John and Kate Minus Eight: Dream Wedding Contest

We Lost!

2009-10-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a real tough night. We found out tonight that we were not the winners of the Roman Jewelers Dream Wedding. We will still have our dream wedding so don't worry!

We know we are still winners, but still tough for the both of us. On the ride home tonight the car was really quiet. We tried to talk about the things we did that amazed us through the process. From the people we met, new friends, doing things we never thought we could do. It's easy to be disappointed and upset which we will be for a night, but it's really easy to think big and see the difference we are making for the community. This contest made us better people, not that we were so bad when we began:) This contest gave us something special and want us to continue to make a difference.

Thank you everyone for you support. Thank you RVHH for picking us tonight. With out your thanks and support we almost forgot that we did make a difference.

We love you all,

John and Kate

19k/Cell Phone Drive Continuation & Excited for Thursday!

2009-10-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Today, we broke 19,000 dollars raised for Habitat!! Thank you all so much for your ongoing support. Let's keep it up! We are continuing to get cell phones from companies that are still collecting. From what we have turned in already, we are averaging about $2.70/phone which is great! We could not believe that old cell phones could be worth so much while helping the environment.

We cannot wait to see everyone this Thursday night!!

-J&K

Contest Results!!!

2009-10-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well today we had to turn in our results and we have our fingers crossed. It has been a great adventure and one of the most rewarding things Kate and I have done. Especially with the tight time frame. As many of you know already Kate and I will continue to volunteer for RVHH. We have made so many new friends along the way and found a home within the Habitat. As you all know, the planning for 2nd annual Cakes for a Cause is underway and we hope to have a date in soon. If you are interested in getting involved please let me know as we can never have enough volunteers. As for the cell phone drive, schools continue to collect cell phones and we hope to get a great turn out during each schools spirt week! Our total to date and for the contest today was: $18,773.60.

We still have a long way to go! But at this rate we will get to 100K in about 5 - 6 months. We are still looking for companies to run cell phone drives. Thank you everyone for you support! Please stay tuned. We find out this Thursday about the contest.

We love you all,

John and Kate

5K Day Habitat

2009-10-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!
John and I went to support Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity to support them in their first annual 5k. John's number was good, mine not so good. However, it was my first race! He ran it in 22 minutes and I ran it i in 32 minutes. It was a great event. Over 200 people showed up to show their support for Habitat. We look forward to participating in next year's 5k!
Good Night,
John and Kate

Sue's Sweet's In For Cakes For A Cause 2!

2009-10-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sue - Thank you so much for the kind words.

From: Susan Martino info@suesweets.com

To: katewalsh82@gmail.com katewalsh82@gmail.com

Sent: Thu Oct 08 22:07:02 2009

Subject: Hello!

Hi Kate and John!I've been following your blog and am very excited for you both! I know you'll keep everyone posted - I can't wait for the results. Thank you again for contacting me to be in the Cakes for a Cause - I'd love to participate next year too.You both are such a dynamic couple and complement each other perfectly! I'm very happy I got to meet you and feel honored to be a part of your wedding. All the best,

Sue Martino Sue's Sweets

Life Saver / Final Tallying

2009-10-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Thank You Steve from Re:Source. He saved our lives today by donating carpet for tomorrow site dedication for the Bridgewater site. (http://www.rvhabitat.org/events/index.html#Launch)

I now know who my guy is for my flooring needs!

At this point in time, I would like to thank all of blog readers and everyone who has followed our journey. We are now entering the final stretch of the contest. We are gathering our final checks from friends and family and any last minute cell phone collections to be sent to habitat after the contest. I am picking up cell phones from Rutgers Prep tomorrow morning - a big thank you goes out to Tony for his help!

If anyone has any good ideas for Cakes for a Cause 2, please let us know. We plan to meet with Buddy, aka "Cake Boss" after season 2 to speak about the event further.

Stay tuned for our total!

Look For Us This Sunday!

2009-10-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

We will be at the Habitat For Humanity 5K. It's not too late to sign up.

http://www.rvhabitat.org/events/index.html#HomeRun

Great Day: Cake For A Cause 2 / Spirit Week Franklin Twp./ Kate's First Order / Reflection

2009-10-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

We talked to Carlo's Bakery and it looks like they are going to do an event for us next year!!! Cakes for a Cause was such a great event that many of the people involved wanted to do it next year. Can you believe we might bring Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity to TLC!!!!! Tomorrow we are going to talk to Jerry Frungillo from "Masters of Reception" to see if he will team up with us. Once again I want to say thank you to Jerry for coming to our event this year. We could not have asked for a better host. We feel that Cakes For A Cause can be an event all of Habitat For Humanity can run nationally. Our hope is that by working with both Jerry and Buddy we can spread the word across the nation. Who doesn't like cake?

The cell phone drive will continue! We collected some cell phones from Franklin Township Schools this week and they want to run the cell phone drives during their spirit week at the end of October as they feel they can get more with a friendly competition. We hope to reach out to other schools too so that we can capitalize on spirit week.

On an non-related note, Kate got her first order at her new job. She has worked so hard and in such a short time she closed her first deal. I am so proud of her and I don't want it get lost in the final week. But it's important!!! I love her so much!

A great day for the both of us!

Thank you everyone again for all your help. If it wasn't for you support I don't know how we would get through this. As we approach the final days of the contest we both learned a lot about ourselves, our love for each other, and how through hard times we both can get through anything. At this stage of the game, we have had some time to reflect on the past month as we prepare for the results next week. We thank Roman Jewelers for giving us this opportunity as well as introducing us to Habitat for Humanity. We found a home there and something special that we hope to continue for years to come.

Are hopes are high, we pray as often as we can, but in the end we are all winners.

One Week Left...

2009-10-06T05:43:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

John and I are following up with everyone at the event who said they would support us. We are getting last minute donations to our Web site as well as checks, and writing thank you letters to everyone that supported us. All the architects and the people involved would like us to run it again next year. Thanks to Roman Jewelers, we were able to come across Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity. We plan to hold Cakes for a Cause next year as well. We are talking to Cake Boss and Jerry Frungillo of TLC's Masters of Reception. We hope that next year we could have a live show.

To donate, please visit www.firstgiving.com/johnandkate.

Talk to you soon,
Kate

It is Not Too Late to Support Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity!!

2009-10-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

It is not too late to help us help Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity!! To do so, please visit our donation site at www.firstgiving.com/johnandkate. You can find a link for this to the right of our main blog site. In an effort to have our friends get involved, we are going to have a party next Saturday - please contact us via the blog for more details!

Good Night,

John & Kate

Final Tallying!

2009-10-03T16:23:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

Thank you to everyone who donated used cell phones! A special thank you to Summer at Montclair State University who was able to bring us forty phones this evening from staff members who participated!! Also, thank you to everyone for their last minute checks. We hope to get some more checks and donations in the next week. We are sending out the phones this Monday. Hopefully we will get a good return!!

Talk to you soon,

Kate and John

Cell Phone Update!

2009-09-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are going to Grubb & Ellis' office in Edison to pick up their cell phones. We really appreciate their help in collecting! Thank you Bob Sticht for all of your help in coordinating this! Also, we are planning a time to pick up phones from Rutgers Prep and Franklin High School as well as North Hunterdon High School next week. I had a great call with Carolyn at North Hunterdon High School and she is happy to help coordinate this effort.

Thank you to everyone who recently donated on First Giving! Your support is overwhelming!!

Stay tuned for more!

Cell Phone Collection Week!!

2009-09-29T04:04:00.000-07:00

Kate and I are starting to collect cell phones! We got a huge box yesterday blackberry's yesterday from Gensler! Thank YOU! If you have a cell phone that you no longer use and want to contribute please email us.

Talk to you soon,

Event Pictures

2009-09-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Three Cakes!

Celebrity Photo Shoot (Who are those good looking stars?)

Scott and Cake

Sue and her Cake

Paula and her cake

Kate Singing for to raise funds. Good Idea Jerry.

Winning Cake (Studio 1200 - Sue Sweets)

The Cakes!

2009-09-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

Pictures from Cakes for a Cause!!!

2009-09-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hey All!

As John wrote, our Cakes for a Cause event was awesome!! We had about 52 people in attendance and everyone enjoyed a great evening of networking while enjoying wonderful appetizers and of course cake! A special thank you to everyone who participated, attended and is supporting our efforts to support Habitat!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=DominikaPhoto&target=ALBUM&id=5385785117645156865&authkey=Gv1sRgCKnkqtvTxtLHCg&feat=email

EVENT

2009-09-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

Our event was AWESOME! I wanted to post a quick blog before getting to work today. More detials to come tongiht as well as pictures of the cakes. Thank you so much everyone for coming.

Talk to you all soon,

Jerry Frungillo of Masters of Reception will be at Cakes for a Cause!!!

2009-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Jerry Frungillo of TLC's Masters of Reception will be at our Cakes for a Cause event!! I just wanted to thank him so much for participating in this event and for being a guest judge! Saw this show this past Friday and loved it! Great job - we cannot wait to meet you tomorrow night.

We will give a full report of the event on Friday!!!

Good night,
J&K

2 Days Until Our Event!!

2009-09-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

We are putting the final touches on our Cakes for a Cause event this Thursday! John and I would like to thank everyone who registered, those that are going to the event as well as everyone who donated on our site thus far. We are overwhelmed by your support. Right now, we have around fifty or so attendees that are planning to go to the event. We are so excited to see everyone and think that it will be a great networking event!

G'Night everyone~!

-J&K

Busy Weekend!!

2009-09-20T17:30:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

John and I emailed TONS of real estate and construction professionals within the tri-state area to gain awareness of our event this Thursday and hopefully get some corporate sponsors....

We went on a run this evening (Sunday) and came back to a phone donated to us from one of our neighbors. Also a big thank you to Mrs. Covey who collected phones while away in Vancouver.

FOUR MORE DAYS TO CAKES FOR A CAUSE - REGISTER NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John and Kate

Please register for our event!

2009-09-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

John and I are Praying for The Cake Boss

2009-09-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

John and I are praying tonight that Buddy, aka "the cake boss" will attend our event! It will mean so much to everyone that attends and I think it would be great for him to judge it. We will give everyone the final word tomorrow!

Also, Cakes for a Cause is only 9 DAYS AWAY!! If you have not registered, please do so before the ticket price goes up!! Please email john.r.covey@gmail.com for a sign up form if you do not have one yet....

We are looking forward to hearing from you!!

Sincerely,

John & Kate

NEED PEOPLE TO REGISTER

2009-09-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Everyone says they are coming, but no registering!! Please register as we need to get numbers to the caterer. Please tell your freinds and family. We sent over 1,000 emails today to business, friends, and family.

We really want this to be a good event. Please come out and support Habitat! It should be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to all the wedding cake i'm going to eat.

Till tomorrow,

- John and Kate Minus Eight

Door to Door day 2

2009-09-13T13:30:00.001-07:00

Hi All!

John and I went door to door at around 1:00 p.m. today until 4:00. We collected four cell phones and have to circle back this Wednesday to collect phones from seven other homes who had to gather their phones together. However, we have to give a huge thank you to Bonnie Pfeiderer of Cardella Waste who brought 24 cell phones to us today!! She collected these phones from her office, many of which were Blackberries and RAZRs. We looked up the value for each at phoneraiser.com and found out that we will receive a check for $155.00 from these phones! Overall, it has been a very successful day. For all of our neighbors who were not home, we dropped off flyers with are three initiatives and hope that they will atleast donate or come to our event...

This week, we are going to focus as much as possible on inviting everyone we can to our event, as it is in just two weeks!

Talk to you soon,
Kate & John

First Day Going Door to Door Collecting Phones!

2009-09-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

John and I walked around our townhouse complex for about an hour and a half today...we were pretty successful! We collected 15 cell phones & have another 12 houses to go back to this week, as they needed to gather them. We are going to start out again tomorrow and go to another neighborhood, this time in the morning. We hope that we will be lucky enough to catch people at home watching football....

Until tomorrow....

Kate

We Need A Food/Event Sponsor!

2009-09-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

100% tax deductible Donation. $4,000 Also can be event sponsor. Please email if your interested.

CAKE BOSS MAY BE COMING!!!

2009-09-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with Carlo's Bakery! Buddy wants to do the event, but needs to figure out his scheduling. We should know by Wednesday! So excited everyone please cross your fingers.

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/cake-boss/cake-boss.html

http://www.carlosbakery.com/

We may come knocking!! Door to Door Used Cell Phone Drive Drive

2009-09-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Cake Boss Please Help us in our Event!!

2009-09-10T20:40:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

John spoke with Buddy' publicist today and they are considering coming to our event! Buddy, we would love to have you at our event. We think that everyone planning to attend would love to meet you and we hope that you will consider joining us for charity!

On another note, thank you to everyone who donated on our first giving Web page...your donations are very generous and much appreciated!!

Good Night All...

Kate

Where is John?

2009-09-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Cakes for a Cause is Set!!!

2009-09-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today, we confirmed all three bakeries and paired them with our three design firms that are designing the wedding cakes: Scott of Aztec Architecture in Iselin will be paired with Vinnie of Del Ponte's Bakery in Bradley Beach, Sue of Sue's Sweets will be paired with Sandee of Studio 1200 in Millburn and Rich of Ronald Schmidt & Associates in Englewood will be paired with Paula of Cake Fiction in South Orange....Thank you to all participating bakeries and design firms!! We are so excited to see what you create.

We have been trying to get the word out about the event to ensure a good turnout. Please join us at our Cakes for a Cause networking event at Sublime Restaurant, 12 Lackawanna Avenue in Gladstone, NJ 07934. The event will begin at 6. It will be a good opportunity to network with business associates in real estate, as well as decide the winning cake! The cost is $100 per ticket before September 18th and all proceeds will be donated to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity. Appetizers and delicious cake will be served! We hope to see you all there. Please email johnc@officefurniturepartnership.com to sign up!! The cost goes up to $125 at the door so please register early!!!

We need everyone's support. For those of you who cannot attend, please consider making a donation here: http://www.firstgiving.com/johnandkate. So far we have our first donation from Lisa Westerfield - thank you so much!

Thank you for everyone's continued support,

Kate

Cake Boss Here I Come

2009-09-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

We have a bakery!!!

2009-09-06T19:20:00.002-07:00

Today was an AWESOME day for John and I!!!!!!! We called bakeries all morning and were able to get a firm committment from Delponte's Bakery in Bradley Beach. A huge thank you goes out to Vinny at Delponte's for baking one of our lovely wedding cakes at our event. It was a pleasure meeting you this afternoon and we look forward to working with you for this cause. Additionally, we have two other local bakeries that we are meeting with tomorrow, as we have decided to put a slight spin on our contest. We are teaming each of the three bakeries up with a design firm, so that they can have more time and focus all their energy into the cake. We also received a respone from Christine at Design Cakes in Kearny sent us a response via email asking for the specifics so hopefully we will have more to report by tomorrow! As soon as we have all of the bakeries lined up, we will then send our interior design firms a set of rules for the contest.

On another note, thank you Jennifer Cameroni for getting the other Alfonso's (in Somerville) to host a used cell phone drive....

G'Nite,
Kate and John

W

2009-09-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

September 5th

2009-09-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today, we got a few more sponsors to conduct used cell phone drives in their offices. These include Gibbons Law, RMJM Architects and Cardella Waste. Also, we have to write a BIG HUGE thank you to Bonnie who is sick with strep throat and is STILL walking around Hoboken with our cell phone flyers trying to get support. And Happy Birthday Bonnie!!! We are so grateful for your help.... we are still in search of a bakery so if anyone knows a bakery willing to bake cakes for charity, please let us know...We also have a few potential guest speakers at our event but if anyone has ideas or people willing to talk, please email us!!!!!

Thank you everyone for your support...

Kate

Sept. 3rd

2009-09-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

Police Departments / General Questions Used Cell Phone Drive

2009-09-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Z100 Vs. WPLJ: Place your bets!

2009-09-01T20:00:00.001-07:00

Used Cell Phone Drive: More Help is on the way

2009-09-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Thank you Lupo!!!

Thank You Angelo's - Had a great meal tonight and thank you for your support.

Scott - Thank you for donating your space. Everyone food here is excellent. Please support this new business.

Thank You Jen Cameroni!!! She called 25 Companies today to run a cell phone drive. Looks like Alen Security stock is going up!

Thank You Studio 1200 for running a cell drive in your office as well as our Cake design contest!!

Thank You Greg Tabone!! Get as many cell phones as you can get. Unlike golf the higher the number the better:)

THANK YOU NORTH HUNTERDON HIGH SCHOOL!

Used Cell Phone Drive: How to Get Involved!

2009-08-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

So today, instead of writing a description of what we have done, I am asking for your support with our used cell phone drive. Participating is SO easy! It is just 3 simple steps.

1. You and/or your office want to participate - great! Just email john.r.covey@gmail.com or katewalsh82@gmail.com and we will send you a letter to send your company should you need approval to hold the drive.

2. Next, put a box out in a common area where the phones can be gathered and email your colleagues letting them know. We will email you flyers to put in front of the box.

3. Lastly, send the letter and flyers on to all your friends and clients who may want to participate as well!!

Just a reminder that all proceeds will go directly to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity's Bridgewater, NJ project. Specifically, for the funding of 1 Dutch Lane. If you support this worthy cause, we will include logo on our marketing materials and at our real estate networking event at the end of the month.

Thank you all!

John, VT Alumi & Kate, Fairfield University Alumni

Today's Update Aug. 31st

2009-08-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Used Cell Phone Drive Participant : Thank You

2009-08-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

Used Cell Phone Drive Participant!!!! Keep them coming.

2009-08-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

John's day

2009-08-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

Used Cell Phone Drive Details

2009-08-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Please email me if you want to get your company involved: john.r.covey@gmail.com

Information Below:

Please donate your used cell phones to help build a home at 1 Dutch Lane in Bridgewater!

100% of all proceeds made from the cell phone drive will be donated to the funding of 1 Dutch Lane.

It costs $100,000 to build a home, so every cell phone counts!

Habitat Partner Families - Bridgewater Community

We are often asked what the “typical” Habitat family looks like. Of course, all of our families do share some things in common – they are low-income, they are hard working people, they are willing to invest their time and energy to build a better life for their families. But every family has their own unique story.

Our nine newest partner families include 37 people – 12 adults and 25 children.
These families will soon begin building a new Habitat community
on Southside Avenue and Dutch Lane in Bridgewater.

Below are a few facts about our Bridgewater families.

Family Facts:

· Two-thirds of the Bridgewater families are headed by single moms.

· Family sizes range from two to seven people.

· Families come from a mix of ethnic backgrounds - Hispanic, African-American, and Caucasian.

Employment:

· All nine families have at least one adult working full-time; two families have an adult working two jobs.

· All families earn between 30% and 50% of median income for our area.

Types of employment include:

§ Auto mechanic

§ Medical technician

§ Meeting planner

§ Hospital registrar

§ Retail clerk

§ Church musician

§ Shipping agent

§ Machinery mechanic

§ Medical receptionist

Problems with Current Housing:

· Excessive Rent

§ Five of the nine families are paying more than 33% of their income for rent.

§ Three of these families are paying more than 40%, and one is paying more than 50%.

· Overcrowding

§ Two families are each living in a single room.

§ One family of 7 is sharing a three bedroom apartment, with Dad sleeping on the couch.

· Inadequate Housing

§ Four families have no space for the kids to play outside.

§ One family has three children sharing an attic bedroom reached by a dilapidated metal staircase.
Their apartment also has a recurring insect problem, even after treatment.

§ One family is living in an unheated basement, relying on a space heater for warmth.

· Unsafe Housing

§ One family is living in an unsafe neighborhood, with drug dealers around the corner and gun shots sometimes heard at night.

§ One family shares a house with 7 other adults and a landlord who enters their bedroom at will.

Save The Date: Wedding Cake Design Contest/Networking

2009-08-29T18:53:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

We just spoke with Scott of Sublime Restaurant in Gladstone. We are thrilled that he has agreed to let us use his restaurant/bar for our networking event, which will be held on Thursday, September 24th from 6-9 p.m. We are meeting with him this week to discuss all of the details...

Sorry, no save the date magnets here.....but please come out and support us and please mark your calendars now as it is just a little over three weeks away!!

We are in the finals!

2009-08-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today, we found out that we are in the top 10 for the wedding contest! I am sorry we have not written in a while, but we plan to do a wedding cake design contest, a used cell phone drive and an online registry. We plan to do a Thursday night networking happy hour in late September. We now have the whole month of September to fundraise. We will put a link to the registry here as soon as we have it.

In the meantime, we have started a used cell phone drive. Please let us know if you would like to help us collect used cell phones from your friends, family and co-workers. We can provide you with a flyer that describes what the funds will be going to, which is Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity. We hope to raise funding to build a home at 1 Dutch Lane in Bridgewater for Habitat....

We hope to hear from you! Please write us back!

Thanks,

John & Kate

Powerpoint is in!

2009-08-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

We reviewed our PowerPoint presentation this past Wednesday night to make sure it looked exactly how we wanted it to and even had some friends give us feedback as well. We emailed it in late Wednesday night and have our presentations tomorrow, Saturday, August 29th. We plan to finish rehearsing our presentation tonight to make sure we have our timing down and know which one of us presents which slide. The presentations are 1 p.m. tomorrow. We are excited!! As of tomorrow, we will give you a full update on how everything went :)

Tick Tock Tick Tock

2009-08-24T08:56:00.001-07:00

Well our presentation is this weekend. We will need all the help we can get. We have the ideas down and ready it's not about putting all the small details together so we don't forget anything. On a more personal note my allergies are killing me! Oh and I'm getting lasic surgery in a week. Talk to you soon,

Day 5 (Kate)

2009-08-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Today was a GREAT day for John and I. We went to a networking event tonight and found a venue that we could host our event for absolutely free, should we make it to the next round....We also met some business people that are willing to give of their time and experience to help us. Not to mention, attend our event! We hope to put our plans into motion soon! :).....

Good night!

Day 4 (John)

2009-08-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

This planning is so exhausting! I'm not going to complain cause I do feel lucky to be a part of this, but today was rough. I was so tired and could not get up this morning and I had a networking meeting at 8AM and the commute was over an hour away. The hour got me a chance to sort our ideas and of course before Kate was awake she had about 50 ideas in her inbox from yours truly.

Exactly what Kate looks forward to in the morning:) I think I'm driving her crazy with all my ideas, but she does have that way of making my ideas that much better. She always puts a good twist on things. Someone has to rein me in. I love her so much! On another note, I called our priest today, well left a message. I don't want to surprise him with a November wedding so i figured i'd give him a heads up just in case plus would it be cheating to ask help from the big man? We need all the help we can.

As for my real job i had a pretty good day. Got a couple key decision makers on the phone. Just to give you some background for those that don't know me i do business development. My co-workers have been great and one even donated a space for us to throw an event. If anyone out there actually reads this let me know if you know anyone willing to donate a space for us to throw an event? Big or Small. We have a number of ideas that we hope to do.

Got to run, Kate and I got a movie tonight. We decided that we need a night off!

Day 4 (Kate)

2009-08-19T14:29:00.001-07:00

Today was a very productive day!! We came up with a concrete plan after much discussion. We talked it over with friends and colleagues and everyone seems to agree it is a good idea. We are working out the logistics but have already gotten a good deal of preliminary support. I sent an email out to all of my wonderful bridesmaids letting them know the plan and asking them for their support in advance.

More to follow....

Day 3 cont.. (John)

2009-08-18T19:01:00.001-07:00

We had a great evening. I got home from work and Kate and I started to talk about our days and how so many people gave us great ideas. Cory my roommate (aka "Dupree") came home started to brain storm with us then the doorbell ran and my friend Scott the architect came over and we really got thinking. I wish I could tell you the ideas, but since this is public we don't want our competition getting a leg up on us. But next thursday we will release our plan!

I have a picture of the site there are building on, but i can't get it on the site. I wish i knew more about computers.

It's going to be good! Please tell your friends to sign up to our blog.

Made the paper! Thank you Star Ledger!

http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/08/bridgewater_when_bianca_ruffin.html)

Till tomorrow my friends,

- John

Day 3 (Kate)

2009-08-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Today, I realized that many people, friends, and networking contacts are willing to help us reach our goal. They are willing to donate their time, money and in some cases possibly even a venue to hold these charity events. We are thinking that a series of events is still the best way to go. It will take time to get the word out but hopefully people will come out and show their support.

More to come...

Day 3 (John)

2009-08-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

HELP!!!! So many ideas and narrowing down which ones are going to be successful is going to be a problem. The more and more I hear the goal of 100K I say to myself can we really do this!!! It's just Kate and I, but encouraging words from everyone has been really great. As well as the overwhelming support of people willing to help!

Thank you everyone!

Day 2 cont'd (Kate)

2009-08-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today I met with Habitat for Humanity and talked about some of our goals for this project. We plan to build a new house for a family in Bridgewater. The house they gave us to raise money for is 1 Dutch Lane. We know a little about the people who will be living there. They are a hard-working Polish couple that has four children. To accomplish our goal, we plan to probably have a series of events or one big event, or both. If anyone has ideas on where to host these events in Somerset or Hunterdon counties, please let us know! We have some pretty good ideas but could always use more.

To be continued,

Kate

Day 2 (John)

2009-08-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

Not more than 3 hours after my first ever blog the grammer police called aka my fiancee. I'll apologise in advance if my grammer is lacking, but i'm sure my lovely fiancee will fix it when needed. I'll do my best to read things over before posting:)

Back to work! Oh on another note if you know of any companies looking for furniture i'm your guy.

Talk to you later,

Day 2 (Kate)

2009-08-17T07:05:00.001-07:00

Adding to what John included in his post earlier today, we are really excited about the contest! We have been paired with Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity and our goal is to build a home. Over the next week and a half, we will be preparing a business plan on how we intend to accomplish this goal, what fundraisers we will conduct and our idea for a larger event in September. Our plan will be carried out if we are selected as one of the finalists in the competition.

Today, we are going to be meeting with our representative from Habitat for Humanity. She is going to show us some of the homes that Habitat has sucessfully built for members of the community.

Along the way, we would love to hear your thoughts, comments or ideas on great original ideas that will get Habitat for Humanity in the limelight and will get people to come out and support their cause.

Much more to follow,

Kate

Website Link

2009-08-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the website link if your interested in seeing details.

http://www.theromanjewelerswedding.com/Default.aspx

Day 1 (John)

2009-08-17T04:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Kate and I went to the luncheon to find out the details of the contest. Well they were simple, but they did throw us a curveball. Here it is... If we win the wedding it will be in November. My first reaction was like that is three months from now, but for a dream wedding and the planning is done for you why not! Kate was likes sound good to me! Of course while she was listening intently to the rules and regulations I was sizing up the competition. Let me tell you this is not going to be easy. There are some eager couples out there that are going to give us a run for our money. The other couples were so nice that we were like they would be fun to go out with, maybe after the contest:)

All in all here is the skinny. We are in the top 20! In two weeks we need to complete a business plan that will comprise of a unique and new fundraising plan to be implemented in one month (by the end of September). In the first round, 2 couples randomly draw out of a hat and were paired with a charity. We were given Habitat for Humanity. I felt it was a very good one for us especially with what we do for a living (business development). So we are competing with one couple to get to the next round. If we make it, the next round will be to implement the business plan.

So yesterday Kate and I spent the better half of our day throwing ideas around and waiting for something to stick. We went to BN, Borders, and a local Princeton book store to find ideas. For most of you that know me that is probably the most anyone has seen me in a book store yet alone three. We also called all our friends and family for support. Long story short, this Sunday was an adventurous one!

Talk to you later,

John