As you likely know, we’ve been engaged for a while…about to hit 5 years now. And we’ve been living together for quite some time…and even purchased a home together last year. (Woohoo!) Likewise, we’re at a point in our lives where we really don’t need a lot of additional stuff.
More importantly, we feel that your presence is gift enough. Getting to spend an entire weekend hanging with you is the best gift you could ever give us. Truly.
All that being said, if you insist, here are a few ideas for you, with more details below:
- Make a donation to causes we feel passionate about.
- Contribute to our honeymoon(s).
- Contribute to our second property fund.
Make a donation to causes we feel passionate about.
There are two organizations we love to support.
1. Big Brothers Big Sisters – Lauren spends a significant portion of her time volunteering as a mentor with BBBS Colorado. Cam is considering becoming a volunteer once he’s a little farther in his career and has more time at home. We both feel very fortunate to have grown up with loving families and parents who helped us pursue our dreams. BBBS allows us to pay it forward, to youth who may not have the same opportunities we had.
2. Spark of Life – The loss of Margo had a profound impact on both of us. While living in on the peninsula in Newport Beach, our dear neighbors tragically lost a family member around the same time. After going on a retreat at Spark of Life, they both had such rave reviews, that Lauren decided to go to one as well, 2 years after her sister’s passing. The weekend was truly transformational. Since then, Lauren has recommended Spark of Life to numerous friends who’ve lost a loved one, and they’ve all come back equally transformed and grateful for the time out to process their grief.
Incredibly, the retreat is provided to anyone who’s suffered a loss, at no charge…which is truly a gift during such a hard time. It costs the organization about $1,500 per attendee, per retreat, not including the time gifted by each volunteer and the venues gifted by generous donors. The founders of the organization are incredible at running retreats…their zone of genius is not fundraising. Any donation you give goes straight to the cost for an attendee.
***Please let us know if you make a donation to one of these two causes, so we can properly thank you.***
Contribute to our honeymoon(s).
Cam has decided that we’re going on 4 honeymoons: each one in a different climate. Currently on the shortlist: Southest Asia, Guatemala, New Zealand, Finland, Chile and South Africa. (Don’t worry, we won’t be doing them all in one year.)
Should you wish to contribute to our love of travel, we will let you know which honeymoon it goes towards and what activity we do thanks to your generous gift.
Contribute to our second property fund.
Both of our incomes are directly tied to the number of hours we work. We’re hoping to add a third income source that is not tied to our physical presence at work and have been saving up for a second home (rental property). We hope to eventually have a third, a fourth and a fifth rental property. TBD on how that works out. 😉
***Should you wish to make a contribution to our second property fund or our honeymoon, there are two ways we recommend doing so: (1) By check or (2) via Venmo or Paypal using the “family and friends option” (instructions here). All online services like Zola, Honeyfund, etc. have fees associated with cash registries; we are presumptuously assuming that you don’t want a portion of your gift going to financial institutions. If you’d prefer us to set up a different way to receive your gift, don’t hesitate to reach out and we’ll do so quickly.***