Homeless With Friends

Disneyland 2019

Good Morning World!

On May 7, we took a road trip down the highway to Anaheim, California. From one side of the state to the other, twelve hours long, we finally arrived to the gated community of our AirBnB hosted by Murad. Not only were we greeted at the door by two adorable Bengal cats, but we also had access to the entire place. The drive down, itself, was incredibly beautiful and full of exciting energy, anticipating the next couple of days in the happiest place on earth.

Day 1: Jenny purchased a three-day single park-per-day ticket, and Ciara is an annual pass holder. We chose Disneyland side as our first day, for a reason we cannot remember for whatever reason. Ciara’s family friend, Greg, met us at the park to make sure we had a wonderful first day, take some pictures, and feed us. (Thank you, Greg!) Eventually, we heard through a post of Ciara’s friend that the entire Spiderman: Far From Home cast was in the park-on the California Adventure side, of course. We ran out of Disneyland to the ticket booths, upgraded Jenny’s ticket for only fifty dollars more, and hurried into California Adventure. By the time we made it over, the cast had left the park, but we still stuck around to meet Marvel characters and ride some rides. We ended the night at Disneyland, riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twelve times in a row; a big thank you goes to Matt for allowing us to take the short cut to the front one time!

Gyllenhaal & Holland

Matt

Day 2: We started the day at California Adventure, getting breakfast at Flo’s Diner, and meeting Ciara’s childhood best friend, Gilli. Marvel characters were the top of the agenda. While in line for Black Widow, we were able to meet two cast members, Joey and Richie from Arcadia, who were incredibly friendly and have great senses of humor. From there, we decided to leave the park a bit early in order to eat McDonalds and hot tub back at the AirBnB.

Day 3: With any trip, the last day in Disneyland is the saddest of them all. This day was more dedicated to characters than the others, with meeting (almost) all the princesses, along with a few other friends. Derrick, one of the most enthusiastic cast members, was wonderful with his corny jokes. The most magical and happiest place on earth allowed for us to watch fireworks from the best places, meet the nicest cast members, and enjoy the most delicious food. Not to mention, the ability to go back to a quiet house and adorable cats. We had dinner reservations at the Blue Bayou to finalize our Disney magic experience.

Jenny & Ciara

On the day after our last in Disneyland’s magical kingdom, we set to return to Redding. Ciara was able to drive through the grapevine with ease, and we made it back within eight hours, shockingly so. Of which, all eight hours were spent with good music, Starbucks, and sights of grass with occasional cows. Overall, the trip was a major success with very little conflict, big happiness, and lots of laughs.

Concert: Bryce Vine

Good Morning World!

Our first adventure was to Sacramento, California, also known as California’s state capital! Starting at 4:00pm PST on Thursday, April 18, 2019, we headed down from our home in Redding to attend a concert venue in the wonderful California State University: Sacramento State. The school has a beautiful architectural design, plants and trees galore, as well as some great, kindhearted students.

Unfortunately for us, we had never visited this school before. We had no idea where to go for parking or the venue, even with asking several students that attend Sac State for directions and their assistance. In the midst of attempting to find the building, we ran into fans that were also trying to find the concert location-shout out to the four guys from Stockton that helped us find where to go! Once we finally made it inside, we were able to stand front row and enjoy the show.

Soosh*e! was an opener and an amazing rapper. We were lucky enough to be able to sneak a quick chat and take a selfie with him at the end of the show, once he was beginning to walk out.

Along with his performance, Black’Aramii joined him for a song, along with a solo performance of his newest song: Royal House Party. They took a moment of silence for their friend, Nipsey Hussle, and any others that we might have on our mind at the time. It was a great moment, super powerful, and we appreciate them even more for that.

Now for the main event: Bryce Vine! He started the show giving a shout out to those of us that had attended another Sacramento concert of his, just a couple weeks ago. On top of a thrilling night, he jumped off the stage to walk along the gate and hug all his fans, you know what that means! Yes, we hugged him! It was a glorious moment of being up close and personal with an incredible artist that stands for and supports great causes. Overall, it was an incredible night, one that could never be forgotten, and we cannot wait to attend more concerts in the near future.

Bryce Vine

Also, side note, if a concert ends at 9:30pm, and you live two hours away, it is totally worth just getting a hotel/motel/Airbnb for the night.

Wands for Wildlife®

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

Good Morning World!

Kimberly Brewster, co-founder of the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, had provided us with information regarding the program named Wands for Wildlife®. This project has been active since 2017, starting from a Facebook post created by co-founder Savannah Trantham. Since then, the project has grown nationwide! Everyone has an affinity with helping, especially when we have the means to do so in such a simple way, such as donating your used mascara wands.

Wands for Wildlife® is a program that accepts cleaned mascara wands to be used in the process of rehabilitating rescued animals. In addition to helping these animals, donating your wands removes them from wastelands and dump sites. Two causes helped, one mascara wand at a time!

Now you might ask, how do our wands get used? Thankfully, Brewster gave us a detailed response in how the wands are repurposed. Here’s what she said:

“Wildlife rehabilitators use the wands in many ways, including: removing fly eggs and larva from feathers and fur of wild animals; assisting the wildlife rehabilitator in examining for injuries; grooming an area on an animal to remove dust, dirt, sand, sawdust, etc.; and, cleaning the syringes used for feeding the animals. Because the bristles are soft and so close together, they reduce the risk of potential injury to tiny patients – especially squirmy babies.”

She added that some of the wands are going into an art project created by National Art Honor Society students to allow for public knowledge of the cause!

National Art Honor Society project

As for how we personally help this cause, we are spreading awareness, accepting donations on their behalf to be sent in large quantities, and recycling wands of our own.You can drop off wands to either of us, we will clean them and send them to the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge to be used by the Wands for Wildlife®! You can contact us at homelesswithfriends@gmail.com for inquiries.

We almost forgot! Wands for Wildlife® sells shirts and sweaters to support their cause! You can order some from their store attached here. We’re getting ours now!

Photos and videos provided by Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

turtle being cleaned with a wand