Friday, December 9, 2011

Exciting Day! 2 things

# 1 I've been waiting a LONG time to share this video. You better watch it. 



#2 Our Ebooks (HIGHLY INTERACTIVE) are finally for sale! You can view them on your Ipad or Iphone. The sample is free >>> check it out!! E3 Imagine's Store!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Recording audio- just really really awesome...

I think that I can relate with this funny little guy right about now. 
 

Recording audio sound bites for our Ebooks is fun, though I'm trying to figure out how to change my voice from the same old-high pitched squeaky girly voice that supposedly sounds "so good" for children's books! Haha I sure hope that my language imitations turn out in the end and that kids will enjoy learning their numbers and colors in Arabic, Japanese, Mongolian, and other languages. Denver (brother) is doing awesome with all the translations and is able to make his voice sound so different. Come on Denver, share the talent!! 

LA LA LA , our Ebooks come out on FRIDAY!! Seriously can't wait. 

Monday, December 5, 2011

My new friend Nadia from the Sinai

This is beautiful Nadia. She is 23 and she lives in the Sinai in Egypt. During our photo shoot with her and her family I spent a good amount of time getting to know her. She was amazing and has some incredible goals and dreams. She is from a Bedouin family, they do things very differently. They don't have cell phones, access to computers, or even go to stores and markets. They live at least a 6 hour drive to the nearest city which is Cairo. I was amazed at how happy she was with her lifestyle and her incredible desire to get a good solid education. 


My favorite was when she was telling me about her boyfriend who lived in another Bedouin village a ways away from her. She said she only sees him once every three months and that it is the happiest moment for her. He is teaching her english and hopes to help her get into a good school. She is trying to raise enough money through selling handmade bracelets so that she can move and they can get married, though that might take a few more years. I loved laughing and smiling with her, and learning more about her unique culture. I will always remember Nadia and know that she will be a friend for life! 

Friday, December 2, 2011

My new nephew!

Actually he hasn't come yet.. but he's almost here! Tara is due Feb. 2nd and I couldn't be more excited. We had a lot of fun having a bridal shower for her while she was down for Thanksgiving break. She is so cute, I can't wait for her and Zach to be parents!!




You can check out Tara's cute blog HERE! Love you sister! 

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Experiences in Israel

I thought that I would share a few pictures from our trip to Israel. When people ask me which country was my favorite I usually respond with Israel. It was so special to be in the Holy Land and to spend some time with amazing people there who's families have lived there for centuries. 




We were so lucky that we got to spend a little extra time at the entrance to the tomb with just our group. What a spiritual experience this was, being able to walk into the garden tomb and feel the spirit that was there.  Especially after having served as a missionary at Temple Square, I enjoyed reflecting upon the Savior's life, death, and resurrection. 


Sea of Galilee in Capernaum.  After Christ left Nazareth he spent much of his three year ministry in Capernaum. It's located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. I'm loving reading through scriptures in the New Testament of Christ's life now and reading with a picture in my mind of the places where he lived, taught, and worked many miracles. I'm so grateful I had the chance to visit so many places and really envision what it was like to live during that time.  



Incredible time in Israel

I thought that I would share a few pictures from our trip to Israel. When people ask me which country was my favorite I usually respond with Israel. It was so special to be in the Holy Land and to spend with people there who's families have lived there for centuries. 


We were so lucky that we got to spend a little extra time at the entrance to the tomb with just our group. What a spiritual experience this was, being able to walk in to the garden tomb and feel the spirit that was there.  Especially after having served as a missionary at Temple Square, I enjoyed reflecting upon the Savior, his life, death, and resurrection. 


Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the old city Jerusalem. I loved walking through this historic place where different faiths had their own sections to worship in. It dates back to the early 2nd century. 


Sea of Galilee in Capernaum. I'm loved reading through scriptures in the New Testament of Christ's life now and having a picture in my mind of the places where he lives, taught, and brought about miracles. I'm so grateful I got the chance to visit so many places and really envision what it was like to live in that time. 



Wednesday, November 30, 2011

EBOOKS! - Jirene in the Philippines.

SCREEN SHOT! Woo! Yes, this is what I stare at all day... :) It's so fun though! We are using footage from our trip to create 20 second videos that will go into the Ebooks. They are really short and fun! The one you're looking at is Jirene in the Philippines and it is for the color BROWN! Brown in Tagalog is Kayumanggi, that's what children will learn from the video. 



Watch this cute video of two little boys in Germany! They are so funny and I really love how it teaches kids how to say Orange in German! 



Our first 3 Ebooks will be for sale through our website on Dec. 9th! We are so excited and ready to share these videos with you and your family!!! You can view them on Ipads, Iphones, any IOS device and they are very very interactive. There will be a FREE SAMPLE BOOK that will explain clearly the interactive abilities of the book and will include several video clips. "What Color is Your World" and "123, Count the World With Me" will be for sale. Of course, the best part is knowing that when you buy a book, we will give a book (printed book) away to a child somewhere in the world who is waiting to learn! 

Have a fantabuloso day!! 

-Carly Jo 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Taking some time to be crafty! Thank you Pinterest.

So my new found joy is this incredible site called... ready..... wait for it..... PINTEREST! haha I know that there are lots of you out there who would agree with me and that it is the best idea EVER.

I've been looking up fun crafty things to do and I'm really happy about a few of them! I really needed a break from making movies all day everyday......
First, sewing my old flare jeans into skinny jeans! I'm wondering why I hadn't thought of it sooner! I ran upstairs a few nights ago and pulled out three pairs of jeans and started sewing away. I may have been a little excited and kind of botched the first pair... but the other two looked awesome!


Here is one of em. Actually, my sister was going to send these to DI. WHATEVER Catie! muah ha ha now she is going to want to wear them. I just turned them inside out and used chalk to draw a straight line on the outer seams going from the knee down to the foot. Sew along the line and the cut the excess. Walaa!


The scond project was a bit harder. I wish I would have taken more pictures of  the project. I got the idea from THIS CUTE BLOG . Pretty much I bought two yards of fabric and a 16x16 pillow form. I cute two pieces of fabric that were 17.5 inch square for the front and back. Then cut long 8 2inch wide long strips, the full length of the fabric. I had to fray check one side of each of them (takes some time but is necessary). Then you begin pinning and sewing!! Take a look at her blog to get better details. I LOVE how it turned out though! You're jealous. 


Children Bring Smiles

Children Bring Smiles - Haley did an awesome post today on our E3 Imagine website. Check it out!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Zambia VIDEO: Primary School kids saying a prayer.

Our very last country visited was Zambia. I don't know about you, but I didn't know anything about this country before going there, besides that it was in Africa! Well, Zambia is located close to Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Zambia became a British colony towards the end of the 19th century and remained so until October 24th 1964 when Zambia declared it's own independence. The people in the country are very nice and as our guide told us, it's very peaceful living there. They have a population of around 13 million and the official language is English.

We had the opportunity to visit the Ding Dong school, which is a private primary school located in Lusaka, the countries capitol. We were given a tour of the school and I was so impressed to see how hard the kids were working and how happy they were! Smiles smiles smiles! I found a back room and went in to greet the kids and they were so excited to sing for me, and answer all of my questions.


Webster, the owner of the school, explained that some of the children were orphans and many of them had lost their parents to AIDS. Some of the children have very little support at home so they enter the school as young as age one. Webster was so disciplined, kind, and determined to give these kids a good education. He taught them songs about safety, eating good food, loving your home, and learning. I loved to see the joy that came to them as they sang these songs. 

One of the main things that I noticed was how few books they had at the school. They shared the few textbooks that they had. I'm so excited to send them our books about colors, numbers, families, and cultural diversity so that they too can learn of the beautiful world around them. I know they will love the books!

This video was taken as the children were saying their group prayer just before having their afternoon lunch break. It is so cute. I know you'll love it and I hope that it gives you a good glimpse into the lives of these precious children!  


Friday, October 28, 2011

Day 54: No internet for the last few weeks!


Hello everyone! Sorry that I have been MIA for the last two weeks. We were in countries that had little or no internet connection at all so I haven't been blogging. I'm excited to catch everyone up though and share what we have been up to these last few weeks.

From Israel we went to Egypt then to Kenya and Zambia. Incredible experiences along the way and some really wonderful families also. Here are some girls in Egypt, we went to a Bedouin camp located in the Sinai dessert. They were a wonderful, happy family. Really fun to spend time with them!





Our last country was Zambia! The people there were so nice and the country was wonderful. We had some great guides who helped us find some schools and families to visit. This little girl was from our very last family. There were 10 children in the family and they lived in a tiny little two bedroom home. Their kitchen was outside and they had chickens and ducks running around everywhere. There was a good feeling at their home and I could see how much the kids loved each other and their parents.




We are currently in Oxford, England! We had a 20 hour layover here on our way back to Phoenix so we decided to come and stay with my good friend Brad who attends school here! We don't have much time but we actually have arranged for a family to photograph this morning, so we won't be wasting anytime. It will be fun to have an English family in our books. 

I'll blog some more soon about some of the experiences we have had. There is so much to share! In the meantime check out the E3 Imagine website, our blog there is updated daily. 

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Day 42; Finding a family in Capernaum!



Finding a family to photograph in Capernaum, Israel was quite a dream come true for Photographer Steve Porter and the rest of the E3 Imagine team!
Capernaum is located just north of the Sea of Galilee and is the place where Christ spent  eighteen months of His three year ministry. Krystal, Mote, and their one year old son Kai live in a Kabbutz community along the Sea of Galilee. How cool is that? Mote was raised in Israel while Krystal was raised in Holland! The two met in Hawaii, decided to get married and moved together to Israel. Once again, this family perfectly represented what E3 Imagine is wanting to share with the world! Happiness- not matter the circumstances in which you live, no matter the language you speak, or the country in which you live.




They are teaching their son Kai Hebrew and Dutch! Speaking of fatherhood Mote told us that he wants his son not only to look strong but to feel strong, he hopes to give him the confidence he needs to be successful in life. Krystal also explained her desires to help her son be well traveled and to make all of his dreams come true! We loved this families energy and outlook on life! The family really enjoys their peaceful life living in Israel and we really enjoyed spending a few moments getting to know them! 





I can't describe how incredibly blessed I feel to be a part of E3 Imagine. I can't imagine anything better to be doing with my life right now. It is really hard work, and of you who have ever been involved with a start up company know that it takes blood, sweat, and tears. But we believe that this project came from God and when it get's rough we simply remember that. I'm grateful to be traveling with a team who keeps that in mind when things get bumpy. I hope that our project will inspire people everywhere to recognize the talents they have been given, then take action and make a difference. 

Our E3 Team after a shoot in Paris. 


We are going to our next country today! Be sure to visit the E3 Imagine website to make your guesses! 



Monday, October 10, 2011

Day 36: The joys of parenting; hard work, laughter, and good food!


This was my first time visiting Paris. Of course while growing up I heard all about the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the Opera House, ect... Who would have thought that my favorite moments in France would not be spent at any of these places? Nope not at all, they were in the brief minutes spent within the homes of beautiful families.

We had the chance to photograph four families here in France and each of them taught us something significant. It's hard to remember it all and take it all in! While we were with them, I couldn't help but get more and more excited to share their stories with people in other parts of the world who could also benefit from knowing them! I'll do my best to share a few favorite lines given to us by some of these incredible parents.

Marc is an excellent father! He and his wife Elise have four beautiful children. When we asked him about the joys of fatherhood he shared with us, "I'm really happy to be a dad, to have my 4 children for me- it's all my life. I'm really happy to work for them, to be with them, I love my wife and my children very much".



Christian and Bridget are living in Paris for three years with their family and they love it very much! Christian is from the United States, he works for the army, and Bridget is from Germany. They have three boys and Bridget's mother comes to stay with them often. They had lots of good things to say about raising a family, "We have very sure views on parenting, for us a good day is when we have breakfast and dinner together, meals are very important to us. We love food!"




And Celestine, a beautiful mother of two simply stated, "I'm happy to be a mom because our kids are really fun, they always make me laugh." 




I'm not a parent yet, but I hope that someday I can have the same joy and love for children as these incredible parents had! I'm really excited for E3 Imagine to include these families in our books so that people across the globe can see that no matter where you go, there are families, families who love, and families who are happy! It's universal! 


Please CLICK HERE to visit E3 Imagine's official blog at www.e3imagine.com 

Day 36: The joys of parenting; hard work, laughter, and good food!


This was my first time visiting Paris. Of course while growing up I heard all about the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the Opera House, ect... Who would have thought though that my favorite moments in France would not be spent at any of these places? Nope not at all, they were in the brief minutes spent within the homes of beautiful families.
We had the chance to photograph four families here and each of them taught us something significant. It's hard to remember it all and take it all in! While we were with them, I couldn't help but get more and more excited to share their stories with people in other parts of the world who could also benefit from knowing them! I'll do my best to share a few of my favorite lines given to us by some of these incredible parents.

Marc is an excellent father! He and his wife Elise have four beautiful children. When we asked him about the joys of fatherhood he shared with us, "I'm really happy to be a dad, to have my 4 children for me- it's all my life. I'm really happy to work for them, to be with them, I love my wife and my children very much".



Christian and Bridget are living in Paris for three years with their family and they love it very much! Christian is from the United States, he works for the army, and Bridget is from Germany. They have three boys and Bridget's mother comes to stay with them often. They had lots of good things to say about raising a family, "We have very sure views on parenting, for us a good day is when we have breakfast and dinner together, meals are very important to us. We love food!"




And Celestine, a beautiful mother of two simply stated, "I'm happy to be a mom because our kids are really fun, they always make me laugh." 




I'm not a parent yet, but I hope that someday I can have the same joy and love for children as these incredible parents have! I'm really excited that E3 Imagine to include these families in our books so that people across the globe can see that no matter where you go, there are families, families who love, and families who are happy! It's universal! 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Day 29: Sisters in Rome!!

We wandered around the streets of Rome looking for families to photograph and found these cute little girls sitting on a step eating ice cream cones. We got talking with their family and they agreed to spend some time with us! They were so cute, fun, outgoing, pretty much just perfect and exactly what we were looking for! They didn't speak english but we loved watching them play around and interact with each other, made me miss my sisters! 




Sunday, October 2, 2011

Day 26: The days are FLYING by! An update from Nepal

K, we are in Rome right now and it's beautiful! I'm sorry I haven't blogged for a few days! We were only in Nepal for two nights and then we were traveling for 33 hours to get to Rome! Talk about craziness and being exhausted... I wanted to share a few pictures though and I'll hopefully get caught up on Rome soon.

Little boy from one of the villages where we photographed a few families! He was so happy and cute the whole time we were there.The oil on his head is mustard oil and is used every morning for babies in Nepal. It's good for their skin. Also, he has some black on his eyes which is some kind of medicine also, most of the kids I saw had it. 

View from the roof of our hotel in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal. 

These girls were adorable! I was just walking down the street and as soon as they saw my camera they started posing for me.! 

More cute kids I found just simply walking around the area. I took pictures and they would follow me, take some more, and they would keep following me! They mostly loved seeing their pictures afterwards! Wish that I could send them some!


I think what I loved most about Nepal was the simpleness of the lifestyle and the preservation of their culture. I feel like that have not yet been completely changed by the western world yet, as we saw in other southeast Asian countries. They had beautiful traditions and customs that I know have been around for hundreds of years. The kids were cute and the families were all nice and very welcoming. I would love to live there someday! 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Day 22: Reasons to be excited in Nepal!

We woke up this morning at 3AM to catch our 8AM flight to Nepal. So, we are just a little bit tired.... I don't know why, but I have the hardest time sleeping on airplanes! I'm trying really hard to get over it because flights is really a good time to catch up on some rest. Let me know if you have any solutions for that one!

We are in the city of Kathmandu which is the capitol of Nepal. After just a few short hours of being here, we've already got a good feel for the people and their culture! Here are a few pictures I got during our walk down the street this evening looking for some good food.





We have two families scheduled to photograph tomorrow. The people here are so beautiful so I'm really excited to spend some time with them! 

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Day 20: The Kuala Lumpur adventure begins!

5PM yesterday: Arrival to the airport with zero plans, zero contacts, and zero families to photograph. 


11AM today: 2 hour drive out of the city (using GPS) , 10 passenger van (Steve driving) , 7 E3 team members (hoping and praying to find someone) + local translator (no idea what he's in for). 

1PM: Arrival to the village of Bagansungaibuluh! We randomly found an outdoor restaurant right along a river down a side street in this small village. We stopped to have some lunch and started visiting with the families who ran it. After showing them our  sample book, getting to know them and the children, talking to them about how we were hoping to find some families we could photograph in Malaysia, they told us they were happy to help us out! 

Do you see these kids? They were incredibly cute and EXACTLY what we were looking for. So happy and full of personality. 



 While we took pictures they prepared some amazing food for us! I'm not a fan of seafood at all, but this stuff was so good! I can do shrimp, and this shrimp was yummy. We were very satisfied and I'm pretty sure it tasted even better after knowing the cute family who had prepared it. 


Fatnin was 13 and spoke beautiful english, she was excited for us to be there, loved learning about what we were doing, and also helped to translate! She was so cute, it's so fun getting to know these people with such neat cultures and backgrounds. 
So, a day full of unknowns ended up being one of the best days we have had so far! 
Sometimes having no plans ends up being the best plan. 




Friday, September 23, 2011

Day 19: A little bit about the E3 travel team and what we are all about.



From left to right- Carly Jo, Liz, Steve, Denver, Mikki, Todd, and Kristen. This picture was taken in a small town near Phnom Pehn, Cambodia- immediately following our last photo shoot in that location.


So far this trip has been adventurous, scary, humbling, heartbreaking, exciting, exhausting, frustrating, silly, fun, and incredible! We love sharing the experiences we have daily as we meet family after family with such unique stories and lives. We love listening to them tell us about their lives, their cultures, and families. We don't have enough time in the day to document everything that we are experiencing! Honestly, we are up every night until we can't keep our eyes open any longer, organizing, blogging, editing movies, writing in our journals and trying to keep up!



I hope that my blog properly portrays the vision we have to make a difference in the world. This is not about us, this isn't about travel fun or sight seeing, it's about connecting the world, educating children, and helping those who are need. Our pledge it to donate a book for every book we sell.

My hope is that you will find ways in your own lives to use the gifts and talents you have been given to do something that matters. Something that will enlarge, enlighten, and expand. 

Day 19:


Day 20:


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Day 18: Photo of the day. Can't keep my eyes open.


Honestly I'm so exhausted,  I can barely keep my eyes open. We were riding the tuk tuks home and I was trying so hard to stay awake, don't know how I could have been so tired with all the bright lights, honking horns, and dad climbing over me to take pictures. 


But I had to post these pictures! We were out in the country a little ways away from the city Phnom Phen in Cambodia. We drove down a long dirt road for probably 15 minutes and we were lucky it hadn't rained today because if it had it would have been too muddy for us to go down. The neighborhood was full of kids once again just playing and having fun. The home we were having our photo shoot in was pretty small so I took the chance to explore a little bit on my own. Good idea Carly!


Is he not adorable? I wanted to take him home with me. His parents owned a cute little shop and lived right there in it. Most families who have stores actually live there as well, usually it's just one room for the store and they have little beds in the back. I can't imagine what that would be like, to live with so little and in really rough circumstances. 
But they were happy and that's all that matters. 



Day 18: Picture of the day.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Day 17: Love in Cambodia.


During our photo shoot I ran downstairs to take pictures of the neighborhood and the street. Cambodia is such a beautiful place! I was in LOVE with these three girls. They stood here for me and loved having their pictures taken. I couldn't help but stop and think about their lives, their families, what they like to do for fun, their favorite foods. Oh how I wish we had time to get to know more kids! How I also wish I could speak Cambodian so I could have talked and laughed with them... 


I was also in LOVE with this father and his daughter. He was so cute with her and loved making her laugh. It was very obvious that they had such a close relationship and that she looked up to him so much. Their house was little and they didn't have much, but wow they were such a happy family. Honestly I just feel so spoiled! These people live such simple happy lives, and I complain when my sister borrows a shirt or there isn't an extra car for me to use. Talk about a wake up call. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day 16: Kids, kids, kids. 3 things.


Kids are happy- all of the video footage I took at this small fishing village in Santa Rosa, Philippines was overpowered by the constant laughter in the background. I thought it was hilarious! It was as if these kids had never seen cameras before! As soon as a pressed the red button they were shouting and dancing and doing everything they could to get in front of the camera. Haha it was so great.



Kids live- I'm not sure how many kids in the world live in poverty, but I would guess it would be the majority. I love that they live their lives just as any kid would, whether they have shoes or not, or whether they have a nice home or not. We interviewed Pasco, an 11 year old who lived in this area. The kids nicknamed him Pasco which means christmas, because he's always giving the other kids gifts. When we asked him if he had one wish what would it be he replied, "To help my mom and dad get out of the living situation they are in", we asked, "how will you do that?" His response, "By becoming a policeman."




Kids need- They need to play, they need to be nurtured, they need to be taught, they need to learn of the world around them, and they need to be loved. 



Can't wait to donate books to this school someday! Loved visiting with them and was happy to hear my mom tell one of the teachers that we plan to send them books once they are finished. I LOVED seeing the faces of the teachers when we told them their school
would soon receive these books. Happy happy happy. It makes it all worth it.