A Few of My Favorite Things

Here are some of the things I received in the mail this summer:

From left to right: My new Cotopaxi: Gear For Good backpack. The travel pins on my pack. My Arvo watch with pouch, My Premier Designs Matthew 17:20 Necklace and lastly I think what I can call my favorite book, (besides The Bible of course) Eternity In Their Hearts by Don Richardson.

First, my new Backpack:

I’ve been hunting for just the right Herschel Supply Co backpack in which I saw on someone at the airport back in January on my way to California. I liked it because of the brown patch on the bag similar to my Jansport bag which has lasted me forever and a day but I wanted something more stylish. I then found CotoPaxi (truthfully) on one of my favorite instagrammers The Traveling Triplets and decided it was the bag for me. Here is the picture I saw. It had the patches, and all the extra fancy stuff, the labor and love put into making it and from what I could tell, it was top quality.

Funny story: I was so excited about ordering it because someone had left an envelope with my name on it in the front door filled with money. I went right over to my cousins house (I use their wifi because ours is terrible) and was so thrilled that I totally forgot to put on the order what color I wanted my bag to be. I again was so excited it came later that week while I had been at work all night that I ripped open the bag, hugged it, undid all the straps, looked in all the pockets only then to realize, “wait a minute, I did NOT order an orange backpack.” haha Silly me. I emailed them that night and they sent the color I really wanted right away; not even waiting for the orange one to come back. I felt so honored as a customer to have their trust.

On top of all that, they sent me a handwritten note (you can kinda see it in the top picture) a sticker of the llama, their mascot/logo and then also the VIP pass to the Inti Runakunaq Wasin (The House of the People of the Sun). Basically when you buy a Cotopaxi backpack (the Cusco 26, my bag) It provides an on-site tutor to one child for one week at the Inti Runakunaq Wasin Shelter in Cusco, Peru. The Mission of the Inti house provides support to children of the street and families living in poverty. The house is run by professional social workers and provides formative educational, artistic, musical, and occupational training. Children come to the house voluntarily and are provided with a warm meal six days a week.

Next are my travel pins:

Almost two years ago I went into a boutique in North East Minneapolis called I Like You and found little pins, one of Minnesota so I got it for a friend who now lives here in Minneapolis but originally is from Ohio. He wears it on his backpack proudly and now collects them from everywhere he travels. His job takes him lots of cool places. As his love for pins grew, mine was rekindled so I went on Etsy and bought some travel ones from A flair for Buttons. These were my favorite.

Here is my Arvo watch which you’ve probably seen on my Facebook cover photo:

I really love it a lot. I also found ARVO on instagram, after hunting pinterest and not finding one I really loved. I wanted something really simple. I didn’t have a phone last time I was overseas so I used a watch for checking the time, who knew right? My best friend gave me a monkey watch she got out of a vending machine that had one of those little metal balls rolling around in the face. I decided moving overseas again was worth spending some money on a real watch, but only if it was something I really loved. Their motto is a classy, minimalist design which is exactly what I was looking for. As soon as I saw I knew that was what I wanted. When I ordered it, it came in a sleeve, again with an ARVO sticker and a hand written note from Jake, the owner thanking me for purchasing it.

The fourth Item is the Matthew 17:20 necklace by Premier Designs:

The verse says, “He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” On of my good friends from church is a high fashion Jewelry Coordinator and she loves Premier Jewelry because it supports people all over the world who love Jesus and want His name to be known. The company was started as a way to give to those people, not to get rich which is really sweet. The Matthew necklace has a real mustard seed in the flower which is a reminder to trust in God when what is before us feels daunting. You can check out the Matthew Necklace and other pieces by clicking here. Use the access code: 75031 and can order by emailing Jamie at fourokloks@comcast.net

Lastly the book Eternity in Their Hearts:

This book has been tantamount for me in facing the problem of evil and suffering in the world and has been an immense encouragement to remember God is working when we can’t see him. If you have heard The Peace Child story, read this book for similar stories. The peace child is just one chapter in the book full of goodness. You can order the book for $10 on Amazon here, and watch the 50th anniversary of the peace child video here.

Most of these people you can find on my instagram @dearsamm, or click the link in the menu bar above that says: follow me//@dearsamm which will bring you right to my page.