Tuesday Tea Time!

Good morning Tea Time Tuesday followers!

This past weekend I had the joy to visit the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival for the first time since late elementary school. We ate lots of goodies, bartered for a new scarf/handkerchief with beavers all over it (it was stained), & caught up with a good friend & her mom (a new friend!).

Right before we were about to say g'bye we passed the honey stand. Tempting to buy new in their cool different bottles, but being honest with myself I didn't need any more honey at this time. Then there was the tea stand! Yet another tempting site to splurge at, but I simply took their info & said I'd feature their work in my next Tuesday Tea Time.

Teajutsu has a lovely message! They say they "are a company of good humor, of good will, of inclusion and innovation." Who wouldn't be intrigued by that self description?! It caught my attention right away. They even have a diet plan that I agree with & sounds smart & affordable. AND in good fashion, they believe that tea is for everyone. 

We all need to check them out a little bit closer & if you've tasted their teas, please let us know your thoughts in the comments! I plan to revisit the thought of purchasing a taste of Teajutsu once I get through my current supply in the coming weeks (or maybe months with my supply).

Happy Tuesday Tea Time to you all!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

Whether you've had your morning tea or coffee or juice (or beverage of choice) or not, you're an honorary Tea Timer simply by being here. So welcome right where you are!

It's good to be back in this strange community. Being with yall for Tuesday Tea Time warms my heart a pinch. I find this community strange though because for the most part it is a silent community.

There is something to that though, right? There's support in the number of views & +1 google likes I get & yet just the joy of having tea on Tuesday is the lingering feature of this blog.

It dawned on my late last week that with the return of Tuesday Tea Times I could have brought back a few changes. However, it was late last week & I didn't want to make any sudden changes as my recess over the last month & a half has been quite full with other life. So in coming weeks you may see some new things like artwork or imagery & potentially a change of address.

The one reassuring thing is that we will gather here for Tuesday Tea Time each week unless noted otherwise. For now it'll simply be Tuesday Tea with the potential of pop-up posts, so enjoy!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

You knew I couldn't stay away for long, right? I love to write, especially on Tuesdays with Tea! Creative writing is one small piece of self care that I can give myself. My 6th grade teacher should be so proud!

Lately the question that seems to popping up is "What is going on?!"

In the moment, which is where I need to be, I'm drinking tea, enjoying a slow morning after doing some chores & yoga. I'm sitting in a rather empty house & mentally prepping for the chores of cleaning & organizing that need done today so that we may play tomorrow.

All of that seems pretty common except for one piece. If you don't know we're moving or any of the reasons why, I'm guessing you're wondering why I'm sitting in a fairly empty house.

The skinny....our time in Chebooboo has come to a close. There are many pieces that brought this time together much quicker than we ever anticipated. The main reasons being that Z needed to seek further medical attention to care for his depression & PTSD. Naturally people have wondered where we are headed next & the answer is into a time of transition & limbo as we discern our future. We are being taken care of by a combination of family, friends, & colleagues.

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matt 6:34 The Message

Right now, the Spirit has been present in my life through granting peace that surpasses my understanding. Peace has been granted that gives me level thinking & communicating to get things done & remember how to take care of myself & my family in the midst of fairly chaotic times. Right now God keeps showing up in #heartfinds everywhere I go, reminding me that I'm not alone.

Right now I'm enjoying my Wonderland Tea & the lovely photo of BgEG's hoosier honey!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Do you ever need a reminder to take a break?

I do!

Tuesday Tea Time is just that time, but even then I have to remember to stop & breath a  little deeper.

In all of life's unexpected pieces, the way we remain true to ourselves is remembering to breathe.

A few years back at a church service at Jacob's Well there was a speaker who talked about focusing on our breath & the difference that can make in a day. I remember the importance of sitting in a chair that you are comfortable in, but can also set both of your feet flat on the floor & have something behind your back. This is more of a challenge for some than others. In fact as I sit here I realize my computer should be raised quite a bit & I need a pillow behind my back to comfortably place both of my feet on the floor. The presenter also had us place both hands palm down on our legs & close our eyes.

I don't remember how long or how often it was recommended to do this, but it is a form of bringing oneself back to oneself. Being centered as many do in yoga. Taking one's eyes away from a screen & taking care of oneself so that one may take care of others (as we are always called to do in one way or another).

Life in the coming weeks is going to call for a break here & there. So no worries if I do not post, but know that things will resume as normal come Fall. In the meantime I'll be focusing on my breath.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Check out this great pillow that I could've bought the other week when shopping with AJO, but didn't think I needed to in the time. I know I still don't need to own this, but really what was I thinking?

I could have Tuesday Tea Time with my tea pillow!

Totally not necessary, but also totally fun & random.

Also, not necessary is a tea subscription - signed up by accident - that sends you 6 boxes of the same kind of tea each month. The 6 boxes of Yogi Kava Stress Relief Tea that Z gifted me for my b-day was the start of all this silliness. While I would still like some Kombucha - what the company was supposed to send rather than Kava - I do not need 6 new boxes of tea each month. I especially do not need 6 new boxes of the exact same kind of tea each month. Thus said subscription has been canceled & I have a LOT of Kava tea to enjoy & offer to guests.

So come for a visit & you can enjoy some tea with me!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Two weeks later & I'm remembering to share about my birthday treat that of course included tea!

We've seen it all in recent years! Sparkling teas to spiked teas!

This drink is a strawberry chamomile spiked tea. The best part of this drink was the robust taste of chamomile.

I asked ours server if she could tell me the ingredients/type of tea & she was funny as she said it was a very fancy tea. When somebody says fancy tea, I think to the expensive loose leafs & brands that I've only ever been gifted or looked at on the shelf in a store. This however was one of my favorite brands that while  it is a bit of a splurge, I can afford on occasion. 

Harney & Sons Egyptian Chamomile is the most delicious chamomile I have ever had! Even with a touch of vodka, it ruled the flavors of this drink & was accompanied lightly with fresh strawberry sugar juice. Essentially the strawberries were sauteed with sugar to create a syrup & added to the tea. Overall a very calming & soothing tea time indeed!

May today's tea time be the same!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Time!

It's so great to have tea with you all & especially this new Viking friend you see here. Isn't he just wonderful?!

I can tell he's ready for the weather to do a bit more warming up!

Let's call him Ned.

Do you ever name things that don't need names? I do it all the time! Of course people don't typically know what I'm talking about then when I refer to an inanimate object by a name rather than it's title.

This past weekend we said g'bye to Horton & now have Barry. While that name might not stick, it's all I've got right now because Barry is blue.

Enjoy your tea, Ned!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

Check out these fabulously 'English' tea pots!

Something tells me that not many people in England actually own teapots like this unless they collect teapots. You can possibly guess that this photo was taken in a store due to the lineup & multitude of the teapots.

Isn't it funny the items country themed stores sell that represents an entire country? 

Yet again remembering my time in Scotland several years ago, the one thing my friends & I could come up with that was uniquely from the United States was a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. However I don't see stores selling pb&j sandwiches except for maybe at stores like American Spoon. American Spoon is more distinctly Michigan & that is just a piece of the USA.

All these pieces make up a people & people have stories that make up a country. Some of these story pieces are more often shared than others & then we get crazy themed teapots representing an entire country of people & their stories.

Crazy! But as Alice Kingsley said, "...You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are!"

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday! AND it's Tea Time!

I don't know about you, Tuesdays seem to be one of the busiest days of my weeks. It's not quite the middle of the week, but in reality it is & of course because of that it is when people schedule meetings.

NERD ALERT! I really like meetings. Ok, so maybe it depends on the topic of the meeting, but I really like conversation & community & often that is what comes with meetings. Though, at the same time, meetings can be very stressful. Part of the stress for me is adapting to new things & while I am not new to children, youth, & family ministry, my current main position is still new & all of the work I do is very new to those I work with & for.

Mer, mer!

Check out this Spice & Tea Exchange at Downtown Disney! A couple of weeks ago when we were in the much warmer - though cold for the natives - climate of Florida, we had dinner at an Earl of Sandwich & like a piece of fate, it was attached to this wonderful store filled with tea! This is where I purchased my most recent loose leaf tea - Rose Mint Tea - & since then have been able to enjoy not only it's flavor, but it's beauty. It's that nice mix of earth & fantasy & reality.

Fantasy?

Ok, well it's just got nice color. I love pops of color! In fact, with my new eye glasses I thought they had more blue in them because I tried them on, ordered them, & went home - to go on this trip to FL that led me to this tea! - & of course didn't take any photos. While I really like my new specs & their nice tortoise shell look with a background of blue, I do kind of think they'd be more fun with some blue enhancing color into the brown tortoise shell design.

Here's to another random, busy, color burst sorta Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Timers!

Have you ever been gifted something that you've held on to for quite some time & had to put serious thought into when or how you were going to use it?

These lovely chopsticks are a great example of a gift such as this for me.

Six years ago I was traveling throughout SE Asia with a team through Youth Encounter. Many of the places that we had already visited & were going to visit I had never dreamed I would travel to. However, it didn't take long upon arriving in these places to fall in love with pieces & people from these places.

Naturally I waited till the end of our travels to purchase some chopsticks, but within days was gifted these more ornate chopsticks. While the other chopsticks are more every day, we keep them on our countertop in a mason jar to be used for various food & drink items. These flowered ones had been sitting in a box in a drawer moving from one apartment or house to the next. With a newly emptied cylindrical tea tin on my hands - that I wanted to repurpose - I remembered these chopsticks in the old chocolate box in the drawer & decided to put the two items to use.

Some of the lovely chopsticks now decorate my tea corner in my office! Why would I need chopsticks in my office you ask? Clearly to stir honey into my tea!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Credit to akikotree

I've heard that we need 8 hugs a day to succeed or to be okay with our day. And while I generally am open to a hug I am not always a hug instigator. However, just like in any relationship, for it to work we must give a little to get a little. And more often than not we give a little & get a LOT in return.

Tea: a hug in a cup.

It's such a nice idea! For us to be able to find this need for touch & comfort & encouragement & love in a cup of tea is silly, but sweet. We cannot always rely on each other to achieve these 8 hugs (or however many the studies actually say) a day, but we can rely on tea.

Tea, it wakes you up, refreshes your spirit, rids you of toxins, & calms you down when in need. A hug in a cup!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday! Oh Tea Time, you bring a smile to my life!

Yes, a little crazy. I know, but we all have those things that take you to a happy place. Tea is one of the most simple things in my life that takes me to a happy place.

Most anything Disney is another thing for a happy place. Once somebody tried to strip down why I love Disney so much, but seriously, I enjoy the magic & that's the gist of it all.

Another lovely consecration gift, this one from my Aunt J! The question is, do I let it sit on my shelf in my office & simply sit there (next to the beautifully awkward photo of Z & I with Cinderella on our honeymoon) or do I use it? Other than preservation I'm not sure why it should just sit there. Seriously though, I'm perplexed as it is quite unique.

How many things do we own in life that simply sit on a shelf?

I for one can say many things. It's not necessarily very realistic, but it creates a nice ambiance that I change out every now & then with the change of the seasons.

The question still remains, to use the cup or let it sit?

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday once again! What will you be having for Tea Time today?

It's the last Tuesday Tea Time of 2014. It hasn't been a bad year by any means, but it's alright to say g'bye to 2014 & hello to 2015.

What will come in 2015? The only few things for certain are ministry events, trips to Detroit for the Extravaganza & ELCA Youth Gathering, & a vacation to FL to visit family & have a little Fun.

2014 is a year I never could've quite imagined. It started off with a funeral for a church member, then was followed by funerals at least once a month clear through June. In the middle of the celebrating of these friends' lives we made our trip to Paris & kicked off a month or more of traveling. Only with a couple hundred photos of MG growing up thrown in the middle. The travels started with Paris, ended with Denver, & led to 2 months at camp. In July one of my very best friends officially joined the "cancer kid club" with me. After playing the resource game one last time, I spent August recovering from the summer & projecting around the house. And spent September prepping to start my new job in October. Now it's hard to believe that I've been at this job for nearly 3 full months. Consecrated & all! Of course since starting I've also accepted the call to serve as a Practice Discipleship coach & had previously committed to being the Synod Day Director for the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering.

So 2015 is going to be just as busy as 2014, but in a whole new adventure filled way!

May your 2014 be memorable & your 2015 be one more adventure filled day than you currently think will happen & more tea & more Life, Spirit, & Sparkle.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Ah, my favorite morning of the week. A time to sit & breath deep with a cup of tea. Though to be completely honest, many Tuesday mornings are on the run.

This adorable snowman teabag holder was a spontaneous gift from my mom this past week. Unfortunately the Holiday tea is long gone & other goodies are sitting in the tin. So really, it's not that unfortunate because I've filled it with more tasty tea drinks. With mom around my tins & cupboards & shelves will never go empty!

This year I seem to be more aware of those who don't have Momma P around to fill their tins & cupboards & shelves with holiday feasting items. I pray for them to feel the peace that the Spirit delivers through the Christ Child this time of year. Sometimes - though not as often as I think I should - I have to hand things over & trust the power of prayer. For as my new office decor reads, "Be patient. Our prayers are always answered, but not always on the exact day we'd like."

Thank you Momma KE for that reminder. Happy Tuesday Tea Time & Merry Christmas!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

This week is SO exciting. Yesterday I saw the gift of my bulletins in color for my consecration - which was a surprise - & then while we were home for lunch the mail was delivered & a surprise package was included.

Just the other day my friend JM texted me for our address. I assumed that it was for Christmas cards, but boy was I wrong, sorta. The little red tab in this picture is the card. The Paris themed book box (a box made to look like a book) was packed full with some of her favorite things that she wanted to share with me. And no, they weren't used, they were new.

It was a Christmas/Care/Surprise/Consecration gift all in one! I do believe I have my very own Oprah from TX. Watch out Oprah!

Also this week we all will be gifted with some guest bloggers! I have shared many a posts mentioning TS but I'm not sure that I have shared about AS as equally. They're both equally fabulous & great writers. I've invited them to use their imaginations & creativity to share Friday Favorites & Sunday Snippits with you. Yes, this means ANOTHER surprise is in the works as I don't know who will post when or what.

Sitting in this cloud of feeling loved & cared for I'm going to enjoy my tea & a little time away from the norm to focus on my call & be with family & friends.

Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

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. 

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.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday!

Check out the mammoth of tea kettle in today's photo! If you could keep the water warm, you could have tea for twenty!

It's hard to believe that it was only just over a year ago that I had my first tea with TE. Z had scheduled a home visit & she made sure to tell him to bring me too. We were friends before we even met face-to-face! It's not very often in life that we are connected with someone else quite like this.

To honor my friendship with TE & our love for tea, I have remedied the cause for discrimination in a heavy coffee drinking work world & bought myself a new electric kettle. While setting it up, just yesterday, I thought to myself, TE would've loved to come have a cup of tea with me in my new office. And thanks to the love for tea that we shared, I know the importance of sharing it with others.

Some times it just feels good to hold something warm - even if you never drink it.

The nice feature of a hot water kettle is it can be used for much more than simply tea. I will have to get some packets of fun drinks other than tea to offer to my guests. For now though there are 3 different tea varieties with the option of honey stirred in with a chopstick.

Maybe some day soon I'll have tea for twenty! or at least tea for two!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

This week Tuesday seems like a different sort of Tuesday.

I've recently felt the discrimination many a tea drinker feels when working in a public place & there being no source of hot water other than a microwave.

Poor me, right?!

One mug of tea in the first half of the day is simply not enough though. So I'm on the hunt for an electric tea kettle for my office. Having only been gifted one before & never shopping for one, I'm leaning towards the purchase of a ceramic kettle.

Any thoughts on what type of kettle to purchase for minimal mula?

It isn't even so much the need for something tea filled always as I think it is for something warm that warms my hands & soul at the same time.

Crazy? Maybe, but I'll take that title any ol' day. Dog crazy, check. Tea & word crazy, check check.

Thanks for joining me for this spot of tea & piece of your time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

 
Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

When you're looking for the things you love, they pop up all around you. I attribute this to be the works of the Holy Spirit saying hi. We look for the things we love to fulfill a piece of our inner being that seems a tinge empty or maybe nothing is empty but we just want that push of joy that that thing brings to us.

Last week I got to share this cute tea themed card with my life long best friend. What a treasure to have the friendship we have and common things we love. Some may say that we had no choice in being friends as our mother's are life long best friends and we were born and raised in the same town only 9 or 10 weeks apart from one another. However, I like to think it's just a beautiful piece of life that we are the friends that we are.

Do you see the Life, Spirit, & Sparkle?!

I challenge you - my readers - to share the little (and big) sparkles of connections that words cannot totally capture in the comments below.

and enjoy your tea!