Why Sigma Phi Lambda?

When I think of my "college happiness", sure, I think of friends, late nights, taco bell, etc. However, when it comes down to it, one of my main sources of happiness has been from the amazing sorority I joined a year ago, Sigma Phi Lambda Sisters for the Lord.

Phi Lamb is filled with amazing women who love God and want to spend time serving Him while hanging out with other like-minded women. And obviously having a great time while doing it. 

We enjoy dancing, props, taking group pictures, and laughing. Xi class. 

Building a better relationship with God is something that I have been working on, but I can't do it alone. Phi Lamb is awesome in this aspect because there are so many fantastic women here who are even better role models. 

When I first heard about Phi Lamb I was so nervous about being able to fit in with everybody based on things I heard about sororities, because, let's face it, I'm a little awkward. However, my doubts were quickly put to ease because I have never felt so much love from a group of girls, ever. And turns out my thoughts on sororities were completely false. At least with this one.

And guess what, I met some pretty spectacular people. 

When I first started looking at colleges to attend, Mizzou was not where I wanted to be at all. It was too close to home and I wanted to get away. However, I believe God wanted me at Mizzou for the sole purpose of joining Phi Lamb. 

I'm really not one for getting all sentimental, but this organization has truly changed my life and I will forever be grateful for that. I can't imagine having attended a different university because I don't know where I would be without Phi Lamb. After a year of growing in my relationship with Christ, I know I have a long ways to go, but with these cool kids by my side it makes the journey a little easier.

These girls are amazing and I have found my home at Mizzou along with some of my best friends, bringing true happiness.

***If you're a girl at Mizzou and are looking for your "home" on this giant campus, we have one more night of rush tomorrow (Friday) at 6:00 pm in Leadership Auditorium which is upstairs in the Student Center!***

Cookin' With Chlo

So you know how every friend group has the "mom" of the group? Yeah, mine is this girl. Throwin' it back to high school.

This is Chloe and she's a cool "mom". We've been friends since we were wee little things and one time I took a nap at her house and woke up to her staring at me while eating chocolate chips. She's creepy. But I love her. So obviously she's part of my happiness project.

Anyways, jumping ahead to February, I'm going to try and be healthier and also learn how to cook.

*Side note: Learning how to cook includes all things, not just healthy food because in this post we made homemade cinnamon rolls, not healthy but oh so delicious.*

I'm a terrible cook. Mainly because I don't pay attention to one thing for very long. One time last year Chloe and I made cookies and I was in charge of taking them out but forgot and I took a shower. The cookies got a little well done and apparently they weren't edible.

Chlo can cook. So she doesn't know this yet, but she's going to teach me this next month/semester. And she can't say no because saying no would mean she would want me to fail at my happiness project and that would be unhappy.

We started the night of baking homemade cinnamon rolls with her yelling at me saying she was going to kick me out of the kitchen if I didn't focus. She said I wasn't allowed to talk to our other friends or watch the TV. It's like she thinks she knows me or something. Bossy little thing.

We mixed all the ingredients together and let the dough rise. She let me do a lot of the work, too! (If you don't know Chlo, you need to know that the kitchen is her zone and she does not like other people helping.)

We rolled the dough out and added all the good stuff like cinnamon, butter and sugar then rolled the whole thing. It was a pretty tedious process.

And then it was time to bake these delicious treats. Yum.

Also, like the super fit ladies we are, while the dough was rising we worked out because we are productive. We did Insanity. LOL. Laughing because we were terrible at it.

And then they were finished! We really made them because we are good friends and it was a surprise for Anthony's birthday. You know, just spreading that HAPPINESS. :)

They were delicious. So good. Like, you should make some because wow. Anyways, Chloe was a good teacher and she didn't even have to yell at me once. However, it could be a long month/semester because we both know how well we get along in a kitchen. She's such a good mom. :)

I feel like learning how to cook will really benefit my happiness because it's kind of a crucial life skill to have. And apparently someday when I have a family I may be expected to make something more elaborate than Ramen. But hey, I make some mean Ramen. 

God Is Cool

One of my main focus areas of this month is to commit to a devotional. Really, I've already started one of those and I'll talk about that more as time goes on. It's called "Jesus Calling" and it is super fantastic. However, something I am really wanting to do this semester that I feel will get me on track for the year is start attending a campus ministry regularly. 

That fine specimen (aka Han Pan my roommate last year and one of my best amigas) asked me to go to Veritas at Mizzou with her. This is a group of college kids that meet on Tuesday nights for a little bit of worship and then a sermon. 

I've attended other campus ministries before for two reasons. 1) Obviously I just want to learn more about God and form a better relationship with Him and 2) Phi Lamb requires you to be in an outside ministry of some sort. However, I've never been consistent. Maybe this one will really catch my attention and keep me around, but who knows because I'm pretty much all over the place. 

I signed up for a small group though so I guess by default I could be kinda stuck for the semester. Maybe that's a good thing. 

Anyways, this applies to my happiness project because by getting into a schedule with not only my devotional every day but weekly groups that meet all for the purpose of getting closer to The Big Guy, it makes me happier. Spending time with God makes me happy and I really can't give you a good reason why I don't make it more of a priority in my life even when I know I should other than the fact that I'm human and I'm selfish. 

Just the idea of a campus ministry makes me really happy. How lucky are we that we live in a place that allows college kids to meet in a lecture hall (where I have taken classes and tests) regularly to glorify God?! That's a pretty cool deal we've got. Some people in the world don't have that luxury.

Basically I'm just really excited to start up a weekly schedule that I know will strengthen my faith, thus, making me happy. God is such a neat fella. What a guy. 

 

One Giant Headache

I. Suck. At. Technology.

But seriously. For being lumped in with the generation that is so tech savvy, I am SO a generation behind. I don't even know how to maintain my computer. My roommate's dad sets anything I ever need done to it up. It's quite pathetic.

To start off my Happiness Project obviously I am going to conquer the impossible and learn how to blog. The typing part is easy because I love to talk and typing is practically talking. I thought blogging would be a piece of cake for that reason. Wrong. 

It took me two weeks to really get a feel for how to even post an entry.

That was me. Ask Rachel (roommate). The phrase "I wanna break this stupid computer in half" was said more than once.

After phoning (aka Facebook) several friends and confusing myself even more with Google, IT IS DONE! Well, done enough that I am satisfied to show it to someone besides myself.

However, forgive me for probably constantly changing the layout and just the looks of everything in general, because I know I'll get bored looking at the same thing all the time.

Making this blog was the first step for my Happiness Project because I really wanted to document this. I've tried keeping journals before but always quit after a week. A blog just seems so much more "hip" and I'm able to allow others to see my journey this way. 

Having this blog I'll be able to post pictures, videos, AND write about all of my shenanigans. Lucky you guys. And who knows, maybe by reading this you'll decide to buy the book and start a project of your own.

Catch ya on the flip side.

 PS - looking up funny animal pictures is what I do in my spare time.

Door Of Faith Orphanage

God gave me the opportunity to go on the most absolutely amazing mission trip January 2-9, 2014 to La Mision, Mexico. We went to Door Of Faith Orphanage and to say that this altered my life would be an understatement. The people and kids were more amazing than I could have ever hoped and I left a piece of my heart there when I had to come home. No matter how long of a post I make, it could never be enough to explain this place. 

This is the group I went with and they were fantastic. 

During the week we were there, we spent the majority of our time building relationships with the kids - because they are awesome.

We also were able to serve others by filling bags with items including food and personal hygiene products to give to the less fortunate.

We also were able to serve breakfast to those in poverty one day in Tijuana at a local church. Such an awesome experience to serve The Lord.

We also ate wonderful Mexican food, drank apple soda, and went to the beach. Which was cool.

(Guys that's my roomie and she loves God and the Colts. I forgive her for the Colts thing. Go Cowboys.)

Honestly, I can't put into words how amazing this trip was. God used us to do His work this past week and I think the only way to slightly describe it is through pictures. So here are a few of my favorites:

Dios te bendiga. <3