Let's have a party!

This is too perfect not to share. It comes from Kelle Hampton's most recent blog post, From Two to Three. This is the kind of mom I want to be, the kind of Wyldlife leader I want to be, the kind of sister, daughter, friend I want to be. It's the kind of person I want to be. Celebrating the little things just because. Celebrating life.

"You don't have to go an extra mile to create imaginative memories for kids--an inch is all it takes.  A lunch becomes a picnic when you add a blanket.  A nail painting session becomes a spa night when you throw some cucumber slices in the mix.  Dinner becomes a dinner party when everyone wears a hat.  Cooking becomes a "cooking show" when you describe every step while you stir (and do it in a British accent!).  A living room dance becomes a Carnegie Hall performance when you shine a flashlight on the dancer.  Grocery shopping becomes an adventure when you stop to talk to the lobsters.  And life becomes Enjoying the Small Things when you dare to take a different perspective.  By golly, have fun.  And I promise I'll never say "by golly" again."

People are beautiful.

This video is wonderful. I love it. It's awkward and fun and real, and I like that kind of life.

Donald Miller Wisdom

This is cool. A little late but I just found it and it has a sweet perspective on Genesis that I'd never heard/thought much about before.
http://storylineblog.com/2013/02/14/how-to-love-valentines-day-even-if-youre-single/

Jesus is good to me!

When lovely little surprises happen, Tristin always says, "Jesus loves me!" Like this morning. I had a very restful weekend and it was perfect, but I still didn't feel quite ready to take on this week. But I scraped my icy windows and drove along the snowy roads to the elementary school I volunteer at. I was feeling a little guilty because I knew I would walk in a couple minutes after 9. The crossing guard wasn't at the entrance to the parking lot and that was confusing. Then I looked and there were only about 6 cars in the parking lot. I circled around and read the white board that said: "Families, school starts at 11 am." YESSSS. An extra two hours in my morning to do whatever I want. Jesus loves me.

I've missed blogging recently! So here is a long overdue post. A week and a half ago, Liv and I headed to Denver for VVVCC (Vivacious Vicki's Vegan Cooking Class). We were having a little Valentine's celebration with the girls. It wasn't my favorite meal that we've ever made, but it was still good. We made lemon couscous, tofu schnitzel, brussel sprouts, and a chocolate pudding made with avocados (!). Oh, and some teriyaki cashew lettuce wraps that were delicious! Vicki bought each of us a cute card (mine had red cowboy boots on it...so perfect) and a big box of candy. We finished the night by practicing some origami so we can help these sweet little girls out someday! It's just as hard and terribly frustrating as it looks..

Olivia and I spent the whole weekend in Denver and it was so much fun. We went to Wild Eggs for brunch and I got these delish berry crepes. Then the three of us girls went on a run together...our training is coming along quite nicely! We also watched Taken 2, which was entertaining. On Sunday we got to go to Matthew and Alex's church for the first time. Never have I ever seen so many 20-something year-old couples in one church. But I loved the service and it was so fun to be there with Matthew and Alex!

Thong Song Radio

Ok, you guys. Abby told me to check out the Thong Song Pandora station. And this is me telling you to do the same. OMG. It's so freaking good it's unreal. This is why we're best friends. Things like this are just little reminders that I have the best best friend in the world.

My roommates are probably confused about the music blasting from my room...not sure they know me well enough to appreciate this part of me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look at these lil cuties...I also love the way this video was filmed/edited. Their precious dangling feet and their great reactions! And the music! Make sure you full-screen this baby.

I'll be spending my evening with [hopefully lots of] middle schoolers. What better way to celebrate a day of love than by having awesome (also awkward) middle schoolers play games focused on love and the opposite sex? It will be grand. I also get to talk to them about my experience of the real deal (Jesus, silly).

Friday Beauty

Here are some beautiful things. Happy Friday!
1. This quote:

 2. This picture that I found when I Googled that quote:

3. The Colorado sky and photo adventures:

 4. Mid-week breakfast with this lovely lady:

5. Celebrating best friends' birthdays from afar:

Taste the Rainbow

Skittles, y'all. We just had Skittles Club. With SO MANY SKITTLES. And it was so fun. I'm pretty mad at myself for not remembering my camera but it happens. We had almost 40 middle school kids in our club room (a club room that we have been so.very.blessed by) and we had over 100 oz of Skittles. That is over 6 pounds. OF SKITTLES. It was too much fun. In the middle of club, when the song "Ho Hey" was playing and I was watching middle schoolers pick up Skittles on the ends of plastic straws and transport them across the room, I realized I was so happy. I love the people I lead Wyldlife with. I love the kids we try to be friends with. And I love the things we get to do. Not to mention we're doing it for Jesus and we get to cap off the night by talking about Him. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

Pockets of rest

In the middle of a busy life, I cherish little pockets of rest. Like right now, when I am reading blog posts and looking at my sister's instagram pics. And rest is so important. I think it's one of the things I crave most often. And I usually don't feel guilty for doing it.

In other news, today I cooked! I've been living in a new house with roommates and without my parents for about three weeks. I miss Mom's cooking and I feel pretty inadequate in that department. But today I made my mom's delicious mushroom chicken and it was a success! I was trying to brag about it to my Wyldlife team and they took it as me offering them food. Oops...but I probably would've been sick of it after 6 meals anyways, so good thing I have them. Feel free to pass on any recipes that involve about 5 cheapish ingredients and not a lot of skill ;)

Best Friend's Blog

Hey y'all. How 'bout that Beyonce halftime show?? Awesome, amIright?? When the rest of Destiny's Child (the other two are Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams...I feel sad for them that people don't necessarily know their names anymore) came onstage, I freaked out. Because Destiny's Child rocked. Anyways, that's about all I have to say about that.

The real reason for this post is that I want to refer you to my best friend's lovely blog, the heart of life. Her most recent post about Bob Goff is awesome. She's been telling me to read Love Does and I really will soon. But it's super cool that she got to meet this sweet man. He has a house near Malibu (the Young Life camp, not the California beach) and our work crew got to go hang out there as a little treat. It's beautiful! And Abby is well on her way to achieving her dream of being his best friend. That is all besides the point, though. I really love the part of Abby's post where she lists beautiful things that Bob Goff said. Read them! But don't just read them...absorb them, think about them. They're really great and they'll get you thinking about life and about loving people ("love God. love people. do stuff."). These are two three of my favorites:

Don't send anyone to voicemail or screen your calls. Become more available as you go along, not less. There's something beautiful about saying hello. 

We need to be okay with loving inefficiently. We're in the reverse economy of Jesus where the more extravagant your love is, the better. 

God's ability to forgive doesn't depend on our ability to "get it." 



oh p.s. Abby will be 21 in less than 48 hours...wootwoot!