The Night of 100 Pies

The Occasion: Brett Vowell's Birthday

The Mission: Bake 100 little pies!!!

Mission: Accomplished :)

We call this, The Domestication of Kristina Osborne (Part 1)

domesticate |dəˈmestiˌkāt|verb [ trans. ] (usu. be domesticated)• make (someone) fond of and good at home life and the tasks that it involves

I don't doubt that this will be a long process. I don't bake cookies; I eat them. I do, however, have the urge to learn this love for the things of "home life", especially after watching the roomies bake such marvelous things. Here is my first attempt.

I will admit that it was definitely a rocky start, but by the end I was killin it! :)

Eggs courtesy of Bradyn's chickens

I just LOVE this woman. Love her.

Thank you Jess for ruining this perfectly good picture of me and Brady.

Kristina vs. the Can Opener... Part 1 (the can won)

Total pie count: 95

Quite a pleasant first friend picture if you ask me :)

Ashamed to say...

I am ashamed to admit that the Mother Teresa commemorative Postage Stamp has been out for almost a month now (came out on Aug 26th-Mo T's bday in case you were wondering) and I still do not possess one- or 50 of them :)

For those who don't know, I have two pretty big obsessions (along with my deep love for Jesus Christ):

-Mother Teresa (or commonly referred to as "Mo-T" by yours truly)

-Postage Stamps (it might sound odd for someone to be obsessed with postage stamps. Obsessed is a pretty intense word. I know. And yet, I still claim obsession)

I have been collecting Postage Stamps for about 2 years and I only have about 100 legit ones from places like: Kenya, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Rome, China.. with images such as Hitler and Stalin faces gracing them.

You would think when two of my loves collided (a Postage Stamp of Mother Teresa) I would be ALL OVER IT! I had an alarm set on my phone to go off on the day it came out just so I'd remember. But here I am almost a month later with out a stamp. And the truth is, I don't even have a good reason for not having it yet.

I should change this.

To-Do for this weekend:

GO TO POST OFFICE AND BUY MO-T's STAMP!!! :)

Being a collector- if you will- is a new hobby in life and I must say I rather enjoy have a quirky thing to obsess over such as postage stamps... Plus... a 42 cent hobby aint that bad for a college kid.

Elias David Leland

September 12, 2010

Today I saw God in the eyes of a tiny baby boy. He has captured my heart and I will love and cherish him forever. He is so beautiful and I was so blessed by today.

"For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise You because I have been fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know this very well"

Psalm 139:13:14

Proudly parented by Isaac Leland and Lauren Spencer :)

Coffeehouse

Coffeehouse 2010

As my roommates are cramming on their Nursing homework, I am just kickin it like a Senior Liberal Studies Major who is taking 12 units would kick it.... IE... I am looking through my iphoto library and processing how the year has begun. I am beyond excited to be working in the Office of Spiritual Life again. I can already tell that this is going to be a year of growth.

Our first (and biggest) event of the year- COFFEEHOUSE- happened the night before classes started one week ago today. The live music, $1000 worth of prizes, free candy, coffee, cookies, and books brought the students out of their rooms and into community. A successful event is hard to define... attendance? Sign-up sheets? Smiles? :) I have already been approached by some students about homeless ministry for this year so I give the event an A+... It is my prayer that students would grasp God's plan for their lives and commit to ministry in the here and now.

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if Our God is with us, then what could stand against?

Year Two.

I can’t go back to yesterday- because I was a different person then.

-Lewis Carroll

Is this true? I would love to believe that I am constantly changing for the better each day. People throw around the phrase, “you learn something new every day” and lately that has been extremely true. Training for Office of Spiritual Life this year has challenged me in new ways. The lessons aren’t always these grand “ah ha” moments, but I am finding that I am learning a lot about the kind of character I want to have.

In a nutshell, I could sum it up by saying I want to have the character of Jesus Christ. That’s pretty broad. I am learning what it means to serve. I am challenged by the crappy attitude I can sometimes have. Reminded that there is just no room for my pride in the presence of my mighty God. Encouraged by the incredible power of prayer. Convicted in the moments when I am not content with where I am. Motivated in the moments when I see the potential in my life. Broken by my sin and elated when I think about the cross.

It is my prayer that I would not be the same person I was yesterday. Tomorrow holds many opportunities to take steps closer to Christ. Lets walk in that together.

God is good.

POST SCRIPT SIDE NOTE:

I am EXTREMELY thankful for the leadership that God has placed above me for another year. Brett and Ashley are the most encouraging and wonderful people I've ever met. Literally. They are like family to me. So dear to my heart.

This picture is posted in memory of last year (shout of Chris Wilson) but it is also a great reminder of how much I've grown since this picture last year. I was thinking about that as we took 2010-2011 staff pictures today.

Cannot wait to see where God will take us this year :)

a pretty a day

a pretty a day

(and every fades)

is here and away

I always know it's time for an adventure when I put on my keds :)

^^ My favorite shot of the day ^^

Fields of gold

Cotton :)

This moment was simply too zen to pass up

My lovely company included: Laura

And the master photographer/teacher.... Rachel :)

I pet a shark today... what did you do? :)

Today I had the most wonderful date/pre-game for shark week ever with the lovely Luis Mancilla! We ventured to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The combination of perfect Southern California weather and an odd mix of new friends (including but not limited to: SHARKS, river otters, sea lions, etc etc) created a memorable day that I will cherish forever. Did I mention that we befriended sharks? Like we pet them. And named one. And I wanted to take it home. Wasn't allowed. Oh but one day.....

Luis came with a love of sharks... left with an obsession.

This was before I befriended the sharks... still a little nervous... obviously

This is me with my new friend/pet shark Bruce Jr.

Not gonna lie.... He still scares me. Those eyes......

My favorite little creatures... RIVER OTTERS :)

As you can obviously tell from the cheesy touristy thumbs up... it was a good day :)