Palm springs round 2!

HEADING TO PALM SPRINGS....this wknd with the fam. We're staying at the same rad house we stayed at last year (Here's last years POST) with a private pool and plenty of space for our now 3 little ones! BON VOYAGE!

who's that cute bebe!?

Blessed to call this little lady my niece. Love you Lenya Jean! 5months.

dland on the hottest day of the year.

 WELP. As brilliant college graduates we decided to venture to dland on the hottest. day. ever.
What made it worth it was the quality time I was able to spend with these radical humans. Kate and Brad are one of my favorite couples to hang out with because they are 100% FUN. love em.

Kamee is Kate's sister and I loved hanging out with her before she heads to hume this summer!

AND IT WAS ALL WORTH IT TO EAT MY FAVORITE SNACK - CREAM CHEESE FILLED PRETZEL YUMMMMMM.


I think summer has officially arrived. *although I feel as though i've been in a perpetual summer since spending 3 months in the the hot african heat!

MOTHERS DAY.

Tonight as my cousins and I were preparing the "mother day dinner" we hit a few road blocks. The feta cheese appetizer was a disaster, the corn needed to be cooked, the gnocci looked like creepy meatballs of some sort, I couldnt figure out how to cut a watermelon properly, and the meal came together haphazardly at the last minute - the reason i'm telling you all this is because tonight we all realized one very obvious truth - we need our mothers.

Moms are important people. Not only do they endure extreme amounts of pain to bring us into the world (I can say this for I witnessed my nieces birth) but they also help us with pretty much every step of life - from little to small. I know that as I get older, I am slowly beginning to realize all that my mother has done, and continues to do in my life. I thank the Lord for allowing me to be raised under her care, love, support, and wisdom. From little moments, to big moments, simple moments on the couch or in the kitched, to big moments at graduations and weddings - my mom has been through it all. Shes stood there with such understadning, such grace, such wisdom, such endurance, strenght, and beauty and I respect her deeply for that.

So, happy mothers day mom. Thank you for the way you have blessed us children and loved us unconditionally. And also, a special shout out to all those mothers in my life- aunties, sisters, grandmothers...and especially my few friends who are welcoming babies this year :) I am honored to learn from your love and motherhood.

Praise God for Mothers!

A ROADTRIP + WOO

I recently re-took the Strengthfinder test online. The last time I took this "test" was 5 years ago - freshman year of college. I figured I had done some changing since then so I gave it another try and was surprised to find that all my strengths were the same BUT ONE. WOO. Yes yes, this time around WOO was one of my top 5. I laughed at first...and then read the description...

...you love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. You derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person. 

And then I realized I have spent the past week straight with people, breaking the ice, making new friends, strengthening old ones, and connection to a crazy network of people I am blessed to be a part of. My life right now is a bit wild and all over the place - but I'm loving the time I get to spend connection to people, loving them fully, and embracing the "woo" in me.

 Last weekend I headed down to SD to begin the festivities for Nati and Marty's wedding. WOW! What a spectacular weekend with a collection of my best friends. Natty sue and I went down a few days earlier to soak up our last moments with just Nati - and we cannot deny the beauty of Sunset Cliffs!

 One of Nati's best friends and bridesmaid - Lauren - hosted all the girls at her house Friday before the wedding for one last bridal shower. These girls right here...are all so special to me! Anna, Emmy, Meg, Nati, me, Kate, Anneke, and Natty Sue!

 After a few days in SD we headed inland to Julian for the wedding gathering to truly begin. And what is a trip to Julien WITHOUT PIE!! It really lived up to the hype - especially the cinnamon ice cream!

 All the bridesmaids, as well as Nati's family, stayed at this old rustic house right on a tiny lake. It was amazing. I had this idea a year or so ago...that when Nati got married we would all drink rootbeer and toast to her "last day as a root" (her maiden name is Root!) So I made sure to bring enough IBC rootbeer for all to share and we toasted to the Root's!

 It was such an honor and blessing to be a part of Nati's wedding. I had already known Anneke, Natty Sue, and Nati's sister Elizabeth - but it was a joy to get to know her sister in law Sarah, as well as her two best friends from home: Lauren and Allie. Everyone looked stunning and all of us girls loved being with eachother to celebrate Nat!

 HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THEY!?

 So much joy!! Nati looked like a bohemian princess (so her style) and we were all so impressed with how nicely Marty man cleaned up!! 

 Now maybe the best part of this whole weekend was the night after the wedding - sleeping in a cabin with the NEST GIRLS!! Minus Nati of course, and Kate who was celebrating her bday with her husband which we accept. A night with the nesters was almost too good to be true. We are blessed with a truly incredible bond, something that can only come from Jesus! 

 The next morning we met up with Chris and Colt in town for some breakfast. ahhh...it was so good to be back with all of them. 

- so after all the wedding festivities, I had planned a road trip up north to see some friends. Colton and Natty sue ended up coming with me which worked out perfectly! 

 Our first stop was Walnut Creek to meet up with our two friends Micah and Grace. We ate the best cookie ice cream sandwiches, shopped around, took this pic on the anthro wall, and then ate CPK for dinner.

 After walnut creek we met up with our fav little nor cal babe Margaret! Thankfully Marg was kind enough to let Natty and I crash at her place (colt stayed at our friend Dave's house near by). Love this lady and was thankful to spend some much needed time w her!

 After Margarets house, I dropped Natty off at her sisters place (said goodbye and wished her a happy bday!) and then made my way up to Chico to visit the Hans!! YAY! I always have so much fun with them and they truly are blessed with the gift of hospitality! I love seeing the fruits of their obedience to God calling them to this town and the way they love showing people around.

 We stopped by the Creek Pool which was really awesome and another hidden gem of Chico, CA! Who knew!? Uncle Dai sup should really start giving tours of Chico because he does an incredible job hah!

 After Chico I headed North once again to my final stop - Redding CA to see Emi and Kumi! They are both up at Bethel for the ministry school and I was visiting for their graduation. Emi took me to the cutest coffee shop - Heritage - and we spend the morning catching up of Japan, Uganda, Jesus, school, growth, and life in general.

 Emi is more like a sister to me than anything. We've known each other since we were little kids and we've seen eachother through pretty much every season of life. We always joke that i'm the only friend that has seen every home Emi has lived in (which is true...considering all the traveling this girl has done!) so it was special to see her life in Redding!

-After a short time in Redding I headed back down south to SF to see my two high school homies - Alli and Asami! We ate a lot of really good food (priority in our lives haha) and stopped at a few cool parks and look out points in the city.

 Fraiche - really really good frozen yogurt. Like the real deal. These two made me love SF so much more!

 obligatory shot by those SF houses. 

 love this little fashionista! 

*so i'm sitting here after a week of non-stop people/driving/sleeping in weird places/eating good food/good conversation/quality time...etc and I am just so thankful for the people God has placed in my life and the love I get to share with all of them. My life is all over the map (literally) and I am still venturing around trying to seek more of God's will for my life and honestly - this is the best. I am learning to love the uncertainty and the spontaneity of life right now and I am so excited to see what is coming up next. Praise God...for every good and perfect gift is from above!