All about "Welcome to the dark side..."

If you talk with me for more than 5 minutes, you'll quickly become aware of my passion and drive for social justice. But I haven't always been this concerned about how my choices impact others. There are blog posts to come about my journey to this passion, but that is for another day. Today, I wanted to give a little background into the series I've titled "Welcome to the dark side..."


It's easy to be caught up in our own little bubble of life. All too easy. It's so simple to ignore the world around us. It doesn't take much effort to forget about the global impact our choices as consumers make. We want what's easy, convenient, and comes at the cheapest price. After all, in this economy, we need to be frugal with our hard earned money that never seems to be quite enough.

I am eternally grateful to the amazing people who opened my eyes to the world around me, and helped me to bring my life into focus. With knowledge comes responsibility. This is one of my favorite and most challenging phrases. What good is knowledge without action? We've all heard it said that knowledge is power, but I wholeheartedly disagree with that. Knowledge that leads to action is power.

You know what else is power? For those of us living in Western societies, the way we spend our money is power. Don't agree? Think about it. What is the best way to send a company a message? Simply don't buy from them.

So these next few weeks or months or however long I feel compelled to keep up with this series, I am going to be opening your eyes to areas that I, too, was once completely oblivious to. And it's not going to be pretty. Trust me. A lot of the things that I'm going to be talking about are dark. Things we would rather not think about. Things that we want to keep out of our bubbles. Hence the title "Welcome to the Dark Side."

The truth is, this world is a scary place. It's a place where bad people do bad things. It's a place of exploitation, of dishonesty, of selfishness. But we can be a part of something better. We can be a part of the light. There's a Chinese Proverb that says "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." And that is my desire. That we will all light candles in the darkness of exploitation that is rampant in this world.

Let me leave you with one more thought. A lot, if not all, of what I'm going to be sharing has to do with slave labor. And the only way to the light the candle in the darkness is for us to change. Which means more thought going into our choices, and it means more money being spent on products that result in fair wages being paid. You see, the products we buy cheaply, we get most of the time because of slavery. It costs more to actually pay workers a fair wage. And it's going to be hard for us to change our ways. Especially when it comes to shelling out more money for similar products that we're used to getting so cheaply.

And I totally understand. I struggled (and still struggle) with the same thoughts. But think about your own kids. Your grandkids. For me, it's my nieces and nephews (I will never understand why there isn't a collective word like "siblings" for nieces and nephews. Seriously.) Picture them in your mind right now. Now picture them working as forced child laborers. And you are too poor to do anything about it. Think about the torn and dirty clothes that they are wearing, the lack of shoes on their feet. The dangerous work environment they are forced to endure. Wouldn't you pray, earnestly, to whatever god you believe in for someone to help you?

We can be that help. We can be that shining light in the darkness. It only takes 1 candle to produce light in a dark room. And the more you add, the less darkness there is. Our candles can be as simple as refusing to buy from products notoriously derived from slave labor until the executives are forced to change their ways.

Let's use our spending power to stop slave labor, instead of perpetuating it. Are you ready to light your candle with me?

-A.A.

If you missed the first post in this series, check it out: Welcome to the Dark Side of Chocolate. Halloween is right around the corner. Start shining your light now. Purchase your Halloween candy from fairly traded companies!

Welcome to the dark side....of chocolate

Since Halloween is looming ever closer on the horizon here, and many of us are going to be stocking up on goodies to pass out to the little Trick-or-Treaters that pass through our neighbors, the inspiration for this post came at just the right time.


Who doesn't love a good piece of chocolate? A candy bar to get through the day, a gift for a loved one, ice cream and cookies for a sleepover...chocolate is everywhere! And why not? Scientific studies are proving that (dark) chocolate is good for your heart and brain, and that any kind of chocolate releases feel-good hormones.

But it's time for everyone to know the truth about chocolate, and I feel it is my responsibility to help forward that knowledge. With knowledge comes responsibility. As Martin Luther King, Jr. puts it, "Our Lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

The vast majority of main-stream chocolate in our stores is brought to us compliments of forced child labor. Slavery. This problem was first brought to the worlds attention via British and American Journalists in 2000-2001. You can read about their discoveries here. Due to public pressure, the Harkin-Engel Protocol was enacted in 2001 where mainstream companies promised to work towards eliminating the "worst forms of child labor". (more about Harkin-Engel here).

As I'm sure you can imagine, this "working-towards" promise was nothing more than a farce, and here we are, 12 years later, still faced with the bitter truth that every time we buy chocolate we are supporting child slavery.  The tasks these children are forced to do include spraying hazardous chemicals onto the crops with no protection from inhaling the fumes and using machetes to cut down and break open the cocoa pod which often result in cuts and scars.           The vast majority of these "workers" do not attend school, cannot read or write, and live on a diet of corn paste and bananas. A 2011 study done by Tulane University estimates around 2 million children enslaved in coca related activities. Things are so bad, in fact, that the International Labor Organization has dubbed the cocoa industry as the WORST form of child labor.

So what do we do about it? The answer is simple. Take a stand with me, and REFUSE to buy chocolate originated in slavery. Let these companies know that we are serious about ending the use of child slaves in our chocolate process. We can work together to end slavery, and I am asking you to start with the cocoa industry.

Don't worry! This doesn't mean that you have to stop buying chocolate. Lucky for you chocolate-lovers out there, there are a lot of options that do NOT originate in slave-based cocoa production. And quite frankly, these options taste a whole lot better, as well!

So let's talk fair trade for minute. The quick definition of fair trade is that the workers were paid a fair wage. That means NO SLAVERY. That means NOT PERPETUATING POVERTY. That means providing HOPE and a FUTURE for the workers, especially, in this case, the ones in the third-world countries harvesting the cocoa. Look for Fair Trade symbols like these on your labels and you'll know that your money is helping to END SLAVERY.

The best way to go about this is to not buy chocolate from mainstream brands--Hersheys, Mars, Cadbury, Nestle--they ALL use slave-derived cocoa. I'm NOT ok with that. And you shouldn't be either.

Don't rely on the Fair Trade label alone. This certification is awesome, but it is also extremely expensive.

Do some research. The internet is so handy. Do some reading on fairly traded, ethical brands of chocolate.

Yes, it's going to take "sacrifice" from us. It means looking harder when we are craving a good candy bar. It means paying a few more dollars for our chocolate. But when the difference is supporting slavery or freedom, it shouldn't be that hard of a choice, right?

As of today, I am taking a pledge to not willingly support slave-derived chocolate. And I am challenging you all to take that stand with me. I can no longer be so selfish as to think that my desire for a Milky Way outweighs the global ramifications of  supporting the slave industry through the spending of my money.

Let me leave you with one last thought :

 "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps perpetrate it. 

He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

{Martin Luther King, Jr.}

Refusing to cooperate with evil any longer,

-A.A.

find out more and sources I've used:

http://simplemom.net/chocolate/

http://grist.org/food/a-guide-to-ethical-chocolate/

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/child-slavery-and-chocolate-all-too-easy-to-find/

http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/

http://equalexchange.coop/blog/child-labor-cocoa-industry

How I'm Failing at adulthood and how I'm changing my ways...

(disclaimer: For those of you readers who know me personally, you know I generally try to appear like I've got my act together. But it's just that...an act...cause I totally don't.)

It has come to my attention recently (within the past few months) that I am epically failing at being an adult. It's not that I'll be paying off my student loans til I'm 35. It's not that I'm living with my parents (what recent college grad can afford to live on their own these days anyway?). It's not even that I stay up til 1:00 a.m. most nights. (Although that can be contributing factor.) So here's a random personal post about what I'm doing wrong, and how I'm going to fight to make it right.

I oversleep. Just about every morning. Like seriously oversleep. Oversleep as in I have 20 minutes to shower, get ready [and look somewhat professional], and get myself to work on time. I don't know what it is about my body that loathes mornings. I can stay up til 3:00 a.m. and I'm fine. But no matter what time I go to bed (and believe me, I've tried the going to bed early thing) I still just hate getting up in the morning. Just this morning, I literally hit snooze every 8 minutes from 6:30 until 8:00. I know. So pointless. But when you're bed feels like a fluffy cloud, it is just so hard to get up.

I am overly caffeinated. Right now, I'm averaging at least 4 caffeinated drinks a day. That's a lot. Correction, that's too much. Which is probably why I have trouble sleeping. Or sitting still. It's now a running joke with some of the teens in our youth group to ask me how many cups of coffee I've had every time they see me. (This may be because they rarely see me without a coffee cup attached to my hand.)

I am pretty sure I have some of the worst eating habits. Like ever. I know I'm picky, but that's not excuse for the epic fail that is my eating. Fast food, junk food, and candy are basically what I live off of most of the time. And this is not good. And my body knows it's not good. But I do it anyway. It's so tempting to just run over to one of the multiple fast food places a block or two from the office. And then I feel gross the rest of the day. But I do it, anyway.

Like many Americans, I have a gym membership. But until last night I hadn't been to the gym in a solid 2 months. Some of this was unavoidable. When you're pulling 80+ hour weeks, it is just impossible to squeeze in gym time. But a lot of it was lack of motivation and lack of discipline.

So, in a nutshell, that is a lot of how I'm failing. But I have a plan. I like plans. Especially when they involve making lists. I am a HUGE list-maker. So here we go. Ali's Plan to Start Being a Real Adult.

1) Oversleeping - This is not a problem that is going to be fixed overnight. (No pun intended). My goal is to work up to getting up at a decent time this month. Starting this week I need to be out of bed no later than 7:45. Next week it will be no later than 7:35. Small goals produce a greater outcome. I've also started setting out my outfit the night before. That way I'm not groggily staring at my closet trying to figure out how to put a business casual outfit together.

2) Caffeine- I am limiting myself to 2 cups of coffee in the morning at the office. Obviously, there will be an occasional exception to this one. But as a general rule, 2 cups and I'm done. I want to start getting into drinking green tea, so that will be my afternoon pick-me-up.

3) Eating habits -  This one I'm going all in. No more fast food for lunch at the office. Majorly cutting back on the candy intake. I went to the grocery store last night and stocked up on healthy things for lunch at the office, like oatmeal, granola and yogurt, and whole wheat bagels. Drinking more water and less of everything else is also on the list, as is drinking green tea, lemon water, and Naked Green Machine juices. I hate green veggies, and realistically, I'm never going to sit down and eat a salad, so Green Machine is my way of getting all those healthy green nutrients.

4) Gym Time - I've recruited one of my goods friends to help me with this one. We're gonna keep each other accountable on gym time and make sure that we're both following our goals. Yay for friendship!

Well, there you have it! I'll try to keep you updated on my successes and failures. October is my month for changing my life and it's exciting! I spent an hour at the gym last night, and just finished my whole wheat bagel. I'll eat my apple after I run some office errands.

How are you trying to be healthier, or manage time better, or be a better adult?

-A.A.

We don't pray because we don't believe...

For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that I am currently in the middle of several books. One of the things I'm trying to do to improve my life (post to come about this...) is to spend 20 minutes each day reading. I haven't been doing a great job of keeping up with that so far, but I'm hoping that I'll have more time to organize my life after I'm done working my second job (post about that to come as well).

So last night, at 12:30, while I was waiting for my phone to update to iOS 7 (which I don't think I like, btw) I decided to pick up one of my books and use the time a little more productively. Then I had to muddle through the question "which of the 9 (or is it 10?) books that I'm reading do I want to choose?" Based on the fact that it was late, I was tired, and which books were and were not easy to read and digest, (and the fact that it's bright orange) I picked up Craig Groeschel's The Christian Atheist.

Let me give you a little background on this book. The subtitle says "believing in God, but living as if He didn't exist." Really grabs the attention (along with the bright orange mentioned above). In each chapter, Craig goes through various struggles in the Christian life and how so often we act like God isn't really there even though we profess that we have a relationship with Him. With titles like "When you Believe in God but are Ashamed of Your Past", "When you Believe in God but don't Think He's Fair", and "When you Believe in God but not in His Church", this book candidly looks at how we've strayed off course and with many personal anecdotes, how we can retrain ourselves to start living like God exists.

After settling into my reading nook with hot tea in my giant mug, I opened the book and looked at the chapter. "When you Believe in God but not in Prayer." Well that's silly. I thought to myself. Of course I believe in prayer. Guess I'm not gonna get much out of this chapter.

Boy was I wrong. There was a ton of stuff in this chapter that I identified with and within no time had a lot of stuff floating around in my mind that I needed to ponder; areas of my prayer life that needed examined. Craig examined various ways we live as if we don't actually believe in prayer. He shared the story of how his children really wanted a dog, and he told them to pray about it, and if it was God's will, to ask Him for wisdom in finding the right dog for their family.

At this point, as probably a lot of you, I was thinking yeah, ok. Why would you bother God about a dog for your family? Do you really expect him to answer prayers like that? And that's when it hit me. I believe in God, but not in prayer. I know the right "answers" about prayer in my head. I know that we are supposed to come to God about everything. But I don't live it. I don't practice it. I don't come to God with the day to day practicalities. I don't want to "bother" him with the trivialities of everyday life.

The rest of the story goes something like this: Craig's kids prayed that night that if God wanted, He would help them to know what dog to add to the family. Oh, the faith of a child. The next day a puppy was abandoned close to the Groeschel's home, and found it's way to their yard. And that dog has been a member of the family ever since.

We don't pray, because we don't honestly believe God will answer our prayers. Or, because we are afraid that he will.

Or because we feel inadequate.We don't pray because we don't think God will listen to our "um...hey God, it would be really awesome if you could get me gas money. I need to get to work everyday but prices are crazy and I just can't afford it." type prayers. We think that if don't pray with the right speech, the right Elizabethan phrasing using Thee and Thou, that God will turn a deaf ear to us.

Craig explains our need to come to God honestly this way:
Jesus never criticized [in Scripture] prayers that were honest, only those that were long and showy. As a parent, I'd much prefer my young children to climb into my lap and speak honestly. "Daddy, I'm afraid of the dark. Would you help me?" Imagine the same child standing before me and addressing me thus: 'Grand, omnipotent father of the household, I beseech your presence. Great provider of all I have, grant me Thy presence through the long watches of the night, for lingering fears beset me--verily, until dawn's first rays alight my heart with hope.

I don't know about you, but I need to spend a lot more time praying honestly, than planning out the right "Christian lingo" to use and have my prayers become fake. Hey, if you are one that normally speaks poetically, by all means, pray to God that way.

The point is, pray honestly. Pray often. Pray with belief that God hears and answers, even if the answer is not what we were looking for. Even writing this post, I've been challenged again.

So what about you? Do you Believe in God but not in Prayer?

-A.A.

Welcome to the Jungle!

And no, this post has nothing to do with Guns N' Roses.

3 weeks ago we started our kids' club called Olympians. I am one of the coaches for the Challengers (grades 1-2). I am so excited to report that we are expecting 15 munchkins in our class this year!

In order to make our PT (or Personal Training) room inviting the kiddos, I decided to turn it into a jungle theme! After many, many, many hours of hard work and trips to the dollar store and Walmart, I am so excited with how it turned out! And the kids loved it! And I just want to share the excitement with all of you!

In Olympians, the kids start in the PT rooms where they drop off their bags, and books, and coats, and anything else they bring with them. Then after the lesson in the Opening room, the kids come back to the PT rooms again. On an average night, the kiddos are spending about 45 minutes in their PT rooms! Which is why I found it necessary to make a fun and inviting environment for these kids. We want them to be excited about and enjoy coming to church! Yay!

View from the corner of the room. We planned for 10 kids...guess I'll be going shopping and working in the room again this week to get it ready for our expected 15!

Rules of our Jungle: As told by Eloise the Elephant, Edgar the Giraffe, and Tristan the Lion. Posterboard and paper were supplies used from the church and the animals were drawn by my awesome friend Sadie!

This cabinet is cover in laminate. Let me tell you, it was a HUGEEEEEE pain to cover, but it looks great now that it's done! Contact paper from Walmart.

One corner of the room. The wall stickers, the grass skirts for the curtains, the palm trees, and the hanging zebra and leopard decorations I got at the Dollar.

The Quiet Time Hut: a place for the kids to read a book, or work on their memory verses or quiet time books. Or just spend some quiet time praying or any other quiet activity. Except sleeping of course! The chalkboard is from Walmart, and the "No Shoes" sign is made from pictures I found online, covered in clear contact paper that I got at the Dollar Tree.

The Hut. The blanket and pillows are all from Walmart. The hanging lanterns are all from the Dollar Tree. The "Teach me How to Pray" poster is from Mrs. Chalkbox, our local teacher supply store.

Thanks to Mrs. Nycole, we have verse flashcards for the entire year! The word-strip holders are from Target.

This is what the kids see as they walk down the hall into our room! The welcome sign is from the Dollar Tree. The crates are from Walmart. The hanging animal-print things in the doorway are from Dollar Tree. The tree in the middle of the room I got from random decorations found in the church. The vines hanging from the ceiling were made out of brown mailing paper that I got at the Dollar Tree.

The window in the door says "Watch out! It's a Junge in Here!" Washable window paint from Dollar Tree.

Poster from Mrs. Chalkbox. Stickers from Dollar Tree.  Our attempt at keeping 15 short attention spans under control while we spend individualized attention with the kiddos.

So there you have it! Every Wednesday since Olympians started, I have had to go out and buy more supplies because we keep having new kids! How awesome is that!!!!

Having a hard controlling my excitement...
-A.A.

Where were you on that September day?

For most of us, we will never forget the day, the time, the place, when we first heard the news of the 9/11 attack. But for a lot of Americans, we've forgotten the will to fight, the desire to unite and put aside our differences, the push for peace and American pride. I would be remiss as an American blogger to not pay tribute to those men and women, boys and girls who lost their lives; to the ones who survived; to the rescue workers faced with the task of pulling remains from the rubble...

I will never forget that day. September 11, 2001. It began as any other school day for me as a 6th grader. I can even remember the weather. The sun was shining, the air was warm. I caught the bus as usual for the 3 minute ride to Baker Elementary. The school day started in the usual way.

Shortly after class began, there was suddenly a flurry of phone calls. The teachers all met in the hallway, closed their classroom doors, and spoke in hushed tones. One they re-entered the classrooms, the TV's were turned so only the teachers could see them, and the sound was turned off. We had no idea what was going on, and the rumors started to fly.

The rest of the day was spent in lockdown. By the time school ended, over half of the student body had been picked up early by their parents. Still no word as to what had this disturbance in the school.

As soon as I got off the bus, I ran into my house feeling panicked, hoping my parents would tell me what was going on. It was then that I learned what had happened. By this time, all 4 planes had crashed, the towers were nothing but rubble, and all the channels were 24 hour new updates. I can remember my entire family sitting around the tv the entire evening with a feeling of helplessness. I remember my mom made popcorn chicken and tator tots for supper, but most of it sat on the stove untouched. I remember coming home from school for the next few days and sitting with my family watching the evening news, the press conferences, the presidential speeches.

But I also remember watching America come together. I remember prayer vigils, and rallies. Political and religious affiliation didn't matter. What mattered was that we were Americans, and we were going to stand together in the face of National tragedy.

Now, I am not one to flaunt my politics on social media. I know exactly where I stand, and why I've chosen that view. But posting all kinds of political stuff is just not my style. But as I said to begin this post, it would be a disservice, as an American who is in the blog world, to not pay homage in some sort.


12 years have passed since I was an 11-year old sitting around the tv with her family, but I have not forgotten. Let us, today, honor the lives of the victims, of the heroes, of the survivors.

So where were you on that September day?


-A.A.

Thought of the Day

Saw this quote on my Facebook today that was posted by one of my favorite organizations, ImagineGoods. At some point, when I'm able to breathe in the midst of all the hecticness that is my life right now, I will write an entire post on this awesome company. But for today, I want you to just ponder and reflect on the weight of this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."