needless to say...

it is exactly one week from today (well, technically yesterday now--this always happens,) that i will be on my way to the philippines.

- for the fourth, we had the whole foster-fam over to our house for burgers, croquet, and homemade ice cream. we took a trip to watch a fireworks show, went back to gramma & grampa's to shoot off some ourselves, and then the bros & i rounded out the day with a necessary viewing of sandlot.

- yesterday, i got to hang out with mom all day running errands for my trip, and she gifted me a new skirt i can wear over there. then i got to hang out as the fab-five last night to eat at a new restaurant and see lone ranger.

- tonight, my friends threw me a surprise going-away party (with letters for my trip, a devotional, lent skirts, and a metaphorical plant to boot.) ;)

and when i got home, my room was significantly picked up--thanks to mom.

needless to say, i am beyond blessed.

ridiculously blessed.

overwhelmingly blessed.

i was overwhelmingly overwhelmed...just with everything i still have left to do before i leave in six-days time, (i'll spare you the list,) and just with the trip in itself.

but coming home tonight...i just felt so overwhelmingly blessed. goodness.

my friends are talented.

(you can find the background on this post here and here.)
today's post is dedicated to my cousin ("and not to mention my best friend")...
- lauren ashley tredoux.

a photo i took of lauren, fall of 2011. (see more here.)

this girl.
she has creativity oozing out of her.
she is so-incredibly artistic.
from sketches, to paintings, to photography, to poetry.
she's got a gift.
i have told her so many countless times that she needs to publish her poetry one day...and that if she doesn't, i will for her.
cause she's just ridiculous.
the diction she uses is impeccable--like perfect. (according to my preferences.)
her ideas are so raw...not only can you feel her experiences with her, but it's like you are experiencing them yourself.
her expression is expressive in itself.
the essence of transparency.

here is one of my favorite poems of her's, preceding a few of my favorite photographs she's taken...

Sungod.
the sun it aches me
pulls me into sea
weed of flowers far beyond my
reach of recovering illusive hopes that led
to my disease.
pull me out
and see my bones cry out
I am no longer daughter
I am dried out.
Hear me Father, let my cup
runneth over.
Hold me tighter
bind my pieces of dust off the floor.
I am not above this.
Crippling cancer weaves itself into
my thorns, choking berries of life
that juice my core.
the sun it aches me to what was once
before (I hear it calling).
the sun it aches
my wounds into healing (I hear it calling).
Holy heat bursts me from my cold; holy heat
bursts every blood cell into worship
thawed.
I am on fire,
they cannot see my wounds burdered
with love.
Father be my breath that motivates these lungs.
Drink me water when I cannot drink myself.
Pour me over with wine that I may be restored.
Feed me your hands, your heart, your thorns
Your sun breaks through my aching parts,
“Don’t be afraid of light, my rays bring you life”

i just love her poems.
i can read them over & over & over again and get something new-and different-and inspiring-and enthralling from each one every single time.
i am immensely envious of her God-given talent.

to pour her very soul into words so descriptive and precisely placed that they can make me laugh-and cry-and cringe-and smile...that is no doubt a gift.

her tumblr has many more poetic gems; check it out.

(she also went to europe last fall, and pretty much all of her photos there were amazing...so instead of weeding through the hundreds of those, i stuck with these beauts.)

-and no, this is not an april fools joke. (hahaha.)

days 13-20.

life just got crazy, folks.
this past week was a total blur.

from plannin & puttin on my best friend-becky's bridal shower.
to goin to my cousin-shay's high school musical.
to getting ready for mission church's official launch next sunday!!
to tryin to make it in time to hear my cousin-quincy's AMAZING mash-up her and her friend arranged and performed.
to attempting to keep up with my schoolwork.
to getting contacted about the philippines trip...

as you all know, i have been praying about this trip for over a year now...that the Lord would really place it on my heart, if i was supposed to go...that the Lord would not allow me to get accepted, if i wasn't supposed to go...that the Lord would provide for me to get me there.
i have contacted all members of my family (and a few close friends) to inform them as to what's going on, and to invite them to pray along with me.

last monday, i received a card from a sweet girl i went to high school with...
we were basically friendly acquaintances in high school, who were both involved in FCA so were aware of the other's belief in God.
we ran into each other last summer after haven't seeing one another for five years, taking each other's prayer requests, and then went our separate ways.
in january, she e-mailed me checking in on my prayer request. which was so amazing & powerful in itself...to know she had been praying that whole time. (and i got quite emotional over it.)
since then, we had continued to keep in touch.
when i mentioned this philippines opportunity to her, she wanted to know more...so i sent her the letter i had sent my family.

and then last monday, her card was encouraging me about this trip--how she had been praying for me, how God was going to use me. and she enclosed a check.
i just thought that was amazing.
she has totally been like Jesus to me these past few months.

steffi-

thank you so much. this all has meant way more than you know; i totally see Jesus in you.

i only hope one day i can bless you as you have blessed me.

when i checked my e-mail tuesday, i had received an e-mail on monday informing me that i had been ACCEPTED for the three-week trip!! (concluding with one of my favorite verses, Ephesians 3:20-21, to really encourage me.)

as i called mom & dad...and texted the rest of my family and friends, everyone was so excited for me.
when i called my grandparents, my grampa told me that he had woke up on monday thinking of & praying for me and this trip...sensing i would get word any day now. (and i did that very day. so crazy.)

i love seeing God in every-day scenes and events...and feeling His presence so overwhelmingly is more than i could ask for.
i have been exceedingly blessed by all the amazing people He has placed in my life.

"caring for each other."

my friend-lauren is a great-great girl, friend, daughter, role model, 

Christ-follower, human being. (i will save her full my-friends-are-talented story for another day--cause it's a long one, but...)

she shared this video of a family she's worked with for a couple years now, (who go to the church we grew up in,) by helping care for lindsay, spending time with her, going to camp with her, etc.

i have always loved all the stories and photos she has shared about lindsay...and it really warms my heart to have seen her grow through it all.

this video is SO touching and SO precious and will SO make you cry...

so get ready.

(i will just let it speak for itself...but what a Godly and incredibly special family.)

i hope it inspires you...

what's for dinner?!?...to drink.

as i was saying in this post...for the girls' Christmas presents, i had this idea to write a recipe down on a cute recipe card and put it in a ball jar with a vintage apron!! :)
i got this recipe from my cousin, quincy. she made it the night Mission Church went out caroling, and it was ridiculously good.

CROCK POT HOT CHOCOLATE!!
(preferably use a 3-qt. pot; serves about 8.)

the recipe calls for:
- 1/2 c dry baking cocoa
- 12 oz condensed milk (can)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 7 1/2 c water

directions:
- in crock-pot, combine milk and water.
- add dry cocoa and salt, stir until smooth.
- cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or low for 4 hours, or until very hot.
- top each serving with marshmallows, if desired, and enjoy!!

mmm--l.o.v.e it.

(ps-i made these cookies yesterday...and all 50 were gone that day...with only five people eating them. record.)

thrifty thursday.

for the girls' Christmas gifts this year, i had this cute idea that i'd write a recipe down (recipe coming soon) on a cute recipe card and put it in a ball jar with a vintage apron!! :) i was so excited about it.
i looove aprons; i guess you could say i collect them. i have 23. ha.

an olathe antique mall that we frequent never lets us down. we've found a lot of "goodies" there...including several aprons.
obviously, i couldn't resist buying a few for myself.

i first walked in and saw this adorable apron with red polka-dots and rick-rack along the edges.
i love how it looks worn in the middle, like a lot of use has gone into it; a lot of history in this one.

then i saw this beaut. i already have a lot of predominantly red and white aprons...but nothing like this. checkered, rick-racked, annnd cross-stitched.
this one would just look so great hung up in a kitchen even!!

and then i came across this darrrling apron.
oh my gosh, i'm in love. i'm such a sucker for sheer aprons. with blue and yellow detailing.

all under 10 bucks each!!

tell me about your thrifty finds!!
other thrifty thursdays found here and here.

THANKSGIVING WEEK's what's for dinner #1.

this week i'm going to do four separate WFDs!!
and maybe it could even be a help for those folks who might not know what to make.
over here in the foster-mullies family, we've grown up on southern-homecookin. aka: comfort foods. so thanksgiving/Christmas dinners are basically the types of meals we eat year-round anyway. ha.

today's is literally my favorite dish ever. (and one of the only things i will eat left-over.) my aunt joyce makes these every-blessed thanksgiving and Christmas, and so this past friday i wanted to share the wealth at our very first friendsgiving peace feast.
at this stage in our lives, our friends are realizing it's a lot harder to get together; everyone's getting legitimate jobs and getting married, so our schedules aren't exactly the same anymore. so events like these are starting to become more scarce, but much more significant because they are so intentional.
my great friend-becky held the event at her house, where we each brought a dish and the girls dressed up as native americans while the boys were pilgrims.

it was super fun and delicious...and interesting sharing all the different dishes that folks are traditionally used to.

I GIVE YOUUU...DUMPLINS!!
(i made about 20 servings-worth. disclaimer: this recipe is basically a three-hour process.)

the recipe calls for:
- *pressure cooker.
- 2-3 chicken breasts. (i used three.)
- 2 bags Reaume egg noodles.
- 4-5 cans of chicken broth. (i used five.)
- 3/4 tsp chicken bouillon.
- 1/4-1/2 tsp poultry seasoning. (i only like using 1/4.)

directions:
- pressure-cook the chicken breast. (don't fill up the pressure cooker too full with water; you're going to use the broth later on. filling it up so it stands just above the chicken should do.)
- remove chicken from pressure cooker and let cool.

- leave the chicken broth in the pot, and add 2-3 cans of chicken broth, and bring to boil.

- once boiling, add 2 bags of noodles.
- broth will stop boiling when added; bring back to a boil, and then turn down to medium heat.
- here's when i shredded the chicken. (you can do so anytime throughout though.)

- stir often (more of a folding motion rather than mixing), and add more chicken broth as needed. (when they start to have fully absorbed the liquid. you don't want the noodles to be sticky or soupy.)

- add chicken bouillon and poultry seasoning; continue to stir.
- check often until noodles are tender.
- do not add salt. (pepper's optional. however, i'm practically allergic.)
- *when eating as a leftover, (cause like i said...one of the only foods i'll eat as one,) you might need to add more chicken broth or bouillon dissolved in water, in case they've hardened up a little.

*stay tuned this week, yall, for the four dishes-in four days WFD. :)

my friends are talented.

this might be my favorite segment.

it's just so true.

and warms my heart so much.

(you can find the background on it here.)

today's post is dedicated to my dear-dear friend, stefanie morgan.

stef and i grew up together at college church of the nazarene.

we've spent looootsss and looootsss of time together, from caravans to wigby, to His kids choir, to holiday parties, to retreats, to church camps, to mission trips...and not to mention nearly every sunday.

then come second semester, freshman year of high school, she went back to her roots and joined me at blue valley.

this was definitely a blessing. (for many reasons.) most everyone at church went to the same three schools...or at least had one other person. i had had no one for almost ten years, and i always yearned for that affirmation and accountability. just to be able to make eye-contact with a person, knowing you share a deeper bond and more-significant meaning for life than those many searching-high school kids. (not that we had it all figured out as adolescents, but you catch my drift, right??)

stef and i both did choir throughout high school, and were privileged to be in its traveling show choir, chambers. we went all over the kc metro area, LA, and NYC. (stef also got to go to orlando because she made it the year before me. but i'm getting ahead of myself; i'll show you how amazing she is in a minute here.) stef almost always got the solos in our kids' choir, she was on the praise & worship team in junior/senior high, she almost always got the lead in our high school musicals, she almost always got the solos in our choir/chambers numbers, and she always did ridiculously well at competitions...we always knew we could count on her to get a 1.

since the age of ten, stef had incessantly impressed me with her musical ability, (she's an amazing pianist, as well,) but i don't think it was until our spring show, senior year of high school had i heard her sing and play a song she had written. the song was "love won't."...which i'm pretty sure is still, to this day, my favorite. (i know you'll think that is funny, stef. but it's true!!)

she not only has the raw musical talent and ability, but she has the passion, and emotion, and ability to relate that song writers long for and need.

stef recently wrote this song and performed it at the uptown arts bar for "MBird's writer's showcase". (sadly, i could not attend this time around...but i have had the privilege of attending similar performances.)

source.

you can listen & watch her in these videos too!! (courtesy of: kathleen dunn.)

Black and White. (circa 2008.)

Rainy Days. (circa 2008.)

she also has her own etsy account: unlock the creativity. check it out!! (i tollld you...talented.)

God has blessed me with stef's friendship and her ability to inspire and brighten up any-and many-of my days.

my friends are talented.

So. i'll let yall in on the know...

the people i know are really talented.
like really.
friends and family.
it's ridiculous really.
musicians, writers, athletes, artists, actors, photographers, chefs, designers, models, caregivers, comedians, theologians, philosophers, geniuses.
i love it. they truly inspire me.
i love how many different and unique gifts God allows people to have...and how differently each individual chooses to use them for His glory. it's just amazing to me the daily run-in with such the variety.

i'm not quite sure how to embed this, (so if somebody knows, hit me up,) but this is ross wooten's video of kelly & jordan-her man, singin their pretty-little hearts out on a song that jordan wrote. i lived with kelly for two years in college in a suite of six girls altogether; yes, living with five other girls can get a little crazy at times...but you get to know those people better than you ever could otherwise. you emote on such a deeper level. and you learn so much.
i loved those four years. i got to live with some of my very-best friends, and i wouldn't trade that time for the world. :) now we are at that stage in our lives where everyone is getting married, (and literally everyone is getting married,) so we won't ever live together again, but i am so thankful for that quality time and all those little moments--and i am so incredibly blessed to have them all in my life. they have helped mold me into the person i am today.
there is no doubt God knew what He was doin that day my cousin-lauren and i "randomly" got placed in spindle 205.