#tbt THAT HIKE

Pine Knot Trail, you fooled us.

We went into this hike thinking it was a 4 mile baby.

piece of cake.

hah. NO. NO CAKE.

but I would like an entire chocolate cream pie, please.

yeah, because I finished the 9 MILES it ended up being.

(i know, i'm a whimp..)

Good thing we prepped a bit with sandwiches beforehand and electrolytes throughout.

And good thing the weather was just perfect.

you know, like "April 25th...not too hot and not too cold" perfection.

and you can't complain with this company and these surroundings.

hiking has a good way of making you forget,

just focus on moving those feet.

and then maybe you'll see some of THIS:

#selfies

and #snowballs

isn't this beautiful?

let's not forget, 

we totally cheated while heading back,

 and took a shortcut that ended up not being a shortcut.

i felt like katniss, minus the brains and just the frantic exhaling

WHERE'S PEETA??!?!

and finally, the view up top.

what a treat.

I'm still feeling a sense of accomplishment

from this hike we took a good many days ago.

haha.

till next time,

my body says thank you, Big Bear, for kicking my butt 

and giving me something silly to boast about.

YES.

said Christine..

to starbucks, disneyland, and forever with Andy.

:)

I'm motivated by beautiful photos.

how cheesy is THAT line?

but really, Christine and Andy's proposal was documented SO beautifully...

I HAD TO DO SOMETHING.

so. I shall blog.

---

Andy and I grew up together in church, 

but he was always way cooler since he was a few years older.

BUT, we share the same birthday...

and birthdays trump age differences.

I met Christine because she started dating Andy.

I think we connected on the most unexpected terms:

feeling uncomfortable, out of place, too new.

Since then, God has used that kind of insecurity that we both felt individually,

allowing us to share some commonality,

opening our eyes to a new budding friendship that I'm pretty excited about.

---

anyway, thee proposal!

Christine's galpals whipped this entire thing up with Andy, 

seemingly effortlessly. I was SO impressed when I saw the site.

LOOK:

Andy asked me to create this customized starbucks "logo" for them,

a challenge, but pretty things can happen when you take out a creepy mermaid.

haha.

but what an honor to have this piece front and center of your proposal!

heck, your GRANDKIDS are going to see these!

All above images via the marvelous Margarette Sia.

And then there was my iphone:

hahahah, i love this girl.

yeeeee.

congrats! let the super organized wedding planning begin ;)

and so happy to have you "marry into" our church, Christine. hahaha!

kidding.

Another one bites the dust..

I'm in the blogging mood.

(can't you tell?)

This post will be more lighthearted than the previous one, promise.

---

2014 seems to be the year of
saying yes to diamonds and boys and budgeting and marriage.

who's with me on that??

still, such an exciting time. 

and i'm so happy and HONORED to know these secret happenings beforehand,

to have a hand in creating something for them. 

---

EMME & ERIC

Em and I grew up together.

She's been talking about weddings since I can remember.

Lavender and green used to be her colors.

Lavender has since shifted to a sweet, trendy coral.

but other than that, not much has changed.

She's still the same girl I grew up with.

same organized everything,

same determinaton,

same big heart for Jesus,

same size.

hahahah.

Anyway, Eric gathered a few of us (Johan + Fi, happy times)

and we brainstormed ideas, went a little pinterest crazy,

went on a shopping spree with Eric's credit card,

and with the help of many of Em & Eric's family and friends, 

managed to pull together a PARTAYYY to celebrate this exciting time. 

what an adventure it was, pulling off something that only seasoned event coordinators should tackle.

it was all super fun, tiring, and satisfying though.

proceed...

(obviously these are just the photos I snapped on my phone.

haha, but a glimpse anyway..)

gorgeous day, beautiful locale.

sweet proposal set up on a magic carpet.
cue *Aladdin*

and at the house..

SURPRISE success. we win.

easy party favor solution. pin it. pin it.

also, sidenote:

 DIY projects are totally NOT as easy as they look on blogs.

WHO has chicken wire, spray paint, and wood laying around?

The trip itself took away that one "easy afternoon".

k, venting done.

and behold, that DIY project in all it's fluffy, napkin glory:

TAG EMME.

congrats you two.

so glad you're part of my life.

Glamping & Tongue Taming.

Here are my #organiccamping friends.

We decided to spend this past weekend as each others valentines.

We rented a little airbnb cabin up in Big Bear, 

armed with a week's worth of food and drink, 

for only a day and a half up in the mountains. 

kidding about the valentines.

THAT was totally unintentional.

But what WAS totally intentional was how God orchestrated this weekend, 

spinning a sour, bitter ending into something greater and more beautiful.

---

I was sharing with my accountability group this past Monday about the Big Bear weekend ahead,

sharing about the friendships I had with the organic crew, even saying self righteously:

we have loads of fun together, 

but I wished we had deeper, more meaningful relationships.

hah.

Guys, when you ask Him, you receive.

and never in a way you can ever dream up.

Here was my little concoction for a nice little bonding time with my friends:

a happy weekend up in the mountains,

a morning spent in worship and devotions.

angels gather round and sing.

aaaand here's what really happened:

I had too much to drink.

goodbye to what little filter I had on my tongue,

hello to every single thought that came to mind,
now blabbed out loud.

I remember most of it though, 

what I intended for humor was instead delivered with malice and hatred.

and then obviously, not received well at all.

My tongue.

I think I've always gotten in trouble with my words.

I'm sure half of you reading this have felt the sting of my words before.

I can be sarcastic, blunt, mean.

Usually out of humor.

But my words can cut you like a knife.
I'm Lucy van Pelt.

Most of the time inadvertently.

Most of the time out of self defense.

(don't you dare make me feel vulnerable)

And this weekend, all of that manifested itself.

What I had hoped to be a weekend of deeper friendships, yadayada,

God instead opened my eyes to what was holding that back:

MEEEEEE.

ok, it's not entirely about me.

but it IS about where my heart is.

Sometimes you put good friendships on the back burner,

you make less of an effort because it's doing "good."
and by you, i really mean me.

I do this ALL the time with God.

I trudge through mud and rough times,

journal, pray, vent, have an epiphany,
God teaches me something amazing,
and it's "good."

and then I kinda forget that vulnerability, 

I forget about that grace.

And that's the thing.

I can't try to be "holier" and such to better friendships,
friendships are hard and they're not pretty and perfect.
but He can use embarrassing, drunken moments
to reveal aspects in your character that need a good tweaking.

So PRAISE GOD
for such a revealing weekend,
for His wisdom in letting us fall sometimes,
for room to grow,
and ultimately for His mercy and grace.

ah, we're so undeserving.

---

"For the mountains may move
and the hills disappear,
but even then my faithful love for you will remain.
My covenant of blessing will never be broken,"
says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
Isaiah 54:10

SHE SAID YES.

turned the page suddenly into a new chapter in my life.

engagements...

no, not me. haha.

but with friends/family hitting these big milestones, 

i feel like i'm definitely diving into these things with them too.

*INCLUDE ME*

my friend @bchanglezz just proposed last weekend.

(!!!!)

i always thought the girls did the bulk of the work.

wedding planning, dreaming, executing..

i mean, just look at pinterest.

i don't see many dudes updating their hair/makeup boards.

but being involved in the whole planning process has given me such an insight into all that's involved.

for one thing...keeping secrets SUCKS.

planning a smooth, successful SURPRISE is really hard.

it's just all around..kind of, really stressful too. 

arts and crafts and program folding have NOTHING on this stuff.

this made me appreciate the dudes so much more.

i'm glad all i had to do was paint a few signs and snap some photos.

well done and bravo to those brave souls who have fixed up a whole proposal. seriously.

anyway, a few snaps:

 

so cute. so happy.

#kchanglezz

what an honor! thanks for letting me be involved in this guys.