I'm Goin', Goin' Back, Back to Cali, Cali...

That's the song I sang in my head while on my flight back to LA.

And all it took for me to get back were:

-one cancelled flight
-one phone call to American Airlines
-one cab ride to the train station
-one, one hour train ride to Fort Lauderdale
-one shuttle ride to the airport
-one re-ticket
-several conversations with strangers
-much waiting around
-one 4 1/2 hour flight home

I'm sure glad to be back!

I Dislike Half Foods

I've been in West Palm Beach for the entire weekend and I've already had three meals from Whole Foods.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that there isn't anywhere else to eat...my hotel happens to be right by tons or restaurants and a HUGE shopping/entertainment center.
I just choose to go to Whole Foods because it's so delicious.

I LOVE it!!!

Cool thing is...their Whole Foods' out here are huge...like Albertson's huge!

Whole Foods-You rock!!!

Sometimes...I amaze myself!

Things I've done this weekend that I thought either
A) I could never do
or
B) I was too afraid to do

1. Go to another state.
2. Be by myself...alone for a weekend.
3. Drive a car I've never driven before in a place I've never been before.
4. Meet TONS of new people and not be scared.
5. Talk to an Executive Pastor and act normal (or as normal as someone like me could be).
6. Fly alone.
7. Find my way through an airport.
8. Trust God fully.

What a great, growing weekend!

This morning while we were singing in the service, the song we sang said something like:
"What can I do, but thank you
what can I do but give my life to you
Hallelujah, hallelujah
what can I do, but praise you
doing my best to make my everyday
a hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah".

Hallelujah means praise the Lord.
Another definition in the dictionary is a shout of joy, praise, or gratitude.

WOW!

While singing this at church and listening to God's Word being communicated in such a passionate and honest way I couldn't help but be moved by God's Spirit.

God has been and is so faithful in my life.
If it wasn't for Him I wouldn't even be out here and I couldn't have done all of the great things he's allowed me to do up until now.

I really do want my life to be a "Hallelujah".
He deserves that and SO much more from me.

I Love Being...

INTENTIONAL.

I know that things that happen on accident or by coincidence are pretty cool, but there's just something about being intentional and purposeful that really gets to me.

I love it when I plan ahead, make a strategic plan and follow through.
The fruit is that much sweeter because I saw something and I did something about it.

It's like it takes the responsibility back onto you. If you see something then you must DO something about it.

Don't wait for someone else or something else to solve or change it...if you/I see it, then God wants us to DO/ACT!

I really believe it's time for the church to believe this and stop blaming everything under the sun for it's failures and misguidance.

BTW, the "church" includes me.

Florida: Day Two

Weather was warm...but nice!

Here's the low-down of my second day here:

-Got up at 7:04am (snoozed it twice).
-Shower.
-Get ready.
-Breakfast-yogurt, OJ, toast, banana.
-Got picked up by Renee, my amazing realtor.
-Saw some great town houses, quads, condos!
-Met with Rhonda at Starbucks (HR from Christ Fellowship)...had great conversation with her.
-Met with Kathryn (another CF employee) and had a great lunch/time with her at Whole Foods...I had the most delicious sweet and sour chicken with steamed rice :)
-Got lost on the way to CF Royal Palms, but eventually found it.
-Toured Royal Palms campus with Pastor Doug.
-Met up with Jeremy and Stephen to observe Surge 56 (5th-6th grade) and Middle School (7th-8th) in action (while there was a CRAZY rain storm outside-we could hear it pounding on the roof).
-Hung out with students and staff after the service :)
-Came outside to completely CLEAR skies!
-Stopped by Whole Foods for a tuna sandwich, Arizona and chips.
-Watched a little Super Sweet Sixteen!
-Talked to Bibi and my mom.

It's been a great and challenging day!

I've had some reflection time too.
God has a plan and it will soon unravel!

I am HERE!

Yes!

I am posting this very post from my hotel in Florida!

I had great flights...all went better than I could have ever imagined!
Things I learned while flying today:
1-I fit perfectly into the middle of two seats on an airplane.
2-Airplane bathroom mirrors BAD; Airport bathroom mirrors GOOD!
3-Making friends is easy!

I drove myself to my hotel :)
Never once got lost!

I just came back from dinner with two amazing people (the Lonsberrys). Had a BLT and fries.

I've already cried (as all of you can imagine) many times...but I am ready to obey God with all my heart.

I'm excited to meet more people and see what God wants me to see (good or bad).

Thanks to all of you who have been fasting and praying...love you guys!

And they Called it Bloggy Love

You know I am...

72%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

...but how about you?

Click on the picture and find out :)

"Bee" Connected*

I was actually waiting for these videos to get up on You Tube.

They were used at the Student Leadership Conference this year during the "Connect Session". I love the fact that there wasn't even a need for a speaker to share on this purpose. Just the life on life examples of these womens' lives is amazing!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!





*If you went to the conference it'll make sense to you :)

Impulse Purchase

I went out yesterday (my day off) to run some errands that I'd been putting off for a while.

*Wash car
*Cash check
*Buy money order for newly sponsored boy from Rwanda
*Send out some letters
*Pick up book from Chris
*Throw some loads in the wash
*Threading
*Buy sneakers
*Buy some of my favorite body lotion at Bath and Body Works

All went as planned except for the last item on my list.

As I walked into Bath and Body Works a spirit of joy came over me--just knowing I'd get to use my favorite lotion IN THE WORLD, Magnolia Blossom, once again made me so happy!

I finished my last bottle almost a month ago and have been using some Avon body cream my mom had in her room.

As I scanned the walls looking for the Magnolia Blossom display of body cream, hand lotion, body wash, body gel, perfume, body spray...I never found it.

I panicked and saw a girl stocking shelves, hoping she could offer some hope, I asked, "Excuse me, where is your Magnolia Blossom display?", her answer, "Oh, its' been discontinued".

Ah, it was painful! I love that lotion and it has the perfect scent...I've never found any thing like it.

I asked what other scent is most like it and she said either the Cherry or White Cherry Blossom. I walked over to the display she signaled to and smelled...not even close.

I was ready to walk out with my chin against my chest when I looked below and saw a small fortune of Magnolia Blossom body creams hidden on the bottom shelf.

I don't know if it was the resonating sound of the woman's voice saying "discontinued" or the pure joy of finding them, but I quickly snatched 8 bottles (which was no easy task) and walked them over to the counter.

Even though they cost me $68, I really don't regret it :)

Trust me...you'll thank me when you smell me--it's THAT good!

What a Monday!

This definitely goes down as one of the downest Mondays I've ever had (is downest even a word?).

There's been some tears (but with me, that usually happens) and also some frustration.

You know those times when everything in your life seems to be...not explainable?
I wish I could articulate what's going on inside my heart, my head at this very moment, but it's so difficult just to get all of that in order, for my own sanity's sake.

The more I write the more depressed I sound...don't worry, I'm not--I'm just doing some processing.

I love the life God has given me, it's just that I'm getting to this point in my life where I have to make decisions that are really life-altering.
It's hard.
It's lonely too.
It's not just Florida...it's my WHOLE life that needs to be dealt with.

This is the point where I'd say something like, "I'd really appreciate your prayers" but if you're reading this, you've probably been praying for me...

So NOW, this is the point where I say, THANK YOU!

This is Josh Griffin!

*Pictured below are Josh and I expressing what we think of me being Allison's blog fan.
As I mentioned before, I started reading Josh's blog a long time ago.

He's fun, funny, wise and so friendly.

We met last year at Saddleback through Chris Reed and when he found out I was Allison's fan...his ego was definately affected.

He's still THE BLOG ALL STAR!

This is Allison Hibbard

I've been reading her blog for a while.
I found it through Josh Griffin's blog a while ago.

Yes, I admit it...they inspired me to get a blog and I am their blog fan...well mostly her blog fan (sorry Josh...I still read yours though).

She's creative, smart and witty---and cooks up some good posts.

We met at Saddleback last week.
In person she's as sweet as she appears to be in her posts.

I felt like a groupie when I approached her on Tuesday evening...
before doing so I asked Edgar if he thought it was a bit psycho/stalker-ish to come up and say "Hi, I read your blog!".

He said it would be...but I still did it.

I'm glad I did!

Tangedy

*A word with greater meaning than the human language could ever possibly try to define.

*A word of epic proportions.

*A word that can only describe two people in the whole world.

German, you know how it is!

Bear Feet

When I was a little girl I didn't understand much about the English language.
And as a direct result of that, I fell into the wrong impression that when people said "bare feet" they were really saying "bear feet".

I'm sure you're thinking, "How could you confuse an animals feet with a foot that has nothing on it?".

I know, I'm weird, but follow me...

I figured that a bear never wears shoes, socks, sandals, etc. so when I didn't wear any of those around the house I was mimicking a bear.

It never dawned on me that there could actually be a word that meant there's nothing on it.

Needless to say, I now know the difference, but wow was I dumb!

I Heart Target

Yesterday, after work Edgar and I went out to Office Max to get some stuff he needed...of course I couldn't resist and I got myself a new memory stick and some golf pencils for weekend services.

After that we went to Target to get some stuff for my car and some stuff I've been meaning to get for my mom.

I got all of those things...plus some extra goodies too.
I don't think I've ever had such a random and seemingly useless amount of things in a shopping cart all at once.

Here's what was purchased:
-file crate
-gas can
-Prestone anti-freeze
-Castrol GTX oil
-notebook dividers
-a set of "Uno" cards
-crossword puzzle book
-"Scrabble" board game
-Beach Boys "Sounds of Summer" CD
-Michael Jackson "Number Ones" CD
-"Scene It" game

I'm listening to my Michael CD as I type...and I love it! Reminds me of the sweetness of the 80's.

In my opinion...

Thursday night was the best part of the SL Conference.

This is why:

After two days of putting up with picky students (on my own with Ricky) Edgar, Bibi and Janette came out to Saddleback to join us for the night.

After taking in the evening session we all headed back to the hotel for a little evening swim.
We got hungry and at about 1am Leo F., Janette, Bibi, German and I went out to find a place that was open.

Of course--nothing was open so we went to the only thing that would be open at that kind of hour: AmPm and the Shell station Mini Mart.

Here are our adventures:

Our delicious purchases

German prepping for weekend services with his new "More, would you rather..."

German's bare feet

Leo running in to check if the AmPm was open

Janette

Best quotes for the night:

#1 GERMAN: "I can't, I'll get fungus"

#2 BIBI: "They [nachos] taste like noogies"

#3 JESSICA: "Let's have a north pole treat, Icees and Hostess snowballs"

Such a fun night...just posting this I had some uncontrollable laughter, just thinking of that night.

The World: In Legos

Went to Lego Land a couple of weeks ago and forgot to post...so here is the world...from a Lego aficionado's point of view:

Under Grand Central Station

Behind a New York City alley

A tattooed baby

Pandas-for Howard!

Fun!

You should visit sometime :)

Florida...here I come!

I booked my flight out to Florida today!

I'm supposed to fly out on Friday, July 27th and come back home just in time for VBS the following Monday.

As I typed, I got this funny feeling in my stomach.
I can't believe I'm actually going to go out there!

I'm excited!

SLC in Pictures

SLC Day #3

Taking a little break here at the "Leader's Lounge".

All of the students are doing some interactive service experiences on campus right now.

Can't wait for tonight!!!!

There's a special 15 year old that's going to speak on God calling him to collect loose change in order that he can loosen chains-helping modern day slavery.

I'm positive that it will really speak to the students!

Can't wait to sleep in my own bed tomorrow night!!!!

Student Leadership Conference

It has been a VERY busy couple of weeks.

Summer Splash
VBS planning
Staff Meetings
and now, Student Leadership Conference!

I promise to post about all of the amazing things that have happened and are happening here once I get a chance.

It has been fun and challenging!

Please pray that our students continue to "get it" and are challenged...enough to be changed and make a difference when they go back home.
By difference, I don't so much want to focus on the "doing" but on them being a different person in and through Jesus.

Have a great rest of the week!

Calling All Bloggers!!!

I have previously stated (on my blog-THIS blog) that I have amazing friends.

I really do!

BUT they haven't been reading/commenting on my posts and haven't been posting on their blogs lately.

Please post guys...I check every day (with the exception of weekends).

P.S. I just found out Aaron Li has been reading my blog!!! Hi Aaron, thanks for reading!