Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Awesome!

Credit given to Wallcoo.net

Happy Easter! Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!

GOOD: This is my favorite holiday of the year by far. There's not the stress of buying just the right gifts for everybody or the money that it takes to buy those gifts. There simply the celebration of our savior Jesus who overcame death so that all people may have life. Plus like most holidays, there's almost certain to be good food to be enjoyed with good company. This past week went by fast as Z & I helped lead & partake in different Holy Week festivities. In the midst of Holy Week we started our prep for the month of May. The next month is going to be one fun even after the next & it's so great to start it out with my favorite holiday! 

BAD: The theme of death is still quite strong. My friend Mike finally entered life eternal with Jesus yesterday morning. My friend Mikey is fighting for his life right now as he has been living with colon cancer for the last 5 years. Mikey asked me if we could have a 1x1 before he left his year of ministry with YE (my 2nd year & we were both on international teams) so that he could ask me how I knew I had cancer when I was 7. The questions he was asking, I knew that he knew he had cancer, but the doctors from 3 different countries had yet to find it in his body. *sigh*

AWESOME: The many people that lift me & others up in life & help me to lift you & others up in life. You are awesome. Here this & believe it. Say it to yourself a few times, in the mirror. Believe that you are worthy & capable of good, because you are. And to top of the topic of 'awesome' what's more awesome than the story of Jesus' life & death & resurrection. No matter if you believe this to be salvation for all people or not, it's still a ridiculous mysterious wonderful story.

WORD: Life's been heavily doused in the Gospel this week. It's a little new & different each time.

coming up: VACATION! Blog posts for the next little while may only be photos or not at all. Sorry folks, but that's the way it is. Gotta unplug every now & again.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & awesome

Happy Sunday! I'm changing it up a bit. As my readers know, the ugly is often stuff we see in the news & something I struggle finding anything to share about. My heart doesn't stay in the ugly part of my days very easily. I've been conditioned to do otherwise & I'm not gonna fight that. So this past week while watching some sort of television show - if only I could remember which one! - I saw a segment on the 'good, bad, & awesome.' I knew in that moment that needed be something I tried with my Sunday Snippits, so here we go!

GOOD: The little ways those we love say hello. My bff, BGEG, has seen hearts popping up all over her life ever sense her Grandy passed away nearly 2 years ago. I was eating lunch the other day only to look at the core of my apple & see a heart. I thought to myself, "Why hello Grandy Mary & whoever else you have with you!" I say whoever else because death has been very prominent this year already & definitely in my life time of those I love. This heart was definitely unexpected & while the picture doesn't show it well, I especially loved that the apple seeds - which I enjoy eating - filled the heart. My good friend JMC convinced me some 4 or so years ago that it was okay to eat this part of the apple too. So hello to JMC in NJ! Yes, the little hellos come from the living & the dead. Call me crazy, but I believe in a God that gives eternal life & these hellos are one way God is working in the world.

BAD: Did I mention death? Yeah, I can't express enough how important it means to be in community & to be constantly reaching out to each other as part of community & sharing love with one another. We fall short of doing this for everybody & maybe even feel that others fall short of doing this for us, but try & try again is all I can impress here. On another note, our fur baby doesn't like the grass & seeks out the ever shrinking piles of snow to use the bathroom. However, even this doesn't convince her to always use the restroom outside. We we try & try again. Sigh.

AWESOME: I So much like ending on a good note! Going along with the little hellos & the apple heart, I read this week that people, Drew Barrymore in particular, also looks for hearts in her day-to-day life to simply see the love in the world. She even compiled enough materials to create a book titled Find It In Everything.

WORD: This is Holy Week for those who practice Christian traditions. That means this week we walk with Jesus in his last days on earth as a human & celebrate his resurrection as all peoples' salvation on Easter Sunday. This week, Christian believer or not, I encourage you to find an experience to take part in around Holy Week. There's worship services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, & depending on where you live possibly something special on Saturday & a multitude of celebrations on Easter Sunday.

coming up: This & that, those are my days right now. Enjoying Netflix, reading a piece of daily scripture, doing yoga, blogging, keeping the laundry done, & practicing my basic French. This week I will also toss in a little Bible Study prep for working at camp this summer.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & ugly

Credit given to Ashley Dellagiacoma

GOOD: This past week was a low key week. As usual I had no problem keeping myself busy, but I did have to be creative with what I did to fill my time on certain days. I enjoyed allowing myself time to network & prep for some work related things as well as catch up with a few good friends. Thursday Z & I took Michi to puppy care with CH & headed away for the day. Our big adventure was honestly simply because we had bought an Up North Live coupon & needed to use it before it expired. Check out Friday Favorites to learn about my highlight from that trip. The other silly fun part is we purchased a new vacuum (Shark Rocket). It works wonderfully & is very light weight & versatile. Friday afternoon in the mix of snow, ice, & rain I enjoyed lunch with my friend AVP at Indo China Gardens. The heat of spice was a good warm me up!

BAD: Winter weather is slowly fading away, but that means allergies & sickness are rampant. Yes, there has still been stuff in the JZ Parsonage. Also, there seems to be quite a few people in my life that are at or near the end of life. This reminds me to breath deep & enjoy the air around me.

UGLY: There's a lot that could go here, but it's all in the news.

WORD: Check out Anne Lamott on FB or elsewhere, she's poetic & real which I find refreshing.

coming up: The usual networking, work, cleaning, socializing, & drinking tea while the slushy icy snow stuff reveals the grass underneath.

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & ugly

GOOD: This past week was a good week to watch movies & do some house work & catch up on a few other things. I started the week with Zumba class on Sunday afternoon & then went into recovery mode for my head cold. Let me tell ya, intense physical exertion with a severe soar throat is not a good idea! My favorite movie that Z & I watched was Miss Potter about the life of Beatrix Potter. It is one of those movies I remember seeing advertised possibly before it came out & I couldn't believe that it came out in 2006. Renting mainly from a Redbox in the last couple of years has greatly changed the availability of what we rented. Now living in a town with a Family Video & no Redbox, there's a different variety of movies to rent. There's also something nostalgic of actually going into a video store & browsing for the right movie for that day. The other exciting peace of my week is taking on more work that will use my skill sets & allow me to work out of my strengths. More about that to come later!

BAD: Feeling cooped up so much of the time. Lucky for our fur ball, it has been warm enough to take her on several walks lately. Not so lucky for her is that she usually needs rinsed off afterwords from all the mud & dirt that has flung up on her underbelly. These pictures are the state of our back patio & yard to date. This was yesterday evening. I'd been wanting to walk out into the huge snow drift for quite some time & Z hit a point that he wanted to try & shovel it. Well, as you can see it is SO solid that I'm as tall as the house standing on the drift. We may need a heat lamp at this point to use our patio any time soon.

UGLY: All the back & forth about World Vision & their hiring policy. They made a well thought & I'm assuming prayed out written decision that upset the fruit basket & quickly took it all back. Talk about whiplash! Then there was something going on with Hobby Lobby, but I'll be honest, I was so tired of all the controversy over World Vision & things going on around the world that are less than uplifting that I didn't even read up on any of the Hobby Lobby information.

WORD: Today I suggest reading The God Article

coming up: Hunkering down & figuring out the details of some my new work. Reading b/c I'm slow at reading stories that I already know & want to finish The Help before our Paris trip. And getting outside as much as possible because while it doesn't totally look like it, Spring is here!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & ugly

GOOD: I'm always thankful for sunshine when I travel, especially when I travel long distances by myself. So that was a good start to the week. One big theme of the week was food. Oh how I love food! Momma P had sent me back to MI with the goods to make corned beef grilled cheese sandwhiches & left over Irish car bomb cupcakes for St. Paddy's Day. While still recovering from that goodness we made homemade turkey burgers with a few modifications to what's listed in the recipe. Then on Friday we made homemade pizza from a dough & sauce recipe that was gifted to us for one of our wedding showers & never been used. Thank you MTB & the rest of the Tornero family for passing on the goodness! Saturday was a relaxing day with a bit of cleaning, an adventure to the local coffee shop just to get out of the house - even if it's still quite chilly - & some planning for our upcoming trip to Paris. The bonus pieces of the week were chats through G-chat, Skype, phone & attempts at FaceTime with college friends, seminary friends, & family.

BAD: The reality that people have to debate how to react to the death of a church leader who hurt a lot of people. Death is death, it's the end of a person's life & no matter the good or bad that person caused we need to honor that a life is not in our world any longer, but another. For all the articles that have said to not cheer for death of a hurtful person, the people have already cheered simply by wondering if it is okay to do so. Do what you need to take care of yourself.

UGLY: Today my ugly is the cold, but all you have to do see ugly is turn on the news channel or go to check it out online. There is bound to be something about war or hunger or devastation.

WORD: Psalm 128 - "Happy is everyone who fears the Lord." Discuss!

coming up: Singing random songs about the dog, hopefully warmer temps again, snow melting, dancing, & more time getting to know the community in which we live.

Sunday Snippits:

Happy Sunday!

This past week is good, bad, & ugly - as usual. Life is an adventure!

GOOD: The week started with some slightly warmer temps & March is definitely proving to be more sun shine filled than February. Tuesday was a sad & joyful celebration of TE's life. Wednesday was busy preparing to drive to hoosierland for the weekend. While in hoosierland I was spoiled by my family & friends. I enjoyed surprising my life long best friend , BGEG, at the local coffee shop as she & family were carrying in her artwork to set up her show. The baby gender revealing party KZ-S & momma & papa E held was a delight to be at. The revealing came through popping balloons with confetti the "gender appropriate color" inside. It's a girl! Then today I learned another childhood good friend is also having a baby girl. 2014 truly is the year of many babies from my peers. And let me not forget getting to worship with my brother's "praise band" & then go back to a St. Patty's day celebration with family & close friends.

BAD: The further North I drove today the deeper the snow got. While I was gone it rained & snowed. Ah the life of living in the Great North! I'm too tired from travel to remember much of anything else right now.

UGLY: In lieu of the fact that we are currently watching 12 Years a Slave. Modern day slavery & discrimination. While the movie is based on a true story that is over 100 years old, the hatred for people who are different that oneself & a ridiculous sense of entitlement is all too common.

WORD: Last night I heard a version of the story of Paul on the road to Damascus like I've never heard. One thing that struck me was that Paul was never actually mentioned. While the speaker started with a focus on washing the mud from our eyes he turned the focus into shaving & the fact that "Jesus shaves & saves" & we need to put on the "aftershave of life." Yup!

coming up: Prepping for a few different job things, dancing, singing, enjoying the sunshine!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & ugly!

Sunday Snippits!

GOOD: Winter is ending nicely. I know that doesn't mean there won't be more snow, in fact there's likely more to come this evening, but the temperatures are finally starting to warm up a bit. Facebook was filled with plenty of uplifting pieces of art & funnies this past week. Ash Wednesday went off without a hitch & with many #ashtag(s). While the #ashtag is ridiculously nerdy, it is also a pretty great way of sharing one's faith in Jesus & outwardly acknowledging our human fate of being made from dust & returning to dust. Reading this article brings me hope of change in the church for expanding the kingdom of God. Friday night we had fun with friends at a new restaurant in a neighboring town & Z tried frog legs for the first time (& prolly his last). AND to top of these good things our passports have been renewed & we have booked our first trip out of the country for next month! While we have been numerous places before ever knowing one another existed, we have not been on any over the ocean trips together.

BAD: While Ash Wednesday reminds us that from dust we came & to dust we will return, this week makes that far to real for my liking. The death of a dear friend (TE) to the most aggressive form of breast cancer (IBC), an accidental dose of chemo to my uncle who's living with PICK's disease & small cell lung cancer - it helped him breath better even though they weren't doing chemo, & the death of my best friend's (AJO) Grandma.

UGLY: The continuing war throughout the world. The crazy highs & lows that are a part of grief. The unknown.

WORD: So Z & I have been doing different devotions lately. I've been regularly doing the AM & PM devo that's part of the 'devotion' app on my phone. Occassionally we do those together, but we've also been doing the Luther Seminary Lenten Devotional. In Zumba today I shared Psalm 127 because I thought it was the Psalm I read the other day (it wasn't) through one of these devos that I just didn't connect with on that day in lieu of the grief I've been dealing with.

coming up: A funeral on Tuesday, some camp prep, some Zumba work, & as always some adventure!

Sunday Snippits: good, bad, & ugly

GOOD: These boots! Not only are they a quality brand with good support they were a surprise, on sale, & oh the wonderful colors! I can't get enough :-) This last Tuesday I finished my phoning job which was a bit of a relief to finally be done with the list of people to call. It was a blessing to be able to work with YE again though & to continue to promote the ministries that God has them offering. I seemed to have beat the crud that I was feeling at the beginning of last week & move into the middle of the week figuring out how to spend my time with more than enough to do & figure out about life. By the end of the week I found myself sending e-mails pulling me out of one job application process & pushing forward with another for a summer gig at Michi-Lu-Ca with ELCA Living Waters Ministries. I'm very excited to know what God has in store for both Z & I this Summer & the months following. I will be serving in the position of Senior High Camp Director.

BAD: The sleep we lost due to our worry of our poor Michi puppy licking her scar & wound from the clamp. Our puppy likes to lick, so thankfully we came up with a quick fix & knew where to find the onesie that our family used 3.5 years ago for our niece's birth announcement. Yes, she's still wearing it & still sleeping a lot, but also playful. Also bad, the constant surprise of how cold it remains to be. This is not just me who's been living around the 45th parallel for the last 7 years, this is everybody that lives above the Mason Dixon line. Bring on the mud season!

UGLY: Last Sunday Z & I watched Zero Dark Thirty & while fascinating. I wonder what that woman is up to now & where those children in the home ended up & how the soldiers are doing. SO much war going on in the world & in people's personal lives. Also, it's ugly that it is a surprise when certain states are able to pass laws in favor of all people being allowed to be married. I wish there wasn't a reason to doubt those laws passing.

WORD: I finally started reading The Help after how many years? I'm a bit behind after college & seminary. Plus I'm not a big reader. Aside from this though I've also been using the app called Devotion for a morning & evening moment in the word. It's free, definitely recommend it!

coming up: More recovery for Michi (she's doing great), prepping for Summer Work, Zumba, & planning a few trips here or there.

& now to enjoy the Oscars!

Sunday Snippits: One Word 365 Update

What?! No GOOD, BAD, & UGLY?

I'm multitasking!

When I chose my One Word as healthy, I meant it in a holistic way, but with a special emphasis in the emotional department.

Hi, I am a forever optimist who struggles sitting with people - including myself - in the gray times of life.

There's SO much life to be lived that I don't see the point in living in the gray times more than than the clear sparkly times. However, as I've mentioned recently, I am living in a time of limbo. I'm working a couple of different jobs & applying for others & praying for what path I should follow. I can't escape the gray.

This forever optimism comes from a lot of gray in my childhood. I like to see people happy so I figure if I share a smile then it can hide the gray.

It doesn't fix the gray, but it makes me feel good.

Thus why on the usual Sunday Snippits, I ALWAYS have a LOT more to say for the GOOD than I do for the bad or ugly.

Living healthy is hard, but beautiful!

Sunday Snippits: GOOD, BAD, & UGLY

GOOD~ Its vacation & continuing ed. week! So this past week has been busy work plus a lot of time inside due to weather. Aside from the busy work there was Tea Time with TE. In my attempt to make us scones I made one giant orange scone & it was delicious. I'm all about the no fuss recipes, so I purposely made one scone instead of a dozen individual ones. Plus earlier in the week I had an unexpected phone call from KT & later in the week an unexpected card from JM! A couple good heart to hearts is energy for the soul.

BAD~ Death in the family is never fun. Z's last living grandparent - Grandma Esther - went quickly into heaven Tuesday morning. We are all thankful she was on hospice for less than 24 hours. Now prayers for decent weather for travels for both the memorial & inurnment.

UGLY~ The way the winter weather makes people complain. Find something worth complaining about! I'll be the first to admit I'm not amused with the fresh snowfall anymore, but it's January & it snows.

WORD ~ Today I restarted a plan to read the Bible in a year. I read a LOT of Nehemiah, yup. I started this plan at the end of 2012 & made it 80 some days before getting tired of it so I figure I'd give it another try.

Coming up~ A little work & a lot of play & the EXTRAVAGANZA!

Sunday Snippits: GOOD, BAD, & UGLY!

Credit given to FamilyShare.com

It's the start of another new week & in the forecast there's lot of single digit weather. It's definitely that time of year where people are simply holed up or totally escaping to someplace warm. Then there's those of us who don't have the option to do either & trudge through each day.

GOOD: This last week was full of discernment & being more attentive to listening for that "still small voice." This last week was full of joy that I can share out loud now b/c they have shared it out loud. My life long best friend, our mom's are life long best friends, my sister from another family, is having a BABY! BEG & her hubby are due in August & I just can't stop smiling. The other fun piece is that our good friends W&M now are W&M&R & my college roomie is now K&D&W! 2014 is the year for babies. Don't get any ideas, none here just yet. This last week was also fabulous because I got to FaceTime/Skype/GoogleHang/phone with BLF, RR (check out One Story Catcher), DF, & a few other great people. If you haven't noticed, I thrive in community. I also got mail from AJO (with stickers!) & M&B-BR. PLUS, we got to hang with A&S yesterday at the local winterfest. There were snow sculptures, more snowmobiles than I had ever seen at one time in my life, live music, & OUTHOUSE races. Yes, that's right, people build their own style of an outhouse & race against one another down a snow track. We decided that St. Tom's needs a team next year & can be the Holy Crappers with a confession booth or pew or prayer kneeler.

BAD: It's taken me all month to catch up with the piles on my desk. While the piles are sorted through (for now) there's bound to be more. With the schedule I've been keeping, since I work from home, I get tired of spending so much time in my office & I can't find motivation on these dark cold days to do more than I have to. I also don't really know what's going on in the world. The articles that come into my inbox are often overlooked or really have to catch my eye to be read. So I apologize if I'm missing some big bad things.

UGLY: You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so let's just leave it at there are ugly things in life & I've been incredibly snarky lately.

WORD: John 1:29 was posted by the ELCA today on FB & I wanted to share it at Zumba, but couldn't remember the exact scripture. Today, it was all I needed to read & absorb. I didn't want to study it or check out the different translations. Just read & absorb & be.

Coming up: This week I will finish phoning for YE, so that's sorta sad 'cause I love the ministries God is leading YE in. AND there will be Tuesday Tea Time AND there will be Zumba on Wednesday AND there will be more reading of Bittersweet.

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Ugly!

Time for Sunday Snippits yet again. Does anybody else not believe that November is half over already?! Well, we better start believing, cause December is coming to us ever so quickly with each passing minute.

GOOD: This last week was a go-go-go week. This is good because I function better when I have things to do. I'm a list maker & when I have things to put on my list & then have things to accomplish, life is good. There was phoning, there was Tuesday Tea, there was my cancer-versary, & turkeys learning to speak! Yes, it was a busy & good week. And by the way, I'm the turkey learning to speak. There's no denying my familial roots when I make silly mistakes like saying "Gooble Goble" when I meant to write "Gooble Gobble." What can I say, my kind, we keep life entertaining! I also got to get out for a Starbucks treat with my friend TE (see Friday Favorites for more info), have dinner with my new friend AP, & then dinner again the next night with other new friends & colleagues. AND TODAY is my 1st ZUMBA DEMO! 

BAD: The darn check engine light came on again. 

UGLY: Read the news people, I don't need to tell you what's ugly. However, I will highlight this Huffington Post article about religious freedom. Why can't we be ok with the fact that we're not all the same & strive for the common good of the neighbor?!

WORD: Psalm 46. It contains part of my favorite scripture to meditate on. AND I may be preaching on this scripture next Sunday.

Coming up: Z's being installed this evening! I'm preaching next Sunday! More phoning & promoting of the awesome ministries God is leading Youth Encounter in & much more.

Sunday Snippits: the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY!

Welcome to Sunday Snippits with a review of my week in...

...

GOOD: This last week we did a LOT of cooking with fresh produce. Apple oatmeal in the crock pot, egg veggie wild rice dish, butternut squash apple cider soup, ciabatta bread, & sausage wild rice veggies & mushroom soup hot dish. This last week is a blur other than that. It was good, it was busy, & it went by fast. Thursday evening was the annual Spaghetti Dinner & silent auction Friday Ma & Pa N came in from MN for the weekend & Saturday Ma & Pa P joined in the party from IN. Saturday we spent the day showing off Che-boo-boo & spent some time in Mackinaw City too. Today was a busy morning with visiting from camp & now we're all just "resting."

BAD: I don't remember much about the blur of this last week. Too much going on around me!

UGLY: I don't have anything to contribute to this. Mer mer!

Coming up: Ma & Pa P are here till Friday morning, so there's a little this & that to get done or take part in this week with my ecourse or a few business things & a whole lot O fun!!!

WORD: Luke 17:11-19 & Lepers. I've only read stories about people working with people who have leprosy. It makes you think about proclaiming praise for the little things in life & befriending the visually unappealing - for whatever reason to each individual - & being the church with them.

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Ugly

Happy Sunday Funday! It's Sunday Snippits with

GOOD: It's hard to believe it's already been a week since Z's ordination & family time in MN. Monday kicked off the week with some networking with Dawn Trautman - a Life Coach who I learned about a few years ago at the Youth Ministry Extravaganza. I will be participating in her online course & possibly eventually pursing becoming a Life Coach myself! Tuesday was one great surprise & distraction after another with a few Skype dates & a Starbucks date with some friends that were in the area. And an added adventure of the "Check Engine" light coming on in Mandela. Something about back-up in the catalytic converter that Perkins Performance - aka my brother - replaced a few years ago. Thankfully that was an easy fix & we found a new "Ray" (our Toyota guy in MN). Total props to Fein's Auto! Wednesday brought another wonderful surprise with visitors from MN who took us to lunch at The Step Inn - a new experience for all of us. Thursday we got out on the local trail for a bike ride before the rain started coming - & has kept coming - & Friday & Saturday I worked as a wedding coordinator for my first wedding in the area. Congrats to R&J!

BAD: The government....yeah....it's easier to not follow all the news some days.

UGLY: Humanity, sorry, but I'm stuck on the government shutdown. 

SHOUTOUT: A special shout out to the installation of Bishop Elizabeth Eaton in the ELCA Check out her speaking about being the 1st female bishop of the ELCA here!

WORD: While I get my daily scripture readings from ELCA.org, I've also been slowly reading Anne Lamott's Help, Thanks, Wow with Z. Mucho thanks to KE & Bert for the gift. It is one that I could read over & over & still be learning how to pray the words & actions of Help, Thanks, Wow.

Coming up: Big Picture, Big Purpose, Zumba choreographing, Getting out into the community more, AND welcoming Ma & Pa N. to Che-boo-boo on Friday AND Ma & Pa P. on Saturday!

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!

Sunday Snippits: GOOD, BAD, UGLY

GOOD: We're moved & settled & Z is building a magnificent Lego castle. We have been blessed over & over again by a variety of people. Our home is lovely & easily 4x larger than our 1st 2 living spaces as JZ Nelson. We were able to pick the paint colors & that made a world of difference in making it ours. Z officially started his pastor job today, which makes him the "pope of Chebooboo." Props to the Verizon for that title! Another fun update is I have officially joined the ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network) & hope to start teaching in October. I'm really excited to get back into a regular routine of Zumba parties!

BAD: We don't have Internet set up yet, so I'm typing this from my smartphone. We also don't know many people yet, so I'm scheming some ways to network & be relational. I also don't have a recognized call yet as a Diaconal Minister, so that discernment & prep is in the works.

UGLY: As usual, check out the news. The Syrian civil war is scary stuff. Our government is facing some messy situations (when aren't they?).

Yes, I just typed a whole blogpost on a small cell phone keyboard. Enjoy!