with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

Today I worked, had some delicious KC BBQ (I'm hooked and have no idea how I lived without it), napped, then took a lovely walk in the rain for some froyo!

I just love the rain. And the Midwest.

Hope everyone's having as wonderful weekend as I seem to be having :)

life updates...

1. My new Starbucks store is awesome! I loved my old store, but I must say it's a nice breath of fresh air being in a cafe store.. No more haunting "beep" in my ear all day.

2. Residency for Missouri is crazy. Granted, it's all really doable and I'll have no problem getting it all done, but I feel like I'm selling my soul to the state! It's definitely still something I want to do, but I'm obviously emotionally attached to the state of California and I'm saving things on the residency checklist like getting a Missouri license and registering to vote in the state of Missouri for later on in the year.

3. I'm absolutely, 100% obsessed with How I Met Your Mother. WHY did I wait so long to watch this show?! Also, I don't have internet so if I want to watch it on Netflix I have to go to a coffee shop.. Duh I do it. No shame.

4. Today I decided it was hot.. Hey Fresno, it's only 90 degrees. Go ahead and hate me all you want

5. I miss my friends at home SO incredibly much but I love my friends here a lot!!

6. Being a real adult is really exciting to me. Having to budget in gas, groceries, and everything I else I spend is challenging but I just love it!

7. I bought the most amazing mattress and every time I get on my bed I immediately sink in and "hang out" (aka cat nap) for a little bit

8. I really miss my kitties. I really miss kitties in general!! I have 1 roommate who loves cats.. If only I could somehow find a cat and take it and make it my own..

9. My allergies are absolutely killing me here. I have no idea why, either. I lived in FRESNO. Like, really? I didn't know it could get worse than that but it has. I constantly want to scratch my face off.

10. God is really moving and changing me. It's sad to feel like I've left a life I used to love, but I know God is maturing me in more way than I can imagine. I'm finally building a legit discipline in spending time with Him and I'm extremely grateful for the accountability I'm experiencing here in Missouri as well as back in California.

My life, in a nutshell... I think :)

lack-of internet in the wwffp

So I've been living in Missouri for over 2 weeks now and there is an endless list of things that I need to do! I have started crossing those things off (whaddup new bank account and mattress!) but there are a lot that aren't so easy because something is getting in the way... You know what gets in the way of these things? NOT HAVING INTERNET.

Can I just stress how frustrating not having internet is? Granted, it has forced me to get out of the house and explore (aka get lost) trying to find awesome wifi places, but still.

Why don't we have internet, you ask? Well, Google is testing their new service called Google Fiber (google it ;) ) over here in good ole' Kansas City and through we are pre-registered and our neighborhood is for sure getting it, we have to wait until September for pre-registration to close. It's going to be flipping awesome when we finally get it, but I'm ready for it to get here already.

This is proving to me just how dependent on internet I am and it's kind of scary.

And yeah, I know, "first world problems".

who would have thought?

I don't know about you, but I love seeing evidence of God's power. Going to Greece was a huge eye-opener of that. Seeing the amazing ways that God worked to get me there just blew my mind throughout the entire trip, and the fact that I am STILL seeing WHY He did all that blows my mind just as much..

My new favorite game to remind me of God's power is "who would have thought?"

Who would have thought that going to Greece would change my life so drastically?
Who would have thought that this California girl would pick up and move to the Midwest?
Who would have thought that [insert so many crazy things here]?
(I'm being somewhat vague because there are a lot of "who would have thought" moments that I am glad to keep between God and I :) )

God, You are so good. Thanks for overpowering me and turning my plans into Your plans.

from Cali to Missouri in 4 long days

So you know a little bit about me being here at my new home, but I know if you're reading this you must be dying to hear about the glorious road trip I got to take to get here ;)

I may sound like I'm being somewhat sarcastic, but in reality... it was so much fun!

Sunday morning I left bright and early to drive down to Long Beach. After a quick stop in Beverly Hills to get my beloved Sprinkles cupcakes one last time, I got to my Aunt's house in LB around 12:30pm. I got to hang out with my cousin all day, eat a delicious home-cooked meal, and watch the olympics.*

I tried to get a decent amount of sleep before I started the legit drive on Monday morning.

Woke up around 7am, had coffee and conversation with my Aunt then headed to the airport to pick up Steven. After enlightening Steven on all things good (Sprinkles and In N Out) we said goodbye to California! Monday was a pretty short drive, and we got to our campground reservation in Utah early that evening. Oh, and guess what...

...IT WAS RAINING!

I've never set up a tent in my life (I grew up a sheltered child ;)) so trying to help set up something so foreign to me in the rain actually made me feel like I was more in the way than anything.. Thankfully, I had Steven to handle all things manly that week so he deserves all credit for us staying dry once we got inside the tent.

Tuesday morning we woke up to sun and headed out to Colorado! Might I say day 2 was, by far, the prettiest drive of all (dang you Nevada and western Kansas). Driving through Vail was unbelievable, and it made paying $3.95 per gallon for gas almost worth it... Almost. We got to our destination at 6pm and were greeted by our favorite little girls ever and their equally as amazing parents. Staying at the Henderson's was SO much fun! They were on project with us, and Kelly was actually the awesome lady who discipled me throughout the summer. They were so sweet to open up their home to us and made me feel right at home. I must say it didn't hurt that we got to watch the USA women's gymnastics team and Michael Phelps win gold medals either :)

On Wednesday we didn't leave quite as early as we had originally planned because we obviously had to get some trampoline and Wii time in! We headed out around 10:30am and drove straight on through to our final destination of Kansas City, Missouri! It was so incredibly exciting to drive up to my new home with two wonderful friends waiting for us on the porch! What troopers for helping me unload my STUFFED car and chatting with us until about midnight.

I didn't think I could have that much fun in a car for 26 hours, but I really did! And I have been having "project reunions" pretty much ALL week long. I know I probably said this already, but it's just been such a great week with even greater friends!

Okay, I'm done rambling now :)



*If you know me well enough, you know I'm a crazy olympic fan and refuse to not know what's going on. Because my trip took place during the first week of the games, I downloaded 4 different apps on my phone to keep up. Phelps fo lyfe ;)

guess who's in KC!

Oh how God has been pouring out the blessings since I last blogged. The move actually came through, and I am officially living in Kansas City, Missouri with my sweet sweet friend Rachel.

After a long (but really great) 3 days of driving, my unbelievably selfless friend Steven (who flew from Missouri to Long Beach just to help me drive/move, by the way) and I made it to KC around 8:30pm on Wednesday. I am in LOVE with this place!

This move has left me in absolute awe of God's provision. Like, who would have thought I'd end up here? In Missouri. With tornadoes. And even worse... BUGS. Heck, even when I was planning to move out here I still had doubts and wondered if this would actually work out. But here I am! And God hasn't left my side for a second. It's been amazing to see all of the fruit of the work He was doing during those few weeks of struggle leading up to this transition being revealed consistently throughout the entire week. Boy oh boy were the struggles worth it!

I begin my new, but familiar, job at Starbucks on Tuesday and I cannot wait to be completely settled in to this place. God is working hard to help me make this place my home, and I am just so grateful for it all!