Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome

GOOD: Hello Sunday! The alarms went off all too early this morning, but at least they went off so that we weren't late for work. This past week was a great mix of work & relaxation. We baked our first turkey with simple ingredients, made a mess of the kitchen, & enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal & all of it's left overs several times. In fact we're still enjoying pieces of it today. Just like we're still enjoying pieces of our trip to Paris back in the Spring. 2014 has seemed to be the year of fly-by days. You blink & a whole month or two has gone by! The other fun piece of this week putting away the Fall decorations & pulling out the boxes of Christmas/Winter decorations. We're getting our tree today, or at least that's the plan!

BAD: My friend TS blogs about "leadership" amongst other topics & so I've been thinking a bit about leadership. What kind of leader am I? What kind of leader are you? While I've been told I am a "natural born leader," I think those words can only go so far. Let's be real, there a lot of people we read about in the news that we deem to be poor leaders. What is it about them that makes you say this? The really saddening aftermath of something they led? Or what they stand for? As a glass half full sorta thinker, I have to try & believe that the saddening aftermath of events is usually what was hoped for by the leader. However, things never go quite as we expect now do they?

AWESOME: This past week I e-mailed, text, & talked with many friends & family (especially on Thanksgiving day) but one of the best messages was an e-mail from my SIL saying that our niece was "talking with me" on her phone. It's warms the heart to know she knows me across the miles to let her little imagination soar to wide depths of the world to walk around & say, "Hi Aunt Julia!"

WORD: Yes, still working on finishing that book I started back in September (I am Malala) & looking forward to reading a few good pieces from my friend's blogs such as TS & MBR.

coming up: Advent season is upon us & thus Holiday festivities are in full power now! Decorating, Christmas cards, present bought, & special shopping nights in town.

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday!

I have to say it has been a delightful couple of days away from the computer & much of technology & enjoying the holiday weekend.

Here's a favorite moment of sharing the beater from mashed potatoes with MG to celebrate having her for 1 full year.

Ever since I was a little girl I've always liked mashed potatoes & I've always enjoyed the beaters, just like you would with cake batter. Don't worry, I also like the beaters after mixing cake batter too!

I've always had a special place in my heart for small dogs too. So it's only appropriate that potatoes & puppies come together, right?!

It's Tuesday Tea Time & before I actually looked up the site that this picture is from I thought that it didn't exactly look like a tea drink. Well, check it out, for your Thanksgiving "Tea". I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't sound half bad. However, I don't believe I'll be trying it at the same time.

Being the holiday week I thought a holiday related photo was in order. However, it does take away the fun of editing my own photo & putting #TuesdayTeaTime #LifeSpiritSparkle on the photo. Yes, I know I could've done a screen shot & then done the editing, but to be honest the way this week started out, that was more work than I wanted to do. Not to say this week started out bad, just busy busy busy as usual.

So where do you find yourself this holiday week? Headed home where the article for this "Thanksgiving Tea" says you'll need this recipe or staying in where it's quiet? Many people I'm sure are working. While I will be enjoying the holiday in my home, it'll only be a day "off" in a manner of speaking. We still plan to make our own meal, take down the Fall decor, clean the house, & get out the Christmas/Winter decor. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a decent amount of work to me. It will be fun as we'll be on our own schedule & putting up the decorations that bring back many memories from the past 30 years.

May your Thanksgiving be joyful & give you one or two or three grateful pieces in your day!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: This past week seems like we have been coasting to the week ahead. I've been eagerly waiting to take down my Fall decorations & put up my Christmas/Winter decorations. The snow has been coming in big flakes & wild winds & then melting & making everything muddy. We've been discussing possibly purchasing & baking our first full turkey too. While it might be strange not being with extended family for Thanksgiving, it'll be nice to have our day off at home where we can spend all day in our pajamas if we want. This past week I also got diagnosed with my first ever official allergy. While the allergy is not good - thankfully not too life altering - it is good to know what was giving me the hives. And on another good note, yesterday we were honored to make our friends dinner & get to meet their 2 week old little LJP. It's amazing how a baby can quiet a room of adults who are simply in awe & love with the baby.

BAD: In this week of gratefulness I honestly don't know what to add here. Check out CNN if you really want to read about unfortunate & bad things happening both in our country & the world.

AWESOME: Listening to this podcast featuring Patti Smith. Very real & down to earth & honest about religious attraction & yet anti organized religion.

WORD: Today I'm preaching on lambs & sheep & being both/and people based off of Matthew 25:31-46.

coming up: Did you miss it? Thanksgiving & that means yummy holiday food & the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Friday Favorites!

TGIF! Even though I woke up & thought it felt like a Monday. I suppose that's what happens when you take Thursdays "off."

One of my favorite pieces of this week was taking the time away from the computer work to be in prayer as I colored this piece of artwork. My friend EGBB is getting ordained! As part of her invitation she asked that people would color this & send it in to her to be part of her ordination service.

Yes, it is one of those things that I thought "Dang, why didn't I think of this?!"

While EGBB & I haven't kept in close contact since seminary life took us separate directions on the map, it lifts my spirit knowing she's including me with the many others who received this invitation to be a part of celebrating such a joyous occasion for the Church. I can't wait to see pictures of how this artwork is used as part of her service!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Timers!

Every now & then somethings gotta give right?

Well recently it has been my blogging. I've had a lot more writing to do & a bit of writer's block. In fact I'm lined up to preach this Sunday & have done very little to prepare so far. If you know me, you know this is unusual by this point in the week.

All of a sudden we're covered in icy cold white snow here in Pure Michigan. Seriously, it's like I blinked & my memories of a month or two were taken from me & we're all of a sudden living in January already. Having felt like I was a month behind since the Summer doesn't help this much.

Thankfully what does help with the writer's block & the frigid temps is a nice warm mug of tea. Tonight it's Teatulia for Julia! Props to my mom for that gift & rhyming it with my name.

I'm weekly amazed at the amount of blogs I see pop up filled with evidence that the writer's of those blogs have been reading & reading & reading about the many things they share. For example, TS's weekly post is a plethora of intriguing & enriching reads. Way to be awesome my friend! Seriously, he's one of a few e-mails or social media notifications I receive that has such a wealth of life knowledge worth sharing.

Shortly before my birthday this year I read an article (of course I don't know where it is now, but most likely it was from Relevant Magazine) that said some of the common things that women tell themselves in their 30s & how to reframe these negative things. One of the things was to be okay with the things you don't do. Such as owning an acoustic guitar for 9 years & never learning to play much of anything on it or owning all sorts of crochet needles, but never learning more than an average hook & means of making hot pads or scarves.

So I'm not much of a reader. It's amazing I made it through a 4 year graduate school program! I'm also not a basic skilled guitar player. Nor am I a crochet artist, though I have hopes to do more with this & as far as I know I have plenty of time ahead of me to do so.

No matter what has to give a little, I'm still me, you're still you & that's enough.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

More coming your way soon. Till then, sit back & say hi to Butkus & Rocky.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you're week is going well so far. Recently I've had a run around with a few medical ventures & somehow still learning to best manage my time so that I'm living the holistically healthy life I prefer & thrive from when I am living one.

Oy, what an adventure!

Trust me, I know lots about time management & lists & calendars. It is a continuing lesson learning to say "no" & be ok with it...So that the lists stay realistic & the calendars don't become so scribbled on they're unable to be read. Though the overly scribbled calendars do start to become an art piece month by month!

Taking time to sit back & sip my tea is something that will always fit into my schedule. I read once that women in their 30s need stop counting the unaccomplished & be happy with what they can do & what they actually get around to doing. Coming from a society that defines individuals by what they do, this is of utmost importance for that holistic healthy living.

Hey, ya know what, this week is also my 22nd cancerversary! More reason to breath deep & count one's blessings. Do things that bring joy to others & to you. Do things that help you share your inner light with others who need it to fuel their inner light. Together your lights will shine bright. 

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: This past week was filled with vocational adventure feeling out my authority & lack thereof. I am always a team player, but some times I want to work individually & then come together as a team. Friday topped off the adventuresome week with Slow Cooker Lasagna, baptismal discussion, & no knead ciabatta bread. Then a surprise visit just to go pick up some farm fresh eggs. MG had herself a very full evening with a baby around & then hanging out with a bunch of people. Of course she made herself at home right away by trying to eat the plastic cat dish. Thankfully it was the lid of a Country Time Lemonade container. The Spirit was spilling hospitality abounding!

BAD: Remember that whole not burning one's candle at both ends thing? Yeah, failed.

AWESOME: Ice cream traditions, like geegunks (google doesn't give much on this) that my Dad's side of the family carried on from my Grandpa's days in the Navy. So I just kept searching & found this gem about geedunks. Kinda fun, but a geegunk in my family is chocolate milk with vanilla ice cream. You can doctor it up however you please, but it's just as good plain.

WORD: Matthew 25:1-13 - What do you do to prepare for the coming of Jesus in your life? There are many (& that's an understatement) interpretations of this scripture. For me, it is a daily life style & a belief that Jesus is with us always, at all times as Jesus's Spirit gives us each breath. Thus we are called to live a life worthy of our calling (Eph. 4) to be like Jesus in the flesh for others, for community.

coming up: Most likely a bit more snow. It's already fallen at least 2 or 3 times. Though somehow I missed the one time. I suppose I didn't look at the roof tops. Also a road trip to Ikea & a conference where I get to see at least one friend I haven't seen in something like 7 years. Looking forward to the continuing education & the dreaming up of new ways to be the church with colleagues.

Friday Favorites!

Finding peace in the recent past.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday evening tea today!

While I woke up over a week ago & decided I was done burning my candle at both ends the actual doing so is another thing to figure out.

Why do we over busy ourselves?

Part of me says it is to escape some things & the other part of me says it is to run towards things like being in community.

Just the other day I had a convo with an introverted friend about how easy it is to stay inside & not get involved in public, but then at the same time how much energy even an introvert is given by having to go out in public for work or just for a grocery run. In all fairness, even I - an extreme extrovert - said it was easy to convince oneself to stay inside. So it works both ways.

If we're running from something the chance is it is something that we don't want to discuss or have to think about. So we find home in other places & people.

We find home where our heart is & busy ourselves in these places.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: This past week marked the end of my first month in my new job & things are slowly, but surely starting to feel like a new normal. Many times people have asked, "What do you do?" When they want something more than the generic "youth ministry" answer - which it seems they often do - I can happily answer "it is different each day." I say happily because while I seek out routine of sorts, it is good to have fresh vibes flowing from a solid Spirit led work. In reality this past week went by in a blink & of course I didn't get as much done as I would've liked to do, but I'm practicing some boundaries by allowing things to pour over week to week. Each day it seems that I am making new connections with more & more people from the community, so that is a definite bonus to feeding my inner being of an extrovert. This past week we also got to have dinner with some friends we hadn't seen in a few months. It was good to share what God had us all up to so that we can be in prayer for & with each other. It was also good just for some shared joy of life for friendship & our love for Michigan/the Mid-West.

BAD: That everything that is different is weird. One trick-or-treater came with at least one other youth that we know & she had painted her face to be a similar fashion of the skeletons in today's picture. When I wished her a "feliz día de los muertos" she exclaimed, "Finally, somebody gets it!" I wish that being somebody who goes against the grain - which we all do at some point - wasn't so negatively received. This wasn't even a big push against a skeleton costume for halloween, but a tribute to a holiday celebrated by many (just not in MI).

AWESOME: Being surprised by a treat from McDonalds. EE & KB stopped by my office late on Friday to say hi & share McDs. It's fun to hear about their adventures & shenanigans as seniors. I hope EE's ghost costume turned out as awesome as she planned!

WORD: Reading about death in lieu of Halloween & Día de los muertos.

coming up: It's November! That means monthly meetings .... and mom's birthday!