Home Depot's Celebration of Service

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Heads Up: This post is sponsored by The Home Depot Foundation, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure. For images and stories from other events around the country, visit the web site for the Celebration of Service.

Before last week, I wasn't aware of all the work Home Depot was doing to support our nation's veterans. On Friday, I was able to experience it first hand when they invited me to be part of and document an event called Celebration of Service. 

Part of a much larger movement taking place across the country between 9/11 and Veterans Day, Home Depot's "Team Depot" has been putting their skills and talents to work by renovating 1,000 veterans' homes. Since beginning the program, they have already transformed over 13,000 homes. So, this renovation, while it was marvelous and exciting on its own, is only a drop in the bucket.

Why does Home Depot place such an emphasis on veterans? Well, on top of their strong desire to - and I truly can't put it better than them - "serve those who have served us all," it's also a very personal thing. Veterans are part of the Home Depot family, with 35,000 of their employees having served.

We started Friday morning by meeting at Kent County Habitat for Humanity. It was a gorgeous location to start the day, with skyline views of Grand Rapids to serve as a backdrop for the opening ceremony.

There was a sea of orange (Home Depot's "Team Depot"), and Red (Habitat for Humanity) as the morning kicked off. After mingling and enjoying some coffee and breakfast, a few speakers got everyone hyped up, centered on the purpose of the day, and ready to renovate some homes!

After the kick-off ceremony, the group broke off into six smaller teams, each headed to a local veteran's home.

Once there, I was able to meet the veteran whose home we were working on. Lawrence Smith is a 62 year old vet who has been living in a rental apartment since being discharged in the 80s. This home will be his first, and it was wonderful to hear him speak about his hopes and dreams for it.

Lawrence has quite a few grandchildren. His biggest excitement about this new home is centered around them, and he looks forward to bringing them here to spend family time. 

Another thing I heard from Lawrence was a bit about how overwhelmingly humbling this whole experience was. He was so profoundly thankful for the chance to have a home of his own where he can age in peace and enjoy his family. Lawrence is also very faith filled, and professed his belief that everyone involved in the project had been touched by God.

The project was in full swing almost immediately, and we were able to have front row seats to the big changes taking place at Lawrence's future home. 

Over a longer period of time, the entire house will be renovated. On our inaugural work day, the team re-landscaped, removed all of the siding, gutted and re-sealed the bathrooms, and insulated the home.

They also removed an old rotting deck and began laying the groundwork for a new one. You better believe the new one will be bigger!

While we were working, a few pans of treats showed up - Rice Crispy Treats, Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies, and Puppy Chow. On top of the delicious burgers, hot dogs, chili, etc, there was a fuel-packed feast to be had for the day's volunteers.

Lawrence got to work, too - from nailing the insulation up to raking the leaves, he was excited to jump in and start working on his new home. I never saw him working without a smile on his face - or anyone else, for that matter.

As the day came to a close, the participating groups held a closing ceremony to commemorate the day's work and recognize the key players who made the event happen. Of course, one of the stars was Lawrence, himself, who has put in over 300 hours of 'sweat equity' with Habitat For Humanity in preparation for owning his own home.

  

Remember that family time Lawrence was looking forward to with his grandchildren? He's going to get it! At the end of the closing ceremony, Home Depot pledged to foot the bill for a backyard playground set of his choosing. Sounds like he won't have much of a challenge getting those grandkids over to his house. :)

Helpful Links:
Team Depot's Content Hub
The Home Depot Foundation
Team Depot on Facebook
Team Depot on Twitter

Full Disclosure: The Home Depot Foundation partnered with bloggers such as me for their Celebration of Service program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. The Home Depot Foundation believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot Foundation’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Labor Day Weekend

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Labor Day Weekend kicked off with a fun run. I headed downtown with my running partner (the prettiest black dog eva) and we explored a bit on the paths by the river.

On my way back, I passed One Trick Pony. It's a local dinner spot that is downtown but slightly off the main drags, and I have always been curious about it. I immediately texted my husband and asked if he wanted to try it. 

So, I got home, answered the remaining emails from the day, and then got ready for dinner. I had just unboxed this Zara Peplum Jacket, so despite it still technically being August, I wore it with black pants. It was actually a bit chilly that night, so it worked out for me!

Any excuse to wear Zara...

Dinner was decent, and we headed home to relax a bit. It had been a pretty long and demanding week at our house, so we wanted to totally veg. After a few hours, we decided to head back out for a little treat, and we went to Furniture City Creamery. 

Bow down to Queen B.

You're looking at the Dutchess of that little establishment. I think I may have squealed in excitement...

The next morning, we headed over to San Chez, which is fast becoming one of our joints for breaking the fast. I had an egg white scramble with mojo onions, feta, and chorizo, with a side of fruit.

Afterward, we did a bit more relaxing and took a nice, long walk. By the time the afternoon rolled around, it was time for us to start getting ready for the bachelor and bachelorette parties we were goin to that evening.

I popped open the cold brew I snatched up the night before, and it did not disappoint.

A swift kick is good as long as it's not to the face!

I also ran a few errands -- literally. Donning neon clothes and aviators, I ran around like sorority-girl-barbie and grabbed a few things to bring to the party.

Then, it was time to take a shower and get gussied up in all black for a night of shenanigans.

With a black bottle of cava and a tupperware full of vodka soaked gummies, I hopped in my cab and headed downtown to the hotel.

As usual, what happens at a bachelorette party stays at a bachelorette party... but we did have plenty of fun times. I'll leave you with this...

Flash to the next morning, when I was hurting a little bit. Not awful, but enough to warrant heading to Terra for a huge chorizo fritatta and some hair of the dog bloody mary. It did the job, and I chilled out the rest of the day.

A big breakfast held us over until dinner, so we were pretty starving by the time 5pm rolled around. We headed to Harmony Brewing Company for some pizza.

Even the 45 minute wait and poor service could not have made me upset about this pizza. It is just that good.

Monday morning, we woke up prepared for a super productive day. We started by going to the gym bright and early for Body By Science.

Then, I spent an hour in the kitchen preparing and cleaning up after a wonderful brunch feast. 

Afterward, we did a lot of errands, went on a few long walks, tended to the garden, and sat on our front porch watching the rain storm. It wasn't the sunniest, but it was definitely the most relaxing Labor Day.

Oh, yeah. And we got more ice cream. No wonder I'm feeling a little sluggish this week... No regrets!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• How was your labor day?
• Do you like ice cream or fro yo?

One Year

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Y'all, time FLIES! 

This weekend was our first wedding anniversary. We had aspirations to head north, but ended up changing our plans to feature a staycation in our new city.

We started on Friday night with happy hour and a lakeside dinner at Rose's on Reed's Lake. I found a pair of shorts I'd been missing since the move, so I paired it with a crop top I picked up back in April and called it good.

Happy hour at Rose's features a lot of things, but my favorite of them all is $3 Sangria.

We walked around a bit afterward and then headed home for some R&R.

Saturday morning, we headed downtown to San Chez. It was both of our first time there, and we were big fans.

Also, bloody mary. Like whoa. [I love bloodies, and when there is a bloody bar, I tend to try it. But, this time, we had a long day ahead of us, so I only had one. It was hot as hades, so that was probably a good decision!]

After we relaxed at home a bit and exchanged some cards and gifts, we headed back out and drove to Frederick Meijer Gardens.

I would compare this to a large greenhouse / botanical garden / sculpture garden park. If you've ever been, you know how massive the grounds are. We barely even made a dent.

 

After an afternoon in the sun, we headed back home to cool off and relax. Once dinner time approached, I changed into something a little dressier for our dinner reservation.

We ate at The Chop House, and it did not disappoint. My husband is convinced that this rivals Keefir's in Chicago, which is our favorite steakhouse there.

After dinner, we walked across the street to the Amway Grand and headed up to Cygnus 27. This is a bit like the Grand Rapids version of Chicago's Signature Room, and it had great views in all directions. We made it in time for sunset-watching cocktails.

On Sunday, we knew we wanted to relax and spend some time in Holland. We headed to my in-laws' and went sailing all afternoon with my brother in law and his friend.

There is really not much better than a celebratory weekend filled with good food, lots of walking around, great views, and the one you love.


WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• What is your anniversary tradition?
• What did you do on your first anniversary?
• Are you following the traditional gift guide for each anniversary, or are you experimenting with your own ideas?