Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Ugly!

Anybody else wanna know what kinda of carnival this picture is advertising?!

I suppose it says Catholic & that should be enough. Right?

Happy Sunday Snippits!

Thanks to Google for this random image.

Here we are in 2014 with the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY!

GOOD: Lots of people I love dearly are pregnant right now & to start off this past week we celebrated my Grandma's & Dad's birthdays. YaY LIFE! This last week I officially started teaching Zumba. It's a fun adventure, but one I'm definitely still getting used to. My brain is constantly wired for new ideas for children, youth, & family ministries & Zumba was not my first plan on how to live out this wiring of my brain after graduating with my Master of Divinity. However, God works in wonderfully mysterious ways & it was SO great to see mother & daughter come to my class today. Another good thing is that we finally feel like we're recovering from the busy busy Holiday season. We took ALL day Thursday to take down, pack up, put away, & clean all the needles & dust that had settled. Plus, another fun thing of this past week was opening an account at Family Video. Yes, that's right, we live in a town with a video store & no Red Box. Gotta love small town living, it's one or the other, not both! I also hosted my first ever Pampered Chef online party & it was a GREAT experience.

BAD: I think I'm allergic to more things than I want to know. And at this point in life, I don't really feel like being tested for allergies for the first time ever. Also, it's really hard to choreograph for Zumba with a puppy who is becoming more mischievous day by day & likes to cling to your every move.

UGLY: That the above picture & the word carnival go together. Add some fake streamers or something! If this is how the church advertises for itself, then how do non-church goers view the church. Today is the day that people around the world remember the earth quake in Haiti from 4 years ago. The destruction & despair still linger today.

WORD: Currently, I'm reading Shauna Niequist's Bittersweet & it has a chapter for people at every place in life, or so it seems. Friendship & Food are important themes, which is pretty great in my book.

Coming up: More Zumba & phoning for Youth Encounter & most likely lots more ADORABLE photos of the puppy.

Sunday Snippits!

This picture sums up my life lately!

Christmas day came & went & for the last weekend of 2013 Z & I headed to The Gathering with 3 youth from church. It was a fun weekend of networking, socializing, & worshipping.

Then just in the past couple of days I drove back to the same area for another youth event, this time Youth Encounter's Quake with no youth & abandoning Z with no car.

Then the snow whispers started whispering & a little over 24 hours later I was headed home to avoid the snow & being stuck.

Not to mention we attended/led the worship for our first funeral of 2014 already. Just a little excitement to finish out 2013 & welcome in 2014. We also had a good time hanging with friends on NYE.

In other news, I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party through this Thursday! So check it out here to pamper yourself, a friend, or simply to spruce up your kitchen gadget collection!

Zumba classes start this Wednesday too! Click on the tab above for more info.

AND we might actually get to watch the season premier of Downton Abbey because we're randomly picking up PBS right now.

There's the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY of the start of 2014.

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Ugly

Happy Sunday Snippits!

I'm back again for the weekly Good, Bad, & Ugly of the past week.

GOOD: Last Monday I was officially offered a temp. job working with an organization that does ministry that is close to my heart. I have officially now been a youth participant, junior guide, college volunteer, team member of community based ministry & international ministry, & now part-time temporary events phoner for Youth Encounter. So I'll be spending my days on the phone in the coming weeks. The week went by very quickly getting this new job up & running while also prepping to start teaching Zumba in the New Year. The later half of the week Z & I spent at a youth worker's retreat at a local camp. It was a relaxing & enjoyable few days of networking, sharing ministry ideas, learning, & making new friendships.

BAD: Being reminded over & over that when churches have to cut back, the first thing they cut are leadership positions in children, youth, & family ministries. Hearing people say things like "we don't have that many youth" & not embracing the youth that they do have.

UGLY: Knowing that these two had to wait so long to legally celebrate their love for one another because of both state & church.

WORD: I've recently been reading Eboo Patel's Acts of Faith & am really enjoying learning about the interfaith initiatives across the country & world. Be sure to check out Interfaith Youth Core today!

Coming up: Phoning, tea time, Zumba prep, & more!

Sunday Snippits: GOOD, BAD, & UGLY!

Sunday Snippits, here again! And since I forgot Friday Favorites:

Z & I started our week last Sunday evening with a game of croquet. This was a week of using several wedding gifts we had yet to use. And as I joked on FB yesterday, we are officially married because we have used up all of our wedding gift money to Target. Thankfully we have graduation gift money still, 'cause this house needs a few more changes to make it ours. The BAD part is, the closest Target is 2 hours away from where we live now. I enjoy Target so much more than Walmart or Kmart, but of course there's both of those things where we live now. First world problems!

GOOD: The good is endless. We are moved. We are getting more settled everyday. Last Monday we finally got internet hooked up in our house & then were able to FaceTime or Skype with a number of friends & family that are all over the country & world right now. While we miss them & wish we could see them face-to-face, we are working on creating a new community of friends here, as are they where they are. The other good is Z's ordination is coming together slowly, but surely. I designed, assembled, & sent out paper invites for the non-FB users mid-week & man alive, while I enjoy being artsy, I'm not always so in the crafty side of things. SO if you wanted an invite in the mail & didn't get one, message me & I'll send ya the info! Friday night fun was at the local football game. While we couldn't see good parts of the game due to the rowdy student section, it made it much more enjoyable to sit by the life of the party. Even Moses showed up!

You can see him in all white in the middle.

BAD: I'm itching for a job. Networking is a slow, but seemingly fruitful process. In the meantime it's hard to keep myself busy with things that seem worth while. Sure, I could volunteer with countless things, but that's not what I'm looking to do. Thankfully, Zumba is a good way to network that has me doing something. So yeah, I'm still trying to figure out this call to Diaconal Ministry, but I know we're in the right place.

UGLY: Our couch. Ha, this seems really silly, but as my good friend MS said, "You're sitting on an English tea cup!" This might seem perfect for a tea lover, but the English tea cup patterns belong in another generation. I'm not up to par enough on the news to talk about other ugly things with Syria & such. It doesn't take much to figure out, things are ugly in the world.

WORD: That's why I turn to the Good News. Recently, I've been using a new app called Photo-Verse. This is helping find my new norm. The "read the Bible in a year" wasn't a logical goal for me with all the changing going on in life this year.

That is my

LIFE, SPIRIT, AND SPARKLE

TELL ME ABOUT YOURS WITH #LifeSpiritSparkle on FB or Twitter!

Tuesday Tea Time!

It's Tuesday Tea Time!

Where have you been?!

In the last week we have been on the move.

Through much prayer & meditation & discussion we have moved forward with some things & I am proud to say that Z has been unanimously voted on as the "Pope of Chebooboo."

On a more serious note, he will be serving as an Associate Pastor in northern MI. When we went to inquire about coverage & cell phone updates, the VZW salesperson thought I said we were moving to "Chebooboo." I was the only one in my family that was able to keep myself composed to help him spell the actual name of the town.

As a part of our transition, I'm sitting at my parents' dining room table drinking some blood orange tea out of a mug that reads "for the boss" with a ball & chain on it (somebody gifted it to my dad years ago!) & preparing to move again in a week.

Now to come up with ideas of a title for a children, youth, & family minister, zumba instructor, wedding coordinator, & to make it a call recognized by the ELCA. YaY Word & Service ministry!

Sunday Snippits...the good, the bad, & the ugly

It's Palm Sunday! The church nerd inside me is fully soaking up all the Holy Week festivities this week.

photo courtesy of Bliss Street Studios 3/24/13

Today I'm linking up again with Kate & Kati for the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY to cover the last week & move into the week ahead. If you didn't check out their blogs last week, take a few minutes & enjoy life with some other bloggers at Incorporating Color & Classy Living.

the GOOD: Life is good, though crazy busy as I thrive living in the fast lane. Remembering back more than a day ago is challenging though when you live in the fast lane. I know I had lots of meetings & appointments this last week. So I thrived in networking & collaborating with others. I also participated in Humble Walk's monthly Beer & Hymns finally! It was splendid, good times & I finally got to officially meet the talented Rachel Kurtz & reunite with a few other youth & family ministry folk that I don't see too often like Tay Wilson. Tuesday Z & I went to Anchor Fish & Chips to meet up with some friends that I hadn't seen in years. We got our food & headed over to Dangerous Man Brewery for some beer & soda. Friday night was the first of several SENIOR FUN events & this one just happened to be my event. We focused on a family friendly event with the movie Happy Feet, popcorn, root-beer floats, & photos with me in a penguin suit (thanks to AButler!). Saturday I spent all day being certified, with about 50 others, as Zumba Basic 1 Instructors. I'll let yall know when I'm able to join the ZIN program & start teaching! This morning we went to worship at St. Anthony Park Lutheran & I was reunited with a friend from working @ Camp Wapo & then came home to clean up our drying laundry for Rikki from Thirsty, Nerdy, Cats & Justin to visit. A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway that Rikki did on her blog & it gave us a reason to see each other for the first time since 2008. We originally met through Spoke Folk years ago & have kept in touch through blogging & facebook. Here's some photos of the good stuff!

3 Spoke Folkers & their spouses

Z kissing his penguin wife!

RR, Me, J (our instructor), & SB at Zumba Instructor Training

Rikki & I! So blessed by friendships that withstand time & distance

the BAD: My thesis is a thesis & a word that I have dreaded for years now. I have a cover sheet, but that's about it. Thankfully I have till April 20th & the research work is pretty much done since I'm taking my Diaconal Ministry project & editing it. It's a good thing I'm passionate about Children, Youth, & Family Ministry & Pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit)

the UGLY: Two chiropractor appointments, a massage therapy session, some kenesio tape, & two slips that ended me scooting across the ground till I could find dry ground to stabilize myself on have all been helping to better or worsen my wacky muscle & joint issues. I have two more chiro & 2 more massage appointments this week & I am really hopeful that will do magic because insurance won't cover these treatments for long. Z told me I'm not allowed to talk about being old till I'm 65, so I have a few years to go!

coming up this week: I WILL WRITE 10 PAGES OF MY THESIS! This is my pledge in front of yall, to myself. A few meetings of this or that, classes through Wednesday, Holy Week festivities with the communities of Humble Walk & St. Philip's Lutheran (Z's home congregation) & Easter brunch with Dad & Mom N. Here's to productivity & a piece of holiday break!

What was GOOD, BAD, &/or UGLY about your week?

Sunday Snippits

Today I'm linking up with Kati & Kate for the GOOD, the BAD, & the UGLY

THE GOOD: I was jazzed & filled with good energy to start off last week, thus I was uber productive at the beginning of the week. I was amazed at how fast the Catholic conclave went and happy to see that everybody sincerely seems to adore Pope Francis I. Thursday night the annual Luther Seminary variety show was incredible and all for a good cause. I participated in the Zumba skit with Agape, who just happens to be a long-time friend, colleague, & classmate at Luther Sem. And lastly, time with friends is always appreciated. We went out Thursday night to celebrate a multitude of things, Friday night to celebrate AUB's b-day, and Saturday night with good friends who are going to Slovakia for his pastoral internship next year.

THE BAD: My motivation started to waiver by the end of the week & I haven't taken some prime opportunities to work on my senior thesis. I need to lock myself in a room & get it moving!

THE UGLY: I was in my first ever car accident as a passenger. Thankfully we are both okay and the car barely was scratched. However, the guy that hit us was a sad case of trippin' on something & didn't have car insurance or a driver's license. As the police officer said, the good news is the guy wasn't lying, his license had been revoked. We were able to get his license plate info and he gave his name, but ultimately he fled the scene.

coming up: I will sit down & start writing my thesis, getting to see a couple of Spoke Folk friends that I haven't seen in years, one of two group presentations will be done by Monday at 10:50am, and on Saturday I will be certified as a Basic 1 Zumba Instructor!

Sunday Snippits

This last week is another blur.

Mainly because I slept a LOT this last week with a darn head-cold that Z had the week before. As our professor said, "Ah, the dangers of cohabitation!"

What sticks out in my blurry memory is: Lunch with long-time friend RB. Starbucks treat to celebrate my good friend AUB. Lunch with a mentor & friend LRK. An afternoon & evening learning about resumes, interviewing, negotiating salaries, & planning a consecration service. Starbucks again to catch up with my New Dawn teammate (see Youth Encounter) for the first time in over a year & a half. Good friends' wedding & some Zumba prep for the Variety Show on campus next Thursday.

Pretty blurry & but seemingly eventful!

The wedding was a really nice service at Mercy Seat & the reception was phenomenally mostly handmade decor. We got sent home with plantable seed paper which will be fun to use when we're settled somewhere more permanently some day. It looks something like this:

photo courtesy of Gracious Rain 3/9/13

or 

photo courtesy of Back Space 3/9/13

Coming up next week: Watching The Bible mini-series on the History Channel with B & her kitties, more class, lots of homework, some sleep, Zumba, variety show, & celebrating a friends birthday at the end of the week.

What are you looking forward to in your week ahead?

If you are interested in hearing my Lenten message about how I learned to Live Christ, here's a link to that too! Servant of Christ Lutheran Church