March Budget

My goal for Lent this year was to focus on being in solidarity with the poor and marginalized in our world and one of the few ways I did so was by being more intentional about my spending. My aim was to refrain from purchasing any clothing, jewelry, shoes, etc unless I knew the product was ethically traded. While I know that not all of my future purchases will be Fair Trade, after these 40 days, I am definitely more committed to intentionality and awareness when it comes to my shopping patterns and how they affect the world. The only thing that I purchased prior to Easter this past Sunday was this gorgeous pair of beaded earrings that I picked up while on immersion with students in Los Angeles....

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Happy Easter

To those who celebrate, wishing you a very blessed Easter! May all of your days be filled with joy, laughter and lots of love. Christ is risen, hallelujah! Peace, Sa...

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Product Review: Royal Rose Hydrating Serum

When I was presented with the opportunity to review the Valentia Royal Rose Hydrating Serum, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. I've used moisturizers and eye creams, but have never tried a hydrating serum and honestly was not even sure what that meant. Basically, this is a product that is meant to increase moisture in your skin while calming it at the same time. It is made to moisturize, nourish dry skin, smooth skin and also boost radiance. I've only been using the hydrating serum for about a week now and I honestly notice a significant difference in the softness of my face - and my skin is soft to begin with! I want to say there is an increase in smoothness as well, but think I...

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5 Weekly Graces Vol. 21

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I am currently on an immersion with students for the week and have limited internet access and only my phone to use it. 1. My mom No particular reason. We had a lovely phone call this past week and I've been noticing a deep sense of gratitude for my mom coming about a lot in prayer lately. She's pretty rad.  2. Roommates I had to share some difficult news with my roommates and was honestly quite nervous to do so. Long story short, what I shared was very well received and I'm incredibly grateful for that.  3. Immersion Time!               I'm currently in East LA spending the...

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5 Weekly Graces Vol. 20

Not gonna lie friends, I am stressed to the max currently and just holding my breath hoping things calm down and I can relax. We shall see. But despite all of the anxiety (and the fact that I am 3/4 days late posting this) I still wanted to share some grace found in last week - especially because turning my focus to the positive in my life usually helps calm me down. 1 - Support of Friends Last week I found out that my contact who was responsible for creating the agenda for my students' immersion trip this coming week did not have much on the schedule which meant I had about a week and a half to pull together nearly an entire week's worth of organizations to work with and things to do....

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Reflections on Reconciliation

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#28 Go to Disneyland

I have lived in California for the past 3 years and still hadn't been to Disneyland. To be fair, it's about a 6 hour car ride so I haven't exactly had countless opportunity to go. So, when you are in Anaheim for a conference and your hotel is literally right behind Disneyland, you have to visit. Right?! After a lot of back and forth of whether or not to go, I finally decided last minute that the conference would be a great opportunity to cross Disneyland off of my 101 in 1001. RE Congress is literally next door to the parks and I probably won't be in California after graduation, so I knew I had to go at least once. Ticket prices are a little ridiculous, but the conference...

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5 Weekly Graces Vol. 19

As the month of March begins, I am flooded by lists of projects, papers, applications and things that need to be done. I'm in the home stretch of my degree and pushing with all of my might to cross that finish line so that I can finally be out in the real world working and doing what I love - not that I don't love school and learning. Amidst the list of 1,000 things that need to be done, there were so many moments of pure joy this last week that my heart is still beaming. 1) Life-Size Hungry Hungry Hippos You read that correctly friends. For our student leader meeting last week we hosted an hour of friendly competition between the winter and spring coordinators. For our final game...

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March Goals

Towards the end of February, I attended a blogging workshop in San Francisco. In preparation for the workshop we were asked to bring a list of goals we had for our sites. As I brainstormed about what I hoped to get from the weekend and what I hoped for my blog, I felt a sense of accomplishment even in just naming my desires. I had my list and I was ready to cross the heck out of it! The excitement and joy that I found in simply writing down my objectives pushed me to begin setting monthly goals for myself and I decided to share them with you all here! And lucky for me, there are lots of other bloggers who've already set examples of how fun and creative these posts can be. I see this new series...

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5 Weekly Graces Vol. 18

Last week was the first week since I began the 5 Weekly Graces series that I did not post. It wasn't that I didn't find good moments, but I was SWAMPED with work and school and other commitments.  For reference, I began the week getting stitches on Monday which alone was exhausting, but then I had 2 long meetings and it was my night to cook - Tuesday felt nauseated all day and had a hard time getting anything done - Wednesday I had class and work -Thursday had 2 significant class presentations - and Friday I had 2 papers and was leading a group study session that needed prepped. I was also leaving Friday afternoon to drive down to LA with a friend for a conference.  Oh, and...

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