gift information

Hello all!
We will begin our married life here in Alamosa in Muck's house, until our volunteer service time is up in February of 2007. We anticipate being nomads for a couple of years after that, therefore, we are NOT registering for or asking for any house/home goods such as dishes, sheets, towels, or blenders, etc... (no toasters either, thank you!). Instead, please check out the three options listed below if you are interested in giving us a wedding gift. Thank you in advance!

Option #1: REI
We have registered at www.rei.com, also located in our links on the right side of this page. After coming to the home page at REI, locate and click on the "Gift Registry" tab on the upper, right-hand side of the page. You will then be asked either for our names or wedding date to locate our registry. You know our names, and the wedding date is August 2, 2006. You can either make your purchase online and have it shipped to us, or go to your local REI customer service desk and request assistance for in-store shopping.

REI is an outfitter for wilderness adventures. We have only registered at REI for a few of the basics that we currently do not own, in order to enable us to keep up with the hiking, camping, and soon to be backpacking adventures, without having to continually borrow from our friends.

Option #2: Volunteering Abroad Fund (VAF)
After our time with La Puente Home (please locate link on the right side of the page), we both feel the call to pursue more volunteering opportunities, potentially elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, travelling costs inhibit us from being able to get to many of the places we would like to volunteer. Once there, volunteers are usually given room and board, and in some cases and small stipend.
The two places we are looking into for volunteering hold special meaning for both of us. For a long time now, we have longed to "return home" to Ireland, due to our ancestoral roots, and India because Kelsea's grandfather grew up there, as did one of our role models, Mahatma Gandhi. We are not wanting to travel as tourists, but as pilgrims, with a desire to give back to the communities we learn from. Specifically, two programs we are looking at are:
www.wwoof.org - World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, an organization of organic farms worldwide that provide room and board for willing volunteers for however long they wish to stay. We are thinking we would like to volunteer in Ireland, if possible.
www.isec.org.uk/pages/ladakh.html - The Ladakh Farm Project, located in northern India, on the border of Nepal and Tibet (Free Tibet!) teaches sustainable farming, while also instilling a sense of pride in the traditional farming practices and anti-consumer culture of the Ladakhi people.

Option #3: Financial Freedom Fund (FFF)
In conjunction with the VAF, we present the FFF; our effort to eradicate our student loan debt. In order to volunteer abroad, we need to make regular payments on our student loans to prevent defaulting while we are gone. While not as enticing as the VAF, we believe the FFF is the most essential wedding gift because it promotes our financial stability as a couple.

Questions & Comments can be directed toward kelseamac@gmail.com or jmkilpatrick@stthomas.edu.

Thank you for your love and support! We love you all!

muck& kelsea