Weekend in Watts

Mission Trips are funny things. Someone once told me that it was the “nice white thing to do.” I can see from the outside perspective that it might seem a bit self glorifying, “Oh look at me, taking my whole weekend to go serve those in need. Look at me playing with kids and loving them all weekend then returning to my comfortable bed in Orange County.” I guess that looks a little funny. But on the other side of the self glorification and judgment we can ALL get in to when doing something good is just simple gratitude for our lives.

Rollin' with the homies!

I think the thing I am constantly reminded of on Mission Trips is how grateful I am for the life I live. How grateful I am to be able to worship God without being threatened with death. How grateful I am to live in a neighborhood where I don’t dodge bullets, gangs and rapist. How grateful I am to have jobs that provide me with enough money to buy food and go on trips. And from that gratitude I hear a voice say, “And what do you plan to do with that life you have so generously been given?”

Adelain made me a bracelett

Mission Trips remind me to be grateful and to give what I have been given. Some people start non-profits, after school programs and churches after they attend mission trips, but for right now all I can think to start up is love. I realized that I have a lot more love to give to the kids and women I work with. I have a lot more grace and respect to give to my co-workers and I have a lot more thanks to give to God. Thats all I have for right now, but I think it’s more than good enough.

While in Watts we served Power House Church by throwing the kids in the neighborhood a “End of Summer Party!” Complete with a Dance Party, crafts, a water balloon fight and a free trip to see the ice cream truck.

In the evening we worked with Broken Hearts Ministry visited Santa Monica Blvd where we hung out with transvestites, hookers and gang members from 11 to 2 am. I met one guy named Shadow. He was 20, had just gotten out of jail and had grown up in the foster care system since he was 3. When he said he grew up in the foster care system I instantly imagined how many years he has spent without a mom and dad. Without the consistent reminder that he is loved and cared for.

Waiting for ICE CREAM!!!!

All in all my weekend in Watts left me with a lot of sadness. Sadness that there is so much brokenness and sadness in the world and wondering if any of it could be fixed. I guess thats where my faith comes in. I have faith that though there is darkness, evil and chaos in the world that it can be healed. I know that I can’t fix everything, the church can’t fix everything and mision trips can’t fix everything, but I have faith that kindness, love, hugs and frequent trips to visit people can heal.

Bon Voyage Jeannette!

Lisa's AMAZING Backyard

The last time I went to Spain I pretty much just packed up all my stuff, threw it in my sisters non-existent storage spaces at their houses, borrowed a back pack, put $300 bucks in my underwear and  hopped on the next Virgin Atlantic flight. After I was there I realized I didn’t need Europe, I really needed some therapy… oh well. Nice “vacay” though.

Jeannette on the other hand is a woman of introspection and planning. A true Capricorn to the core, she has planned her trip to Spain for a couple of years now and the universe has greatly helped her plan it. In her planning she met an amazing woman named Pilar from Barcelona who has set her up with a room in her families home to stay in while visiting Spain.  She has been connected to people living in Spain who have given her the necessary insider tips and info about living abroad and working abroad. And of course her boyfriend made her watch Taken. (Nice one Chris.)

Jamie, Jessica, Jeannette

All in all the most remarkable thing about Jeannette’s journey has been her faith in it. She has felt such a calling to visit this country and it seems that she has been patient enough to go when she if physically, emotionally and financially ready. As always Jeannette is an example to us all that good investments reap good rewards.

Me, Laura and April

These are a few pics from Jeannette’s Bon Voyage Party in Lisa’s AMAZING backyard! I want my wedding (if/when) to replicate an evening garden party like this. It is unbelievably charming and the food of an assortment of cheeses, mushroom and vegetarian sausage quesadillas, rice pudding and Jessicas lemon cupcakes kept us all happy campers! Bon Voyage Jeannette! We will miss you! xoxo

Tyler and Becky Waldron’s Wedding

  

On August 22nd, 2009 Tyler Waldron became the luckiest man (and Mormon) alive when he married my best friend Becky Lynn. God really did get out his best spices and fairy dust when he made Becky. She’s beautiful, but down to earth, smart but totally quirky,  funky yet classy and forward thinking yet thoughtful. And did I mention INSANELY good at planning a wedding ?

Now, when I hear ”Wedding in the park” I think a bucket of KFC and grandma’s old blanket, but Becky sees the cutest wedding on earth…and that is just what she put on for all of us at Heritage Park in Fountain Valley.

Beckys wedding was probably the funnest I’ve ever been apart of. Everything from the flowers to the lemonade stand were a “family/friend affair.” All us bridesmaids got together the night before the wedding with another high school friend Nicole and made all of our own bouquets, boutineers, and crosages…while Becky made her rockin’ veil with a yellow flower (white flower out, yellow flower in, per my suggestion

Becky didn’t get to bed till’ 3 am that night/morning and had to wake up at 6 for her sister in-law Sherri to do her hair. But, it was so worth it to see her come out of the Newport Beach Temple lookin’ like the hottest (yet modest) wife in the WORLD! Her gorgeous dress was designed by no other then the awesome and amazing wedding dress designer, but HERSELF!

But, all in all when I think back on the day I don’t necessarily think of a “man and woman” coming together, I think of a family coming together. The way the day went with groomsmen hanging ribbons, brothers DJ’ing and all the 50 or so little kids running up to the Lemonade Stand (that her brother Dan painted)  to get lemonade, water and kool-aid…and how cute all of them looked with their mouths and chins stained with red. I’ll think of how freakin’ funny all the nieces, nephews and cousins looked dressing up in costume for the the PhotoBooth. How gorgeous the 150 yards of Triangle Flags her mom cut and sewed looked through out the park, in the gazeebo and on the dance floor. How much fun people had playing all the games set out in the park like, Bocce ball, Badmitton, Bowling, Smash ball and Croquet. No, this wedding reminded me not of the beauty of a man and woman coming together, but of the beauty that man and woman can make by creating a family to love and to cherish… and how blessed I was to be apart of it.

Suck it ya hippies!

Nothin’ like a Bachelorette Party in Newport Beach! After some din-din at Yard House we made sweet and modest Becky Lynn take her guitar out on the Newport Beach peninsula and sing for money. She had a ghetto-fabulous sign that said, “Need money for Honeymoon.”  Courteousy of Miss.Robin. We encountered our share of haters, male hoochies, drunks, narcissist performers, busy cabi’s, waiters wanting to hear a tune and Mexicans.

The quotes of the night are the following:

“Suck it ya hippies!”

“Don’t worry I can say that…I’m Mexican.”

“Ladies I’m going in the yard house. If you need me, I’ll be in the yard house.”

Whatever the case Becky girl made some hot cash for her honeymoon with Tyler the smiler! So much for the haters!

I love my job….

I love my job as an Art Teacher because I get some of the most brilliant, sassy and cute little kids in the world like 8 year old Lian to say the following to me:

Lian: Me and my neighbor put 2 snails together and they started mating.

Princess Nini Spice: How do you know they were mating?

 Lian: (Rolls eyes) Trust me, they were definitely mating. I would know. I watch the Discovery Channel.

Enjoy the following picture…(a little too much PDA for my taste…Yuckkedy Yuck!)

Becky Lynn’s Bridal Shower

Hey ya’all! Wedding Season is in full swing in the OC! And on this very beautiful Saturday in Newport we decided to host Becky Lynns Bridal Shower. I had a lot of fun helping with it. I tried out some new Bridal Shower Games like:

1.) Bridesmaids Dresses Between Decades *I got a dozen dresses between 1989 and 2009 and had all the women guess what year the dresses were worn.

2.) Peeling Apples *They uh..”Peeled apples” with a knife. Cause a good wife should know how to peel an apple for say a pie, dipping in caramel or just showing her hubby how handy-dandy she is! It was pretty funny how many girls said, “Isn’t this dangerous?” Ah! The 21st century woman with her protective peeler and mase! I love it!

3.) And I couldn’t leave out “How well do you know the bride and groom” game.

The games were a hit! Another new fangled idea of mine was name tags. There were like 60 women invited from both the groom and brides familes so I thought everyone could figure who was who by “Flower name tags”. You write your name on one leaf and how you know the bride-to-be on the other leaf. All the older women esspecially loved it I used Martha Stewart papers and Buttons from Micheals. Hot gluing the buttons and pins on the back.

I think the funnest part of the Bridal Shower though was the “Brides Cake.” Becky loves to play the guitar (and she’s quite good too So I made the Bridal Shower cake into the shape of a guitar. The “Brides Cake” is kind of a twist on the “Grooms cake” where you take something that reminds everyone of the groom and make it into a cake. (PS..Big THANK YOU to my Mama for helping me make the guitar and coaching me through my minor melt down over a rice crispy heart recipe Friday night. You have the patience of a saint. xoxo)

We used Becky’s Grandmas backyard for the shower. Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t wait till the wedding! Only one week away! Wowwza!