Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

In honor of Thanksgiving week, I googled "Turkey Tea" really not knowing what to expect for a picture. Much to my surprise, thought it shouldn't have been, dozens of photos similar to this one came up. It shouldn't have been a surprise considering Z has been to Turkey & brought home a tea set much like the one in the picture. However, his trip was a few years before we met each other & this is the first time we've had to the space to display the set.

This global use of tea & how it brings people & stories together is one of my most favorite things about tea!

So who wants to join me for some Turkish Tea? Maybe we'll make Turkish Delight as well & watch the first Narnia movie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday Make-Up!

It's a Monday Make-Up session!

I thought about Friday Favorites on & off all day Friday & woke up Saturday & realized I never posted.

Sunday came around & I preached at two services & came home & took the traditional Sunday afternoon nap. In the evening Z preached at the community Thanksgiving service & before I knew it, Sunday had come & gone.

So a Monday Make-UP!

One my favorite moments this last week was the prayer gathering I hosted for our church. The Spirit was definitely working her healing powers, even with only me & one other person (ahem, it was Z) present. While I have no doubt that this could've been a beneficial gathering for others to be a part of, it had only been announced two days earlier & wasn't in print.

Another favorite was this photo of hedge apples that created quite the community conversation on Facebook & Instagram. While, like any fruit, I know they rot, I wonder if when they grow this cavernous black holes if it's because they have attracted spiders & other bugs (like they're supposed to do) who have then eaten the fruit & are no more. Anybody know?!

Another fun thing that happened was getting our outdoor lights put up for the Christmas/Holiday/Winter season. It's so fun having a house to decorate this year. And being my mother's daughter, I have to hold myself back from spending more money & decorating more.

We decorated outside just in time as the last few days have been very snowy & windy!

And to top of the week & the turning weather, we built a fire & poured some vino.

Coming up: a little work & a lot of fun! We are looking very seriously into getting a puppy soon & it's Thanksgiving week, so that means a little extra time "off."

Many blessings on your Thanksgiving week!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Yes, that is a McDonald's cup. In fact, Google said it was a picture from Canada. I'm not sure I've ever seen a McCafé cup like this. At the same time I can't say that I've spent much time or money at McDonald's in general. Nor have I been to Canada in the last fifteen years.

However, it does seem that the most time I've spent in places like McDonald's or Burger King have been in other countries. Why? Because, when you purchase something, you're often given access to their wifi.

So today, I had an international experience with my Coconut Chai - from home - & my $1.06 hash-brown to do some work to prep for a prayer service I'm leading. This all practically in my backyard in the USofA

Life sure keeps leading me to unique places!

What unique places is life leading you to today?

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Ugly!

Time for Sunday Snippits yet again. Does anybody else not believe that November is half over already?! Well, we better start believing, cause December is coming to us ever so quickly with each passing minute.

GOOD: This last week was a go-go-go week. This is good because I function better when I have things to do. I'm a list maker & when I have things to put on my list & then have things to accomplish, life is good. There was phoning, there was Tuesday Tea, there was my cancer-versary, & turkeys learning to speak! Yes, it was a busy & good week. And by the way, I'm the turkey learning to speak. There's no denying my familial roots when I make silly mistakes like saying "Gooble Goble" when I meant to write "Gooble Gobble." What can I say, my kind, we keep life entertaining! I also got to get out for a Starbucks treat with my friend TE (see Friday Favorites for more info), have dinner with my new friend AP, & then dinner again the next night with other new friends & colleagues. AND TODAY is my 1st ZUMBA DEMO! 

BAD: The darn check engine light came on again. 

UGLY: Read the news people, I don't need to tell you what's ugly. However, I will highlight this Huffington Post article about religious freedom. Why can't we be ok with the fact that we're not all the same & strive for the common good of the neighbor?!

WORD: Psalm 46. It contains part of my favorite scripture to meditate on. AND I may be preaching on this scripture next Sunday.

Coming up: Z's being installed this evening! I'm preaching next Sunday! More phoning & promoting of the awesome ministries God is leading Youth Encounter in & much more.

Friday Favorites!

Meet TE, my new friend, fellow cancer warrior, & tea lover!

If you're the praying type, TE is having surgery this coming week & could use prayers for the days of preparation left, the actual day of the surgery, & the days of recover to come. All before starting radiation in February.

TE & I were able to celebrate my cancer-versary together the other day with 100 calorie klondike ice cream bars - 100 calories to make up for the candy we ate later that night at a church event. She hugged me & said I was her inspiration, but she's my inspiration of juggling cancer & being a mom of 4, a wife, a grandmother, an active community & church member, a daughter, & sister, & friend to many.

We knew we were kindred spirits before we even met face-to-face.

Here's to kindred-spirits!

Tuesday Tea Time!

YaY for Tuesday Tea Time!

It is officially cold out - there's white fluff sticking a little more permanently now - & therefore there is MUCH more hot tea being consumed.

What teas make the best hot teas? 

I'm not too picky, but I am curious what your favorites might be.

Yesterday, I tweeted that I had the most bizarre tea time & it was! It was the most bizarre I've had in years. It reminded me of sitting in Cup or Joe, working on my senior thesis project for Capital's religion department, minding my own business, & being approached by a woman who said she had premonitions. She just HAD to talk to me. She proceeded to tell me how I was going to have my heart broken by somebody very soon. Well this person that broke my heart & I hadn't even met yet. We met maybe 2 months later & then broke up roughly 7 months after that. However, I would say that it was a mutual breaking of hearts. Fi & I are still friend, even though, at distance (literally, he lives on the East Coast).

YESTERDAY! I go to the closest Starbucks about 45min away to work outside of the office & I have barely sat down when this guy starts in on our maybe 45min conversation. He starts by asking if it's still snowing outside. It wasn't, but then it blossomed into that Z & I are ministry leaders & that he is a "born again Christian." He proceeded to tell me his ENIRE STORY of how he was a hard sale on Christianity or really religion as a whole. It wasn't until he nearly died - or in his words, he did die for 3 days - that he believed in God.

How do we get it through our thick skulls that there is something - I believe it's God - that is SO much bigger than us & loves us more than we know & keeps us & this world going forward?!

I don't know what I do to attract these people & their stories, but it sure does make life a touch more interesting. 

Who do you attract? Who do you believe in? 

Happy Tea Time!

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Ugly

Happy New Week! It's Sunday once again & this last week was full of this & that. So a few highlights it will be!

GOOD: I have been so blessed recently with a multitude of work opportunities that can be done at the intersection of world & church. In just one week, I will be teaching my first Zumba demo class. Check out my new Zumba tab (at the top of the page) for more information! I am also still phoning for Youth Encounter & I am now serving as a 'Support Liaison' for our church & community. This means I am available for one-on-on or group emotional support & healing gatherings. Please contact me for more information! Aside from the work information, Z & I got a chance to go to the movies this last week & really enjoyed the movie Last Vegas. Plus we got some holiday shopping in too with lights for the outside part of the house - now we need some hooks or a special staple gun to put them up - & a box of blank cards. Saturday was the most exciting though, I cleaned & cleaned & choreographed Zumba & cleaned some more. There really is something therapeutic about cleaning & I'm not being sarcastic about that!

BAD: This is my least favorite time of year. That in-between time when Fall isn't so colorful & pretty any longer & winter hasn't set in just yet. And not to mention it is bad that this is highlighted because it is seen as special & unusual. This shouldn't be unusual, but sharing love like this is always special.

UGLY: Typhoon Haiyan death toll. Communion Refusal.

Coming up: My 23rd cancer anniversary is Wednesday! This means ice cream :-) & there's a fun social Thanksgiving themed gathering at the church that night. & more work of course & Tea Time with TE!

WORD: Luke 20:27-38 The Gospel lesson for today - if you follow the Revised Common Lectionary. Marriage is great, but it doesn't matter in the long run b/c in the long run we belong to our Creator. Other thoughts on this text?!

Friday Favorites!

If you haven't seen the new Bit Strips App popping up all over Facebook, here ya go!

The last week or two have just been pretty crazy. To give you an idea of how crazy, I had to reschedule an appointment twice because I simply spaced through the first two times - while working on other things. Then, I left my cell phone at home all day yesterday, while we were out having fun. So no photos of yesterdays adventures!

It was a bit freeing not having my phone on me for most of a full day. And back to the Bit Strips, they're weird! They're entertaining, no doubt, but they are strange.

So this is my Sunday Snippit, Tuesday Tea Time, & Friday Favorite all in one.

Definite highlight was going to see the movie Last Vegas. It's funny & heart touching.

So we go to see this movie & I'm inspired to get a few gatherings put together for me & my friends from high-school & college & here's why:

because I have friends like this (this is a quirky card from AJO). Like which you say? Friends who do & are all of these boxes. Jackpot friends!

Here's to the jackpot pieces & people of life!

Friday Favorites!

TGIF!

What a week it has been. Many fun things, many hard things, many crazy things.

LIFE!

Jack-o-Lanterns!

The Young Americans

Trick-or-Treat!