the story society

hello there.

 

I wanted to share with you an exciting project

I've been working on with my sweet gal pal,

 

 

I met her a couple months ago through some mutual friends.

I really had no clue we'd hit it off the way we did.

She is all kinds of awesome!

We have quite a few things in common,

and one that stood out is our love for people's stories.

hence how this project came about.

 

it's called [the story society]

 

It essentially provides folks with a platform

to be able to share their story,

and potentially the opportunity

to inspire others with their uniqueness.

"our lives are our stories

& each is worth sharing"

 

It has been awesome hearing the responses to this pour in.

It brings a sense of authenticity to the table in a very special way.

in my opinion, bringing all sorts of different people together.

creating a community for others to be vulnerably beautiful.

 

[click on photo to read my story]

 

I encourage you to consider sharing your story too.

who knows what kind of impact it could have.

 

email: storysociety@gmail.com if interested.

follow on twitter & instagram: @storysociety

blog: thestorysociety.blogspot.com

 

my heart is overflowing with excitement on this project. <3

 

thanks for taking the time to read.

 

encouraging collection

our current collection was inspired from many ways.

.

as some of you know I'm an assistant coach for a local high school girls tennis team.

last year we had our first pink match.

we raised money for cancer 

& specifically for one of our girls little brothers.

 it was a huge success!

 

 

this year we had our second pink match & it was equally awesome!

 

 

but this illness came too close for comfort.

cancer hit my family a few months ago, as my aunt had discovered

she had breast cancer. just to be safe she made the choice to have

a double mastectomy. my aunt Pam is one of the bravest, toughest,

women I know. I'm grateful for her strength & her heart for God.

 

these bracelets were made as a symbol of strength

and perseverance through tough issues.

 

we are donating a portion of the proceeds

to cancer research during the month of October.

together we can make a difference. <3

 

here are our four bracelets:

 

 

 

 

 

    

[click on photos above to check out on etsy]

and a special little shout out to my helper, b.

 

i'll leave you with this:

 

have an awesome Sunday.

pumpkin spice syrup: pintest

so as we all know..

fall is into full swing. (YAY)

and at this point pumpkin is added to like every recipe.

because, lets be honest...its the best.

 

I have been trying to cut back on my "let me just grab a quick coffee" cost..

those iced coffees add up fast..

 

I started cold brewing my own iced coffee from this recipe

I found on this glorious invention called pinterest!

{perfect iced coffee via the pioneer women}

 

So this led me to finding a recipe for pumpkin coffee syrup & here we are:

I gave it a go and wanted to share it with you.

my first official "pintest". haha

here you go my friends..

 

 

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1.5 cups

2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

 

 

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat.

2. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally to keep the sugar

from burning until sugar is completely dissolved.

3. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to an airtight container. 

4. Refrigerate and use within 3 weeks & shake when you use.

 

 

currently my favorite hot drink of choice:

 

{pumpkin spice syrup recipe via: littlemrsrunshine}

oiginal source: Savvy Recipes

my thoughts:

I love the spice in this syrup but I added a little more pumpkin than what it called for.

I added about 3 tablespoons instead of 2.

I hope you enjoy this fun way to spice up your coffee. ;)

serving in the czech republic

Dobrý den, přátelé!

(hello friends!)

 

It's hard to believe my missions trip to the

ended just over month ago! 

(& it took me forever to get this post together)

It was one of the greatest experiences

I've ever had..for SO many reasons.

I was able to serve with a unique group of students as well as leaders.

Which in my opinion made this trip all the more amazing!

Our team of 16, left our church in Lancaster, PA

to travel in vans to fly out of JFK on July 7th.

Who knew all the amazing things we were about to encounter..together..

 

We flew into Prague & stayed there for two nights:

[this was a ticket for all day transportation. we used it to the max!]

 

[strolling through the city to get dinner]

 

Prague is absolutely beautiful. I feel like that doesn't do it enough justice.

Being there & being able to take in all the charm it had was priceless.

 

[tanner & zoe]        

waiting on the bus from the airport to our next destination:

 

this place was INCREDIBLE.

The view overlooked the local town of Frydlant.

So once we got to Malonovice, we started our training

with a handful of other churches from the states.

 We were serving with an awesome organization: Josiah Venture.

 

breakdown:

> we all came together for training for 3 days

> teams traveled to parts of Czech to lead their camps-11 total days

(we were lucky enough to stay at malonovice for our camp)

> we all met back in Prague for debriefing for 3 days

 

 

                      [morning worship: led by a team from Cali]           [learning the camp dance]              

     

[team training]

 

[team bonding]

 

[thankful LCBC brought us together. <3

 

time to kickoff for camp!

we had about 70 kids total in our camp

including our team & the Czech youth group we got to serve with.

 

 

together as a group of about 70

we hiked up: Lysa Hora.

(the second tallest mountain in all of the czech republic!)

We left at about 6:00 & didn't get back til almost midnight..

[see that point at the tippy top- yeah, we hiked to there..and back]

 

 

the home stretch & the steepest part of the trek.

 

We made it to the top to watch the sunset.

It felt so rewarding to be at the top of this mountain

with God's beauty completely surrounding you.

It was a very spiritual moment for me & others on our team.

totally, one of my favorite moments of the trip.

MULTI CAMP VIDEO: 1

MULTICAMP VIDEO: 2

 

Each of us got to experience Czech in a host home.

It was an opportunity where our students got

to stay with local families from the church
at the end of the week when camp was over.

Sloane & I stayed with this super sweet family of 5.
(Who the mom was originally from PA & the dad was a native of the Czech)

 

czech chocolate= amazing!

Sunday night we went with our host families to

their church in town. it was small, simple,

and full of love of for others & Christ.

after church we had our last meal all together:

our team, czech youth group, kids from camp,

host families, and leaders ate by down by the river. 

**kofola + pizza**

(& silly hannah!)

I didn't think leaving Frydlant would be so tough,

but boy was I wrong. It was hard to leave a place

where God allowed you to open your heart fully to others

(who you only knew for such a short time)

That little town full of these amazing folks

will always be so very special to me.

 

As we left Frydlant our entire team was rocked.

We left some special relationships and friends there.

We thankfully had a few trains to ride &

some time to process & pray about our expriences.

Next stop:

[debreifing with all the us teams!]

 

[eating like kings our last night before going home]

oh hotel krystal....

[last selfie  with emily in europe.]

Needless to say this trip was completely amazing!
It brought forth new frienships, grew others,
and it allowed me to focus on loving & serving those around me.
God works out these amazing (and sometimes a little scary) adventures for our lives.
I'm incredibly grateful for all these experiences
that this missions trip had in store for me & my team.

The czech republic is a place that I will forever
hold very close to my heart. <3

more photos HERE