i am still new to electronics so i just want to confirm a few things. how do i power the tinyliily without the power adapter or usb? can i power it through the vcc outlets or can power only be drawn; for like sensors from the vcc port? or can it only be power through the pins you plug the usb adaptor into?

You can power the Tinylily by soldering two wires, one to the positive solder pad and the other wire to the negative solder pad. Then you can connect these wires to a battery or a power supply.

The Tinylily has two spots where you can find the power solder pads. You only need to hook up one set of negative and positive solder pads. The extra power solder pads can be used for connecting power to more devices.