photography that they have on their site (including totally AWWW worthy photos of a baby polar bear, TOO CUTE!), and some great tips on how you can easily help polar bears with small changes to your routine, and information on how to donate if you are able to.
I have symbolically adopted 2 polar bears so far, and I hope to adopt at least one more this year, if I get the sales to allow me to (again, 10% of all of January's sales, before taxes and shipping, go toward Polar Bears International).
Please visit my shop (at http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlestudiojewels/ ) to purchase some beautiful pieces of jewelry, and help polar bears at the same time.
Have a great day, see you on the flip side (yo! LOL),

Monday's Methods: Helping Others

~Image from Polar Bears International Website~

This month of March, I'd like your help in adopting a polar bear (symbolically of course, I don't know if Arwen would like a polar bear sharing her couch). I would like to adopt a polar bear from Polar Bears International, and the adoptions start at $25 USD. 10% of all of the sales from my Etsy shop this month will go towards adopting a polar bear from this wonderful organization, dedicated to helping polar bears keep and reclaim their hunting, breeding and living territories. If I don't raise enough money to adopt a polar bear, of course the 10% will still go as a donation, but wouldn't it be great to know that you helped save one of these remarkable creatures? Please do visit the Polar Bear International Website to donate yourself, learn more about the charity and learn about the beautiful creatures living in our northern areas.

Please visit my Etsy shop to see if there is anything you would like for yourself and remember - I LOVE to create custom pieces or alter current pieces to make them all yours. Together we can help polar bears, Let's do it!