Friend Spotlight: The Soul Sister

Meet My Dear Friend Whitney....

She is my soul sister.  

I truly admire her.  

We spend hours talking about God and challenging each other in our walks with the Lord.  One thing I really appreciate about her; she gives it to me straight, no sugar coating anything. 

Bible Study Ladies.

Whitney and I met in bible study, her and a couple other girls joined my study at the beginning of our second year.  It is always interesting when women bible studies merge, you have already built relationships and you aren't really looking for anymore.  Well, at least that is how it was for me. As always, God had other plans.  It wasn't until our Junior year that we started to really connect.

We spent time getting to know each other through Campus Crusade retreats and events, bible study gatherings, and somehow started meeting up one on one for coffee dates. That tradition has carried out these past few years.

Our relationship grew and we became very close. I was extremely blessed to be a part of a very special occasion back in the summer of 2009 when Whitney married the love of her life...

...it was a fabulous party!

I was a little nervous when she got married, that it was going to change our relationship. It did, but it only got better! It has been encouraging to see her walk through her marriage and her relationship with her husband. To watch her lovingly serve her husband and to see them pursue God together.

It has been so wonderful to have this lady in my life. She has showed me nothing but love, encouragement and support and I am so thankful for it all!

I got to spend the afternoon with her today. We spent time catching up while laying on the beach sipping sweet tea and iced coffee...ahhhh pure bliss.  When I got home, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm moving away in a few weeks!  What will I ever do without seeing her every Thursday night at Bible Study, or having our coffee dates, or hopping in my car and being at her home in only a few minutes? What am I going to do without my soul sister?!

God's got a plan for our relationship and I'm excited to see how it will grow in the coming months and years! 

I have no doubt God put you in my life for a reason.

Whit, I treasure you.

Tea Time!

The little girl in me is just dying for a tea party!

Maybe it's due to the fact that I live with a bunch of tea drinkers.

Or maybe its all the Jane Austen I've been reading, yes that must be it.

I would invite all my dear friends, we would sit outside and enjoy some girl talk under a perfectly blue sky.

I would choose only the prettiest flowers to place on the table.

We would sip tea and eat scones and jam.

There will be a table full of scrumptious goodies.

Complete with the most delicious Funfetti Cake ever tasted.

And bunting, there will definitely be bunting! 

Oh, how a tea party would be just plain lovely.

Thank You

Thank you Lord for...

My wonderful family.

My wonderful roommates.

Providing me with TWO roofs over my head.

My dear, dear friends.

The ability to run.

Letting this be my last quarter at Cal Poly.

Getting heartwarming and encouraging letters in the mail from close friends.

The opportunity to Intern with Campus Crusade and do ministry full time.

Placing unexpected people into my life.

Coffee.

The birds chirping outside my window.

Always getting me through situations that I feel are hopeless.

My 5th year Bible Study.

The beautiful flowers outside my front door to greet those coming and going.

My supportive parents.

Your patience with me.

Knowing what is best for me, when I don't.

Having a better plan for my life than I will ever have for myself.

Sending your only son to die on the cross for us sinner's.

Conquering death and giving me new life.

Answered prayers.

Allowing me to be your adopted daughter and loving me beyond anything I can comprehend.

Drum Roll Please....

I am excited to announce that I will be interning with Campus Crusade at......drum roll please........

UC Irvine!

and I cannot be more excited!

For a few weeks now, I felt as if God was preparing my heart to be somewhere else. I spent time praying about it, praying that God would put me exactly where He wanted me to be and that I would be ok with it. I am certain He has done just that. I found out this past Friday that I was placed at Irvine and God has been assuring me every day since then that this is where He wants me, I have full confidence in him. 

Training was draining. Ha, that rhymes. Anyway, I came home from my weekend physically and emotionally exhausted.  But, God has also filled my heart with joy, a joy that I know has come from Him. I am so excited for what He has in store for me this year and I cannot wait until I can report to campus in September. I can't wait to meet the students that I have been praying for for so long now. And I'm excited that I get to begin assembling my team of ministry partners, nervous and scared, but very much excited. Oh yes, and as of today, I have my very first supporter!!!

I'm bummed that I didn't get any pictures from this past weekend, but I did manage to get one of all of the Cal Poly students who will be interning and stinting this next year.

I also got to grab lunch on Sunday with my sister, brother in law and this adorable baby girl...

While I was away at training, I was also thrilled to hear that my Senior Project was absolutely wonderful. What a huge answer to prayer and what a huge blessing. God was so faithful and I had no reason to doubt Him, though I did.  I was in contact with the girls on my team all of Friday and Saturday while our project was going on. The girls did such a wonderful job, everything went incredibly smooth and the feedback they were getting was encouraging to hear. I can't wait to see pictures of how our displays looked.

The day before I left we were able to take a few quick group photos for our project.

Taken in the Cal Poly Leaning Pine Arboretum.

Carrie & I

Beth & Dani

Enjoying the New Zealand Flax.

More Flax. 

I'm hoping that this week will allow for me to relax and let the reality of everything that has happened in the past couple weeks sink in. 

I'm so grateful that my God is faithful in all that He does!

The One Where I Should Be Working on Senior Project...

I can't even begin to tell you how I-N-S-A-N-E life is right now. I don't even know what end is up and I have been on an emotion roller coaster for quite some time now. The week has finally come for my Senior Project to be done and let me tell you I'm so excited to have this behind me.  

I'm am lucky enough to be doing my senior project with three other wonderful women! We are planning the Open House display for our department. Open House is  BIG deal for Cal Poly, a time for the university to show off to prospective and accepted students, family, and the community how great they think they are.  My group and I have been planning the showcase for our department since last september, and THIS Saturday is the big day.  I won't get into the nitty gritty details about everything we have had to deal with, but let me just say, the Horticulture and Crop Science Department has N-O-T been easy to work with!

All craziness aside, I would love to introduce you to the greatest team that has ever come together. I could not be more thankful for these ladies, it has been so wonderful to see how our paths have lead us to get to know each other and work together as our college careers come to an end. It has been so wonderful working with them, they are what have kept me going this past year!

Meet Beth-The silly, giggly, creative one....

Meet Carrie-The sweet, soft spoken, encouraging one.

Meet Dani-The expert business woman.

Oh, then there is me-the one who has most likely cried the most. No, but seriously, it's true.

We thought event planning and paper writing would be the "easy way out" rather than doing some sort of research type experiment for our senior project. We were W-R-O-N-G to say the least, this has in no way been an easy experience. I think it is safe to say, we have each learned a lot.

One of the things I am learning is how much I actually lack in trusting the Lord. He  has put me in a place where trusting Him to provide is the only option....The day of our event, I actually won't be able to be there. I'm going to miss everything, everything we have been working so hard on for the past 7 months.

Not that long ago I found out that I was accepted to intern with Campus Crusade for Christ for this coming school year and learned that my training for this internship is the same weekend as Open House. I couldn't believe it. I still don't. I probably will never understand why God allowed  this to happen, but I

H-A-V-E to trust Him, that He knows what He is doing. I have no other option. Having to choose between being at my senior project and going to training was kind of a no brainer, I knew I had to go. But actually making the choice and telling my group and my advisor was gut wrenching. This is when the tears started coming freely. I have been struggling with this for a couple months now, and the closer we get to the event the more my heart breaks.

Tonight we stayed late on campus working on some floral designing for the showcase. Here is a little sneak peak...

Our awesome friend Lexi came out to help us...THANK YOU!

If you want to see the rest, you should come to Cal Poly's Open House this weekend and stop by the Ag Pavilion, I'm just saying. I have a pretty good idea that our department will have the best display there!

I know that God is in control of all of this,  He has a plan. There is a reason why I had to make a choice to be at training and not Open House. Everything will work out, God isn't going to leave me hanging out to dry. God, I trust you.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

-1 Peter 5:7

Staycation

This weekend I got to have a little staycation and it was lovely. My dear friend Stephanie came to visit, and it was so wonderful to have her here. These past couple weeks have been crazy, and this coming week is going to prove itself to be even more insane.  She couldn't have come at a better time, a time when I undoubtedly needed her the most. Here is some of what our weekend entailed...

• Steph came into town Thursday night, but had to spend the majority of Friday on her own while I went to work and spent time in meetings for my senior project. She is pretty much a champ.
• We enjoyed a wonderful and cozy Friday night in watching The Jane Austen Book Club...sigh.
• Spent Saturday morning in Cambria sipping tea and eating scones at the most adorable, quaint, and beautifully tacky English tea house. All in celebration of my roommates Stephanie's 22nd birthday.

• There was also some antiquing while in Cambria.

• Showing Steph the flower shop where I work and the Cal Poly horticulture unit I spend so much of my time.
• There may have been some mason jar crafting...Steph wanted to make some mason jar lanterns to hang from her balcony, so we got busy.

• We ate at Panera, it was my first time and it was very delicious indeed.

There was laughing, chatting, napping, eating, I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my weekend!

Love you Steph, thank you for coming and spending the weekend with me and thank you for bearing with me while my life is in utter chaos. 

You're the best!

Flower Inspired

Look what I got my hands on yesterday.

 I bought these beauties from work. When my eyes met these gorgeous blooms I knew that I had to have them. So I moved them to the back of our sales area where customers can't get to them. I know I'm so bad, but I couldn't help myself!

Yesterday it was gorgeous outside, I was eating up the 80 degree weather.  As I was sitting outside soaking up the sun I was dreaming up all the possibilities I could have with my new plants. I'm not sure if it was the warm weather or the pretty flowers staring at me (probably a mix of both) but I got inspired. I thought of a wonderful summer project for myself.  

At my parents house there is a small garden that is overgrown and hasn't been tended to as of late (sorry mom, it's true). Well, I'm going to give it a little makeover! I don't, and probably won't, have my own garden for a very long time, so this will be perfect!  Recently I have acquired a few types of plants that will hopefully find their home in this little garden soon. I'm thinking a little country garden would be perfect. 

Though I can't wait to get home and dig in, I shouldn't get ahead of myself, I still have 8 weeks left of classes. I am so excited though, summer will be here before we know it!