The Redesign Project

Thank you to Phyllis Brooks for coming to speak to us on Thursday about creating a beautiful home with what you already have. If you would like more information about her business, The Redesign Project, or want to see some before and after photos that were displayed at MOPS, go to her website.

Direct Relief International

Thank you to Sue Fowler who came to speak to us about Direct Relief International. Based in Goleta, this non-profit organization provides medical assistance to improve the quality of life for people affected by poverty, disaster and civil unrest at home and throughout the world. They work to strengthen the in-country health efforts of their partners by providing essential material resources -- medicines, supplies and equipment. For more information about Direct Relief, visit their website at directrelief.org.

Sue also mentioned how we as a MOPS group can help out in a very specific way. Direct Relief works with a children's hospital in Nepal. At this hospital, child patients receive a stuffed animal that they get to keep during their hospital stay AND take home with them when they leave. Each year, Sue sends a box full of new or gently-used stuffed animals to the hospital for this purpose. If you have a stuffed animal or animals that you'd like to donate for this purpose, please bring it to our MOPS meeting on March 26th. Thank you!

Landscaping

Thank you to Dana Di Croce, owner of Inner Nature, for coming to speak to us about landscaping. If you are looking for help with your exterior flower gardens and interior foliage, you can contact Dana and Inner Nature at 805-688-4897.

A couple of tips that Dana passed on to us...

• Sunset's Western Garden Book is a great resource for landscaping and a great way to teach yourself. For more information about this book, go here. 
• We live in Zone 14. This information is essential for deciding which plants will survive in our area. We are in a different zone from Santa Barbara because we do have a frost. 
  

If you're interested in planting a vegetable garden this year, a raised bed is a great way to do it if you have the space.  If you want to learn how to build a raised bed, Sunset has an article here and blogger Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) has instructions with photos here.

The Five Love Languages

We'd love to thank Vonda Schaefer for coming to speak to us last week about the Five Love Languages! If you're interested in purchasing one of the books by Gary Chapman, Vonda has some available at her store Valley Books in Solvang (1582 Mission Drive, 805-688-7160). If you haven't heard of Valley Books before, it is a great used bookstore in downtown Solvang. Parking is available in the public lot next to the Petersen Village Inn.

Financial Planning

A big thanks goes out to Julia Tipolt, a State Farm Insurance Agent and former MOPS mom, for coming to speak to us about Finanaces at our last meeting. If you have further questions about finances or insurance, you can contact Julia at 805-692-5544 or julia@juliatipolt.com.

Also, if you're interested, the church just began a 13-week finance seminar by Dave Ramsey -- "Financial Peace University". You can read the details here.

Foster a Baby, Foster a Future

At our meeting on January 15th, Meichelle Arntz came to speak to us about Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara. Beautiful Santa Barbara County babies aged two and under need loving foster families to care for them. Families who participate can chose from short-term placements (average of one year) or become a foster-to-adopt family.

The need for foster homes is urgent. If you or anyone you know is interested in fostering a child in Santa Barbara county, please let them know about Angels! Visit their website or call (805-898-0901) fo complete details about their program.