{malawi pictures}

to start off my african adventure/journey-ish i went on a two week mission trip to with a few members of my church- a 17 year-old, high school student, a 24 year old student/secretary, and a 28 year old family business partner. 3 out of the four of us had been on this same trip twice before and we love going and doing. we are sort of the pioneers of starting this organization in malawi a few trips ago by coming alongside The People's Foundation of Africa bought an old farmhouse with a bunch of other small farming utilities, and two years ago a scrawny group of teens and young adults came together to help assist schools and teach small business classes and help furnish an old farm house to turn it into an inn with a plot of land for men and women to help create a sustainable income by farming food for their family and selling the leftovers, go EMPOWERMENT! with out further ado...

                                                                    MALAWI 2013:

sustainability 

not ilegal substance- MUSHROOMS!

the inn

this is africa 

A F R I C A P A R T Y- in african time

So haven't been in the blogosphere in a while. this post is mega belated. in one of of my last posts i chronicled how i was fleeing the country to intern/volunteer at a children's home in south africa, for three and a half months, but my besties (who are seriously the best friends a girl could EVER have) threw me a W I L D (get it, africa party, wild, haha) surprise party since they thought they would never see me again, with lots of lies and deceit in the weeks and days prior. I pretty much HATE surprises in any form unless you're surprising me with a latte then I'll like you a lot or having a lot of attention on me, it just not my thing or ever has been. 

timeline of the surprise partaaaayyyy (don't you just enjoy the excess a's and y's)

`about three weeks before the whole ordeal happened my one of my besties texted me to get the date off of work so we could have a girls hang night before i left, totes normal, girls night yessss please- lie #1 

`about a two-ish weeks before the party my mom attempted to sneak into my room at around midnight while i was sleeping but woke me up on the way out she told me i was grinding my teeth and i was so confused how she could hear me down the hallway (funny bad lie #2) but was trying to steal my phone so she could get my boss' number to get the party date off work

`a few days before the party a woman i babysit for her asked me babysit her kids on the day i was planning to hang with my friends (the party), i told her i couldn't and i had plans so she asks again but asks me again a few days later so i obligee but i have to late  at X time- lie #3 my mom set her up to do this so my friends could set up the house for the party

`one of my sweet friends helping to plan the whole sha-bang sort-of gave me (on accident) an idea on that there was a surprise of some sort being planned for me and I totally freaked out because a surprise party is pretty much my worst fear but then i sort-a shook it off

     the day of:

`i woke up with bazillion things to do and was about to go running my new trend at the time but my coworker called me at about 6:30 and BEGGED me to work for her and because i'm crazy i said yes and worked a short shift for her 

`i go back home to get changed and procrastinate a bit mean while my friends we driving through my neighborhood waiting to see my car gone to start setting up

`while i'm babysitting my dear friend starts spazz texting and calling me begging me to help her with "something" but not telling me what that something is and begs me to help her once i finish babysitting 

`i got to help he the second i finish babysitting, i race to her house to help her and i go to find out she needs help frosting cupcakes for a party she is going, i love this friend but i just wanted to go home and get cleaned up to hang with my friends and i thought i was going to hurt her in that moment she says he also needs to buy a ballon for the party she is going to and begged me to come with her so i suggested the place about 3 minutes from my house so to stall me she takes me to the sketchiest dollar tree across town, she buys the darn ballon and a jet outta there

`my other bestie who was planing the party intercepts me and meets me at starbucks to stall me more and we catch up on life and God's goodness to us

`i propt her to have our girls night at my house and we leave once we got the text form the party setters saying everything was set
`i meet her in my driveway and point out my friends car there take note on how odd that is to her, erinn "oh presh's cat broke down last week she didn't tell ya" 
`we get inside to my dark house and there my kitchen table is covered in sweets and my tall friend jumps out at me and shouts "SURPRISE" i didn't know who is was at first i was so shocked and i pretty much thought someone was trying to rob my house and lure me in with sweets
`then i after my blood pressure went down i looked around the room to see pretty much all my favorite people all in one place. im so darn blessed i tell ya. 

they did the most amazing job on the decor and bought most of at a local thrift shop and my mom helped get the most amazing food

cutest table

"taste of an african sunset" punch- so clever!!

my girls made me this cake!! #gotTalentyo

more on my african adventure in a bit

opportunities and africa.

so where do i begin. my little secret is out. all the prayers and petition to God the tears the begging to the God who made me and my story and every little detail of my life has a beautiful destiny for me, its far from "normal" or mainstream but i desire and thirst to serve and honor god and the souls he is jealous for, not for man. with that said God is sending me to Malwai for a misssion trip and then when the rest of my team leaves i'm staying and interning at a childrens home in South Africa(!!!!!!). I'll basically be a babysitter and tutor for God's favorites/ orphans and possibly get the opportunity to see them get forever families!! I feel like the least qualified person sometimes but thankfully I serve a God that simply qualifies the called. I really don't know what God has up his sleeve after these 3 months but its BIG, with a capital B. Talk about confirmation I've had everyone from my besties to my residents at my job with dementia talk about how this is God's plan and they don't see me coming back. Like what? I started this post weeks ago and never finished it but I leave tomorrow. If/When I get wifi I'll post pics and details of the boss party my besties threw me my first surprise party. it was kinda my worst fear but once the dance-y tunes got flowing all was well. ta-ta for now!! 

stream of consciousness

a stream of consciousness, brought to you by the brain of jackie servideo. 

hallelujah praise the lord on highhhh!! SPRING HAS SPRUNG IN UPSTATE NY!!!. 

no more of that!! 

natural vitamin d makes me giddy like a soccer mom likes her new minivan. 

i made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from here to send to my friend erinn, (for her birthday) who deserted me for a                            higher education. 

i made the first batch at 9'o clock and forgot to put oatmeal in. good job, jackie!! 

then i redid them and they were fantastic. i love a cake-y cookie. 

when i was at the post office sending them off, the clerk asked if there were any "flammables, explosives, illegal substances..." and i replied "nope just cookies!" he did not crack even the slightest smirk. 

my coworker got the cutest.cat.EVER. fits in the palm of your hand!! so soft and fluffy and cute.

  proof.

i hate to say it but it might even be cuter then my chubby boy. 

i can't decide. also the camera adds ten pounds. 

i wrote a kick a$& paper for my ethics class. five glorious pages about adoption, one of my favorite topics. i just know that God will use me someday in the hard, beautiful, god-glorifying process. 

i need to use my big girl camera more often. i need some subjects. 

this little chick make a great one. 

but my fave subjects ever are thousands of miles away. 

love her. love the smile. love red dirt. 

a man at my church sang the song below. if you're in the mood to cry. listen. 

happy monday!

(i secret love monday's, love a good fresh start.) 

Quote of the day?!??

yo. Have not blogged in a while. boo. But I found a quote I thought i'd share!

Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it. -erwin lutzer

Thankful.

Thankfulness. 
I'm thankful for sooooo many peeps in my life. Like smile when someone says their name I love and adore them soooo much. 
So I'm Embracing the Camera with them as I describe how amazing they are below! :))

 My Girl Presh!

She had been a huge encourager to me lately with my latest endeaver ;) She can also give me the spritual smackdown like nobody's bizzzz. I LOVE her for that. AND she's a prayer warrior. And she has sweettt hair. And were embracing the camera in Africa together just a few months ago!!?

My girls!!

I seriously feel indebted them. I love each of their unique hearts and how they individualy serve the Lord. Korie with her heart for inner city kids and using her experiences to help others, Kristen and her voice and joy, and Erinn with her incredible writing skillz and heart that is always in tuned to what the spirit is saying. I love all of them soooo much. With all of us being apart it barely feels like it with constant communication! <3 <3
Embrace The Camera