NPS Centennial Coins!

Hey guess what else I just discovered, y'all! U.S. Mint and the National Park Service are teaming up this year for a few special, limited edition coins to celebrate the NPS Centennial.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

It has definitely been some time since I posted more regularly here, and even when I did, y'all have probably noticed I never got to finish the posts on some of the more lengthy series or projects. I hope that did not disappoint you all too much! I promise I will give a recount and update of all that's happened in the past semester, as it's been a hectic one.

In short though, I am now an official college graduate with a bachelor's degree! I've also visited more national parks and other places--crossing off four on my list! I will be posting more about these adventures in the upcoming weeks. This blog will also be getting a facelift sometime. Stay tuned! :)

Apple Tasting Part 1

Yesterday at the farmer's market, I realized I didn't know the difference with all the different types of apples that God created in this world. About all I know about apples are that they are often regarded as the 'forbidden fruit' in fiction (most likely due to The Fall in Genesis), my family loves Fuji apples and that Granny Smiths are used for cooking. So, I've decided to try all the types of apples I come across and take note of how they taste! I'll try to incorporate some history about the origins of each apple as well. 

From this shopping trip, I bought seven different types of apples. Sorry the main picture only has six of them; I miscounted (you'll find that I'm no math wiz) and completely forgot about the last apple. 

The apples from left to right: Cortland, Honey Crisp, Jona, Braeburn, Ginger Gold, and Fuji

And the forgotten apple: McIntosh.

I couldn't possibly eat all the apples in one sitting, so I'll be splitting the apples into pairs, according to their size similarity.

Round 1: Cortland vs. Braeburn

For the next round, I was hesitant on deciding which two to try together, since these four look so similar to each other. Perhaps they come from the same family of apples? Anyways, I ended up deciding to compare their heights and overall shape, which resulted in this pairing:

Round 2: Honey Crisp vs. McIntosh

Round 3: Jona vs. Fuji

Alaska Mission Trip 2015

Words alone cannot express how grateful I am for the amazing opportunity God blessed me with this year!

The Call

It started in January this year when I grazed through the church bulletin for the week's announcements. Next to a youth group gathering invitation, there was a list of three different mission trip information meetings. Greece, Alaska, and Honduras. All of the meetings were to occur in the upcoming week in various rooms. I thought each of them sounded pretty interesting, but there was something about the Alaska listing that made me so intrigued about the meeting that I couldn't get it off my mind. I thought it was a bit odd, because I never imagined myself ever going on a mission trip. After I still couldn't get it off my mind after a few days, I figured it wouldn't hurt to go to this mission trip meeting, just to get more information and calm my mind down.

But the meeting only made me even more interested in the Alaska Mission Trip. When I look back on it now, it really shouldn't have. All we did at the meeting was receive an informational flyer about the Alaska trip and the mission trip team leader asked if we had any questions about it. That was the meeting. It was nothing like I expected--no amazing videos or slideshows that laid out what the trip was about and what it would entail. But that's all the meeting needed--a flyer and someone to answer questions--because it is God who calls us to the mission field, and that starts by calling us to the meetings.

I didn't realize that until God showed to me again that He wanted me to be on this mission trip team.

The Choice

The possibility of going on a mission trip laid heavily on my heart for the next few weeks. While also focusing on getting my homework assignments done. preparing for tests, and work, I was also in the process of applying for an internship during this summer, which would coincidentally directly conflict with the mission trip. I wondered to myself: Why now? Why not now? What about the internship? Isn't this more important? Is it? And how could I possibly raise enough money to pay for the required fees? Is this opportunity really worth it?

Even though all of these questions, and more. were going through my mind, I managed to complete the application for the internship and submit it before the deadline. I was informed I would hear back about their decision within the next week. The week went by and I still hadn't received a response about the internship. During all of this, I still wondered about the mission trip and even got the application form to be on the team. Each day, I slowly filled out portions of the application form, hesitantly filling out each question and checking it twice to make sure my responses were accurate. I continued to pray, asking God to help lead me to the decision He would have me make.

 Eventually, I completed the mission trip application form and checked through it a few more times to make sure everything was filled out to the best of my knowledge. At this point, I was still hesitant about possibly going on a mission trip instead of an internship; I mean, both of them are incredible opportunities, but me? on a mission trip? really?

After a few more days, I decided I might as well submit my completed application form to the trip team leader. I didn't want to lose out on an opportunity of  His Almighty Plan and an incredible blessing. I figured that if God wanted me to go on this trip He would take care of everything else.
And that He did.

Less than 24 hours after submitting the application form on a February Tuesday night, I received an email on Wednesday morning from the internship company that I had not been selected for the summer internship program. I couldn't be happier about that email. I still thank God for allowing me to make the decision by myself on whether or not I would go on the mission trip before allowing my circumstances make the decision for me.

The Preparations

In the weeks following, my team and I began working on preparing for the mission trip. The majority of our preparations were mental and spiritual, rather than physical. We were expected to be praying, sometimes even fasting. and focusing on our relationship with Jesus Christ. During our bimonthly meetings, we recapped on all of our team's experience thus far. I'll never forget what our team leader told us at the first meeting: the moment you decide to follow God's call and go on a mission trip is the moment when the trip begins. As the trip grew closer, I realized the truth in that statement; all of the prayers, meetings, and outreach we were doing are all vital to the success of a mission trip.

The Trip!

The Reflection

This has been a heart-warming, eye-opening, trip of a lifetime that God has blessed me with, and I'm so thankful for that. Many of my team-members are already talking about going back next year! Every time they speak about going again next year though, I wish I could agree with them since I loved being in Alaska so much! But God has other plans for me, with graduation and graduate school coming up.
One thing is for sure: I am going back to Alaska one day. Not next year, but sometime in the distant future. I know this for a fact, deep down in my soul, past the gut and all that.
And cue song!

Cork Coasters

The idea of cork coasters came to me a few months back when I was trying to figure out another surprise end-of-semester gift for my sorority sisters. For last semester, I made cute hair bows with our Greek letters and corresponding symbol on it. This Spring semester, our recruitment theme was that we're all pieces of a larger puzzle and that with each of our pieces put together, we create the image of God's love for us. The first gift idea that I could possibly pull off were puzzle shaped cork coasters. I haven't made them yet--I know I should start planning for it since it's already almost Easter! But I also wanted to give something more to my mission trip supporters to say thanks and to remind them that Alaska and the trip needs our prayers. 

So I decided to make cork coasters with Alaska painted on it!  

They're by no means even close to being perfect, but they are definitely cute.

And they do their job.

Plus did you notice the heart I painted right on Anchorage? 

That's where our mission team will be working.

I'm so excited!

I found these SUPER adorable cards on CLEARANCE at Michael's! 

They fit perfectly with the coasters and work quite well as thank you cards.

These are all the materials you need to make a cork coaster:

-a cork roll  (they also have pre-cut cork at Hobby Lobby, but the roll is much more cost effective if you're making a lot of these)

-iron and ironing board

-ruler

-pencil

-scissors

-craft glue (decoupage worked for me)

-felt

-something flat and heavy

-paint and paintbrushes to decorate!

Making these coasters is pretty straight forward:

1. Iron the cork so that it flattens. (I separated the cork and the iron with parchment paper; you can do that as well or use an old piece of cloth if you want). This step is optional, but it does make the cork easier to work with and is the fastest way to flatten the cork. 

2. Use a pencil and ruler to draw out the size and shape of the coasters you want.

3. Cut your cork design out. Use this as a stencil to cut out the same shape in felt.

4. Paint and decorate the cork! Only work on one side so that you can glue felt onto the other.

5. Once the paint is dry, spread glue evenly onto the felt. Carefully place the backside of the cork on top of the felt.

6. Secure the felt into place by pressing down on the cork. Place your flat heavy objects on top of the coaster(s). Let the glue dry for a few hours.

7. Check that the cork and felt are glued together properly. Repeat steps 5 and 6 if not.

8. When the pieces are together and everything has dried, congrats! Your coaster is done!

:)