Virtual Coffee: Let's Get Real about Sudan

What is virtual coffee? A chance to catch up on life with bloggy friends that you don't get to see every day. A little dose of real life in the midst of fancy blog posts and DIY projects. Well let's be real, I don't ever get that fancy but you know what I mean.

Funny that I choose to write this post having not had any coffee yet. And if you know me in real life, you know that this rarely happens. I mean, twice a year rarely. It's a rough morning without coffee. Especially when its not on purpose. Wednesday's are my early mornings at work, and by the time I got to the coffee pot it was empty and I had to be at work in 10 minutes. So if we were meeting for coffee in real life, I would tell you that my family needs to buy a bigger coffee pot, stat.

And then I would tell you that I can't wait to pull my new Keurig out of it's box to taste it's sweet variety of delicious coffee, but that I have to wait until we move which makes me sad. 

It won' be long my friend.

Then I would tell you that I got a call that my wedding dress is currently in route to my house. I would probably do my happy dance, and go back to trying to not talk about wedding stuff every time I see you. 

But then I would break my rule and tell you that yesterday I had my makeup run through for the wedding day, and that it was fabulous. I would tell you that Andrea, the makeup artist and friend, is amazing and listens so well. So well that she had our engagement photos out as she was shopping for makeup and then printed out the picture ideas she had. One was of Megan Fox, and when I left the salon, I kid you not I actually felt like Megan Fox. Then I'd make another promise to stop the wedding talk.

 I would tell you that I'm taking the whole month of August off of work so I could properly prepare for the you-know-what. I know, I know, wedding talk...but it was kind of un-related..right?

I would then tell you that this is going to be a fantastic two weeks of life. There is so much going on I don't even know where to start. But my friends from Washington who have never been here for my birthday, will actually be HERE. In the state of California, on my freaking birthday. How rad is that?

 Then we would have to get realer than real and talk about stuff that matters. Much more than the wedding, and coffee, and friends.

I would tell you about Sudan. And you might tune out, but I really hope you don't.  

There are hundreds of thousands of people starving to death in the Nuba mountains. It only costs $.06 per serving to feed them. With how much our coffee just cost, we could feed 67 people breakfast. 

 67 people.

A group of people, passionate about feeding and saving these people from real and spiritual hunger are ready to go. Ready to take immediate action, to mobilize this food, and to take it directly to those who haven't seen food in 8 months. 

The cost to mobilize this food is $25,000

In 5 weeks, the group will send a team of 2 or 3 men, to prepare for an ongoing Gospel centered relief effort in Sudan over the next several years.

People are dying every day. There earthly lives are perishing from lack of food, and there spiritual lives will parish because many of them have not heard the name of Jesus.

$25,000 is NOTHING to us here in the safety and comfort of the 1st world. Heck, I'll probably spend that on coffee over my lifetime.

 Would you consider praying, giving, even going to help relieve the Sudanese people?

You can donate through Hope Church of San Mateo towards raising this $25,000.
We will send it all to the Sudan, moving the food at ground level through a 4 stage well-planned mission. 

Read more about the plan and the mission here: hope4sudan.hopesanmateo.org

We are confident that the Lord will provide this money, the question is...will you be a part of this mission? 

Praying, giving, spreading the word?

Read about the people in the Nuba mountains. Read about the man who is causing all of this; he is far worse than Kony or Stalin. You will be astonished and burdened for these people. 

Samaritans Purse

Besieged in Sudan's Nuba Mountains

Conflict in the Nuba Mountains

So would you pray, give, go? 100% of all donations go directly to food mobilization. 100%

Thanks for staying all the way to the end, friends. Now, go get educated (while I get caffeinated)  about Sudan and find out what you can do today for these people.

"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?"

Micah 6:8

2 Months: The Real Countdown Begins

When I bought my wedding dress it still didn't feel quite "real"

When I sent the save-the-date's it still didn't feel quite "real"

When I had my first bridal shower, even then, it didn't feel quite "real"

But things are starting to change and become "real". That butterflies in your stomach almost nauseous kind of real. The head spinning details, the ordering of last minute things, practicing my new signature; we are getting so close.

And just when you think that wedding planning is getting easier, the details and the little itty bitty things you wanted to forget about become absolutely essential that you start them now. Now as in like, yesterday. Ready for the list?

Decor - Jars, lace, candles, curtains, 

Marriage license

Name change papers

Transportation

Honeymoon

Wine tasting

Vow writing

Dance lessons

Speech distributing

Guest list

Seating chart

Ring ordering

Candy purchasing

Craft night

Hair run-through

Makeup run-through

Packing up my whole room

Finding a new job

Bridesmaid gifts

Parent gifts

I really could go on. 

I am so excited for September 7th. I am so not excited for the month of August. 

All of these things that I have made magically disappear for the past 6 months, are no longer invisible. They are very visible, and very much on my mind...and very REAL!

Want to know the best part? I have the greatest support system a girl could ask for. The Lord and His Church have surrounded Seth and I with SO much love that we are overwhelmed and beyond grateful. He has taught me so much in these past few months, and I know there is so much more of me to be molded and shaped. 

Upon entering this new state of "OMG its becoming real" -- I find myself at peace, patient, and the least stressed I have been in months. Pray that this feeling continues, because I need it for the sake of my own sanity and my close family and friends that are a part of this crazy thing we call a wedding. 

53 days!!

Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

10-4 Link Up...on the 11th. Oops! [June]

1. What's your favorite free thing to do with your family?

River Rafting on the Truckee River near Lake Tahoe..it's one of our favorite past times.

2. What project in your house are you wanting to get finished or...ahem....start?
The packing project. A.K.A contain my childhood memories into one small space so my room can be used after I move out for good. This project is daunting.

3. What are your top 3 favorite phone/iPad apps?

Instagram, The Knot Wedding, and Michaels -- they have the best coupons!

4. What is your favorite post from last month? {June}
   Last month I shared God's faithfulness in giving Seth and I a place to land when we get married, I am still enjoying how God is constantly revealing His plan in His timing.

A Place to Land

5. What is your go-to fast food restaurant?  

Burger King has always been my favorite! I just can't help it! 

6. What clothing style do you love?  Find a picture on-line that describes the clothing style you like best. 

I am a basics kind of girl. I LOVE a plain white tee shirt with a cute cardigan and fun accessories. I could live in a white tee shirt all year. 

I could wear this every day:

Source: polyvore.com via Jamie on Pinterest

7. What attribute of God are you clinging to most these days?
His provision! My daily mantra is "God will provide" -- I need that reminder almost hourly.

8. When you think of junior high, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?
 Wyld Life! I've been involved with crazy junior highers in ministry for the past few years!

9. What is your favorite summer dessert?

Frozen yogurt, especially the carbo-lite kind :)

10. What is your favorite picture from last month? {June}
I loved every minute of this trip to Seattle. Such a blessing to have these girls in my life!!

 

Embroidery Hoop Obsession

I have a confession to make.

I've been cheating on my button collection with embroidery hoops. Lots of embroidery hoops.

Lord knows why I hopped on this adorable train so late in my crafting career, but I've surely fallen head over heels. 

It started with this pin:

Swoon.

And then ALL of this adorable madness made me go head over heels:

One afternoon while I was browsing the shelves at Michaels, I looked down and saw that the price for  every size hoop was $1.50.


It was like I had won the lottery and gone to heaven all in the same day!


$1.50?!?!


Welp. You can guess what happened next. I grabbed six hoops in all different sizes and rushed home to see what fabric I could scrape up.

Turns out there were a lot of options at home. But I ended up going to Joannes to get some fabrics that coordinated so I would't be hanging a totally haphazard collection on my wall.

My favorite part about embroidery hoop crafts is that they are so easy. Like, 1 minute easy.  Lay out fabric, place the hoop where you want it, tighten the screw thingy and voila!

After you trim the edges, I glued down the fabric so it didn't hang loose.

Embroidery you ask? I taught myself in the midst of my new obsession I was dying to see how I could make these even cuter. I think I succeeded. 

And this little beauty was a contiuation from something I made as a kid. My dear Grandparents bought my a sewing machine and Grandma Holly tried to teach me to sew with it. I turned out to be a total failure when I sewed an American flag pillow from scraps of red, white and blue fabric but it was so poorly sewn that the fuzz was bursting through my uneven seams. 

My older, steady hands made this little project much easier to complete. I embroidered all of the pieces together and then repositioned the fabric 1500 times to get it centered. It's not perfect, but I do think it's mighty cute.  

So as you can tell, pinterest has done a mighty fine job of creating an obsession.  At least they're cheap, and versatile, and a potential seller when I open back up my Etsy shop. 

Thank you Michaels for your extremely cheap embroidery hoops, I will be back for another ten hoops next week. 


And dearest hoop, I think we will have a long and happy life together.

God Bless the U.S!

Having a holiday in the middle of the week is nice in theory, but it totally screws you up. Can I get an amen? As a kid, it used to not bother me but now I totally see why my mom hates it! 

When Kim and Katy announced their link up for the 4th I was instantly excited. An excuse to craft, is my favorite kind of excuse to make!  This link up was a good excuse to get my food craft on, when I normally prefer fabric and hot glue crafts. I even wore a festive shirt, we are entering a whole new level of patriotism folks.

I spent the 4th with some friends, BBQing and climbing on rooftops to watch the fireworks. It was a fun day and I'm glad I got to contribute to the fun by making festive treats. Here was my original inspiration:

I couldn't choose my favorite so I went for all three. I'm not a huge fan of candy melts, but they were the best option for the project and I didn't have any complaints on the flavor.  They were all easy to make, minus the sprinkles ending up everywhere!

Here was some of the process:


The set up before it got destroyed in the candy melting mess

I loved mixing the sparkles. I originally thought I would keep them separate but I eventually just got messy and swirled them around with my hands. 

The crazy red and purple fingers that followed my baking extravaganza. My nails are stilly slightly tinted pink! 

Drying! The one thing that candy melts do better than regular chocolate is stick and dry. Usually when you dip something and lay it on wax paper, it loses its shape -- but the melted candy stuck right to the pretzel in this case!

Here's what I ended up with:

Patriotic Mallows: Some dipped in candy melts with sprinkles, some dipped in plain sprinkles (dip in water to make them stick). Loved them, so easy to make!

Patriotic pretzels. Also a big hit. 

The whole getup: 

I displayed the pretzels in a short glass so they didn't get completely stuck. 

I made the strawberries last minute...I prefer chocolate covered ones, but you can't deny the cuteness of red white and blue strawberries. 

At the BBQ: I tried to get Seth to take a nice picture with me...he wouldn't close his mouth!

Ok, that's better. 

Erin (our hostess) and her mom made this adorable jello. I wish I liked coconut, it made the jello hard to eat because I was trying hard to avoid the coconut part but I loved the concept! 

My friend David and I. Love his festive glasses. 

Silly boy. We started sending creepy pictures to some of my friends in Washington, apparently I wasn't informed about this one. I'd share with you one of our best, but you might not want to come back after that.

After the BBQ we went back to Seth's neighborhood where the fireworks are only a few blocks away. We all climbed up onto the roof and watched the show.  It was pretty neat watching it from a rooftop, I felt like I was a kid again being all dangerous! 

 I decided not to go outside for the late night VN brothers homemade fireworks show, the potential of getting arrested was just a wee bit high.  Instead I tried to go get pie with friends, which was a really bad idea...because when Seth lives in the town where the fireworks are and thousands of people try to escape at once out of the ONE entrance into the city...things get crazy. 

Anyways, it was a low key kinda holiday, just how I like it. Don't hate me but I kinda love holidays that I'm not obligated to be with family all day!

One last thing..

The 4th of July holds a special place in my history nerd little heart. And I hope it does for you too, Americans.

Besides all of the fun crafts, friends, and fireworks there is a MUCH greater meaning that comes with the Fourth of July. 

In the rush of celebrations, take time to consider the weighty decision that the members of the Second Continental Congress made 236 years ago, as they explained their motivation:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

They laid out the injustices forced upon them by the king of England and declared at the end that as free and independent states, they would have the power to wage war and seek peace, make alliance and establish commerce.

"With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor," those brave men concluded.

July 4 should not be a day dedicated to the right to enjoy explosives, but instead as a day when citizens remember the greatness that is possible by pledging to each other to work together to continue to create this great nation.

So thank a service member and thank the Lord for the wonderful country we live in and the freedom that we've been granted.


God Bless the U.S!

Oh and P.S

Wondering about this gem?

 Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you all about my latest craft obsession.

Monday Blues

Anyone having a case of the Monday's like me?

A little tired. A little discouraged. A little burnt out.

I found this encouragement over at Take Heart today..

The free printables on Danielle's blog definitely brightened my gloomy Monday!

"But He gives more grace"

James 4:6

A Rambling Post

There's been a lot going on in life..and when that happens, there's not a lot of blogging.

Since I've been home this has been my week:

- back to work

- finishing invitations

- food poisoning

- eye infections

- apartment searching

- crafting (while unable to move in bed from said food poisoning)

- camp reunion

- meetings

But I miss my little place on the internet.  I'm working on some fun stuff coming up and am exciting to link up with katy and kim for their patriotic July 4th linky party!

Today, Seth and I are headed down to Gilroy where our new life will be in two months. That's just crazy to even think about! I'm so excited for what our future holds!

We will be visiting his school, looking around at the neighborhoods at some apartments that are up for rent, and maybe some outlet shopping. But don't tell Seth that last bit ;)

I promise to be back soon. Cross my heart.

Until then, here are some fun images of my weekend in Wisconsin.

My Daddy and I before the wedding!

Some of the cousins

My Mom and one of her sisters. Don't they look so much alike?!

The bride and groom!


My mom, the bride, her sisters and her brother!

The four Dowse sisters.


See you soon!
xox