London 2012 Opening Ceremonies: Union Jack Attack

So, fun fact. 

I love the Olympics.

Like, LOVE.

I never dreamed of being the President.

Or solving world peace.

But, despite my athletic-reject-ness, I always had Gold Medal Dreams.

I used to ice skate.

In the era of Nancy and Tonya. 

I may have dressed up as Tonya Harding for a classroom simulation once.

I was on the high school gymnastics team.

In the era of Keri and the Dominiques. 

My event was beam. 

We'll discuss those failures adventures at another time. 

But instead of going for the Gold in other countries,

I channeled my dreams into Gold Medal Level Olympic Parties.

In 2008, there was Beijing. 

My inaugural party. 

Everyone was assigned the country of their heritage or affection.

Dress accordingly, and bring a food from your nation.

I made Olympic Ring Shaped Cookies.

In 2010, there was Vancouver.

We stepped up the challenge.

Come dressed as a favorite Olympic Athlete. 

People brought their A-Game.

People also brought a true to life replica boblsed and authentic boblsed team attire.

It's been 2 more years.

And my wheels have been turning. 

How could I ever top a boblsed?

Well, first off, I changed venues, and moved the party to my parents' house.
Theme: All things British.

And had my dad build me a literal set of wheels.

 And hunted high and low for all things London.

This party was going to be a full fledged Union Jack Attack.

Complete with life sized phone booth.

Also, my dad can make ANYTHING out of a bike box.

He's pretty KA like that.

He also thinks he is really funny.

Please note "Bruce's FAMOUS Fish & Chips"

And his rebel attire.

And my friends, they knew they had to bring it to a whole new level.

Please meet my first guests to arrive, Earl Grey & English Breakfast.

How cute are they!?!?

Pinkies Up!!

Followed by The Spice Girls Tour Bus, who arrived in MAJOR STYLE.

Posh also brought along Becks.

There was Lance Beckham (David Beckham's American brother...um.)

Margaret Thatcher.

Kiera Knightly & Harry Potter.

And, bottom right. 

Self-Explanatory.

This party had more than enough wigs, eyeliner, and fake tattoos to go around.

We were also treated to live entertainment.

A fully choreographed Spice Girls Reunion Show.

PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE!!!!!

Can we talk about how amazing my friends and their costumes are?

And also, how many Beckham's came to my party.

Real David Beckham, you are ALWAYS invited to my party.

And between photoshoots, I promise we did watch the ceremonies.

Well. Some of it.

Parade of Nations is the best part.

You have to get through some of the weird Hunger-Games-esque things.

And the industrial revolution.

And a 40 foot Voldemort.

But the arrival of the Queen & her Corgis.

Yes, we took a Corgi break to appreciate them.

Also, Emily knew one of the Guam Olympians.

We were all intensely waiting for her to arrive on the screen.

Which was at the exact intense moment the Giants tied up the game. 

Which, didn't end as well as the Olympic ceremonies, so we flipped back, and forgot about that debacle.

And of course, every costume party has to have winners.

It was a close race, but the top 3 winners were clear.

Ozzy.

Harry.

Scary.

Bottom line, these friends brought home the Gold.

They have mad British accent costume skills.
Cheerio!

And you know I've already started brainstorming for Russia.

PS Dress from here, shoes were Twiggy Brand found on eBay, Mylie's collar from here, Chloe's bows from here, Keep Calm posters & cupcake toppers from Amazon, Living Room Bunting from here.

A New Look & a Sneak Peek.

My cute blog is even more cute now thanks to katygirl designs. 

Come take a little look around.

Are you dying like I am?

Girlfriend is GOOOOOOOD.

Be sure to grab my cute new button over there on the sidebar.

Come back tomorrow for a full report on all things London.
There will be three things in abundance:
Wigs, Eyeliner, & Fake Tattoos.
You won't want to miss.

And for now, here's a little sample of what I have to show you.

See you then!

It's a Happy Thursday at Happy Days!

Hi Friends.

I'm over at Happy Days today.

Sharing a little bit more info about Hope4Sudan. 

Head over there to find out more!

Lots of other fun stuff going on this weekend. 

Including the reveal of my secret project.

If you follow me on InstaGram you will definitely get the inside scoop.

Be sure to check in here next week for a full recap, 

and another super fun announcement on Wednesday!

Happy Happenings!

Summer is rolling onward.

Hope4Sudan fundraising and awarenessraising is going well!

(Thank you to those who have given, supported, prayed, donated. It is not going unnoticed.
As the lucky person who logs the donations, I am so encouraged!)

There is still a huge need.

Please consider giving up your Starbucks trip today, and help out!

Last week, after a prayer night focused on Sudan,
we wished our fearless Worship Leader a very Happy Birthday.

My favorite Schnoodle got groomed.
Which is good, because she has quite a few upcoming appearances.

My partner in crime, Margaret, returned from Nepal.
We had our favorite tradition.
Una Mas burritos.

I also gave her a tour of life at the dolphin.
If only she'd be willing to work for cupcakes, we might have a deal.

Dad had a first world tour de france problem.

DVR froze mid time-trial.

Mylie and Chloe thought that meant it was playtime.

So we switched over to the Giants.

Just in time.

Brandon Crawford my least favorite player hit a grand slam.

Mylie was unfazed.

She packed up her hedgie, and came over for a slumber party.

She was not amused at how long it took me to straighten my hair that morning.

But, it was well worth it when I took her to Haydenboo's 1st Birthday Party.

Food. Kids. Park.

She got tired out real quick,
and so we had some mandatory shade time for her and her best bud Ashlyn.

Followed by a meet and greet with the Birthday Girl herself.

Once Hayden discovered how fun playing fetch was, I'm not sure who was happier, the thrower or the catcher.

Mylie went home and had the best nap of her life.

Later on, I glammed up, and headed out with a few girls to celebrate my new favorite Flirty-year-old, Ellen.

B Street & Vine.
Bruschetta.
Brie & Apples.
Always.

And when you leave your phone unattended, and without a passcode, things like this happen.

Lucky for them, they are cute. 

Lucky for me, I just passcoded my phone.

Hope Kids Director, Ellen, passed out some awesome sunglasses and cute handmade sunglasses cases.

I think the boys were MORE than excited about their new eyewear.

And Sunday afternoon nap with schnoodlekins.

We like our naps.

Have you gotten your Hope4Sudan Prints yet?

I am SO excited.

I ordered from one from each Katy and Julie.

Here's a secret.
Printables scare me.
I don't have access to a color printer.
So I sent them to Kinkos.
It was the easiest and best thing I have done.
If you are scared, you shouldn't be.

And I am hanging them up this weekend.

You know I'll show you a pic!

 

I love writing posts like this.

It makes me see how much happy is happening all around.

Stay tuned, much, much more happy coming your way in the near future!

 

Pray, Give, Go.

I have some bad news.
I'm not going to shut up about this Sudan thing.

And neither are my friends.
They have a lot to say.

Because there is a lot to tell.

Keeping up with the Johnsons

Formerly Known as EMJ

Diary of a Crazy White Woman

Humbly His 

Becoming Mrs VanNuys

Just a Work in Progress

Carrie in Chaos

There is a lot to do.
And a lot to give.


This isn't about me.
This isn't about our church.

This is about Jesus.
When he ministered to people, he met their earthly needs while he graciously met their eternal needs.
Hope4Sudan is trying to follow in His example. 
 
For these dying people,
To give food without Jesus would be tragic.
To give Jesus without food would be cruel.

I know that most people reading this blog serve and love Jesus.
That most of you actively are serving and giving in ministries wherever you are.

Would you, out of your abundance, give something, to a hungry and hurting people?
TODAY.
Right now?

This is urgent.

Would you give, not for me, not for your own namesake, not for the sake of Hope Church,  
but in the name of Jesus?

Knowing, there are believers,
sitting in refugee camps across the globe,
standing,
stranded in the Nuba Mountains.
Starving.
Knowing there are believers across the globe with much, so much.

If you were the stranded and starving believer, 

and you knew there were others 
who knew and loved Christ 9,000 miles away, 

would you wonder where they were? 

When they would come?
How they would help?

When I think of that, it scares me.
It becomes real.
Real fast.

I've used a ton of words already
so I'm just going to keep it simple as possible here.

Can you help?
Here are THREE WAYS:

1. 

GO HERE TO GIVE DIRECTLY.

Straight up.

Plain & simple.

2.
Purchase a Digital Print for just a few bucks.
Katygirl Designs

Joy's Hope

100% goes to HOPE4SUDAN

3.
SPREAD THE WORD
WIN STUFF.

Jessica is hosting an amazing giveaway.
For each way you spread the word about Hope4Sudan
you are entered to win some AMAZING THINGS.
(From some very amazing people)


4.
Do all of the above.
 It's not a matter of can you,
but will you?

Thank you to all who have and will give, pray, and go.

Hope for Sudan

It's about to get real up in here.
I am going to use a lot of words.
If you are a reading this, I'm going to ask you to do me a huge favor and not click away just yet.
I know your time here, reading blogs, is precious.
Please, just read through to the end.


If you have been reading this blog for even a day, you probably know that I am part of a group of crazy people who, as led by the Lord, are planting a church in our city of San Mateo.

This year, the Lord has given us the privilege of partnering with HIM and sending several people from our small church body across the world - to places like Nepal, Liberia, and Sudan.
Seriously, it is a privilege. 

Through this, the hearts of people at Hope have been heavily burdened.

Let me tell you, I am not compassionate enough.
I don't care enough.
I struggle to love people I know sometimes.
Let alone people I have never met.
I'm not exactly known as having a bleeding heart.

This is HARD for me and my calloused comfortable heart.
But these facts, I can't ignore them.
You can't ignore them.

And that is what I am asking you to do.
Come with me, with us, as we open our eyes to what is going on 9,000+ miles across the planet.

People are dying.
Their earthly lives are perishing from a lack of food.
Their eternal lifes are perishing from a lack of the gospel.
NOW.
FAST.

I'm not trying to be overdramatic here - because, Lord knows, that is a gift I do have.
I'm just trying to be real.
I'm trying to communicate the sense of urgency on this small corner of the internet that is my soapbox.

The Lord has burdened our heart to pray, give, and go.

Pray big. REALLY big.
The Lord has been teaching me so much about His faithfulness, and his MIGHT lately.
That he is doing ALL of it.
Usually, I am not even seeing it until I step back and reflect.

Think about where you were a month ago. Six months ago. A year ago. Five years ago.
How far has He brought you?
I am confident you are not standing in the same place you were then.
I am confident that is because of Jesus work in your life.
Imagine what the Lord might do here. 

PRAY.


Do you know how much $25,000 is?
I sure as heck don't have that kind of money in my bank account.
But in a room of nine people on Sunday night, $5,000 of that was committed to the Lord.
In a matter of minutes.
20% of the initial financial goal.
What is he going to do here?

Fish & Loaves, people.

Like the blurb above states - $25,000 is NOTHING in terms of the excess that we live in.
What would a gift out of your abundance look like?
What would a gift out of your sacrifice look like?

Consider it.

GIVE.

Two or three men will be going in FIVE weeks.
One of which will be sent from Hope.
There is going to be a huge opportunity here to sustain what is being started this August. 
Educate yourself.
Find out what is going on in the Border Region of Sudan.
Consider partnering with us in this, not just prayerfully and financially, but physically.
Go there with your mind.
Go there with your heart.
Go there on a plane.

GO.

Maybe this is enough for you.
And you are ready to help.
Here is how you can, you can donate through Hope Church of San Mateo towards raising this $25,000.
We will send it all to the Sudan.
To move the food on the ground level. 

And, bloggy friends, can you help share this story?
It's been talked about before, let's use our influence for good.
This is one of those times.

Would you link to this post?
To the hope4sudan.hopesanmateo.org page?
Would you display our button?

Will you tweet? Will you share?
(Follow us here.)
Perhaps use a blog post to help spread the word?

Will you GIVE?

These are VERY, VERY small things, that have potential to have a HUGE impact on a hungry people.
This is grassroots.
This is a living room of people in San Mateo, California working through the Lord with people across the United States to practically serve and love a people who need literal food for life.
And more importantly, the BREAD OF LIFE, JESUS.

These are things YOU can do.
And you can do them now.

We know the Lord will provide the $25,000 - in the best way he sees fit.
Are you part of that?

I definitely do not have all of the answers, but send me your questions.

Because we love the Lord, and we love His people.
Even when it's hard.
Especially when it's hard.

    “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
   
(Matthew 25:31-40 ESV, emphasis added)

Here are some additional resources.
Find out.
Educate yourself.
Tell others.
You have heard of Ethiopia, and Darfur, and even Kony.
Do you know about Sudan?
Let's get this out there.
TODAY.

www.twitter.com/hopeSM4sudan 

Besieged in Sudan's Nuba Mountains

Samaritan's Purse

Conflict in the Nuba Mountains

Nuba 2012. A return to genocide? from Aegis Trust on Vimeo.