sweet bits journal- February

I like a clean perspective. Finding the good in e v e r y t h i n g. Seeing the mundane as beautiful. etc. I started a "Sweet Bits" journal listing/sentencing the sweet bits of the day. It was semi-inspired by this youtube channel.

here goes the sweet bits of FEBRUARY 2013:

`February 1- Babysat some cute kids, their parents told me I was their fave

`February 2- Went on a lunch date with Ma to Marrato's 

`February 3- Had a blogging date with myself at Starbuck's #thuglyfee

`February 4- Mom picked me up form school on time, that my friends is a miracle

`February 5- Sooo sick, but I got a school free day out if it. hollaaa

`February 6- Baked cookies!!

`February 7- Woke up on time #miracle and made a satisfying lunch    

`February 8- SNOW DAY!!! 

`February 9- Trader Joe's & craft date with Ma and found 125 rolled inside of a stuffed bear I got eons  

                    ago. CRAZY!!   

`February 10- Signed up for youth group getaway shindig! SOOO GLAD I DID!! :)

`February 11- I got to craft. Can I get a HALLELUJAH!?

`February 12- Found out I get out at 11:55 on Tuesdays!!!!! 

`February 13- Life groups was rocking tonight!!

`February 14- Went to my favorite restaurant, Peter Pause, with Ma today, and demolished he local 

                       candy store chocolate (turtles) she got me. 

`February 15- Started school vacation, pigged out on free dunkin' donuts

`February 16- Finally got to read (while babysitting) and got $30 for it!!

`February 17- Woke up at 8:30 and needed to be at church by 8:45, make it on time!!

`February 18- NO SCHOOL!! (all week:) Went to my other fave restaurant for curry and my fave fro-

                      yo place for desert with Ma and Lou 

`February 19- NO SCHOOL! Read a magazine with Ma on the couch (trying to make it a weekly 

                       thing) 

`February 20- NO SCHOOL! Needed lazy day.

`February 21- Worked my first day at a kids consignment store! 

`February 22- Ma took me to a new fave restaurant. Had taco salad =out of this world good and then 

                      sped to get to church on time for the getaway/retreat thing and the first night was 

                      AMAZING, such a Holy Spirt filled night!! 

`February 23- Another AMAZING day at the getaway. Sledding, deep convos, ice skating, good food, 

                     and lots of worship! 

`February 24- Soooo sad to leave the getaway but built such strong relationships with God and friends!!!

`February 25- Mom made dinner (miracle) and I had a semi free night (miracle)

`February 26- Work was FUN but long and there was good leftovers and takied for an hour an a half 

                       with my BFF, Presh! (just what I needed)

`February 27- 2 hour snow delay!!!!!! Made breakfast, ate it at home, life group was fab, and for Lou's 

                         last night home I found a ton of pic of our creppy uncle and tapped them all over her 

                         room! (dead form laughter) 

`February 28- Lou moved to NYC, made a delish salad at work and precisely spilled it all of the carpet 

                      on the way to clock out and my co-workeers (and me) laughed at me for about 5 minutes. 

^From the Getaway, Let's Play Find the white girl! 

*Also one of the only pics I took this month :( 

journal entry/ quote

I found a quote in my Bible during church yesterday...

                      

            "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe"

-Saint Augustine 

It must have been from a sermon and I wanted to be preppy and take notes during church. What? I thought is was pretty profound.

Then I scribbled below the quote, I'd say quite a few years ago...

"Your grace has found me just as I am" 

(from the song, "Majesty")

I'm so thankful for grace. I sure do regularly, or hourly, minutely (that's a fun word). I'm thankful that I never had to change and tidy myself up to come to the wondrous cross. My gracious God took me in as as was: needy, messy, weary and washed me in his Son's blood and from there I could be changed for eternity. Hallelujah! 

God has been good to me. 

peeing, grace, and class

I come from a long line of peeps that can't hold their urine. My mom, well she had two offspring, my sister ehh her serial dating middle school boyfriend broke up with her because she always peed during the movies and needed to be caught up on the movie #middleschoolprobs, and my cousin got arrested for peeing in the subway in NYC. classy, I know! Needless to say genetics are a powerful thing and I inherited a walnut sized bladder. On planes when my plane neighbor sits down I prep then for the next few hours of sitting next to me, the hot mess express, and how I frequently pee, and it would be in their best intentions for me to have the outside seat, m'kay. Usually it works. A few weeks ago I was on the bus with my ear buds in listening to my Hillsong station on Pandora and the song "Grace Like Rain" came on. I also had to to make a deposit in the toilet like a certain racehorse. The said song describes grace as water many times thus making my sensation to pee quite worse while the city I live in has severe pothole complications, and makes the said sensation even worse. I barely make it to school with an accident and barely leave Target without purchasing the below bad boys.

i texted my excursion to my friends too. 

things i'm called at work

             today's post is chronicling the variety of names i'm called at work. 
                          i like to write stuff down  ;)

            1. Little Africa or Africa 

         ` this name seems to follow me at all my jobs. lindsey lohan and I have something in      
          common. what? well the lindsey lohan in mean girls not the currently intoxicated    

          one. my coworkers love to hear my wild (literally) tales from africa, along with   

          stories where i forgot to wear a bra to school.

        2. Sarah

          ` I work at a retirement home. old people live there. with dementia or really old 

           brains. And just some cray cray people. A resident enjoys calling me ‘Sarah’ because 

           i “look like the ideal jewish girl.” The said resident also refers to me as ‘he’ or ‘good 

           boy’ often with my freshly waxed eyebrows and girlstashe. damn Italian genes.

          3. jack

           ` this nickname which once drove me crazy, i’ve now grown highly accustomed to   

             nearly every peer group i’m associated with calling me jack. even my bosses call 

             me it. i’ll take it.

         P.S. It's almost friday!!!!!!!! YAYYYYY!!

God, this season, and grace.

You know those crazy people in the Bible like Jonah, Moses and uhhh Jesus too that God calls by name, to do something, and nearly everyone thinks they are CRAZY!? Yeah, I'm in that boat lately. God is speaking oh so loudly, and I want to listen. Despite what people think of my sanity level. God is slowly equipping me for this next season one Olympic size pool of grace at a time. What? I don't know either. Every chapter is better than the one before. 

xoxo, jack

2012 in Review

T'was a good year, a really good year. Lots of memories, lots of things the good Lord has shown and taught me. In fact Im starting another new tradish, write down all the good and fun memories and things the Lord has shown me in in old candle jar with bits of scrapbook paper. I'm now writing everything down at once for 2012 but for 2013 write them down on a slip of paper with the date as they come and then look back at everything I wrote on New Year's Eve... cute right?
 Here we go!
January

• Honestly, it started out as a real dry season, lots of trials and some down right sadness and not enough choosing joy. 
• Went to a sad funeral :(
• Fell in love with Thai food  
• A fox chased me on my way home from work. You can read about that here.

February 

• Started planning a youth mission trip in our own city, deets to follow

March

• Turned 17!! Celebrated with my eternal fam at my church youth group, ate the cake below :)

• Applied for my second missions trip to South Africa and Malawi unaware of how changed I would be from this trip in just a few short months

(picture from my trip in 2011, note the boss photobomb)

April

• Finished planning and went on the local youth mission trip! We did a 30 hour famine in the freezing cold (20-30 degrees) and modeled a Ugandan village everyday happenings (carried potato babies in slings, boilied dirty water over a fire for rice and beans at the end of the fast, built a church meeting place out of sticks and a tarp, etc. and then served in our local government housing community and built a community garden with them, saw teens hearts changed... the usual spring break) 

• Doubted if God could really use me in Africa (because I'm weak, and useless without him but in Him I can do much), and contemplated not going the day my travel expenses were due (funny, how that works) and after a long talk and prayer  with my friend Imani I was back and ready-er then ever for God to use me mightily and he sure did! 

                                             

• My Mom turned 49!

• Started to bud a friendship with these girls!

May

• I got my braces off!! praise the Lord!!!!!! And wahh-lahh I became a fairly good looking person just like that well... 7 years of torchere and nasty orthodontists!!   

*First picture without braces! (the pics above were taken a few months after)*

• Volunteered at Beautiful Weekend a service project my church does every year with two local inner-city public elementary schools 

my girls tina & vikk (who I sorta cut out) at BW

• Went to a dear friend (that lives in South Africa), Chelsea's AWESOME wedding. They got married outside under an umbrella tree, in the country, and had a music theme reception and a buffet dinner, and make your own sundaes and a fab dance floor, everything about it was stunning and perfect! The best time ever!

the cute bride and I at her shower picnic

perfect right!?

my rapper friend Faith and I 

my friend Precious and I carpooled out there and got lost several times

seriously!? how cute is this music theme?!

• My BFF Korie, youth leader Mahadi and I went supply shopping for this youth group event called create night with a Mexican food theme. hungry teens + a strict budget = stressss

korkor and I selfie-ing it up. 

June

• CreateNight was rad-er than ever before. We laughed, cried, worshiped our King, it was ahhhhmazing. 

the DreamTeam serving it up!

these girls are so so so talented. 

my girl erinn and I 

praying for our seniors <3

• Went to my friend Mikela's Graduation [dance] party (cause that what we did the whole time)

mik & I (she so gorg!)

• Finished my junior year (PTL) which was a feat in itself!
• Watched my other BFF's Erinn and Kristen graduate together 

It was hot that day so they ripped their polyester cap and gowns right off!

• As my girls graduation gift I treated them to a fun night of getting our pictures taken in this cute, old, historical neighborhood downtown, it was such a special night 

and my personal fave :)

• Had a talent show fundraiser with my Malawi 2012 team which was a huge success!

July

Put the final touches on my ministry plans for my Africa trip. 

Went out to lunch with my grandparents and sister  

• And drumroll please... my favorite event for this past year and possibly ever- AFRICA 2012

my family 

let's play find the white girl

my lovies

August 

• Got back from Africa on the 9th after 3 weeks there and I miss it everysingleday.

in the airport to go "home" 

but I think Africa will really be home soon ;)

• Watched my other BFF KorieGirl graduate!!

• Got to go to an ACTUAL beach for the first time in forever with my youth group!! 

• And hung out with them before they headed off to college. 

September

• Started SENIOR YEAR!!!! YAYYYYYY!!!

On my last "first day of school"

• Got invited to a last minute (but such the Lord's timing) youth rally in New Hampshire with my youth leader and his wife and a small group of the core students. It was beautiful and life changing and filled with the Holy Spirit and prophecy. I think I'll write more about that later...

<--the only pic I have of the memorable weekend

• My church celebrated it 90th Anniversary!

From the big 90th partayyy

• Started this blog! Whoop whoop!

October

• My big sis turned 21!

• My girls, well two of them, came home on back-to-back weekends 

 

November

• THANKSGIVING!!!

December

• My two sisters graduated!!

• CHRISTMAS!! Read all about that here! 

Happiest New Year to you!!

My other fave 2012 "Reviews"

• Naptime Diaries
• Anderson Family Crew (Year in Pictures)
• Take Heart (fave post+memories) 

Before I Graduate High School Bucklist

Before I Graduate High School Bucket List!!!!
Countdown Meter:
Last day of school: 5 months from today!!
Graduation: 5 months and fifteen days!!

Before I graduate high school
1. Rely on Him like never before!
2. Desire him life never before
3. Need him like never before!
4. Acknowledge He is speaking loudly, so LISTEN!
5. Daily do devotions, Jackie you need this time.

6. Volunteer in activities at work and city mission. 

7. Become a prayer warrior

8. Practice photography, not just your iPhone

9. Run/ exercise more... possibly a 5k?

10. Purge and organize craft room
11. Make a scrapbook.
12. Sell and make more jewelry
13. Write thank you notes just because.
14. Become more patient and gentle.
15. Educate myself on as many social justice issues at possible
16. Leave the country!!!!!!!
17. Get my license.
18. Read more!!
19. Keep up on journal projects.
20. Pray for the next season. And the people in this season.
21. Keep up on this blog
22. Start a creative blog. Yes please!
23. Practice writing pretty.
24. Look at the stars, realize the God that loves me, made them
25. Stop in the moment.
26. Cook a few meals
27. Pay for someone's drink... At Starbucks
28. Go to Boston and visit Kor
29. Go to hartwick abd visit erinn
30. Visit Kristen at New Paltz
31. Go to the city
32. Go to the today show
33. Fast (food and anything else that kills contentment)
34. Start a compost
35. Go sledding
36. Make crepes with friends
37. Pray for my nation, community, and church daily
38. Start writing bits of my memoir
39. Make homemade pasta
40. Do something for someone else everyday.