Deal of the Weekend

This weekend's deal comes from one of my favorite stores these days, Cotton On.

I found a skirt that I loved, that was only $15. Score, right? I take it up the register, where an employee kindly informs me that the skirts are 2 for $20 right now. And usually, I don't go for the whole buy ___ for ____ deals, but to get a gorgeous skirt for $5 more? Heck yes, I'm interested!

The super poor, colorless quality of these pictures do not do the skirts justice. The length? Modest, but not too long. The fit? Flowy and flattering. The colors? The floral print is so fun, and the navy is perfect for just about anything. 

And the best news? You can get this deal online, too!

***

Seeing as I am a passionate Cotton On shopper, I knew that they had a program raising money for Africa. I had bought the $1 bracelet that gives back towards the country, and had heard that the money goes towards getting clean water and providing other means of helping the communities there. 

I had no idea that this money was going towards Southern Uganda, and I probably never would have noticed had this place not just claimed a huge piece of my heart.

I love organizations that give back. And if I'm going to be spending money on clothes, I'm glad that it's going towards a company that has a heart for serving others!

Only in Santa Barbara - The Land Shark!

Happy Monday, friends! Hope you guys had fabulous weekends!

Not too long ago (or try a year ago), I started an "Only in Santa Barbara" topic on this here blog, a place to share all of the fun things to do around this neck of the woods beach. Well, I haven't been posting too much on that, but it's something I want to do more! Mainly to persuade all of you to come visit me. 

You may have already seen on Instagram (@sweethomesb), but I had myself a pretty fun Friday evening on the Land Shark. What is the Land Shark, you ask? Well, allow me to show you:

The Land Shark is a two hour long tour that ventures all over downtown Santa Barbara, and through Santa Barbara harbor. Is it a bus? Is it a boat? Well, whatever it is, it can serve as both. 

It's a great, fun outing for everybody. It's a huge hit with the college kids, because you are allowed to bring alcohol on board. A great activity for tourists who are looking for an exciting thing to do in town, and something that kids will enjoy, as you get to see all kinds of sea life!

We did this as a work event with our young employee networking organization, and it was a blast! We could bring guests, so about half the people were company affiliated, and half were guests (Oh heyy Madeleine, Niko & Kali!). Networking was definitely accomplished, along with a ton of fun!

Sooo, wanna come visit now? 

What did you do this weekend?

A little bit of Jonah for your day

Happy Friday!

Any post on a Friday, serious or not, deserves to start with that greeting. Am I right? 

It's been a jam packed week. There's been coffee dates, dinner dates, serious convos, not-so-serious convos, work outs, manicures (okay, just one). A little bit of everything. 

And it's been good, great even. But you know what there hasn't been a lot of? Me and Jesus time. I love starting and ending my days with the Lord, and even that didn't happen every day this week.

I'm starting to realize just how much Jesus time I need. I think the more on mission you get, the more alone time with the Lord you need. Because the fact of the matter is, you just can't be on mission without Christ. 

And guess what? We are all on mission. It doesn't matter if you're gearing up for a mission trip to Uganda, or if you're being on mission right in your home or in your workplace, 

if you love Jesus Christ then you are on mission for Him!

So if you don't feel like you're on mission, allow me to welcome you to the team. You are! You've been commissioned by Him the moment you surrendered your life to Him. And He is using you! Even if you don't feel it.

So as I come to a close this week, I am feeling the effect of my serious lack of Jesus time. I might not be showing it on the outside, but my inside is swimming with frustration and insecurity and selfishness. And those things, well they keep me from loving people the way that I want to, don't they? 

I prayed last night, asked God to fill me with His Spirit so that I would be able to pour out His love, but I woke up this morning still gripping those frustrations. Holding onto them for dear life, as if I could do something about them. 

But the fact is, I can't and I don't want to! I want to show the love of Christ. I want to help people feel valued and cared about. So those frustrations that root from, well, probably this, I want to surrender those to the Lord. Because I can't accomplish what I want to accomplish while holding onto them.

I walked out to my car to take a little breather. I scrolled through the Bible app on my phone, and randomly came to Jonah 2, where Jonah is praying from inside the whale. He is calling out to the Lord, confessing that He needs Him. That He's sinking beneath the waves (literally).

He prays for 9 verses, proclaiming out to God. And then, verse 10, so simple and so powerful. And so revealing of how our God works:

Then, the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. 

  Boom. Just like that, our God was faithful to respond. Isn't He always working like that? Hearing our cries and rescuing us from whatever it is that we're facing? Whether it's the biggest issue we will ever face in our entire life, or simply a case of a frustrated heart.  

The Lord is faithful to respond.

So consider me freshly spit out of the fish, ready to have a good weekend. 

I hope you have one too! :)

THAT Song, THAT Moment

It's here! It's here! The day that Leah and I have been super excited about for just over a week now. The THAT Song, THAT Moment link up! {If you want some more background, check it out here}

Worship is po-wer-ful. I can't even count the number of times it has brought me to my knees, tears streaming down my face, into a beautiful place of tangibly feeling God's love. That tangible feeling, that's what changes your heart, guys. 

The song I chose to share today has spoken to my heart so many times. When I first truly surrendered my life to Christ, still broken and bruised from an ended relationship, this song captivated me every time I heard it. 

No matter what I am facing, whether it's a broken heart, stress at work, fear of the future, confrontation, anything, Strong Enough by Matthew West speaks straight to my heart 

every. single. time. 

It reminds me that this thing called "life"? It wasn't meant to be done alone. 

Any trial that I face, no matter how big or small in relation to the world and others' problems, it matters to God. It all matters. 

And He will carry me through it all. 

every. single. time. 

What song speaks to you? Join in and share with us, will ya?

<a href="http://sweethomesb.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb420/jony313/thatsongmoment2_zps9b585db2.jpg" width="125" height="125" alt="thatsongmoment2"/> </a>

Lara Bars

Before I get started, let me just say that this is not a sponsored post. LARABAR has no idea that I am even writing about them, I just love their bars that much that I want to devote an entire post to them.

True love, folks. True love. 

***

Back in April, I did 30 days with no sugar. And "no sugar" to me meant that I looked at the ingredients in everything I ate, and if I saw the word "sugar" or "honey" or "agave" or "maple syrup" or pretty much any name that I didn't understand, I put the item down. 

I was shocked to find that many of the things I considered to be healthy snacks, had sugar in them. Now, I'm not preaching that all forms of sugar are bad. I'm fully aware that some of them are better than others, but I wanted to take time away from it all to rid myself of that dang sweet tooth. 

LARABAR was pretty much the only bar that I could find without sugar. I've been hooked ever since. They are so good, that you don't even miss the sugar or honey or agave. 

When I was on vacation with my sister, I stocked up on bars for us to have for breakfast, dessert, snack, anything. I knew my sister was a picky eater, and pretty much sticks to only carbs, turning her nose to anything with color. But I was certain that she would love these bars. 

And love them, she did!

We had three different flavors:

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bars did have sugar in them from the chocolate chips, but the Apple Pie bar? None!

And guess which one was my sister's favorite? (And mine too)

The Apple Pie bar! 

But seriously, they are all delicious. And they are all jam packed with natural, healthy ingredients.

If you haven't already, try one today! They have a ton of flavors, so be sure to let me know which one turns out to be your favorite!

Uganda - What am I doing there?

Good question! Now that you know how this happened, let's get into the good stuff. How will I be serving in Kisoro, Uganda?

Kisoro is in South Western Uganda, as is the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park:

Source: www.africatravelresource.com

Source: www.touchuganda.org

The Bwindi National Park is home to half of the world's population of mountain gorillas.

Source: www.bluevistatravel.com

Up until the 1990's, this forest was also home to an unreached people group called the Batwa (the pygmies, or "short people"). 

Source: www.ugandatouristguide.com

In the 1990's, the Batwa people were evicted from their homes by the government to provide refuge for the mountain gorillas. They moved from the jungle to Kisoro, where they have been struggling to adapt ever since. 

I will be partnering with local Ugandan believers to share the gospel, and serve the Batwa people. Our goal is to establish new churches where this group can enjoy fellowship, worship and community. I firmly believe that while on this trip, we will all come into a deeper understanding of who our amazing God truly is, and who He intended us to be. "We" includes the Batwa people, the existing Ugandan believers, and those of us traveling from the United States to serve. 

Because the fact of the matter is, no matter where we stand in our walk with the Lord, we all have a lot  to learn. 

I have no doubts that this will be a life changing experience for me, and it is my hope, that the people I am privileged to serve and serve with will also experience the life changing Spirit of our Heavenly Father. 

So how can you get involved?

If you feel it on your heart to get involved with what the Lord is doing in Kisoro and with the Batwa people, there are many ways for you to be a part of this!

First and foremost, you can pray. You can pray that the Lord's will would be done in these lives, that His incredible, powerful, unfailing love would become more real to these people each and every day. Starting today. 

Should you feel led to get involved with what the Lord is doing in my heart for Uganda, there are multiple ways that you can do this, as well. 

You can share. You can spread the word about what's going on in Kisoro, and how the Lord has called me there. You can blog it, tweet it, instagram it, facebook it, whatever your social media method of choice is, feel free to put this on blast. 

Go ahead and steal the button, if you want. I know we're told not to steal, but I think this is alright in God's book :)

<a href="http://www.e3partners.org/amyinuganda/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w365/amyreed22/601e5070-58f0-45b1-a820-b843767ff462_zpscd70ce8b.jpg" alt="Amy in Uganda" width="200" height="200" /></a>

And finally, if you are feeling called to give, then I will be blessed to receive whatever amount is on your heart. Every dollar counts, every dollar matters, and a dollar given in obedience to the Lord will bless you just as much as giving $100 will. 

If you're reading that thinking "Shoot dang, I am called to give!" then you can do so on my fundraising page. 

I want to take a moment to truly thank you all for how incredible you have been on this journey so far. You have been some of my biggest supporters, and I know it's because you see the Lord working in my life. It's not because you want Amy to go to Uganda, it's because you want Jesus to go to Uganda, and bring Amy along for the ride. 

Thank you for the encouragement. Thank you for the support. And really, just thank you for the love. 

I love you guys. I really, really do.