Friday Favorites!

Yesterday was a day filled with some of life's favorite memories & all those who celebrated with Z & I. I love that I married my best friend & that he has a name that gives us a funny couple nick-name.

We were in a local antique shop last week & spotted this odd wooden couple & both immediately joked that it clearly represented us on our wedding day.

Ridiculous & kind funny, right?!

Partnered or not, may you find this sort of goofy filled with tough love companionship in your life.

Friday Favorites!

Hello Friday! While quite damp & Scotland like, you have been good today. Alright, most anything that reminds me of Scotland is good.

This week has been filled with little adventures. The photo of MG captures just that. God only knows what she had her nose in near this old building on our friend's property!

She was so incredibly smitten though to be out in the country running free with her friends. And that's what matters. Adventures of all sizes are good for the soul!

The funniest piece of our country adventures was not captured on film, but just imagine this fur baby bounding towards you across a field after losing sight of one another for a minute or two with complete joy to see you again.

Tuesday Tea Time!

This Tuesday Tea Time I don't have any recent funnies to share unfortunately. Last week was truly a unique week with one funny & crazy happening for the first three or four days. How often in life does that happen?!

The last couple of days have been chillier so still no sun-tea has been made. Not only has the chilly weather prevented making sun-tea, but the space in our fridge, or lack thereof has as well.

One thing Z & I do, when the rest of life seems totally chaotic, is eat well. This Mothering Day my family treated me with dark chocolate brownies with walnuts in them (my favorite simple dessert) & homemade pizza - using one friend's family dough recipe, another friend's marinara sauce recipe, & our own toppings of cheese, artichoke hearts, kale, & sun-dried tomatoes. SO tasty!

It was a great day with good reflection on what mother's day means. One friend - who has a baby that'll be 1.5 next month already - shared her idea of mother's day is not about her, but rather "My job is to recognize anyone who has shown mothering love reminiscent of the selfless sacrificial love of God."

What a beautiful spin on a "holiday" we have made so normalized & commercialized!

Friday Favorites!

Hello Friday!

When I took this picture the other day I didn't think it held much significance for that day other than my #heartfind, but the Spirit has a way of bringing us back to words we need to hear or believe or see or all of the above again & again.

Each day is made new in Christ Jesus.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Welcome to Tuesday Tea Time in a piece of Wonderland!

Not only was this tea a fun find back on vacation in February, it has been a tasty delight to many a morning.

This week we're struggling to find that warmer Spring air in the tip of the mitt. I think the sea trolls are mad about the melting ice & trying to make it stick a little longer on their waters under the bridge! Or maybe it's just Spring North of the 45th parallel. You choose!

One of the slightly humorous recent pieces of life that goes with Wonderland Tea is that I sent a package to a dear friend recently intending to include a sampling of Wonderland tea. Naturally I included a card. In the card I am almost certain that I wrote something about the included tea bags - as I meant to share - but the time between writing the card, putting the package together & actually sticking it in the mail was so long that I forgot to include the tea bags. There's a good chance that I've made this all up & I never mentioned the tea bags in the card & the recipient doesn't know they're missing out. Now I've put it out there though, for all to read & I can almost assure you out of all the posts, my dear friend AJO will read this. Clearly my subconscious is saving the Wonderland Tea to enjoy with AJO in person!

That means she needs to visit soon as it is part of my morning tea at least a couple mornings a week. Despite this week's fight for warm Spring air, everything is turning & starting to sprout buds with promises of flowers & leaves in the air. It's the perfect time of year for visitors!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: This past week was filled with great conversations & genuine check-ins with good friends. The best part is that none of it was planned except for maybe one check-in & that was due to a significant time difference. I read somewhere recently that one way to better your day is to simply call a friend. You may not get a hold of them, but the practice of calling a friend let's that friend know you're thinking about them & shares the day with them & with you. This past week was also very busy with lots of little this & thats work related as I realized if I'm ever going to take time off I need to over work to get ahead a touch. That's just how life roles some times.

BAD: Barometric pressure changes that mess with headaches & attitudes.

AWESOME: A random Easter card from seminary friends that have an adorable daughter & another little one on the way soon. Thank you Guthridges! A return letter will be written soon! Speaking of letters I refreshed my ribbon board the other day 7 recycled some old cards so that I could put new up. The fun part was reading the progression throughout the year from a few friends of where life has taken them.

WORD: Working ahead leads me to next week's Gospel at the end of Luke.

coming up: no screen time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time, the best time of the week! With as cold as it's been lately, every day has many tea times.

This quaint tea cup was a gift from my friend TU over at Praying on the Prairie. She just recently messaged me to make sure I got it & I've been sneaky in not responding a)because she should be receiving a thank you card any day & b)I wanted to feature the mug in today's post.

TU & I met at the 2010 Diaconal Ministry Formation Event (DMFE). Being at two very different places in life - mainly speaking that she was called & consecrated & I hadn't even completed my first full year of seminary - I am blessed to have her as a mentor, friend, & one with a better memory than I. She wrote in the card that she sent with the mug that she got this particular mug because it has a piece of the Psalms that we focused on at the DMFE.

While we have both had many life changes since January 2010, the world of Diaconal Ministers, ELCA, Lutheran Church, & youth workers has kept us interconnected. With a smile & listening ear for all who need, TU is there. So thank you for sharing Tuesday Tea Time with me today & probably many tea times yet to come!

Sunday Snippits:good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: It was a joyous week worthy of a day "off" today. Thus the later posting today. It was a busy week in the office prepping for 3 Christmas Eve services, a wedding, & today's service. Thankfully I was able to take today off to continue to reclaim pieces of our house from the holiday traffic. A little bit of laundry, a little bit of cleaning, & a little bit of cooking with a back-to-back move marathon of Home Alone & Home Alone: Lost in New York.

BAD: Another plane gone missing. 162 people unaccounted for. This unsettles me more than I can say.

AWESOME: Holiday fun & solid messages of God come flesh to be with all of us & know us & have us know God better.

WORD: Stumbling into Faith  with my good friend MBR letting the Spirit lead the way!

coming up: New Years! 2015...

Friday Favorites!

Of course cookies make Friday Favorites when there's SO many things to list a girl can't choose!

These beautiful & delightfully tasty treats were baked & decorated by my mom's dear friends KF & AM. I'm sure they never quite imagined being featured as a Friday Favorite in my blog, but here they are. Bam!

Naturally since coming back from consecration celebrations life has taken off full steam ahead yet again. Finding time to intentionally breath in the Advent season is a challenge, but one worth accepting.

Honestly, Tuesday Tea Time was posted later in the day because I had written an article for a church newsletter earlier in the day & it felt like a blog. However, it didn't seem right to share that for Tuesday Tea Time since the church newsletter won't go out for another week or two (I think). And today I worked on Sunday's sermon much of the afternoon & it also felt like a piece worthy of sharing on the blog. But naturally I have to keep yall waiting.

I'm still lingering in last Saturday's gathering of a great priesthood of believers who have all played some piece of significance in my journey. There were people gathered from all walks of life - seriously cradle to childhood to adolescent adventures to college years to grad school & today - & I'm so breathtakingly in awe of how the Spirit has used each one of these individuals in my life & continues to do so in the world today.

Weather you were there in person or in heart, you are part of this great priesthood of significance in my life & the world around you. Don't let anything make you believe differently. And for those who are interested, there is a video of last Saturday's service that will be available soon.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello sleepy time! Tuesday Tea Time has come & not quite gone. I do believe I over estimated my ability to get back from my travels & jump back on board with my bit of routine. Oops!

Many many thanks to Timothy & Allison for sharing Friday Favorites & Sunday Snippits while I was away in hoosierland.

What a crazy milestone in my call to ministry to have come & gone. I had the same feeling of joy on my consecration day that I had on my high school graduation day. At high school graduation many of my friends were red in the face from tears & I had this ridiculous grin that I could not wipe away.

Today I spent part of my time in the office setting up all the cards & new decorative gifts that I received. The picture though shows the long awaited gift of a basin, pitcher, & towels. These are the symbols of Diaconal Ministry. My basin & pitcher were crafted by the great Jim Alworth & his wife Grace. The most beautiful piece about it is that the design is one of a kind.

And now it's time for bed!

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!

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: Amidst all the rain there will be sunshine. Tomorrow, tomorrow, the sun will come out eventually tomorrow. Right Annie?! This week was packed with a little of this & a little of that. Each day until yesterday was filled with gray skies & lots of rain. There was so much rain that both Z & I didn't realize how depressing it had been till the sun came out & stayed out & made us so wonderfully happy & warm. The crazy part about the warmth is it was possibly the coldest day of this Fall yet. I actually pulled my winter 3-in-1 jacket out of the closet yesterday & didn't regret it one bit. As you can see from the photos, it was quite brisk. Wednesday we enjoyed the evening with the folks of our church & supported the youth in their annual fundraiser over a meal of spaghetti & a silent auction. We even won our bid for a gift certificate to the Dam Site Inn! Joyous times continued with the a visit from Ma & Pa N. We introduced them to the Cheboygan Brewing Company one evening, spent a low key day around town the next day, & enjoyed an afternoon exploring the local area near Petoskey the day after that. We tasted some wonderful apple donuts from Uncle Frank's & topped off the evening with dinner at the Petoskey Brewing Company. 

BAD: Ebola & other life altering viruses with no distinct remedy or no named diagnosis for some.

AWESOME: Making new friends. Meeting people at random, connecting over furbabies & thinking you'll actually keep in touch. AND getting to talk with friends - even if over Skype - who are together & in the same country as me & hopefully I'll get to see one if not both of them soon & creating so much excitement about these wonderful people that you can't even type in a real sentence. See what sunshine does to me?!

WORD: My friend MBR's blog Stumbling Into Faith

COMING UP: Life on the road again. A few days for work, a few days for fun.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

Woah September! Don't go by too fast my friend. Please, sit & stay for a while. I need you to stay for a while. Your warm end of Summer days to make sun tea & enjoy more bike rides in your dusk, strengthen the inner beings. You help make the middle work.

Making the middle work.

I picked this catchy little phrase up from artist Kelly Barton who is a friend of BGEG - my life long bestie - & therefore somebody I clearly need to meet someday.

There's always something more to achieve in life, but yet the true struggle isn't always in the achievements, but in the being you right where you are & knowing you are enough.

How do you make the middle work?

Tuesday Tea Time is my making of the middle work for me...

Thanks for listening September!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome

GOOD: This past week led to a lot more fun. We first got to see good friends we hadn't seen in 3 years. They treated us with homemade pizza & home brewed beer! The next day we got to see Z's side of the family & meet our youngest niece for the first time in person. The next day was graduation celebrations for brother G. We enjoyed a great family feast at the Washington Park Grille. Then we joined my side of the family for adventures around Denver. We all now own a pair of Keen sandals thanks to REI's anniversary sale. The picture featured today is Z, E, & me walking the foot bridge of the Platte River. Lots of good family time continued with aunts, uncles, & cousins & will continue through at least tomorrow. See, I said a lot more fun?!

BAD: I'm a bit out of touch outside my bubble. Another lovely person who I knew joined God in heaven. Her & her husband where the other couple I knew who got engaged in their car just like Z & me.

AWESOME: Seeing good friends & family for joyous occasions is great. Today I worshipped with 27 family members on my dad's side of the family! And there's roughly 16 others who couldn't make it.

WORD: Hebrews is where we're at.

coming up: Wedding, travel, birthday celebrations, more travel, & adventure.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Welcome to Tuesday Tea Time with my friend's God-daughter & friends!

LBG shared this photo after a stressful week of her last semester of seminary & I loved the joy it brought her. It's got some great friends in it too. I mean, how many people often have tea with Barney the purple dinosaur & Snoopy? I think Curious George might be there too!

So in lieu of today being the funeral of my friend TE & the stressful week that LBG was having last week, I share the little things that bring us joy & hope that there will be abundant smiles in our future.

Today I find joy in the puddles from yesterday. While these puddles may be seen as messy, they are a beautiful mess. They are a sign of a long hard Winter. They are a symbol of the variety in creation that God brings us each year. They are a sign of being washed clean for the coming Summer months when we'll think it's too dry & hot.

And of course there's joy in this tea time, remembering the times with TE, & the shared tea time with LBG & her God-daughter.

May tea time bring you a daily dose of joy!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Meet JK & his dad LK. Mom & wife, RK, posted a few pictures of her & J's tea time last week & I couldn't help but share with all of you. Of course I asked for permission before posting pictures of my friends' adorable toddler having tea time with his mom. LK is clearly studying hard for his final semester of seminary in the background!

LK & I met Fall 2003 & both being the youngest in our families, he knew how to be the bully of a brother figure that would drive me crazy & I knew how to be the bully of a sister figure that would drive him crazy. The only difference is he shares the title of being youngest in his family with his twin sister. LK & I would go on to graduate from CAP in 2007 & then on for two years of service on separate ministry teams through YE, & then onto different ministry settings & continuing education settings. LK met RK during our time with YE & they now have 2 adorable babes & are continuing to journey together as a ministry couple about to embark on life after seminary.

I sit, writing this, enjoying my second round on my bag of English tea, smiling about the friendships with this family (1/2 of which I've never actually met, like JK). Last time LK & I were together in the same place was less than a year ago & our friendship has grown a little more mature that when Z wasn't around for one reason or another, people got confused & thought LK was Z. Don't worry LK, you're not my only college friend who's dealt with such confusions. Just ask DL about him coming to Z's & my IN wedding reception!

So from across the miles, I cherish the tea time with JK & family because in my book of life, tea time is always more precious when shared with others.

May you stop & enjoy your tea with a friend (near or far) today & may it be good till the last drop!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Two and a half years ago Z & I were newly married & I was quite frustrated with the process of changing my name. Companies & organizations just couldn't get it right that there's no 'E' in my first name.

A month before our wedding, my housemates & I had finished off this giant tub of honey that our one housemate BMG had brought back from visiting her grandma in Montana a year prior. It was so big that it took four housemates, plus house guests a full year to use the entire tub. 

This particular day that I was embarrassingly frustrated with Wells Fargo I had stormed into the alley house, blazed by some friends who were their usual over the top lovingly nice selves (you know, the kind you don't feel you deserve & maybe don't know how to really let them love you like they do), & stomped up to my room to find this giant tub of honey. 

In my anger I didn't stop to really look at the tub. I thought it was the old empty tub & didn't know why in the world they thought I would want that empty tub. Once I had calmed down & leveled with my stressed self about all the changes happening in life at the time, I realized that this giant tub was full to the brim with fresh Montana honey.

My housemate's sister had gone to visit their grandma in Montana right before she came to visit us in MN & to celebrate Z & I on our wedding day. My dear friend Jules (she does have an 'E' in her first full name) had brought a whole new tub & knowing how much I love tea, she decided to gift it to Z & I. The lid of the tub still has the piece of masking tape that says, "With love from the M girls."

AND NOW this honey, yes, Z & I are still working on it 2&1/2 years later, though it is only maybe 1/4 full now, is filling up my fun new little honey pot.

Here's to the golden moments in your day that make you stop & breath & smile.

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!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

I have to admit, it's 9:03pm & I'm just now getting around to blogging today. However, I didn't forget about it at all today. While I've been slow to get back into the rhythm of my blogs since moving, I've found my joy in Tuesday Tea Time again & can't let it slip by so easily.

Today's credit for the "hot tea" picture goes to artist Traci O'Very Covey. Her art is a joy to the eye with the variety of colors & content. Be sure to check it out!

Kombucha, Laundry, Newsletters, & Chopsticks sums up my day.

Kombucha is one of my favorite teas that I enjoy year round. Since moving, I haven't been able to find it, but thankfully my mother-in-law picked some up for me in MN & they're visiting this weekend! I'm sure I could order it online if I need to too. However, I figure it'll be a good excuse to try new teas if I'm unable to find it around here.

AND I'm slowly but surely making new friends that are LOCAL - that is key - that like tea too, so I will have people (or at least one person - shout out to TE!) to share tea time.

Laundry...apparently when your spouse is a foot taller than you, that means their clothes are bigger & you can't put 4 pairs of jeans, plus a few hoodies & other items in a 24+ year old washer. It sounded like a bowling ball was in there! Thankfully, all is good & the laundry is done for today.

If you're a member of Zion or St. Thomas be ready for a newsletter article in next months Teller/Newsletter!

And just a simple highlight was using chopsticks to eat dinner.

Here's to tea, productivity, cleanliness, community, & a sliver of adventure in your day (or night)!