Where Am I?

      I am pretty positive that someone has scooped up Maryville and moved her to Sunny California. It  is a beautiful 59 degrees, the sun is shinning, the sky is blue, and life is great! I am currently sitting on my front porch as I am writing this. The windows in my house are open, there is a nice but slightly chilly breeze, and I am pretty sure I am not in Missouri anymore.
    I called my Mother just to make sure...but it turns out it's not just Maryville...it is just as beautiful back in Nebraska. After I got over the slight sadness the occurred when I realized I was not transplanted to  California, I have really decided to live it up today! My best friend and I are going on a bike ride around town and I can not wait! I got a beautiful new bike for Christmas and it is nice to get a chance to use it! We are also planning on baking my new favorite food! The most amazing Ginger Cupcakes with the best Cream Cheese frosting I have ever had! (And I don't like frosting)

So Yummy! 

(Side note if you want the recipe's check out my Pinterest!)

     Goodness with weather like this, I can handle winters in the midwest! But, oh how I miss Cali! I realized that I have not written at all about my resent venture to California. I know lame. It was an amazing trip! I went with my parents and my baby sister Lucia!  The weather was like that of today...only everyday!
     We stayed in La Jolla, a downtown area of San Diego.  We could see the ocean from our room, and were just a short walk away from a beach where a bunch of sea lions lived!

They were practically in our front yard! 

It was absolutely amazing! Well it's time for me to get ready for my bike ride! More on Cali later! Remember to stop and smell the flowers! 

Back In The Ville

Here I am back in Missouri and goodness what it took to get back here! On the trip back to Peoria we had an interesting adventure when we stopped in the quaint town of Friendsville...yes I am serious that was the name of the town.
It looked like a beautiful little with about one house a barn and a gas station. We went into the gas station and to our surprise found quite a large range of biker apparel. There were leather jackets, inappropriate t-shirts, and a lot of skulls and flames...defiantly not what we expected in a town named Friendsville. We went to go use the bathrooms but there was no soap so one of the girls went to the front counter to let them know the women's bathroom was out. She was informed that they never keep soap in the women's bathroom because it got STOLLEN on all the time.
Moral of the story- don't judge a town by it's name. You never know it could be full of soap stealing biker chicks.
I spent the night in Peoria before making the six hour drive to Missouri. It was fun to have a little bit of time to hang out just me and my cousin, that does not happen a lot! The trip back took a bit longer then expected because I kept stopping to take pictures of the sun set!
Life is as crazy as ever in the ville, but I am staying in town a whole week and a half, which will give me the small amount of time I need to get organised and cought up on all my work!
Well I think it's time for bed... I will leave you with this...
"I am your God. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you!" - Isaiah 46:4 (thanks to my girl Jos for sending this verse to me!)

On The Road Again

I have spent way more time traveling in cars then any normal person. We are back on the road and headed away from the east coast. We will get to Peoria around 2 o'clock tomorrow morning.
This morning was good. Adoration and mass were amazing! I realised last night that I think I like going to things like this on my own. Why you may ask? Because when I was in California I learned about this wonderful thing called...SLEEP! Yes it is true I like to sleep. Since I was by myself and bounce from group to group people just thinking that I am hanging out with so everyone else but I was sleeping! It was wonderful!
Well it's raining outside so I might fall sleep. Yay! Remember to take the time to stop and smell the flowers!

It Just Started...Now We Are Almost Done :(

Well this adventure is almost over. At the beginning of the week I honestly felt out of place here, but at this the last day I don't want to leave. I am actually bonding with my roommates (a bunch of freshman girls from Ave Maria University) I have made friends, ran into old ones and grown so much! Most of the other schools will be going to the March For Life in Washington D.C. I wish Bradley was going because 1) I have never been and have always really wanted to and 2) I don't want this adventure to be over!
Today was full of great talks, great food and even better conversation! Everyone was dressed up because we had Sunday mass! It was so fun to see everyone all fancied up!

This is me, Angie, and Amy all dressed up for mass! 

I went to the Hard Rock Cafe for the first time and hung out with my peeps at UNL (yes I did just say peeps). It was quite the experience because the BIG football game was on when we went. If something exciting happened in the game, waiters would run away from tables and toward TVs, and everyone cheered very loud!  
Well I will be getting up for a six am adoration hour (woop woop) so I am going to get some sleep. Remember to take the time to stop and smell the flowers!

The Adventure Begins!

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Baltimore. We are staying at the Hyatt and Internet costs ten bucks a night so that is why this is being posted after I get back to Missouri.

Yep, big fancy Hotel means they can charge a TON for the Internet...

lame. 

We got here they fed us lunch then gave us a tour and instructions. Bradley as well as a few other schools are working hospitality. After checking people in we had two hours to shower, sleep, whatever. Then we had mass and a few talks---all of which are amazing!
I am very excited to get back to school and teach people what I am learning! My heart is on fire! I went to bed early last night because I was wiped! Which made me the only one who did not complain about being tired today!!
Today was full of talks and small groups. It has been a bit weird because I don't really fit in anywhere. I'm the only one here not on a FOCUS campus and not with my school. At first it was super hard but I have learned that I have to learn to be on my own and today I started to figure that out! God has blessed me in so many ways and I am Sooo glad that I am here! Until tomorrow- remember to take time to smell the flowers!

P.S. Today I got to explore the harbor and met Dr. Edward Sri!!!

For those of you who don't know he is an amazing Catholic author! Made my day!

Here We Go!

I probably should have started this a week ago. I thought about it but I just could not think of a name! I think adventures of a wildflower is perfect. I love wildflowers! Some people may think them weeds but if you give them fresh air, sunshine, and water they will not only grow but thrive!

See they are soo pretty! 

I feel a sort of kinship with wildflowers. That sounds corny but hey I'm a corny sort of girl.

As for the adventure part- this year is not yet a month old but it has brought about quite the number of adventures!

Last week was San Diego California!

 This week it is Baltimore Maryland and the FOCUS leadership summit!
For the weekend I am a Bradley student. My cousin is a missionary at Bradley so was able to get me into the summit even though FOCUS is not at my school.
I started this adventure with a six hour drive to Peoria Illinois. The drive was mostly uneventful apart from an encounter with a mean and angry gas pump. Normally when you fill you car up with gas once the tank is full the pump stops. That however was not the case this time. I ended up covered in gas and poor Kevin (my PT Cruiser) still smells of the stuff!! Moral of the story- watch diligently when feeding your car!
This adventure has been less then 24 hours thus far but I have already been floored by the beauty all around me. Did you know there are parts of Iowa that are truly beautiful? I promise you they do exist!
We are now in West Virginia and I am awestruck! It looks like a Christmas card here! Every tree is perfectly dusted with snow as if a master painter came in and hand-painted each one! Oh right...that is what happened!
Well of you have made it this far I applaud you...this is quite a bit for a first post. Now that you have been sufficiently bored I will leave you with this...
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart! Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the LORD in everything that you do and he will show you the way!" - Proverbs 3:5-6