Hands of Hope - Philly 2012

Well I have been here in Philly for five days now. Its been a crazy five days, very busy, and a lot of fun. I have a great staff here to be working with, and they are GREAT. 

Just an update on what I am doing, and what I am doing for the rest of the summer: My job title is City Host. Basically, I am working for a missions organization where youth groups from all over the United States come to do inner city service projects. Specifically, I will be leading these groups around the city to the various service projects that we do. So this week so far, We have been going to the different organizations that we are partnered to serve with and taking a tour and hearing the heads of these organizations share their passion and experience for their organizations. 

Talking with these people is the most amazing thing ever. They are overflowing with vision and excitement about what is being done, and what is going to be done. 

As many of you may know, my senior year of high school I started my own non-profit organization, brown baggin' it, passing out bagged lunches to the homeless around Colorado Springs. This idea was rooted here in Philadelphia four years ago when I came to CSM with my youth group on a missions trip. Tuesday night, part of training was to talk with Joetta, the women who inspired me in such a big way to start my own ministry each week. I was so excited to meet her, because she really paved the way to make a dream of mine come true.

She is such a passionate women. She can hardly walk and she lives an hour away from the city, yet she is so dedicated to helping the less fortunate. I was able to go out and pass out my own bagged lunch and get into an awesome talk with Robert, a homeless man, who I saw the face of Jesus in, for 45 minutes! As the night started to draw to an end, and I finished, waiting for the other groups to get done passing out all their lunches, I had a chance to tell Joette my story. She told me I gave her goosebumps, while I myself was just in awe to talk with her. 

I feel as if I have been here already for months, with the close knit staff, and the amazing experiences I have already had. This summer is already gearing up to be a GREAT one. God is truly working in this city, I feel so fortunate to even be apart of it. 

Summer Staff (left to right): Katie, Kathleen, Me, Amy, Breauna, John, Brittany

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Its been an awesome 19 years! You are ONE OF A KIND! LOVE YOU!

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My summer vacation is quickly coming to an end, and I feel as if it just started... (well that is because it did). On Thursday I will be flying out to Pennsylvania to visit Grandparents/Aunts, then start work with CSM in Philadelphia! I am really excited to get there and get to work for the next three months! I will be doing my best to keep blogging while I am there to keep you all updated in what is going on. Keep me, and the rest of my team in your prayers as we navigate the city with youth so excited to serve the Lord. God will be doing some amazing things in the lives of the people of Philadelphia!

The Art of Chalk

Well... I was tired of looking at my bare kitchen walls, I mean after painting it a chalkboard and then not doing anything with it, most people would be frustrated. So I decided to finally draw some stuff. Here it is..

Tree of Life. The roots go deep.

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in the season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

                                                 Psalm 1:3

What is on the menu for today.. not sure how long I will use this. Usually I decide what dinner will be two minutes before I make it...

add to shopping cart

My shopping list

eventually I will draw a bird for this.. wasnt my night for bird drawing

Bon Appetit!

Paris is a pretty cliche kitchen theme.. oh well

Hope you enjoyed the artwork

it. is. finished.

Well I mean I have only been working non stop for the past three weeks. But it is finally able to move it! ITS LIVABLE WOOHOO.

This is prolly my favorite view of my whole house, it only seemed right to put it as the first picture. My bed & futon. (anyone need a place to stay? futon is REALLY comfortable)

 Love to see a bookshelf full of books. If you look closely you can see a couple friends! You should feel honored to have made it on my bookshelf :)

 well... not quite done. my table has no chairs.. IM WORKING ON IT.

 the entertainment center. (yes, if you look closely those are bunny ear antennas.. going old school with basic cable)

 The kitchen. Painted with chalkboard paint!

pantry on the go... works for me 

 "Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

Matthew 5:6

more pictures on the fridge! 



Today I got the TV working, Internet set up, and one of the last loads of STUFF! Will be sleeping there TOMORROW NIGHT!

Thanks to everyone who as followed, there will be more to come when I do cool, fun, DIY stuff!

DIY Artwork

This is a really fun project to do to add something extra to your room. Its fun, simple, and inexpensive

 I bought two blank canvases at an art store 2 for $10.

I painted them black with some paint just around the house



 Next, just choose your color. I used the paint I painted the walls with. Any type of acrylic paint will work also.

Pour a puddle at the top of and just let gravity do its thing.

When you are satisfied with how it looks you have just created an original piece of art to show off.

Create a unique masterpiece for under $20

paint

After three days of non-stop cleaning (as in after school I would go to the house and clean for 5 hours each day and hardly even make a dent), I was finally able to start painting! Today I painted from 1:45 until 9:00 and I am still not done! Tomorrow I will be heading over first thing to get it done to try to be moved in this weekend!

I HATE TAPING! the first hour was seriously just taping everything. As mush as I hate it, you cant do it without it (seriously, by the end I was trying to just wing it.. and now I have to go back and do some minor touch up)

 I love to watch a lot of the shows on HGTV and DIY. When designing rooms for clients they always say that if you go bold, you wont regret it. so.. I went with ORANGE!!

 I bought the paint a few days ago, so it has just been sitting in the office taunting me making me second guess my decision to go so bold. Especially with a mother, when the first thing she says is "its going to look like Halloween!" I was just praying that when I put it on the walls it would look good!

I LOVE IT!

 This will probably be my favorite part of the room when its done! The Striped Wall.

 Looking good

 added grey in there! one more color to go (offwhite/cream)

 not quite finished yet. havent even started in the kitchen yet.

Yes, I have a lot to do. I still need to paint all the trim white, the doors white, a few walls white, paint the kitchen, finish painting the stripes (and make them look good), and do all the little touch ups that need to be finished! Can I do all that tomorrow?? I sure hope so!

My Log Cabin

My log cabin

Today I was able to get into my new house to begin to start cleaning. I was unsure of when I would be able to actually get the ball rolling on the move due to renter issues... (Basically he is a con artist who steals and lies and and a total nut job who was wanted by the police and ended up in jail and we really just wanted him out!). Long story short... we finally got him OUT so I was able to begin moving in! It was a busy day. I began by removing all of the stuff he left behind, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom, plastered, vacuumed, changed lightbulbs, vacuumed again... cleaned some more... I am exhausted! Lets take a look inside shall we?

 the living room/dining room/bedroom/only room all in one room, room

 Closet & Bathroom doors

 view of the kitchen

 the windows

 Kitchen

Bathroom

I still got a LONG way to go!

my TO DO list hanging from the fridge



My place is going to be so cool once its all done. Remember this is only the first day into it all! I will be posting the progress as I complete more! I hope you enjoyed the tour, now you will just have to come over and see it for yourself! :)