Life is moving so fast over here, I can hardly breathe. I feel like I’ve been put on a wild adventure and am doing my best to hold on for the ride. In matters of housekeeping, here are a few matters worth noting!

The Little House That Love Built. Many of you have followed the story of Esteria–Odette’s mom–and contributed this winter to the building of a brand new house for her, after the rains destroyed hers last year. I am so relieved and happy to tell you that workers are doing the finishing work on the house right now and that Esteria WILL BE MOVING IN NEXT WEEK! The war in the Congo seriously impacted this project as the price and availablity of lumber skyrocketed, but with your help we did it, and I am making plans to go to Rwanda to see this dream come true at the end of the month.

Odette’s girls. I keep thinking I’ll be able to write any day now and say, “They’re coming! They’re coming!” but that isn’t the case quite yet. What is happening is we are finally making concrete progress in bringing them here and are in the stage of the game now where the finish line is in serious sight. Part of the reason for my trip this month is to carry important documents that will hopefully enable the girls to travel in the near future. I won’t be able to bring many things on this trip, but I will carry cash for Odette’s extended family. This cash will help them solve problems related to health, nutrition, farming, education and transportation. If you would like to make a contribution, 100% of the money I collect will go directly to the family, including the girls. Donate here.

Odette’s HopeFULL dinners and more. Odette has work documents now, is working as a cook in a sandwich/coffee shop and just moved in to her very first home after a life time of either being a refugee, homeless or living with people who were strangers first and then friends. To say she is ecstatic about this would be an understatement! Odette’s also been offering African cooking classes and together we’ve been hosting dinners in people’s homes where Odette cooks an African feast and then we tell the whole story of how we met. The dinners have been very inspiring for people, and Odette & I are learning lots about how to tell our story and connect with a wide range of people. If you live in the DC area and would like to host, I can send you info.

Picture Hope. In case you were wondering what the scoop is with Picture Hope, I’m in the process of finalizing paperwork with Lenovo/Microsoft so we can start booking tickets. The whole Name Your Dream Assignment Team has been fantastic and so, so supportive, and we’ve been delighted at how much freedom Lenovo/Microsoft are giving us to really do this trip in a way that makes sense for us and the project. Our first big trip is in August where we’ll go to Rwanda and Tanzania, followed by a trip to Bolivia and Peru in the fall. We’re looking at stories in Turkey, Israel and Palestine for late winter and will finish up with an Asia trip (Nepal, Tibet, Indonesia and Philippines are on the list right now). The entire $50,000 will go towards financing these trips, so we are partnering with Epic Change (a truly wonderful non-profit) to offer ways for readers to give directly to the people whose stories we tell, so that our impact is immediate and effective. My art & storytelling will play a big part in this new kind of activism, I hope.

New Site and Three-Day-Only Art Sale. This blog is going through a major makeover. On the flip side, I’m hoping to make more space to tell stories I haven’t been able to share in this space as it is right now. With all the changes on the horizon, I’m excited, scared, anxious, hopeful, happy and freaking out all at the same time. I’ve missed this space and the kindness of friends who will comment during the last few months, but I think the hibernating has been good. To celebrate this transition and this new beginning, I’m having a three day only art sale next week with originals and some prints for sale for a limited time. I have a trusty assistant in the amazing Rachael Maddox which is the only way something like this could be possible for me. Follow me on twitter for the latest details.

Phew! That’s a lot. I’d love to hear totally random comments below–like what movie you saw last week, what you ate for breakfast or what you’re dreaming of these days. I’ve missed you.