Lauren's Senior Portraits

I had the joy of being able to take the beautiful Lauren's senior pictures on Friday. We had a blast, and she had picked out a great location that she wanted to take them at as well. Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we were able to get some great shots!

Just the shoes!

I 

Lauren really wanted to capture some pictures with her pointe shoes (and so did I!) The dance poses added so much personality.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the session.

I really feel like this picture captures Lauren's graceful and carefree spirit.  Another favorite!

This one (below) ended up being one of Lauren's favorites. It was one of the last pictures we took, and the sun had already gone down, so it was a super dark shot. I ended up loving the way it looked after some editing, though!

Chalk It Up Festival

When most people think of sidewalk chalk, they imagine little kids doodling on their driveways... when the artists of the Chalk It Up Festival think of sidewalk chalk, they dream big!

This past Labor Day weekend, I participated in the Chalk It Up Festival in downtown Sacramento. The Chalk It Up Festival takes place at the same park every year on Labor Day Weekend. Each year, local artists will come and decorate one of over 200 squares of sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. Each square is sponsored by a local business, and the artists will work on their squares all weekend long. The festival is hosted to raise money for children's arts education programs.

Besides walking around and looking at all of the chalk drawings, there are also craft and vendor booths, food stands, music, and activities for kids as well.



Prepping my square.

My drawing took just over two hours to complete. I was able to do a sidewalk square on the inside of the park, a bit smaller than the outer ones, but in the shade!

I used a photo I had taken a year or so ago as the inspiration for my drawing. After I had drawn a grid in my square and over the original photograph, I had to do a little photo editing in my head to figure out how I would make it work with sidewalk chalk, and with the colors I had.

 I'd never done anything like this before, so it took a little bit of experimenting to find out the best way to make things work. I used a couple of towels to rub in larger areas of chalk, as you can see, and I used a few brushes and my fingers to do the smaller, more detailed areas. My fingers were pretty chaffed at the end of the day!

Water also helped in creating different shades of chalk, and spreading it out more. If you mixed it just right, you could get your chalk to achieve a more paint-like quality, which was great for making it look more smooth.


I love this picture!


The underside of the flower and the shadowing were the hardest parts to figure out how to do. I had (mistakenly) not picked out a dark brown or black color in my set of chalks I bought, so I had to figure out a different way to do the shadowing. I ended up using purple and light blue to do it, and I really liked the way it turned out, especially on the petals.




Finishing up...

  I almost ran out of white chalk towards the end, but thankfully, I had just enough to finish up. My fingers were definitely tired by this point, but I was pleased with how it had turned out.

 I also discovered just how messy sidewalk chalk can be! Both of my rags were completely blue (they looked as though someone had tye-dyed them!) and my feet, knees and hands were covered in blue chalk as well. It took a couple of days to completely wash out the blue stains from my hands.



Finished!



Overall, though, I was happy with the way it came out, and I had a great time doing it. I'm definitely going to try and do it again next year.

You can view more photos of the drawings from the Chalk It Up Festival online at www.chalkitup.org .



Seven Reasons Why I Like Pinterest

It's a time waster, really, it is.

If you've never heard of Pinterest, in short, it's a social media website which acts as a giant corkboard. After you make your account, you can begin sorting through images and "pinning" them (saving them) to your own boards. It's the same concept as tearing a picture out of a magazine and stashing it away in a file or notebook for later.

1. The difference between Pinterest and all of those magazine cutouts that are stuffed away in a box in my drawer is that Pinterest is... organized. *angels sing* I love organization. Everything is sorted into categories (DIY and Crafts, Education, Books and Movies, Food and Drink, etc) or you can search for something specific. As for what you are pinning (saving), you can create as many boards as you like, allowing you to be as organized and specific as you want.

2. Pinterest is typically a gold mine of ideas. Notice that I didn't say good ideas; you'll need to do a little searching and looking and clicking and reading to find exactly what you're looking for, but you can find some really great ideas on Pinterest. I admit that using their search engine can be difficult at first, but once you get the hang of it and find the right phrasing for your search, you are almost guaranteed to have more ideas then you know what to do with. Need a new recipe? Check. A craft to do for a rainy Saturday afternoon? Check. A knitting pattern for a pair of socks? Check. Ideas on how to paint your nails? Check. Photography tips? Check. Want to make your own soap? Check. Need a new exercise plan? Check. I think you get the idea.

3. Pinterest is a time waster. Why is this something I like about it? Not sure. It just happens to be handy for those days and times when you don't really feel like doing anything.

4. Pinterest is a time saver. I know, I know ... didn't I just say Pinterest was a time waster? Ah, yes, yes I did, but it actually can be both. For example, imagine your birthday is coming up in just a couple of days and you have invited all of your friends over for a party, but you still have no idea what to do. Just search "birthday party ideas" or "birthday party ideas for teens" or something similar and you have instant ideas. Again, remember what I said earlier in #2 - they might not all be good ideas, but you certainly can get a few good ideas, or modify what you find to fit what you need. Any way you go, you've just found something (hopefully) that will help get your creative ideas flowing.

5. Pinterest is easy. Its a simple idea and a simple design. There are just a few basic things you can do... create your own boards and pin things, comment or like something someone else pinned, or browse and search for pins... it doesn't take long to learn how to use it, and once you do, there's really not tons of hidden features and programs.. just one simple idea and purpose.

6. Pinterest is endless. This is part of why it's a time waster - the pages go on forever, or so it seems. You can just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. I thought once that I had reached the bottom of the page and then a little bar popped up at the edge of the screen that said "Fetching More Pins" and suddenly, there were more pins on the page and I was no longer at the end... or what I had thought was the end.

7.  Pinterest helps you create a reference of good ideas. Once you pin something, it stays on your board forever, or at least until you move it or delete it, so you can consistently go back and scan your boards for ideas and inspiration. I use Pinterest to store recipes, craft ideas, quotes I like, traveling tips, little odds and ends, scrapbooking/art pages that I like, and so on. 

So there you have it. My top seven reasons why I like Pinterest. Want to give it a shot? Sign up here, or check out my boards here.  

Do you have a Pinterest?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I've been waiting to find this recipe for a long time.

A recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough that is meant to be eaten unbaked, with a spoon. Yes, that's right. As in shoveling it into my mouth RAW. I believe that is the best way to enjoy it.

 It's not as though I don't eat raw cookie dough that is meant to be baked, I do. It's just that with an eggless recipe, with a recipe that is meant to be spooned into your mouth with absolutely zero bake time ... well, now I have an excuse. :) I tried a number of different recipes... and this one was the first one I found that actually tasted like cookie dough. In fact, I am beginning to crave it now as I type.

Ingredients:                                                                                     
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you can use a little less if you're not big on vanilla.)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
water

Directions:

In a medium-large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Then stir in the flour, salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Add water one tablespoon at a time, stirring between each, until it has reached a cookie dough consistency.

Makes 1.5 - 2 cups of cookie dough.

And that's it! You're done, just like that.

It's almost too simple. Who can resist a big bowl of cookie dough just waiting to be consumed with a giant spoon? You could spread it on graham crackers or pretzels or plop a few chunks into your ice cream (that is really delicious!) ... but I usually don't take the time. I just start scooping it out of the bowl and straight into my mouth. YUM.

*This recipe was first found in Family Fun Magazine.*

I've been doing some updates...

I've been in the process of importing my blog from Ecuador (2011) and my blog from Panama (2012) into this blog, so everything can just be together. It will just be easier.
They are all being backloaded right now, so they will be up soon, and then I'll probably delete the original blogs I had for them. You'll be able to view all of the posts from each trip under the tags "panama 2012" and "Ecuador 2011".

More regular posts coming soon!

Panama!

Just as a little recap from Miami, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in intense drama training. We trained for two to three hours in the morning, and four to five in the afternoon, with just a few breaks. In between that, we had language and cultural training, and of course, FUAGNEM every night.

On Thursday, we left for Panama. Check in went really smoothly, as did our flights... it was only a few hours long, maybe three I think. I was SO SO SO excited to finally get to Panama! Our hotel is big, but our rooms are small. :) There are seven of us in our room, and we don't have beds either, just mattresses on the floor, which is fine. We also have hammocks on the balcony, which makes up for not having beds. :) Panama is a beautiful country, and our hotel really is smack dab in the middle of the rainforest. It is great, so peaceful, with really, really amazing views and you can see all kinds of monkeys and other rainforest-y animals outside of our windows.

Today was our first day of ministry, and it was really amazing. Our first stop was a school, which had somewhere around 200 or 300 kids, from preschool up on through sixth grade or so. One girl shared her testimony, and then we performed our drama. Our stage was a little bit small, so we altered a few parts a little bit, but it was totally fine. We got to go out and talk and play with the kids for a little bit. I started playing with some of the littlest kids... they were so cute and fun even though we couldn't talk to each other. I let them play with my China Doll fan, and I painted their faces. There was one little girl who came over and sat on my lap, but wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't even smile. I asked her teacher her name, and it was Michelle. Her teacher says she hardly ever talks to anyone. It was sad, but at least I was able to give her lots of hugs, and paint her face.

When we got to our second drama site, some kind of open-air shopping mall, I realized I didn't have my camera. All of our leaders and LITs tried to help me think of places where it could be, but after we had emptied out my bag and searched the bus, we deemed it must have gotten knocked out of my pocket in the school. One of our leaders called the school, but no one answered. They assured me we would go back and look for it, but in the meantime, we had to perform the second drama. We got to perform in the mall, and then we talked to the people again, as we always do. A couple of people came to Christ, and I got to talk to one teenager about my age who accepted Christ.

After lunch, we went back to the school, and sure enough, we found my camera right away! I'm still not sure what happened, or how it even fell out of my pocket, but at least we found it. No more putting the camera in my pockets!!!

Our third ministry site was some sort of basketball court. I had prayed at the beginning of the day for God to give me someone to look out for to talk to after one of the dramas, and I felt that I should look for someone who was pregnant or had a young baby. At the mall, I had seen a bunch of ladies with little babies, but none of them were able to stop and talk. As we were doing the drama at our third site, I was watching the audience, and there was no one that had a baby or was pregnant... I thought, "Well, maybe it's just not going to happen today." About five minutes before the drama was over, I saw a lady walk up and sit down, and I thought, "Hmm. Maybe that's her... she looks pregnant."

After the drama, I took a translator and went over to talk to her. I explained the whole drama to her, since she hadn't come in until right at the end, and then I asked her if she understood. She said yes, she did, and she wanted to accept Jesus as her Savior. I was so excited for her, and we prayed together, and then I asked her if she was pregnant, and she said that yes she was (She was 8 months along). We got to pray for her baby too, and then we went back to the hotel for dinner and FUAGNEM.

The food here is really good, and of course, FUAGNEM is as well. I got asked by my leaders tonight to speak at FUAGNEM when they asked for some people to come up and share stories from the day, so I did. (I hate speaking in front of crowds!) Now, I'm getting ready to go up to my room - curfew is in just a few minutes.

Thanks so much for praying for us! We are seeing God do amazing things and we are having so much fun. I will update again when I can. :)

Miami - Day 1 Recap!

I was scheduled to leave Sacramento at 12:30am on July 2nd, but we sat waiting for over a half hour after we had boarded the plane before we actually took off. I had a layover in Houston around 6am (that's Houston time) and I felt kind of sick, but I'm feeling a lot better now. I arrived in Miami around 11am (Florida time) and there were leaders waiting for me at the airport. We got back to the hotel just before 1pm, and I was able to check in, get my name tag and devotional and such, and eat some lunch.

We just had some free time in the afternoon while everyone was arriving. I was able to meet up with a couple of old friends from last year, as well as meeting all the new people on my team this year. :) Everyone seems really nice :) We had pizza for dinner in our rooms, and finally, FUAGNEM (Fired Up And Going Nuts Every Minute, our evening youth service) at 7pm. I was SO excited for FUAGNEM. After FUAGNEM, we had team time and drama tryouts.

I got the part of the China Doll. It's one of the toys in the drama. Ironically, that's the costume I had to bring as well - but I'm excited about my part in the drama. :) After drama tryouts last night, we went up to our rooms, got ready for bed, and had tuck-ins. Tuck-ins are basically when one of our LITs comes in and talks and prays with us before bed. We didn't end up getting to sleep until after 12:30..... or maybe even 12:45. Thankfully I was able to sleep well, even in the hotel bed.

Please be praying for strength, health and rest for us - our days will be filled to the brim with training and FUAGNEMs and team times and such. Also, pray for team unity and that our team would continue to bond - so far, it seems like a really great mix of people, so thank you for praying! And pray that we would be able to learn the drama quickly and be able to perform it well!

Thank you so much for praying! I'll try to update again tonight. :)