What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving my recent birthday gifts...

G12 Canon

Toms

I'm loving that the class I teach at the college has started up again for the fall. New college location, new group of students, and some new things for work makes me super excited for this semester.


I'm excited that because school has started, that also means our student group Campus Pregnancy Resources will also get back up and running at UNLV for the semester. We have lots of plans and great ideas for our group!


I'm loving Pinterest...maybe a little bit too much. Here are some of My Pinterest Fashion finds this week.

I'm loving my new shapely eyebrows that I got threaded with my mom-in-law over the weekend.

I'm loving this nail color, Geranium by Essie.

Essie

I'm loving that my family and I got to share a wonderful evening on Monday at Lindo Michoacan celebrating my mother's birthday!

I'm loving my wonderful, hard-working, and awesome husband.

Link up here and join the fun! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

My Weekend in Photos...Destination: Cosmopolitan 8/21 - 8/22

My oh my, how quick this summer has gone and how little I've blogged! I've been such a busy little bee and have been literally all over the world in just a span of 3 weeks. This summer I've been to Africa, Seattle, and LA. I've been back in town for about 2 weeks now and am just starting to get acclimated to my normal life - jet lag, I think has finally worn off. Needless to say, I will have more time to blog and share all my journeys with you. Because my trip to Africa was the longest, most photo-taking/journal writing I've ever done, and most rewarding experience I have ever had, I am going to save the best for last and start updating you on on my most recent adventures first and then spend a few weeks just filling you in on my trip to Africa. I may even create an entire series dedicated to my trip to Africa...we shall see, but I will definitely keep you all up-to-date.
My most recent adventure the hubs and I had was this past weekend at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Every year Zappos.com has a vendor party where all Zappos employees, their families, and different vendors that are affiliated with Zappos are invited to. This year the party was held at the Cosmopolitan inside the Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub. The hubby and I decided to make a stay-cation out of the event because all Zappos employees got discounted room rates and we wanted to check out the relatively new hotel. {Note: While we live minutes away from the strip, we rarely go. It's not our top pick on places to "hang out." But hey when in Vegas...do as the Vegans do. LOL} We arrived Sunday afternoon and spent sometime at the pool before eating an awesome hamburger & shake dinner at Holsteins. We arrived at the party at 9 p.m. and partied till the end at 12 a.m. We had a wonderful time and the party was rave themed too! Mind you, I didn't dress up because I had never been to a rave before and I didn't really know how to dress up for one. I just wore dark navy blue skinny jeans, a teal & purple blouse, and teal pumps. When we arrived the majority of the girls had tutus on, neon outfits, fuzzy thigh-high boots, extremely high pig-tails, fairy wings, etc. Crazy is the best word I can describe this and raves in general. I don't understand them. Nor do I understand the outfit choices, but hey it was out of the ordinary and we had fun dancing the whole night. The next morning we went to this unnamed hidden pizzeria place in the Cosmopolitan and it was super delicious. They serve pizza by the slice and the portions are huge. If you ever get a chance to come to Vegas and stay at the Cosmopolitian I highly recommend it!  The food is great, the atmosphere is gorgeous, and there is lots of shopping!

Some things to consider:

*The pools are going to be crowded! There are only 3 pools at the Cosmopolitan and we went to 2 (The Boulevard Pool located on the east side of the hotel that faces the strip and the Bamboo Pool located on the west side of the hotel) and both are very small and because it's so small it gets super crowed. We went to both pools on Sunday at around 4:30 in the afternoon and both were packed! So if you don't like crowded pools, this may not be the best spot to hang out. I would recommend getting to the pool early in the morning to grab a good spot and to get the most sun. The sun is directly behind the hotel at 4:30 so if you're looking to get your tan on go earlier in the day.

*Room service is slow. In our room the room service had forgotten to put an iron in the room. Ray wanted to iron his shirt before the party. Ray called them at 8 PM, and it literally took them an hour to get it to us. By the time we finished ironing his shirt, making a trip to the ATM, and finding the nightclub we were already 30-45 minutes late. So, if at your stay you have a reservation or a date make sure to consider that it may take awhile for room service to deliver whatever you may need before your date. Don't wait till the last minute, give the room service extra time for running late so that it doesn't infringe on your plans. You don't want to be late for your date!

Our Room

The view from our room!

Our room

I love the crazy wallpaper! 

Awesome light fixture! 

Teal couch...Love it!

Tile in the shower

Have a wonderful weekend!

Saturday Garage Sale"ing" Finds!

Today was a great day for garage sale"ing" in Vegas! My mom, sister, her friend, and I went to at least 10 different garage sales. Some of course were better than others, but at the end of the day my little Elantra's trunk was full of great finds! Here is what I found:

What I found

*Hollister Sweater - $3

*Victoria's Secret Sweater - $3

*Picture frames - .50 cents ea.

*2 pots - FREE

*Box full of children's books for Zambia 

(not pictured - still in the trunk because it's so heavy) - FREE

Have a beautiful Saturday!

I'm Now on Pinterest!

Hey everyone! Follow me on Pinterest @ http://pinterest.com/rayslittlewifey/!

What's In My Garden? Insect Addition

While we are still getting a good deal of tomatoes, I've come to realize that tomato season might be nearing its end over at the Morgan household. Mainly because these little suckers are eating my tomatoes!

One thing I've learned with having a vegetable garden, especially with growing tomatoes, is that you have to be aware of all the bugs that are near and around your veggies. Knowing which ones are good and bad will definitely help you keep your garden in good shape. The insect in question is a Tomato Hornworm, however I have reason to believe it's actually a Tobacco Hornworm because of the color horn. These worms are super easy to identify, if you can find them first, because of their colored horn on the back tail. Tobacco Hornworms have a red horn and Tomato Hornworms have a black horn. Both species can be found on tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato, and tobacco plants. I found mine on both my pepper and tomato plants. So, just because a hornworm is found on your tomato plant doesn't necessarily mean its a Tomato Hornworm. Anywho, these worms eat your tomatoes, are VERY hard to spot, and are EXTREMELY hard to peal off - it took Ray like 7 minutes just to peal it off - they don't give up with out a fight that's for sure. We used a spray that we picked up at Lowe's and for now we haven't seen that many "eaten" up tomatoes. I'm hoping that it is working.

Some More Advice if You Have Tomato/Tobacco Hornworm Problem

-Even though it's hard, peel off the worms!

-Use an insecticide that is designed to kill Hornworms! We used this one.

-Rotate your soil - larvae are laid in the soil not on the plant itself!

-Plant flowers that deter Hornworms, like Marigolds, around the base of your tomatoes.

-If you spot a worm with an eggsac on its back don't kill the worm! This is a parasite and will become a wasp. When the wasp hatches it feeds off of/kills the hornworm. Wasps are good for your garden!

-Look for black/dark brown spots (worm poop) on your plant! If you see some you probably have a worm nearby. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a happier note, since Hornworms obviously don't like cucumbers, my cucumber plant is flourishing! We've already picked 3 cucumbers and there are 2 more on the way. We had one in a salad with a few tomatoes from our garden and it was so delicious. So fresh!

In my flower garden, all my wildflower seeds that I planted in the spring are fully mature now! One grew into a beautiful sunflower (which I ended up not taking a picture of...oh well), and the other two plants I'm still determining what the flowers could be. Today one of these flowers finally bloomed!

To the right you can see my sunflower. To the left my mystery flower.

I think it might be a Calendula. What do you think? What's been going on in your garden?

Mission Trip to Zambia

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” ~Philippians 1:21~

Nearly 10 years ago I surrendered my life to Jesus and asked Him to reign in my heart. From that moment on God has been and is still doing a mighty work in my life! I’m so thankful that God drew me into a relationship with Him. He is changing me and molding me into a new woman everyday. Shortly after being saved, I embarked on my first mission trip the summer of my eighth grade year to the inner city of San Diego, California. It was here, that I worked a Vacation Bible School at a women’s rescue mission for homeless children. After the week was over, I knew God was calling me to be a teacher. Since then, God has been doing amazing things! He provided a path for me to pursue my degree in teaching through the STEP UP program, has me working with students of various ages as a Part-time Instructor at Nevada State College and as a sub at Lake Mead Christian Academy, and leading a small group of junior high girls at Hope Baptist Church’s youth group, Vegas Refuge. I’m continuously amazed at how awesome God is and how wonderfully He works! God is so good! Lately, God has really shown me that He desires that people from every tribe, nation, language, and people to worship Him. My desire is that God would use my gifts and abilities and would allow me to lead people into His presence. Recently, God has given me the opportunity to go to Kabwe, Zambia to share Christ’s love at a teacher’s conference and children’s reading camp. Between the dates of July 29 and August 10, I will be working with fellow teachers to train and equip Zambian men and women to become teachers as well as teaching Zambian children how to read.  

The project will consist of twelve days in Kabwe, Zambia where a small group of us will be conducting mini conferences for children and youth during the Missions Conference that is held in Kabwe every year. We will also be housing a teacher’s conference where we will be training and equipping teachers who have a desire to raise up the nation of Zambia and spread the Gospel by educating children. We will also be conducting a reading camp for the children of a community school sponsored by our partnership with Operation Mobilization and the Bible Gospel Church in Africa. Others of us will also be hosting a sewing conference, hairdressing training, music workshops for children and youth, and providing dental work. I will be working with the teacher’s during the teaching conference and working with children during the reading camp for the children and youth. I am so excited about this project and to see what God is going to do in the lives of the adults and children we work with during this summer. I truly believe that the Lord desires to do a mighty work and He is inviting us to join Him in His work.

***Update***

My trip, instead of being 12 days long, will now be 16 days long! I was given the opportunity to go a few days earlier with two other fellow teachers to spend four days in Lusaka, Zambia observing teachers in schools. We also won't be doing a teacher's conference any longer, but rather focusing on our reading camp, children's conference, pastor conference, and sewing/hairdressing conferences. The second week, we will be conducting a reading camp at a village school in Kabwe. We will observe and assess students so that they will be placed in their respective leveled groups on August 2. August 3-4 will be the actual reading camp. We will be focusing on mastering knowledge and comprehension of letters, letter sounds, sight words, and simple sentences. We will leave the teacher's with lots of books for their library, teaching calendars, ABC flash cards, stickers, etc. While we are there, I will also be teaching teachers a brief overview on Adult Literacy.   

During the reading camp, others from our team will be conducting sewing and hairdressing conferences as well. August 5-7 we will be having a pastor's conference coupled with a children's conference. The children's conference will be similar to a VBS (Vacation Bible School). 
I'm so excited for this trip! I've been wanting to go on another mission trip for awhile now and especially one over seas. This will be my first time away from home for this long, away from friends, family, all my comforts and things that I'm used to. I am truly leaving my "self" at home. This part is scary, but I am leaving it all up to God. He is ultimately The One who is working through me and making the mission amazing. I am just His vessel, being used by Him. This truth comforts me. While I'm on this trip please pray for our team and the hearts of the adults, youth, and children that we will be working with, teaching, and sharing life with that seeds will be planted and lives will be changed for eternity. 

"And He was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" 

~Luke 9:23-25~

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 

~Ephesians 2:10~

Antique"ing" day at Boulder City!

Last Monday, July 11, my sister and I decided to check out some thrift shops and antique stores in Boulder City. There was one main thrift shop I really wanted to check out, Experienced Merchandise, but was surprised to find a lot more thrift"ing" and antique"ing" than I was expecting. Sarah and I started at a place called Back in Time Antiques where I picked up a cute, small, teal serving tray for only $5. We then headed across the street to Antique Depot. I ended up picking up a set of salt & pepper shakers and a kitchen towel also teal of course! We had such a great time and didn't even make it to Experienced Merchandise. We had to make it back into Vegas by 2 to start off our Harry Potter marathon - the premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was on Friday at 12AM for those of you who didn't already know. I definitely want to head back to Boulder City sometime soon and check out the other thrift/antique shoppes - there were at least five more that we spotted. Here are some pictures of our adventure and some of my "finds."

My finds

*Tray $5

*S&P Shakers $10

*Napkin $3

Have you done any thrift"ing" or antique"ing" lately? What did you find?

Have a happy Sunday!