Wow! It has been way too long since I've blogged on here. I promise I'll be better. In the mean time, check out my blog post at Central's website (the church I work at).
http://www.centralaz.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/are-you-happy/
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Greatest Invention Eva!
It's Oprah's ultimate Favorite Thing and it's also mine! When Jake first asked me if I wanted one, I wasn't completely sure. I literally got it home and thought, do I really need this??? Now, I couldn't see myself without it. This seriously is a gift that keeps on giving. Luckily my family bought me lots of iTunes gift cards for my birthday so I can keep adding more apps, books, and music. Each time I buy or install a new app, I feel like I have a completely new toy.
I wake up, I'm on my my iPad. I'm at the salon, I'm on my iPad. I check my email. I take it to work meetings instead of a clunky laptop. I read my books and magazines. I've got my favorite music, can catch up on shows that I miss on TV, and watch movies on long plane rides. I use it when I preach. I just spent the entire day adding my favorite family and friends' recipes to an app called "Recipe Box". I could talk about it all day! If you get one, here are a few of my favorite apps:
ABC Player - so I can watch all the shows I missed on TV
Living Social - daily deals on local restaurants, salons, and shopping
Scrabble - such a great game!
Chipotle - I can order and just pick it up (this is great for meetings)
The Recipe Box - keeps all of my family recipes organized
Friendly - app for Facebook
iBooks - how I'm reading my favorite books, makes them portable so I'm not clunking a bunch of books when I travel
Springpad - my favorite way to organize all of my to-do lists, shopping, and travel packing lists
Pages- the reader I use when I write, preach, and do weddings
Zinio - an online magazine stand I can purchase any mags I wanna take with me on the go
Pulse News - where I keep up with all of my favorite blogs
ABC News - the news
Pandora/iPod - My favorite to play music while I'm getting ready every morning
The Moron Text - hilarious game!
Lindsay Project
Have I ever told you about my Youth Group?
I am so blessed to get to lead a group of High School students who are striving to find out life's purpose for them. We call it "Lindsay Project" because of where it all started - on Lindsay Road. If you ever wanna keep up with us, join our facebook page www.facebook.com/GilbertLP. Pics from camp are there!
I am so blessed to get to lead a group of High School students who are striving to find out life's purpose for them. We call it "Lindsay Project" because of where it all started - on Lindsay Road. If you ever wanna keep up with us, join our facebook page www.facebook.com/GilbertLP. Pics from camp are there!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Off to the Mountains
120 students, 26 adults, 12 vans, band, speaker, and a Glowfest Dance Party.
We're off to Pine Summit Camp in Prescott to hang with our High School students this weekend! I'm hoping some of them will meet God and leave with changed lives and life-long friendships. This has been the funnest experience planning a camp and I feel grateful to my counterpart Jared and all of our volunteer leaders who are giving up time and SLEEP to hang with our crazy teens this weekend. There's just no substitute for the camp experience and we try to do it BIG. I look back on times I went to camp as a student and find deeply treasured memories and friendships I value more than ever today.
Our theme this year is X. Like a math equation: 2+2 = X
Find the value of X.
We want the kids to understand that our lives (X) are unknown variables until we find our purpose in God. I think we're all gonna learn alot.
Let's also not forget that we're having a HUGE glow-in-the-dark neon dance party called Glowfest. We're bound to create some pretty fun memories.
Wish me luck! I'm bringing 2 cases of Red Bull for me and my leaders. haha
Pictures to come next week.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Books I'm Reading
In 2011, I wanna read more. I wanna turn off the boob-tube and actually enjoy some silence in my home. So, below is my start for books this year.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I rarely ever read for "fun". I mean, I love learning and growing through new concepts and ideas - like my boss says, "leaders are readers" - but I often neglect some creative reading and opt for the self-help, leadership, and ministry books. So, the beginning of this year with my fancy new iPad I bought "Eat, Pray, Love". I LOVE this book. Reading about Elizabeth Gilbert's search for God, inner peace, and true love is entertaining and humorous. I can at times get annoyed by how self-centered and inconsiderate her life choices seem to be, but she is real and I have really warmed up to her. What I love most about this book is how it has caused me to fall in love with my own heritage - being Italian. I have become obsessed with little factoids about Italy and phrases in Italian that just roll off the tongue. It takes me back to when I went with my Mom and friends to Florence and Rome. Can't wait to go back and Eat, Pray, Love.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I rarely ever read for "fun". I mean, I love learning and growing through new concepts and ideas - like my boss says, "leaders are readers" - but I often neglect some creative reading and opt for the self-help, leadership, and ministry books. So, the beginning of this year with my fancy new iPad I bought "Eat, Pray, Love". I LOVE this book. Reading about Elizabeth Gilbert's search for God, inner peace, and true love is entertaining and humorous. I can at times get annoyed by how self-centered and inconsiderate her life choices seem to be, but she is real and I have really warmed up to her. What I love most about this book is how it has caused me to fall in love with my own heritage - being Italian. I have become obsessed with little factoids about Italy and phrases in Italian that just roll off the tongue. It takes me back to when I went with my Mom and friends to Florence and Rome. Can't wait to go back and Eat, Pray, Love.
The One-Life Solution by Dr. Henry Cloud
Yep, I'm a girl with issues. Dr. Cloud helped me immensely when I went through my first round of counseling for sexual abuse back in 2001 and read his book "Boundaries". Since then, I've always valued the growing process of self evaluation. The One-Life Solution is basically about finding true balance in life - balancing work, relationships, and personal power. I wanna live for those things that I value most. A great quote from this book: "Your time is your life. Period. How you spend it ends up being what your life is." After reading this I spent an entire afternoon journaling about the things that mean most to me, making sure that all of my choices reflected those values.
Yep, I'm a girl with issues. Dr. Cloud helped me immensely when I went through my first round of counseling for sexual abuse back in 2001 and read his book "Boundaries". Since then, I've always valued the growing process of self evaluation. The One-Life Solution is basically about finding true balance in life - balancing work, relationships, and personal power. I wanna live for those things that I value most. A great quote from this book: "Your time is your life. Period. How you spend it ends up being what your life is." After reading this I spent an entire afternoon journaling about the things that mean most to me, making sure that all of my choices reflected those values.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friends Who Feel Like Home
So many of my teen years and my early 20's I spent worrying about whether people liked me. It was a long, painful struggle that I often felt tortured over - obsessing over whether I was "ok" with friends and loved by others. Ugh, approval addiction.
Now, into my adult life, I feel more at peace with myself. I don't know if it's that I love myself better or that I've learned to let things go. Yay for growing up and growing into my own skin!
Luckily, along with growing up, I have found a treasure in friends who make me feel like home. These are people in life whose hearts I've connected almost instantly with. They are people I've known for years, and they're also people I've met recently along life's path. They may live a million miles away, or just down the street. What all of these friends share in common, they are like family. Nothing stops. Nothing changes. They are like home every time I see them.
I'm blessed that I get to visit a couple of friends just like this tomorrow. Jake and I are off to Austin, Texas for the Memorial Weekend to see our sweet friends Jon and Cassandra Moton. Today I'm blogging to celebrate friends like them. Thank you sweet friends for loving me for me and for always making me feel like home.
Now, into my adult life, I feel more at peace with myself. I don't know if it's that I love myself better or that I've learned to let things go. Yay for growing up and growing into my own skin!
Luckily, along with growing up, I have found a treasure in friends who make me feel like home. These are people in life whose hearts I've connected almost instantly with. They are people I've known for years, and they're also people I've met recently along life's path. They may live a million miles away, or just down the street. What all of these friends share in common, they are like family. Nothing stops. Nothing changes. They are like home every time I see them.
I'm blessed that I get to visit a couple of friends just like this tomorrow. Jake and I are off to Austin, Texas for the Memorial Weekend to see our sweet friends Jon and Cassandra Moton. Today I'm blogging to celebrate friends like them. Thank you sweet friends for loving me for me and for always making me feel like home.
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