Mexico Part 1 - Amazing!

Last week, I went on a trip to Mexico with the GBC youth group. It was my first time as a leader and we had a great time! There were 36 people on the trip - 10 leaders and the rest students. We spent our time doing work projects around the remnant center (where we stayed), VBS with the local kids, and team time (including missions training).

*There were so many great things that happened on the trip that I am going to do multiple blogs for the trip*

One of my favorite parts of the trip was team time, whenever we just got to hang out and talk about God and life. We also had time to pray and worship together. Who could ask for more?

God really reminded me of how important our community of believers is. He showed me how much we need each other and how he has placed the right people in our lives for a reason. We did so many projects in a short amount of time that we really had to help each other out. The team really came together as a family. That's what I love most about these trips.

These are just a few snippets of all the fun we had on this trip :) We had an amazing team and God definitely blessed our time down in Mexico.

More to come...

Cake Pops!

So a couple days ago I came across this cute blog by the Cake Pop Queen, Bakerella. If you haven't heard of her, she wrote the book Cake Pops, which is shown above. You can check out her website at http://www.bakerella.com/ I just bought this book yesterday with some birthday money I got from my grandpa :)

Well, I just had to try them out!...

Ta da!!! I made them this weekend and they were so fun to decorate. And what's more, it was so fun to take them to my students on Monday. They were amazed!... probably high off the sugar, but whatever :)

If you have never had cake pops, they are just like cake balls except on a stick. You make a cake, crumble it, mix in some frosting, form little round balls, put a stick in them, dip them in chocolate, and decorate to your heart's content. Sounds like a lot of steps, but it is so worth it.

These cuties are on my list to try next!!

Unicorns!!

One of my favorite movies these days is "Despicable Me." One of the little orphan girls in the flick is obsessed with unicorns. She even sings this little song that she made up about how much she loves unicorns... Uni uni unicorns, I looooove them... And of course the famous "It's so fluffly!" line!

So since this movie came out, I have found a renewed love of unicorns :) I came across this new craft blog today, which had coincidentally just featured a unicorn themed birthday party! If only I had seen this earlier! :)

Can you tell what those cutely decorated little pink/blue/white hats are??

Unicorn horns!! So adorable!

The whole color pallet of this party is amazing. Click here to see the whole birthday post! Soooo adorable. I hope I get to throw someone a party like this someday!

New Addiction!!

Oh my goodness! Have you guys visited the Martha Stewart website?? I'm obsessed. There are so many great crafts with free how-to's! For instance, I made these beauties tonight.

Disco Ball earrings? Can't get much better haha. All you do is wrap wooden beads with sequens and make them into earrings. You can also make them into rings and string them on necklaces.

Find the directions here :)

Have fun!

Bachelorette Party Coctail Ideas

So I'm kind of in wedding/bachelorette party planning mode because of Joanna's up-coming wedding festivities. So the wedding and bachelorette fun aren't until August, but I got excited when looking at these Martha Stewart ideas...

The first one that you see above is the Starlight Royale Recipe. Looks yummy right?? A concoction of gin, lime juice, and champagne topped with a little grenadine for the pink tint. Also dipping the tip in lime juice and sugar adds a sparkle! Find the recipe here.

This next drinks seems more like a bridal shower idea, to go with cakes and other little desserts while watching the bride-to-be open presents. The Viennese Coffee Float. Is your mouth watering yet? Find the recipe here.

The Pear Melba Martini looks so cute and tasty, too! Chambord or black-raspberry-flavored liqueur, pear nectar, raspberries, and vodka. Mm... Find the recipe here.

And last but not least is the Grapefruit-and-Mint Mojito. I think I'm going to have to try this one! Find the recipe here.

All for now! :)

Party Planning!

So as you all know, St. Patrick's Day is coming up in a couple of weeks. As a high school leader at GBC I will be throwing a St. Patty's Day party for the hs girls. I've been doing a little research, some shopping, and just looking for fun ideas for the partay. Here are some fun things I've found. I am contemplating making these little cuties...

Oh and then there's these little leprechaun hats for holding chips or other snacks.

Just a few ideas. Can't wait! I'll post pics after the event. If you all have other ideas for me, I'd love to hear :)

MADE

This past summer, I signed on to be a youth leader for the Grace Bible Church High School group. It has been such an amazing time and I am loving getting to know all of the girls in the group. I recently got to attend an all girls conference with 9 high school students and two other leaders. We had a great time. The conference was called MADE and was held at Hume Lake Christian Camp.

The theme for the weekend was "Set Free." The speaker talked about how non-believers are slaves to sin, while we (as followers of Christ) have been set free from sin. They also offered seminars during the day on Saturday. The first was a Q & A with Rich Baker, who most of the girls know from Hume Lake summer camps. Rich shared about how he knew his wife was the one, what qualities he looked in for a wife, etc. The second was a seminar on pain/loss. Both seminars had an impact on the girls.

I think my favorite part of the weekend was having "cabin time" on Saturday night. We split into our two cabins (I had the 3 freshmen girls with me) and just had some time to reflect and talk about the things we were learning and the things God was teaching us. It was a blessing to hear the girls speak and share about what God was doing in their lives.

(My freshmen cabin: Kina, me, Bradlee, and Savana)

Another great part of the weekend was just being out in nature! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a big nature girl. I don't generally enjoy hiking or camping, or anything remotely close to "roughing it" haha. But this trip was not like that at all. I do, however, LOVE seeing God's beautiful creations in nature. I can stare at a beautiful sunset or feel the breeze by the ocean, and feel God giving me a great big hug. We woke up on Saturday morning to a light blanket of snow on the ground... and on my car. We weren't exactly expecting snow, but it was a nice surprise :)

Somehow, my loving sister convinced me to do the High Adventure Ropes Course with 3 of the students. Weird that she talked me into it, seeing as she'd never do anything like that herself! But the highlight was "The Screamer." It's pretty much what it sounds like. Basically, you wear a harness and walk off a plank high up in the trees. Since I loved skydiving, the girls thought I'd like it. And it was so much fun! I wish it had been higher, but it was still exciting :)

We also just had a grand ole time being silly and laughing together! That's something that all great friendships require :)