Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: I'm typing my blog from a computer again! The last couple of posts have been from my Iphone or Nexus tablet. This past week was WONDERFUL! It started with worshipping with 26 of my family members from my dad's side of the family out in CO where we were all gathered to celebrate my cousin's wedding. The worship was Spirit filled, the wedding was beautiful, & the family time was fantastic. One highlight from church is receiving an entire loaf of bread just for being a visitor! Monday was K&D's wedding & I got to hang out with my cousins' M&A's little guys H&C the entire morning. SO much fun! Fill the rest of the time with family meals & games & that's a family reunion for us. We made our way back towards home mid-week & stopped in Chicago to really visit with good friends from college & a few from other pieces of life. I say really visit because up till now all we had taken time to do was a brief visit passing through the city or at each other's wedding receptions. I thought we were spent from all our travels, but we took it easy & went to one museum a day. It was fun to show Z some of Chicago after having traveled through the city dozens of times either to visit friends or going from wherever I was living North of Chicago towards my parents' South of Chicago. And yes, as everyone should, I celebrated my birthday ALL week long. It started with my family & ended with my friends. What more could a girl ask for?!

BAD: BUGS! They're out like crazy now & I'm scheming up new ways to be able to enjoy spending time outside. Ideas that don't cost a lot of money are welcome! Also, that i just planted some of my outside plants today. You may not think this is bad, but they "should've" planted them apparently more like 6 weeks ago. Here's to growth! Plus our poor puppy keeps having what is known as 'reverse sneezing' attacks. I think she maybe has some allergy problems. And yes, my heart is heavy yet again, truly heavy, from the death of a leader, mentor, & friend from MN.

AWESOME: Being gifted a movie from Z that I gifted him for Christmas. Yes, this really happened. We hadn't watched it & it was actually the second copy of the DVD due to the first one cracking (on a night that Z & I were watching 6 kids 10 & younger!). So I'm still waiting on what Z will pick out as he has diligently returned the 3rd copy of 'How to Train Your Dragon.' AND all the ways people wished me a happy birthday. Seriously, I think the only way I wasn't told 'happy birthday' was via e-mail & that's saying something because I received wishes by FB, phone call, voicemail, text, Instagram, Twitter, Linked-in, snail mail, & in person.

WORD: Acts is hot on my brain right now with this coming Sunday being Pentecost. Plus tonight, I will finish 'The Color of Tea.' Then hopefully in the next few days I'll finish 'The Help.'

coming up: Today after worship we spent a bit of time outside & I painted our new doormat you see above! This is just in time to welcome a visit from J&E! Then prepping to head off to camp for most of the Summer. I haven't figured out how to keep up with the blog over the Summer so no fear, there will be random posts & most definitely more posting come Fall.

Sunday Snippits: the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY

Heya friends, it's late, so we're gonna keep it short & simple with

GOOD: Life is progressing forward & more boxes are being packed! This weekend we traveled to SD to visit with friends I hadn't seen in 9 Summers & to celebrate the wedding of B&E. It was so great to see the DG family & meet their little ones. It was also really wonderful to celebrate with B&E & enjoy time with good friends that have already moved to their first calls. While they've only been gone for a couple of weeks, it seems much longer. Let' just say there was squealing from multiple people when we all saw each other.

BAD: Life is still up in the air.

UGLY: Negativity is too easy to focus on, so skipping over this topic. Plus, if you haven't noticed, it's hard for me to mention the ugly most weeks.

WORDs to dwell in: Ephesians 4 - we are created & called to be one

Coming up: My final info desk shift is this week on what would have been my Mammaw's 100th b-day. More packing, more figuring out life.

Sunday Snippits: the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY

Sunday Snippits is here again!

The days of summer, while lingering & wonderful, are also speeding by. Today, as usual we are linking up with Kate & Kati for

the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY!

GOOD: This last week was amazing! I wasn't kidding when I said it was going to be a week filled with birthdays, anniversary, & wedding celebrations. My cousin Lolo's b-day was last Sunday, Tuesday was Z's & my anniversary & my "other mom's" b-day, & Wed-Sat were wedding festivities for the new Mr. & Mrs. CBG. If you didn't check out my Midnight Tea Party last Tuesday Tea Time, it tells you all about the fun adventures Z & I had in honor of our anniversary. The wedding festivities were Brit's Pub Lawn Bowling, a rehearsal & dinner on the 4th of July (with several fireworks shows), & the actual wedding day. It was so fun to be with so many great people celebrating the love formed by God between a couple, their friends, & family. Then today, after recovering from all the social gatherings, we ventured to WI again for two dear friends' ordination service. B&A recently graduated with us & have been such fun & servant hearted people to get to know & call friends.

BAD: Exhaustion is thick, mentally, physically, & somewhat Spiritually. Sitting in the "what's next" period of life after graduation is becoming a little restless. However, it is giving me more freedom to explore in my creative world of cooking or letter writing.

UGLY: Turn on the news, you'll find something ugly. In my personal life, I'm wondering how a first call might lead me to ministry for & with homeless, hungry, abused, lonely, enslaved, or simply oppressed people.

Coming up: This week is back to work. Oh & the joyous thing called packing. The boxes are gonna have to come out sooner or later & the first thing to be packed is most likely books & the office.

WORDs to chew on: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. Specially focusing in on what it means to be sent out as a lamb amongst wolves & purposely bring peace to each place you enter.

Sunday Snippits: the good, bad, & ugly!

Happy Sunday! 

WORDs to chew on: Jesus says, Follow me. Luke 9:51-62 The Message or Luke 9:51-62 NRSV

Recapping the week & jumping into this week with...

GOOD: Life has been restful & celebratory in the month of June. Monday night we enjoyed a night out at the Saint Paul Saints Baseball with a group of good friends. AND in the last minutes of the game the Saints got a homerun & WON! On Tuesday (T) I woke up to a voicemail announcing the birth of my childhood best friends' 2nd baby. Just one day before his mom's b-day & all are happy & healthy! Wednesday was then Tray's b-day & our niece's EJ's 1st b-day! Aunt Juls (& Uncle Z) had a LOT of fun gifting her a tutu! Z & I had a few days off so we cleaned the apartment & took a trip to visit Ma & Pa N. We also got to do several loads of laundry, watch the first 4 or 5 episodes of Downton Abbey season 3, & get new rear struts on Mandela (our car). Oh, AND we brought back our air con unit. Back to work on R & F with some fun outtings to say g'bye to friends moving this weekend. 

The Holy Spirit is moving in new & unknown ways, while scary, nonetheless it is exciting! 

BAD: Our friends are moving! This wave of sadness hovers in the air & enters our souls periodically. We're very excited for everybody's new adventures. We also are blessed with a great community here of people not moving yet because they've just finished their first year of seminary.

UGLY: Over 45,000 people were without power much of last week. I don't believe they fixed all the power outages till last Wednesday. It was a mess to say the least. In our life, the ugly is being restless. We're trying to embrace old hobbies that we had gotten away from doing, so yesterday we went & bought a basketball (this is a hobbies of Z's, not mine). 

THIS WEEK: Today is my cousin Lolo's birthday & my friend RW's ordination day! Our "golden" anniversary is Tuesday! AND the rest of the week is filled with fun wedding festivities for RM & CG.!

SOMETHING TO TRY: And because I think others should try this, we also made some yummy treats like Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding to fill our time.

Friday Foto Fun!

Friday Foto Fun!

Pulled out of the archives, here's a photo of Z & I at our wedding rehearsal dinner (yes, we were on a boat). 2 years ago Z & I were going crazy & having fun with our wedding week.

We had family come to MN as early as the Monday before (it was a Saturday wedding) & had events planned like worship & camp fires & relatives birthday celebrations the whole week long. It was CRAZY, but lots of FUN!

The actual day of was a beautiful 86 degrees out & of course the only people in direct sunlight were our groomsmen. Our friends & family did a wonderful job turning the outside lawn of Bockman Hall into a sanctuary with peacock feathers, bows, & a flower vase for our loved ones who couldn't join us. We danced to the Blues Brothers & Train's Marry Me song & enjoyed spending a little bit of time with all the people who had traveled to celebrate with us.        

In lieu of wedding season, remember the love you've witnessed, seen, felt, heard & know that you are loved.

Monday Miracle: Sparkling through the GOOD,BAD, & UGLY

Today is Miracle Monday!

Why? Because each day is a miracle & it's Monday! Yes, my thought process is that simple.

The recently seminary graduated brain wants me to dig deeper into what a miracle is, but that's for another day.

So here it is...

GOOD: The last week was such a full & blessed week! I worked as Info Desk attendant, Admissions Ambassador for Camp Day, Toddler Day Care Provider, & Wedding Coordinator. In the middle of that was my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! Z & I finally made it to Historic Fort Snelling to see the sights, be entertained by dozens of elementary and junior high aged youth on field trips, & enjoy a little Minnesota history. At dinner that night at Hell's Kitchen (excellent food & dietary friendly for all sorts of dietary needs) I was surprised by the coolest birthday candle I've ever seen! 

It sparkled, spun, & played music!

The evening was topped off with a slice of ice cream cake & 16 people hanging out in our tiny apartment. Thursday was Camp Day, which meant a day of training sessions offered by Luther Sem for local camp staff that wanted to take part. Friday, Saturday, & Sunday was filled with J&K's wedding festivities & now we're off to a busy week with lots of work hours.

BAD: My friends have started moving away. While this is good for them, it's sad for us who are still here. BDLF left without her crock-pot, so I get to go retrieve that tonight. This is upside of still being here; knowing you'll see each other again soon!

UGLY: I'm a little sunburned & it's a little funny 'cause it's only on the sides of my forearms & wrists. Also, our friend & classmate FJ hasn't heard about any potential work sites & MJ keeps getting potential sites that aren't interested in a recent graduate. So we all keep on waiting for "what's next" & figuring out ways to answer the constantly repeated question of "What have you heard?" without going batty.

TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR TUESDAY TEA TIME!

Sunday Snippits

Sunday Snippits with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Props to Kati & Kate!

GOOD: Easter Sunday was a fun & eventful day spent with family. Then the week sped by with class, assignments, appointments, & meetings. Last Monday two of my friends & I enjoyed dinner together at Shish. I met both friends in seminary, but one actually started at CAP after I had graduated. The Bible finished it's series & is now on the shelves at Target. It's an alright depiction of the stories. Thursday some of my senior girl friends & I had dinner with a group of the women faculty of Luther. It was a blast! We bid on this dinner at the annual variety show a few weeks back. The weekend has been filled with Spring cleaning, thesis writing, & weddings. Yesterday we attended the wedding of two of Z's high school friends & today we celebrated with my friend AWC & her new husband. They just happen to live in MI, so we'll be reconnecting again in the near future!

BAD: My great Uncle Roy passed away last weekend. I didn't really know him, but he was the last of my Grandpa Harold's brothers to pass away. Grandpa Harold passed away back in Oct. '94.

UGLY: Feeling suffocated as the weather gets nicer & the school work still exists. SENIORITIS

UP NEXT: more thesis work, meetings, class, & other homework. Depending on how all that goes, maybe a service project & maybe a party. Next Sunday we'll be at the Twins game vs the NY Mets!

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

Sunday Snippits

The fact that the Oscars was simply a week ago, seems hard to believe!

Yet again, we're livin' life in the fast lane & not always sure which end is up.

Last week: Sunday we enjoyed the Oscars with good friends. Monday - Friday is a bit of a blur with classes, meetings, & a few extra things. I preached at Servant of Christ Lutheran Church on Wednesday & I spent much of Monday & Tuesday preparing my message. The podcast isn't available yet, but should be sometime soon, so I'll be sure to post it on here. The topic was LIVE CHRIST.

How have you learned to Live Christ?

The rest of the week was filled with a movie premier & a night & a night in with some good friends. The Evidence of Hope by C. Amour is definitely worth checking out. C was on a Youth Encounter team in the mid-'90s & my family was a host family to his team, so we've known each other since I was roughly 10 years old. Through the ministry world we've managed to stay in touch all these years & it's great to see how God is using him & his talents to serve the larger church.

Where do you find evidence of hope?

THE BIG NEWS! Z & I have been assigned to North/West Lower Michigan Synod  for first calls as Diaconal Minister & Pastor in the ELCA. We'll learn more about job interviews & potentially moving in the coming weeks & months.

Coming up: A few lunch dates with long time friends that I also happened to meet through Youth Encounter's ministries. A meeting with A. Root, to hopefully better hone in on my thesis topic for Children, Youth, & Family ministry. Card night with friends, prepping for the variety show on March 14th, & Last Chance Seniors (an afternoon & evening of workshops to help us better prepare for job applications & transition into life after graduate school). We'll close up the week by celebrating with our  friend B&R in their marriage! It should be a splendid week.