I Love My City: High Street Baptist Church

This week I am featuring my church, High Street Baptist! Sorry for the Instagrams - I can never quite remember to take my camera to church. :) 

(the last photo is from a few Sundays ago, when we skyped with missionaries our church supports! It was pretty much the coolest!)

I have been attending HighStreet Baptist regularly for about a year now, but I started visiting every now and then close to two years ago, when Blake and I started dating (he's been going there since...forever). When I moved to Springfield, it was the obvious choice for a my new church home. I can't tell you how much I love this church. There are so many different ways to get involved, and everyone is so welcoming. My parents have visited a time or two, and they love it. I'm pretty sure they'd come to HSBC too, if it wasn't for the 30 minute drive!

After a few times visiting HSBC, I began to notice that High Street is very missions oriented. (My very first service I attended was a Sending Service to send missionaries to the Netherlands!) I love this about High Street - it makes me very proud to be able to help support our church members that have been called into mission work.

The video is a promo to my favorite series that we've had at church. If you follow the link, it'll lead you to a place on the church website to listen to the messages!


Thanks for reading about my church. :)
xo Haley

*PS! I just realized this yesterday, but our Worship Team's song "God of Victory" is now on Spotify! So if you have an account, look it up! You can also buy it on iTunes :) 

I Love My City: The Aviary

Okay, so I know that I told you all that Whisler's was my favorite place to eat in Springfield. But... I take it back. I totally forgot how much I love the Aviary! Seriously, this local creperie is so charming I can't stand it! 

I usually get the Peach Melba every time I go, but this time I went with something a tad different and got The Classic: nutella, bananas, and strawberries. I liked it.. but it's not my favorite! Blake got the Salted Caramel crepe, which I really need to try next time!
In addition to the sweets, they have savory crepes, but I have yet to try one. Soon, I hope!
This is definitely a must if you're in the Springfield area.

xo Haley

I Love My City: Pineapple Whip

 I hate not knowing about small city gems, such as Pineapple Whip. I remember  coming to Springfield once in a while with my mom during the summer and seeing this strange little cart with a girl hula dancing on the top. It was so stinking weird to me! And now - I know what it is. Behold, the best pineapple flavored dessert in all the land.

According to my boss, it doesn't matter if you like pineapples, you HAVE to like pineapple juice to like this stuff (it's the consistency of frozen yogurt). I went last week, and HOLY YUM. I can tell it's going to be a weekly treat from now on!

Pineapple Whip is exclusive to the Springfield area, but I hear that they sold some of their machinery/equipment to Dole to make "Dole Whip" at Disney world, and other places like that! How cool!

When I went, I had just the regular Pineapple Whip, but I think next time, I need to try one of the different flavors!
Who wants to have a Pineapple Whip party with me?! :)

xo Haley

I Love My City: Whisler's

This is my favorite place to eat in Springfield, that isn't a chain restaurant. I will admit, I go to Steak & Shake way more often than I got to Whisler's, but it makes eating at Whisler's that much more special, right?!

The burgers are tiny (and greasy!) and perfect! I'm pretty sure they've started making fries and onion rings, too! They also recently added additional seating upstairs, because before that, seating consisted of two tables on the sidewalk outside, and one tall table next to the register! It is seriously a hole in the wall. It's too charming for me! Colby joined me the other day when taking these photos. He'd never eaten there before, and I think he was pleasantly surprised! I'm sure it'll be our new favorite spot to eat during out best friend outings. :) 

xo Haley

ps if you stop by Whisler's, get the Sow & Cow. Best bacon cheeseburger around! So glad I'm not a vegetarian.

I Love My City: Aunt Martha's

If I had to pick one favorite spot in Springfield, it would most definitely be Aunt Martha's Pancake House. It's just one of those classic spots that you can easily overlook and hardly even notice when driving down the road, but Aunt Martha super knows her breakfast foods!

If I can make a suggestion - get two eggs, hash browns, bacon and 3 small pancakes. It sounds like a lot of food (and it really is), but it is SO good, and your plate will be empty in no time at all!

I took my youngest brother, Tucker, to Aunt Martha's for breakfast during our Brother + Sister Weekend. It was his very first time eating there, and he loved it! I can't wait to take him back!

In case you didn't know, Aunt Martha's is a favorite of Elsie Larson's too! She blogged about it here. 

Happy Saturday!
xo Haley

I Love My City.

I thought it would be fun to give you all a little virtual tour of my new city! I say "new," when in all actuality I've lived 20 minutes away from Springfield my entire life, but I've only actually lived in the city for 8 months (that's actually a long time...). I was super inspired by Kara's The City and a Cup of Joe series, and although I'm not going to feature just coffee shops, I thought I'd start with one of my favorite spots, Boca Mocha!                                                       

 Boca Mocha has the best atmosphere of all the little shops in the downtown area. It's just so calm and serene. One of mine and Blake's favorite things to do is just pack up all our stuff and have little study & dinner dates there. (They have the best grilled cheese sandwich!)
A while back, the location used to house my favorite coffee shop, Rendezvous, but out of nowhere it closed, and stayed closed for what seemed like forever. Not too long ago, it reopened with new owners and a completely original menu, and brand new decor (done by Sharon Taylor, that styled Elsie's wedding). If you're in the area you definitely need to stop by and try the Peach Bliss Smoothie!

xo Haley