Trendy Tuesdays.

        Ok, I admit it, even though I'm quite the tomboy, I have this fascination with fashion trends. So Tuesdays here at Eccentric Emilee are all about trends I'm loving.

       This weeks trend: flower hair accessories.

                                                                

        I am seriously obsessed with these things. They are super cute in a chignon, or even just as a headband. They're also really inexpensive and cheap to make.

         Here's a quick how-to tutorial.

Supplies needed:

• a hot glue gun
• alligator hair clips
• scissors
• silk flowers (I purchased mine at JoAnne’s when they had their spring flowers on clearance.)

1. Pull the flower off of the stem and then trim the little knobby part that sticks out of the back so that it is easy to remove the remaining flower parts.


2.  Pull off the small plastic backing that is keeping the silk petals in place.  (see it there above the flower?)

3. Remove all petals that are not firmly attached to the center and very front of the flower.

The type of flower will determine how many of the petals you will remove.



4. Glue each layer of petals to the previous layer with the glue gun using the remainder of the ‘stem’ to line up each layer of petals
.

5. Trim any remaining stem so that it is flush with petals
.
6. Glue clip to back of flower
.

I found this cheat to be helpful when I hot glued the clip onto the back so that the clip didn’t glue itself closed.


       I hope you've enjoyed Trendy Tuesday #1!


*all photos taken from www.raisingolives.com

Missions Minded Mondays

        Mondays are all about missions. Today I want to focus on MANA. Mother Administered Nutritive Aid is an organization focused on the nutrition of children all around the world. Here are some facts from their website (www.mananutrition.org) :

A child dies every six seconds from
malnutrition-related causes.

It’s preventable. And it’s curable.

There are about a billion hungry people in the world. Hunger gives way to chronic malnutrition, and in its most severe form, severe acute malnutrition kills 1- 2 million kids a year.
THE CYCLE OF MALNUTRITION

• A child becomes acutely malnourished and the mother must leave what little livelihood she has – typically farming – to take the child to the nearest hospital.
• Long walks give way to crowded waits in makeshift centers. If admitted, she remains as the caregiver in a crowded malnutrition ward, which is often a room with rows of straw mats, as the child is treated.
• Disease is transmitted easily between the weakened children in the ward.
• And if the child survives and returns home, it is often to siblings and other family members who have sunken into a deeper level of crisis.

     MANA offers a treatment called RUTF. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food.

A six-week supply of MANA* brings a malnourished toddler back from the edge. Usually, for good.

Several years ago in Africa, a fortified peanut butter product – Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) –  was developed that significantly reduces the number of deaths resulting from severe acute malnutrition.
The development of this RUTF is a game changer.

• Field doctors prescribe and distribute it.
• Mothers can take it back home to administer it, away from the disease in the hunger ward.
• Malnourished children digest and process it better than grains.
• Back home quickly, a mother can provide for her other children as she nurses her weakened child back to health.

This community-based approach using RUTF such as MANA will  prevent the deaths of millions of children, worldwide.
Best of all, studies show that once a child is brought back with a full course of RUTF, they stay strong enough to avoid a relapse into severe acute malnutrition. In 2007, RUTF was endorsed as the standard of treatment worldwide for severe acute malnutrition by UNICEF, WHO, WFP, and the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition.

       MANAs goal is that one day, no child will starve to death.

image from www.mananutrition.org

Millions of children who will die of severe acute malnutrition could be saved if each only had 6 weeks’ worth of MANA.  The total cost is less than $60 per child.  That’s it.  Is a child’s life worth $60?
We believe in the universal, cross-cultural truth that mothers love their children.  If we empower moms to treat their malnourished children with ready to use food, lives will be saved.

We can do this.

Foodie Fridays.

           Okay friends, from now on, to improve my blogging frequency, I'll be doing 'segments' a few times a week. Today is Foodie Friday! I'll share some of my favorite restaurants/recipes. Today I hung out with some lovely ladies from church, Ashlyn and Jessie. The fantastic Ms. Jess made some super delish trail mix cookies for her trip to Jamaica, and she let us 'sample' some.

                                         
Ingredients.

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 egg whites

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
2. Beat applesauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg whites until they are frothy and begin to firm up. Fold egg whites into applesauce mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold into the egg mixture. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, walnuts, and cranberries. Drop by heaping teaspoons on prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake cookies in preheated oven until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove immediately to wire racks to cool.

                 Healthy AND yummy. Try 'em out. :)

I am a voice for the voiceless...

   We just got back from Houston yesterday! I was such an amazing week and God really blessed our group. After 12 hours on the road, we finally rolled in to Houston. Wednesday was our first full day there, and we had so much fun! That morning we went to a Hindu Mosque.

          The stone work was absolutely stunning. It was so awesome to learn about the different culture and religion. After we finished our tour, we ate lunch on our way to the apartment complex we were working with.  The first day was a definite hit! I was on the crafts team, and the first day we made paper bag puppets. The kids really liked the self-adhesive googly eyes! That night we went to the Montrose Street Church. It was a church service in the parking lot of a business in downtown Houston. There were people from all walks of life there and it was very eye-opening.


        On Thursday, we visited a Buddhist Temple.

                                                            Walking into the Buddhist temple

                                                                  Waiting to go in.

                                                                   Freaky? Yes.

Statues in the garden.

                                                                   The courtyard.

                                                                            Buddha.

Some demonic statue.

Pillars outside the temple.

Then we hit up an Asian market.

Part of our group.

                                                              We are such world travelers.

                                                          There were so many vases.

Ironic?

                                                                          So pretty.

Quack.

Fish in a bucket. Yum.

Katie liked the eggplant.

              On Friday, we visited an Islamic prayer center, IKEA, and then hit up the Galleria. Here are a few  pictures from the day:

                                                                             Nap time.

                                                                           Sigh.

                                                       

                                                                     My bus buddy and I.

                                                          Josh and I...this is my favorite for sure.

                                                                          Oh yes.

                                                                      Juicy Couture.

                                                                             Coach.

                                                                     Louis Vuitton.

                                                 If I was rich, this is where I would shoe shop.

                                                                             Posh.

                                                     And I thought the one in our mall was big...

                                                                              Bling.

                                                           Rainforest Cafe was fantastic.

                 Saturday I didn't get any pictures because we were so busy, and then Sunday we were traveling. It was truly an amazing trip. God taught me to be flexible and to really depend on Him. What He has in store for me is so much better is so much better than what I could plan for myself. The Bible says "Trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding." Trust in God, because I promise, He will use you in ways you could never imagine.
                                                                                                                             

Pre-Houston Post.

             Hello hello! As you may know, my youth group is taking a mission trip to Houston, Texas. Tomorrow morning, at 8 am, we will be pulling out of RBC and hitting the road (for sixteen hours!). To entertain me and my bus buddy (the lovely Katie H.), I took the liberty of buying us..............A COLORING BOOK! And not just any coloring book, but a Care Bears coloring book.

Here's a list of what my carry-on contains:


-  coloring book
-  package of crayons
-  two bags of chips
- a pack of twizzlers
- my ipod
- two books
- a notebook
- pack of gum
- hair ties
- batteries


         I'm hoping between that, movies, and sleep, we can occupy ourselves for the bus ride. We will arrive around midnight, shower, and then head straight to bed. Wednesday we are taking a Hindu prayer walk, apartment ministry, and homeless outreach. Thursday we are visiting a Buddhist temple, more apartment ministry, and then more homeless outreach. Friday we are touring an Islamic Da'Wah, apartment ministry, and then an evening out at the Galleria. Saturday is our last full day there and we are handing out fliers for VBS and the finishing up our apartment ministry. Sunday we leave bright and early that morning. I'm really excited about the apartment ministry aspect of this trip. We will be hosting a day camp for the kids that live in the apartment complex. The kids will rotate through four stations: rec, music, crafts, and storytelling. I am a part of the crafts team (woot woot!). There are eight of us: seven girls and one guy. We have nicknamed ourselves Andy's Angels, in honor of our fearless male teammate. We tried to come up with some gender-neutral ideas so the boys wouldn't be stuck making sparkly crowns. After some deliberation, we decided to use paper airplanes for one of our crafts. We ended up throwing paper airplanes in the church parking lot for half an hour. Oh the fun we teenagers have! I'm really excited to see how God is going to use our team over these next six days. I know His plan is so different then the one we have for ourselves, and I'm excited to see how much better it's going to be!


       Please pray for:

- unity as a team
- flexibility
- patience
- safety
- good sleep

       
          I look forward to updating you guys when we get back! Until then, my friends. :)

I'm so excited...

...and I just can't hide it! Oh my, what a week it's been  going to be. I am an apprentice up at student ministry office this summer, so I went up and worked from 12-5 yesterday and then had dinner with my grandma. Now I'm headed back up there...by the time I get home tonight, I will have been at church for eight hours. But I don't mind because I seriously LOVE my youth group/staff!!! Tomorrow we will be setting up for our youth garage sale. Every year we collect items and then have a garage sale to raise money for mission trips and camp. Saturday is my brothers birthday and I still have yet to buy his gift because, well, I procrastinate. Speaking of procrastinating, I had better get moving. Have a happy first of June!


Houston: 6 days!