awesome of the week- free things.

I have one word for this week: awesome. Considering this is an "awesome of the week" post... it better be, right? And i labeled it so for things that are free, so i'll tie that in too! : ) Now that i've totally explained the duration of this post, i'll go ahead and start.

Anyway, this week was awesome for a few reasons. Tuesday Morning i got in my car and headed to the court. I was hopeful that a red light ticket, totaling $490, would somehow be reduced. I rocked a cute outfit, called him "sir", and smiled a lot. And well, i'm not ashamed of that, gots to work whatcha got! So, regardless of my sweater and charm, God had favor and the judge lowered my ticket! PRAISE BE! I'm thankful for that! Following that, i went to sit at Starbucks to finish some work and got an an awesome email. "You WON." You see, there was a conference i had been looking to attend, but considering i'm ngo, i got no money yo, and sadly couldn't go. (Catch that rhyme folks?) So, I entered a contest on a blog i follow and well folks, i won! Awesome right? Free things are awesome! I can now no longer say "i never win anything!" That was Tuesday. The conference was Wednesday... in Huntington Beach. Twist my arm. I'll rearrange my schedule.

Tuesday night rocked. Coffee with a dear sister from Colorado. Movie with some awesome friends.

Wednesday morning i headed down at an hour of the morning only holy for crazies, as to avoid traffic, and found myself sitting at the beach with my Bible and apple in hand, early for the conference. I'll leave the details of that out. Because well, when you're in love, sometimes you just gotta keep things secret! ; )

The conference was amazing. A more specific post on it to come on it later, but it was fantastic! I learned so much and was inspired to think big, God-sized thoughts simply sitting in a room of awesome thinkers! Yea. Cultivate Conference... if you're considering attending. Do it. You'll be thankful you did!

Wednesday night after the conference, i found myself wandering around Laguna Beach. It was awful. The scenery was horrible. The weather dreary. Yea, i wouldn't recommend it to anyone. So i headed to La Mirada to crash with a dear friend.

Laguna Beach. Just awful i tell you.

Thursday morning came. After shooting my GPS in the face, i made it to the conference. And it finished as strong as it started. My take away was this: design, create, think, plan, do awesome things as if God gave a damn. Excuse my language, but it's just so true! My afternoon consisted of an awesome fish taco. The beach. A book. A nap. And a much needed sunburn. AWESOME, i tell you! Space and quiet are good for the soul- especially at the beach! Both of which are free!

Awesome.

Friday finished my week out beautifully! Got to spend the day with a wonderful friend getting lost in an old antique store. I know... awesome, right? We didn't come away with any awesome purchases, though there were many worthy contenders, but the time spent was far more valuable. And again, awesomeness for free is what i talking about!

There we have it folks. Free is awesome. Like winning free tickets. (More like God blessing your socks off by giving good gifts just because he loves us!) Like quiet space to be with Jesus. (At no cost to us, just because Jesus welcomes us into his presence just to be near him!) And like free adventures. (Because time with awesome folks is really good for the soul!) And while i'm at it, i'll add new life to the list. Because Jesus came to give me life and life to the fullest and I could never make enough money, work hard enough, or love deep enough to even begin to think i could buy it!

Awesome of the week- free things.

awesome of the week- Easter

I love Easter. I love it for many reasons, some of them more legit than others.

I love holidays that gather families together. Thanksgiving. Christmas. 4th of July. Everyone comes together, we spend the day relaxing, eating and enjoying each other. I dig that. Mostly because my family is awesome... and second because i plan to fully use up the great gift God has given me of both time, closeness and a family who loves Him and each other really well.

Easter, however, is a little different. While we still get together to eat and enjoy each other.. there are a few added oddities. Dying eggs, looking for them, then grating them into egg salad. Tasty, but random. Eating chocolate bunnies or crosses. Also tasty and a little strange. Or blowing up those little marshmallow peeps in the microwave just to see how distorted they get. (do it. you'll laugh.) There is something greater than all of this during Easter, and i had a sweet taste of it this weekend.

Having come to know the Lord in high school and since watching my family come to know Him, one by one, the movement of God in my family in recent years is SO evident. My mom calls it a "banner of mercy" and i think i'll have to agree. It's pretty radical and nothing short of God's mighty hand! The transformation over the past 8 years or so has been kind of mind blowing. And well, rather AWESOME. He has transformed our lives, personally, and is remaking our family, daily. Which is also awesome. Easter weekend reminds me of two things, i was dead, WE ALL WERE DEAD, and Jesus gave me life! HE GAVE US ALL LIFE! And that changes everything!

Life before Jesus was dark. End of story. Fear. Doubt. Bondage to sin. Depression. Addiction. Weightiness of guilt. The new life he gave me is that of victory! It's light. It's forgiveness of sin! Co-heirship. It's oneness with the Lord and right standing before God. It's joy and peace! It's righteousness! By his death and resurrection he secured the defeat of death and transfered it to me! That is his offering of forgiveness and victory over sin! By grace he had mercy on me and snatched me from the pit. He set me appart. He called me, justified me, and is transforming me into glory- from one degree to another. THAT, is what i adore! Jesus makes things new! He makes them, he makes US, beautiful. Not in bandaging me up. Putting on patches and smoothing me over. But, He radically remakes me- reforming me into something beautiful. No words to explain how awesome that truly is! Not that i was good enough to deserve any of it. I couldn't do anything and i am deserving of nothing. But, in his kindness, he found favor and called me to himself. Do i need more reason to celebrate?

So this Easter, i celebrated with my family. We worshiped together with the Church in the morning. We got together and enjoyed a tasty meal. We sat in the living room, broke bread and took communion together as a family (15 strong) and remembered the prophecy that foretold of Jesus (Thanks Grandpa!). Awesome i tell you.

We celebrate Easter once a year. However this morning as i was reading my Bible i was reminded to fix, continually fix, my eyes on Jesus! Because he is my strength and strong tower throughout the day. But also because He is coming back! You see, this is the awesome thing, Jesus promised he would come back and make all things new. Oh, and his promises are true! Jesus is coming back, for the second time! I don't know the time, or day, or any of that jazz, but he is. And there is so much hope in that. He will restore all things. He will heal all that is broken once and for all. And take back what is rightfully his! For that i wait! Until then, i fix my eyes on him and what he is doing today!!

Maybe today Lord! Happy Easter friends!

awesome of the week- rainbow cake.

My niece turned the big ONE and her mom, cousin and i made her ONE awesome cake. Who wants a ONE layer cake when you can have SEVEN? And who wants ONE color when you have have SEVEN bright colors of awesomeness stacked nicely together? NoONE. So, after FIVE hours of rotating TWO pans, and FOURTEEN cakes later we THREE had ourselves the fixings for TWO, SEVEN layer rainbow cakes.

And it was AWESOME! Awesome. ONE batch of lemon buttermilk frosting and THOUSANDS of bright sprinkles... we had the best cake EVER. I mean ever. I don't think Sweet Tae even ate any, as she destroyed the free cake from Staters, however, we were overjoyed to cut the beauty! And well, all of her party guests were in awe!

That what i like to call a job well dONE! : )

Rainbow Cake Recipe from Martha Stewart herself.

However, we blew hers out of the water. Or out of the rainbow. (Like Skittles.)

awesome of the week- #275

I've followed an awesome blog for a a little over a year-- and it's well worth sharing! My friend Jugie (her given nickname) found it one day and showed it to me at work. I'm not exaggerating when i say we spent the rest of that working day reading it. It was awesome.

And well, when your title is "1000 Awesome Things"... it's best that you're awesome.

: )

So everyday there's a new, witty post on something the general public finds awesome. From your colon to when the DJ plays the song you requested... its on there folks. 1000+ strong. Add that to your "i already checked Facebook, no updates, and i'm bored" website list.

This entry was particularly awesome because it posted on the weekend, not typical, AND today's post is one of my favorite things too!!!

Awesome of the Week is given to 1000 Awesome Things and number #275, "Sundays".

(check out number #491 too. that was pretty awesome too!! )

awesome of the week- the international day of awesomeness.

Yup, that's right. March 10th, International Day of Awesomeness.

Though it unfortunately marks the birth of awesome's unfortunate legend, Chuck Norris... it is nonetheless a day to celebrate all this is awesome. Sweet! If you say so!

I don't think it's made it to the big league of holidays just yet, as in i had never heard of it before today. BUT, don't be fooled. It is worthy of all the awesomeness it was named after! And, by golly, we need more days that celebrate the little good things in life! Bring on the marginal holidays!

So, there you have it. A holiday to celebrate awesomeness. Next year... i'll be more prepared and start a movement. I'll change my profile picture (you will too if you really love Jesus). We can make a video that will become YouTube viral. I'll walk around barefoot and someone can make t-shirts (organic, v-necks of course). Chuck Norris has already signed an endorsement contract and has agreed to shave his beard.

Awesome-ness.

awesome of the week- Jesus.

Yes, my friends, yes he is! I spent the latter part of this week at Catalyst Conference, in Irvine, CA. I had the opportunity to visit on behalf of MountainChild and it was amazing. Apart from connecting with other like minded non-profits, i was deeply enCOURAGED. I have never been in an auditorium surrounded by thousands of Church leaders before. Folks who love Jesus and desire to follow him into the world to make Him known to others. It was powerful and really awesome.

The theme was Take Courage. Not a virtue i often, or possibly ever, have considered before. Trust? Yes. Faith? Yes. Courage? Negatory. It was long overdue-- and well perfectly timed.

This is how i visualize courage. I'm hiking. I'm hiking with Jesus. I'm hiking with Jesus and we come to a river. A big one. And well, we have to get across it. So, he goes ahead, he knows the way. (duh. He's Jesus.) He comes to fallen tree which lies across the of the river. It's well positioned and able to help us across. He knows better. He hops down. Across a few shaky bolders midst the rushing water and up onto the tree trunk. Easy. (Pshhh. He's Jesus) Deep down, my heart is beating fast. I'm trying to muster up a face of ease and two solid legs, however, my insides are fearful. One wrong step could have me barreling down the river. Smashing against rocks. Inhaling nasty water. Tumbling to obvious eminent death. (Actually- probably not, but it makes for a better story, right?) In reality, all I have to do is to take a few steps, and he's right there. And the water is moving- but hardly comparable to the rapids you, ahem, i have in my head. His hand is waiting to pull me up. All i have to do is just take that first step. In the midst of the fear- take a step. He'll grab my hand! (He's JESUS!) Go ahead. And, now. Now. OK, now.

Tis' courage, friends. Doing what needs to be done, in the face of fear. Not overcoming fear in a muster yourself up, superhero, chest pounding, pull up yer straps and swallow a bullet attempt of sorts. But rather, simply trusting that Jesus is who he says he is and will come through like he says he will!

Sometimes easier said than done, right? BUT... how much more attractive would we be to our watching world if we chose courage in our simple acts of life? Would people be more drawn to a God who calls us to risk and provides for us-- ABUNDANTLY, ALWAYS and PERFECTLY-- with a way to step forward and claim victory? I think so.

Lackluster life is not what Jesus calls us to-- he calls us to a full life! A full, abundant, awesome life! With that comes risk. Risk takes courage. And well... Jesus always comes through.

That my friends is awesome. And so is this video- so turn it up.

awesome of the week- desire to inspire.

Desire to Inspire. i love this blog. When i bookmarked it, i did so to a specific entry. "In Far off Zanzibar..."

And thankfully so. Every time i check this blog i am taken back to this initial entry and reminded of this awesome place and the beauty of this resort. Almost too awesome to believe. However, the more i research and really stumble upon awesome travel secrets the more awesomeness i find! There are some truly amazing places in this world... let me share a few of my favorites. Thus far...

Let's go to Africa for a moment... to the Kilindi Zanzibar. Awesome.

Really? Does this actually exist. Don't worry- i'll find out!

Umm. OK. If you insist.

Let's move a little north to the romance of a Tuscan B&B, Follonico.

It's just so beautiful

And the view. Seriously?

How about at the foot of Mt.Kilmanjaro. In a tent- with a veranda looking out at the African vista? The African Embassy.

I could sleep here.

Yea. I think so.

Ok. Enough of that. This world is big... and off to sleep i go. In my twin captains bed.

awesome!

awesome of the week- outdoor dining.

I LOVE eating outside. There really isn't anything else to add to that-- if given the option, and beautiful weather- outside please! Now, the only thing that could add to the joy would be some live music, an awesome view and a lovely friend.

An article came across Yahoo! today listing America's Most Romantic Restaurants.

My type of reading friends!

It listed some of the most amazing restaurants! Most of them offering an outdoor dining experience in some of the most beautiful places in America-- probably offering options that would empty ones bank account. So, while i'd undoubtedly fancy a dinner there i'm all about finding something similar local- just a little cheaper.

Here's what i found. EnJOY!

1. Rutabegorz- i'm bias as it's my favorite restaurant. However, i can confidently say you will not be disappointed. (Casual. Lunch. Old town eclectic. $)

2. Sundried Tomato Cafe - rockin' the 2011 OC Restaurant Week. Be sure to take advantage of their awesome discount. (Casual. Lunch/Dinner. Date. Beach people watching. $$)

3. 419 Veronese Cafe an organic conversation pieces in itself. This is the place for those, "Hey, lets get together!" type of outings. (Casual. Date. Art. $)

4. The Grill at Antler's Inn. California and Cajun? Umm.... ok. Up in a mountain lodge? This is a must. (Casual. Romantic. Seafood. $$-$$$)

For more awesome restaurants and a website to help you locate all the awesomeness. Check out UrbanSpoon.

awesome of the week.

What is [ awesome of the week. ] ?
Simple. It's something awesome. Of the week. Every week. Fear not though... there will be an easily accessible archive for those of you joining the party late. Frequent often. Or you'll miss the awesome.