Feeling Thankful

I realize it has been a while since I have updated you all on my progress but it has been crazy busy with my Etsy store and school! But guess what? I have raised over $1,700 in donations and purchases from my store! I am very excited. I just love all of the positive messages buyers have been sending me on Etsy and how I now have support from people all around the globe! One of my recent favorite messages came from a lady in Australia: "Good luck getting to Greece! It is a beautiful country. I will tell all of my friends about your store and will be checking in on your blog to see your progress!". 

I just love it.

On another note, I just ordered some more supplies to make more jewelry for my store. Look out for some very pretty new earrings as well as some geek chic necklaces soon! 

Gotta love geeky jewelry...  ;)
Visit my shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ProjectGreece
There are tons of new pieces for you to check out.

Once again, thank-you all so very much for your continued support. Traveling abroad is one of my biggest dreams and you all are helping it come true for me.

Study Abroad is Expensive!

So I realized I haven't updated in a while so I thought I would let everyone know how we're doing on our fundraising. We have now raised $670 for the trip. While this is great that we have this much money set aside, we are far from achieving our goal! The program we would like to do is around $5,000 each(not counting airfare). I have been thinking about what we should do about this and I think the best option would be to put it off another year or two. Since I graduate in a year or year and a half, we would probably be looking into volunteer work in Greece. This is a much less expensive option and we could still stay longer and travel through Greece after we're done with our volunteer work. I think this would be much more practical for us, although it will still cost thousands! We still need your donations and money from Etsy to make this volunteer trip possible. I'm keeping track of everyone who has donated or bought items from us and we still plan on sending out postcards when we get to Greece. Once again, if you would like to donate the button is to the right --> and if you have any fundraising ideas for us, we would love to hear them. Thanks again, everyone!

About Halfway!

So guess what...? We're at $450 for our fundraiser abroad! That's about halfway in our thousand-dollar fundraiser! WOOO! Thanks again everyone for your continued support. It's awesome. We are still looking for ways to raise more money, so let me know if you have any creative ideas! I feel like I'm running out of ideas, myself.

So my boyfriend's grandma surprised me with TONS of new beads for our jewelry fundraiser. That's especially great because now we didn't have to spend money on beads and therefore, we can most likely make some cheaper jewelry for all you guys! We're going to be making a few Halloween-inspired pieces soon so also look out for that. Also, the Etsy store may seem a little bare at the moment and that's because I sold like 5 items yesterday (once again, thanks!). But no worries - we're working on some more great stuff for you guys. Also, I (Allison) love crafting so I might be putting up some of my homemade home decor on Etsy. It's going to be legen...wait for it...dary! (if you don't watch How I Met Your Mother, I apologize for that last geeky reference)

Also, I know some of you have studied abroad before so I was wondering about some good scholarships or grants out there? Leave me a message below if you know of anything!

Here's some pieces that are still available in our Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ProjectGreece

Some cool little things you just might like...

Helloooo! So here's an update from Ashley and I! We are currently making Greek-inspired jewelry to raise money for our trip. Many of them will be turquoise blue because this color is considered lucky to the Greek. After research, I found that "Evil Eye" jewelry is very popular so I thought I should explain this a little bit to you all. Basically, this is a bead that looks like a blue eye and it is supposed to give you luck and protection. The "evil eye" is considered to be a terrible thing and the Greeks believe that wearing these blue eye beads will ward off evil things (just to clarify: the beads are not evil eyes, just protectants from the evil eye). So they're really cool and we made some just for you guys! All proceeds will go to our trip and I will also write down your address so that we can send you a homemade postcard saying thanks after we get back from our trip. Here is the link to our Etsy store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ProjectGreece
Another thing I have been working on is an apparel/trinkets/random things store in which we customize items to sell. A very small amount of this money actually goes to us to the items are rather highly priced, but you can take a look at the store just in case you like anything! More designs are coming so the store is a little silly-looking right now. HOWEVER it does have some homemade Harry Potter designs which are pretty dang awesome if you ask me. But the Harry Potter ones will be up in a while and the designs we have right now are kind of lame compared to Mr. Potter. But yeah...check it out and I'll let you know when we have some new designs up! Here's the link:
http://www.cafepress.com/project_greece

On another note, I am currently talking with a Greek tutor to help Ashley and I learn some common phrases we may need and to learn how to read the Greek alphabet. I'm purrrty excited!
Also, we are in the process of putting together a video to post on this blog so we can talk to you guys more personally...so that's another thing to look forward to.

Don't forget we're doing a $2 fundraiser so everyone who is able, please donate $2 to help us out and receive a hand-made post card when we return from Greece. Love you guys! Thanks for everything you've been doing for us!

17 Interesting Things about Greece

Here are some interesting facts about Greece:

1. Greece is about the size of Alabama, however it has more than twice as many people.
2. No one in Greece can choose not to vote. It's required by law for everyone over 18 years old.
3. Nearly 80% of Greece is mountainous.
4. Common English words from Greek include “academy,” “apology,” “marathon,” “siren,” “alphabet,” and “typhoon.”
5. Greece has more than 2,000 islands, of which approximately 170 are populated.
6. Continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years, Athens is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is also the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, political science, Western literature, historiography, major mathematical principles, and Western theories of tragedy and comedy.
7. Greece enjoys more than 250 days of sunshine—or 3,000 sunny hours—a year.
8. Greece is the leading producer of sea sponges.
9. Many Greek structures such as doors, windowsills, furniture, and church domes are painted a turquoise blue, especially in the Cyclades Islands. It is used because of an ancient belief that this shade of blue keeps evil away. They called the color kyanos, which the words “cyan” and “cyanide” are derived from.
10. In Greece, people celebrate the “name day” of the saint that bears their name rather than their own birthday.
11. Greece holds one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. It was called the Colossus of Rhodes. It was a 98-foot tall statue of the God Helios and was destroyed in an earthquake in 226 B.C.
12. The first Olympic games took place in 776 B.C.
13. Greece is home to monk seals, an endangered species with only 250 left in the world.
14. Greeks do not wave with an open hand. In fact, it is considered an insult to show the palm of the hand with the fingers extended. Greeks wave with the palm closed.
15. After giving a compliment, Greeks make a puff of breath through pursed lips, as if spitting. This is meant to protect the person receiving the compliment from the “evil eye.”
16. A Spartan specialty was a black soup made from salt, vinegar, and blood. No one in the rest of Greece would drink it.
17. Greek workers get at least one month of paid vacation every year.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/interesting-facts-about-greece.html

Update!

Sorry I haven't been able to update our fundraising project in a while! So here's where we're at. We were able to raise about $200 in the first couple weeks and then the donations stopped completely. I feel so blessed that we could raise that much money in so little time, but we're still working hard to get more :) So if you haven't read my previous posts, here's what we're doing:
We're trying to get everyone to donate only $2!
All you have to do is click on the "Donate" button on the right. It would help us out SO much!

So what's in it for you?

We're going to be taking lots of photographs in Greece, so if you donate any money to us, we will make a homemade postcard with one of the photographs and send it to you as soon as we get back to the USA.
We will also be updating our blog while we are abroad so you can follow our posts to know exactly where your money is going.

More updates...

We are trying to look at some cheaper options to travel to Greece. Studying abroad is extremely expensive so we've been looking at some volunteering options as well. So far, I have found some programs where we can help wildlife conservation and save some endangered sea turtles. I would still prefer to study abroad, but it looks as though money is going to be very tight.
On another note, we are looking for more options on how to raise money. We could do bake sales or car washes, but are there any ideas that you may have to help us raise more money?
Please leave ideas in the comments section below.

Thanks so much everyone!

Easy Thousand Project

So I wanted to explain a little somethin' to you guys. Ashley and I are raising the money for this trip COMPLETELY on our own. We have applied for scholarships and grants, however it looks as though we will need to get the money in cash or through loans. So honestly, we need your help if this is going to happen at all. So I heard about the Easy Thousand Project and thought I could give it a try with my friends, family, and even strangers reading this blog!

 So our fundraising has begun! Here is what our plan is. If everyone who reads this donates just $2, we will only need 500 people to help us out! I know what you're thinking...500 is a huge number. But that's where Facebook comes in! Ashley and I will be posting the link to this blog on our Facebook pages and all we ask is that you do the same! By posting our blog to your wall, we can get as many readers as possible and hopefully, 500 of them will be able to donate only $2. I mean, think about it! I spend $2 a day on dumb things like bottled iced tea and fast food. It's not much money, but that's what it will take to send us on the trip of a lifetime: lots of people supporting us in what we are doing. So here's the cool part for you guys. If you help us out and give us just those $2, we are going to send you a homemade post card with a photo we took in Greece. We're going to put them together as soon as we get back from our trip. Along with that, you will be able to follow this exact blog and we will update it while we are in Greece! That way, you will see exactly what your money is doing for us.

 I can't even describe how much we want to go on this trip. We have never been outside of the United States but it's my dream to see as much of the world as possible. Please help us with this. We love you all! Remember to post this to your Facebook and just click the donate button on the right to make your $2 donation.