Lovely Dresses

My friend started making a dress for the summer. It's a beautiful pink salmon color. It's going to have a darker shade of pink underneath with a lighter sheer layer on top with sleeves. I can't wait to see the finished results!

She also made this blue dress last year, but it has some complications. There is a ripple in the zipper and the ruching under the bust is sagging a little. So, I offered help her with that, but I thought she did a great job considering she didn't use a pattern! I haven't been so bold as to try that. I made a brown jumper for the fall last year, which I haven't gotten around to photographing. There is still a few details I want to add to it. Maybe I'll make a dress for the summer too...I'm thinking of yellow or maybe blue...
I've really been wanting to make this one Amy Adams wears in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.I want to find a similar pattern, but right now it's just a dream. :)

{Lauryn}

Pretty things.

{Lauryn}

Summer...I miss you.

I miss the warm breezes through the trees...

and the fact that I didn't need ten layers just to step out the door.

But I'm excited for spring!

{Lauryn}

P.S. I Love You

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!

{Lauryn}

Bit of a Clown

I feel like I'm ready for a carnival!

{Lauryn}

A camp like no other

Being a counselor at a winter camp in Ukraine was no easy task. The camp was help at a school for the blind. There were about 90 kids total. A lot of the kids did have parents and relatives that they lived with, some were orphans. Counselors were split into six groups and each group represented a state from the US. There were 15 kids in my group, ages 9 to 13. We had a completely full schedule.

8:00 Morning devotion (for counselors)8:30 wake up kids
8:45 morning exercise
9:00 breakfast (I don't even know what this was, but it was food and I was hungry. so I ate it.)
9:30 cleaning the rooms
10:00 chapel
12:15 sport (ping pong or table tennis - to which I failed miserably)
13:30 lunch (bread and tea were served at every meal.)
14:00 nap time (my corner of the room. the beds were a thin cotton mattress with a board underneath)
16:00 snack
16:30 Master classes (I helped to teach a hip-hop class. so not me!)
17:30 bible study18:30 preparation for evening fun/free time19:00 dinner19:30 preparation for evening fun/free time (learning the bells)20:00 evening fun (I taught a class on how to make woven paper heart pockets.)
21:15 snack & getting ready to sleep (also known as candle time)
22:00 lights out
22:15 prayer meeting

It was an amazing experience! I stepped outside my comfort zone and met many amazing friends. I will never forget them. The kids were so much fun to get know and were very loving. This experience showed me how grateful I am to have what I have and how to lean on God in times of trouble. I want to thank everyone for your prayers and support!!
{Lauryn}

From Boston to Amsterdam and finally, Kiev

Yes, I'm still alive! School, school, and more school...I know some of you ask how my mission trip to Ukraine went. Well, I'll just start with AMAZING. (minus the jet lag). I took a four hour flight from Boston to Amsterdam, then a three hour flight from Amsterdam to Kiev. The rest of the team and I stayed at a church-hotel right in Kiev. The beds were good, showers decent, and I was indoors and warm, therefore I was happy.
We spent two nights there. Walking about Kiev, around ten at night, on New Years was quite an experience for me. Ukrainians dress up a lot more. Every women wore heels and a fur coat. I don't know how they do it, because they certainly don't believe in shoveling their sidewalks. It was either an ice skating rink or a swimming pool. The streets were lit up with neon lights and large blinking Christmas trees were seen...

(written above:God is Love. Also, due to frigid hands, a friend took these photos above)

This was a trolley that brought you up to the top of the hill. As you walked back down, the sidewalks were lined with souvenir vendors. I bought little blue Russian nesting dolls with painted strawberries. Also, from every point in the city, you could see gold domes rising above the buildings.
St. Michael's MonestarySt. Andrew's ChurchSt. Sophia Cathedral
Watch for part 2!

{Lauryn}