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.

Saturday Spirit

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." Romans 8:14

Sorry, I missed Friday Foto Fun! It's been a busy couple of days celebrating my dear friends, B&C's wedding. BMG & I met at seminary & were immediate friends & when she met CG, B & I were housemates. It's been a true blessing to be friends with both of them & venture through the questions of what God is up to in our lives & where the Spirit is moving us.

One passion of mine is learning to be the church with the priesthood of all believers. Romans 8 has become one of my favorite scriptures to dwell in, so today I pick this piece.

Where is the Spirit leading you today?

Where is the Spirit leading me today?

Today the Spirit is leading me to my couch. This sounds silly, but a) it was a day of recovery from being constantly on the go & b) I can only plan so much of my life out. So today I sit on the couch, watching episodes of different Netflix shows, napping, & dwelling in the scripture of Romans 8 to see where the Spirit shakes my knowledge.

Tomorrow will be a whole new adventure!

Tuesday Tea Time! It's a Midnight Tea Party!

It's Tuesday Tea Time! Sorta...it's after midnight, which means it's Wednesday.

Z & I were out celebrating our 2 year anniversary today & I didn't sit at my computer long enough this morning to share tea with yall. My Tuesday Tea was on the go & then enjoyed on the way to our adventuresome full day date.

We ventured across the river to explore the history of Mill City at the Mill City Museum. This was a great museum with experiential learning opportunities for all ages. Something that Z & I didn't realize before today is the large fire that burnt down a significant portion of the mill, just burnt down in 1991. The mill had been closed since the 1960's, but it had been left vacant & when a person escaped into the mill to get out of the cold (the frozen tundra) they lit up their cigarette & boom! Flour is highly flammable!

We spent our evening at the theater enjoying the action, thrill, & comedy of The Lone Ranger & then happy hour at Granite City Brewery.

It was a joyous day filled with fun memories of our wedding & dreams of our future.

May you look into your day (or night) & find the same joy in memories past & dreams yet to be revealed.

& check out the website for the Midnight Tea Party!

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.

Tuesday Tea Time!

TUESDAY TEA TIME!

I've missed this time & am glad to be back to share Tuesday Tea Time with you.

To my surprise this quirky animation is from a t-shirt company called Ript Apparel.

Today, as I drink my chai (a mix of powder & a simple Lipton black tea bag) I'm wondering how am I Living, acknowledging the Spirit, and Sparkling?

This random design for a t-shirt seems to bring Life, Spirit, & Sparkle to life. I'm sure there are more inspiring photos out there, but this was quirky & involved dancing tea, happy tea bags, & singing (or screaming - you choose) spoons.

Recently I have found myself in a weird place between being a full-time student & a graduate still living in student housing, knowing that there's exciting new things coming in the near future, but we don't know what those things are yet. Seriously, I feel all the expressed emotions in this photo. The dancing tea bags because I completed my master's degree (I was never going to do more school after college), the tangled tea "water" because I'm thankful for what I have & hopeful for what is to come (though dealing with friends moving out is sad too), & the singing/screaming spoons...yeah, who doesn't relate to those?!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR YOUR LIFE, SPIRIT, & SPARKLE?

I want your answers!

My efforts & encouragement to you. GET OUTSIDE! (Bike, Walk, Swing, Sit in the Sun!)  READ (I'm taking suggestions being recently graduated & also digging into scripture more freely) COMMUNICATE! (Call a friend you haven't talked to in a long time, write a letter, set up a tea time date!) EXERCISE! (Zumba, Yoga, Tribal Challenges, whatever your thing is! EAT! (good summer produce & don't forget to drink your tea!

Sunday Snippits with the GOOD, BAD, & UGLY!

It's Sunday Snippits time! My mind is whirling after 1 too many tastes of caffeinated beverages in the first half of the day. Oops!

And we're back linking up with the ladies of

GOOD: Life is pretty easy going right now. This is a blessing after the whirlwind of graduate school, meeting my best-friend/husband, & moving once a year for the last 10 years. We've been enjoying time with friends & working on little tasks we've been meaning to do for months or even years. My most recent debate (with myself) is if I need a hardcopy address book or if I can fully rely on electronics. After this weekend of colossal summer storms & no internet, I've decided a hardcopy is still a good thing Thankfully, I have a blank address book that I've kept for the last 10 years! It was a high-school graduation gift. Another fun good thing this last week was playing bocce ball with friends before the 2nd massive storm & the next day enjoying a long walk to the fair grounds for the Back to the 50's car show. This was possibly our last chance of having deep-fried cheese curds that are fresh & delicious from the MN fair grounds. We also enjoyed a raspberry & pineapple twist dolewhip cone!

BAD: We don't have internet due to the damage of the storms. We're currently sitting in a Caribou & even their internet isn't reliable due to everybody else doing the same thing we're doing. Our friends are slowly, but surely packing up their apartments & moving for first calls & other adventures. The fear of loneliness is a little too real right now. 

UGLY: Summer has come roaring in with high winds, torrential rains, & fiery lightening bolts. There are hundreds of thousands of people without power & lots of other damage. Our car was darn close to having a giant old pine tree right on top of it. Campus was flooding & Z's phones (he was on call for head resident) were blowing up. It was chaos!

Coming Up: This week will be an adventure of everything getting cleaned up & restored. We've got a lot of fun, but sad events with friends as they are preparing to move to the next thing. Tomorrow night a St. Paul Saints game!

Friday Foto Fun!

Here's a piece of vacation for you. It was a good time of getting lots of rest, over indulging on fun food, playing in the ocean, & going on adventures to local historical sites.

Now we're back in MN where the breeze is MN nice & living into whatever comes next!

Breathing deep in the unknown.

Thirsting for a Thursday Special?!

We're back from vacation & figuring out how to jump back into a routine of being productive citizens of our community. You've most likely missed Sunday Snippits & Tuesday Tea Time, those are everybody's favorite pieces of me sharing Life, Spirit, & Sparkle. So here's a Thursday Special to quench your Thursday Thirst!

Vacation time is over & it's a chore getting back into a routine. It's not an unwelcome chore, but nonetheless a chore. 

Vacation Highlights

1. The beach

2. Our fairly quiet resort (totally recommend The Outrigger)

3. Visiting Thomas Edison's & Henry Ford's winter estates, plus Edison's laboratory

4. Eating at The Island Cow, Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille, cake at The Bubble Room, & Sloppy Joe's.

5. Visiting Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West, seeing his polydextrous cats, & then eating at his local favorite local saloon (see Sloppy Joe's).

We got lots of rest, saw some cool historical sites, took in the local eateries, & collected some really neat shells. The ocean was warm & waves were playful. 

What adventures has the Spirit led you to lately?

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Yesterday was

NATIONAL ICED TEA DAY!

Where you aware this existed?!

To celebrate Z & I went to Caribou for one of their sparkling ice tea drinks. We've now tasted their Apple Raspberry & Peach Black Tea. While they didn't have any specials for National Iced Tea Day, we did get the discount for answering the trivia question right. You can't live in MN or be a child of the '90s & not know that Emilio Estevez played Coach Bombay in The Mighty Ducks movies!

Yesterday was not just a good day for iced tea, but a GREAT day for iced tea because it was the first day in several days that the sun warmed things up enough to break a sweat while walking. I can't trust that it'll stay like this though because it hasn't been consistant enough to trust. So we took our sparkling tea drink & went to Como Lake for a walk. When Z & I first started dating I lived just across the park from the lake & we'd go walking there often, but we hadn't been in a long time. 

Today as I drink my Tuesday Tea I remember the places I've been & the people I've lived with in the last 4 years & dream about what's to come.

Where's your Tuesday Tea time taking you?

Sunday Snippits!

It's never too late in the day for

Sunday Snippits,

is it?

This week we're back with

GOOD: Last Tuesday I was officially released from my care following the car accident I was in a few months ago! No more constant appointments. While they were massage & chiropractor related, the scheduling got a little crazy. Thursday we had our friends B&M BR over for dinner after talking about it all school year. We made a delicious bruschetta chicken with garlic red mashed potatoes & sautéed kale. Then we sat around the table & purposely bruised our peaches so that they were juicy enough to make dessert (impromptu cobbler). The BRs are a true blessing to Z & I in so many ways. B is a phenomenal artist & M is pursuing her phd in the Fall. The best quote of the night was, "That Jesus guy, he just keeps reappearing!" Friday Z & I got up early to celebrate National Donut Day, then worked for a few hours, then headed to WI to tour the 45th Parallel Distillery. This was a Groupon Christmas gift that we were finally able to use. Lesson of the day, Scotland is more hospitable. Some things just shouldn't be tried on their own (like vodka, gin, or aquavit). Saturday we met up with friends from Youth Encounter that I hadn't seen in several years & picnicked at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It was lovely & our friend RR convinced us to try cow tongue tacos! To cap off the day Z & I kidsat WOK 4 other kids. It was quite the party with pizza & finger-paint & sugar!

BAD: This seems lame, but the weather. Yeah, this isn't Spring or Summer. It's a wet chilly mess!

UGLY: Aquavit & Horseradish Vodka (might be good in a bloody mary if that's your drink).

COMING UP:  This week started out nicely with church service & lunch with Ma & Pa N. They wanted to celebrate Z's bday with us before we left on vacation (we leave on Z's bday). With that in mind there will be Tuesday Tea Time & then a brief hiatus while we're on vacation. I'll resume with a Wednesday or Thursday Surprise!

Friday Foto Fun!

T-4 days I'll be enjoying the Southwest FL heat with my best friend/husband & maybe something fun like these drinks on the beach. Even if Tropical Storm Andrea is still raging (which I really hope she's done), there will be warmer weather & fun drinks.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, & enjoy a summer drink!

Tips about vacationing in Ft. Myers Beach, FL welcomed!

oh, & HAPPY NATIONAL DONUT DAY!

maple almond cake & cake with chocolate ganache & sprinkles from

Mojo Monkey Donuts in St. Paul

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Welcome to my Tuesday morning tea time. Today I'm drinking echinacea tea. While I've been told that echinacea is too medicinal for many, even in smell, I really enjoy it. I especially enjoy the Yogi Tea line (of any tea)!

Last week there was so much excitement that I didn't confess that I had to throw away two travel mugs. Back in April I blogged about leaky travel mugs. Well the purple one kept burning me & the other one was leaking from the bottom of the mug. I know, the fact that I had to throw away 2 of them & still have others is totally a #1stWorldProblem.

WOMP! WOMP!

I now have my small, but trusty, batik travel mug & my large, trusty, sparkly gold travel mug. All that to say, this is not what I was going to blog about this morning! My other ideas will have to wait till another time.

But please, tell me, what do you think about this quote?

"Goodness should become human nature, because it is real in nature."
 Yogi Tea Tag Quote of the day

 Is goodness not human nature?

Check out how the Bible might help: Micah 6:8, the Psalms (14, 23, 31) Romans 8:28, Galatians 5:22, or any others?!

What other sources help us define goodness?

Here's to finding hope in your Tuesday Tea Time!

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

& I'm bushed. 

I apologize for the inconsistency of my blogging lately. I will update tomorrow with a Monday Miracle update on the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY.

Anybody else a little sun kissed from this beautiful weather?

Friday Foto Fun!

Ever have a moment like this? Maybe you didn't catch your ice cream cake with your face & it fell all the way to the ground! Somewhere out there is another photo of me laying on the kitchen floor because a perfectly delicious marshmallow jello something (salad?) had fallen out of the refrigerator & upside down on the floor, while still in the bowl. I just laid there looking at it, wondering if there was anyway to scrape it off the floor & still be delectable.

Life is funny!

What's your funny oops moment of the week? We all have them, so share the joy!

Tuesday Tea Time!

It's TUESDAY TEA TIME! and today I found even more fun Tuesday Tea Time photos on Google, that I might have to share two!

While I was hangin' with WOK this morning before coming to my other job (sittin' at a desk, answering the phone when it rings), he was watching "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" (the recent version of Mr. Roger's neighborhood) & Daniel was having a "Birthday Tea" with his friend Catarina's (the cat) monkey. I'm not sure I've ever had a birthday tea, but it sounds like a fabulous idea!

My GOLDEN birthday is tomorrow!

My mom mentioned that she had never heard of a "golden birthday" till getting to know Auntie Di many years ago. This is a family friend who's known me my whole life, I believe. I vaguely remember celebrating my brother's golden birthday when he turned 14. However, a 14 year old boy generally isn't into sparkly gold things. I totally intend to wear whatever gold I have! This honestly isn't very much though. I have costume jewelry, a tank-top that's flecked with gold, & a brown scarf belt/hair wrap. I just remembered I might have some old dance costume pieces left, but I'm not sure I want to venture into that! AND I sorta want to go to Target & buy these gold sandals or something like them. I generally don't splurge on cheap unsupportive shoes anymore, but this is a special reason, right?!

How have you celebrated your or other's GOLDEN birthdays?

With a birthday tea perhaps? While I'm sure I'll have tea in the morning, my plans are to do a historical tour of Fort Snelling, maybe some hiking along the river, get my free schooner of beer from Manning's Cafe, pick up my Dairy Queen ice cream cake, return home in time for some sort of surprise delivery, dinner & live music at Hells Kitchen with friends, & then back to the JZ Seminary Shack to share the ice cream cake with friends. It should be a splendid day!

Sunday Snippits!

It's Sunday Snippits with

GOOD: A week ago today Z & I graduated from Luther Seminary with our Master of Divinity degrees. We were blessed with many of our family members being able to join us in person & several cards from those who were not able to travel. We really encourage more travel for our Ordination & Consecration service(s). Monday morning we got up bright & early (3am CST) to travel to MI for synod assembly & to meet the Bishop & his staff who help place us in our first calls as ordained pastor & consecrated Diaconal Minister. I even got to catch up with my good friend LK from college! He's doing his pastoral internship in MI this year & it had been nearly 3 years since we had seen each other. Upon our return to MN we've been working. I got to hang out with WOK both Thursday & Friday this week. Friday night some friends came over to hang out & Saturday night we hung out with some other friends to celebrate SS's b-day (one of many people I know born on May 28).

BAD: We still dont know much about our future, but we have hope in what's to come. Our energy is low due to the consistant cloudy skies of MN.

UGLY: The tragedies around the country & world are the ugliest pieces of life right now. Tornados in OK, landslides burying kids on a field trip in St. Paul MN,  & the homelessness of so many people in this unpredictable weather.

COMING UP: Tonight we're celebrating JHM's birthday (also on May 28), Wednesday is my GOLDEN birthday, Thursday is camp day, & J&K WT are getting married over the weekend!

TILL NEXT TIME: So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abby! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and join heirs with Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. NRSV Romans 8:12-17

Friday Foto Fun!

Congratulations to the Luther Seminary class of 2013 & their friends & families!

Believe it or not, I don't know every person in this photo, but I know at least most of their names. The two young men in the front are our friend's & classmate's boys who were present to receive an honorary diploma for their dad (see Dec. 2012 posts). You can barely see me standing behind & in-between the two of them. What you can see is celebration. 

I have no doubt that every person in this photo is going to do fantastic things through the Spirit and for the church each & every day of their tomorrows.

How are you celebrating graduation season?

Thirsting for a Thursday Special

You've most likely missed Sunday Snippits & Tuesday Tea Time, those are everybody's favorite pieces of me sharing Life, Spirit, & Sparkle. So here's a Thursday Special to quench your Thursday Thirst!

The topic of the day: ambiguity

As I sit quietly listening to see if WOK will wake up from his nap, the 6 fingered cat Ernie (yes, after Hemingway) is howling from the basement. 

This is not ambiguity, this just is.

Now that graduation has come & gone, Z & I sit in a time of unknowns. Maybe today's topic should be hopeful unknowns. Ambiguity still fits though because we know that we have been assigned to serve in the North/West Lower Michigan synod & we know that the synod staff is working to give us potential placements. We know so much & at the same time, so little. 

Last week we celebrated 4(+) years  with friends & shared how we have been impacted by each other & our time at seminary. The next day family started arriving & Saturday afternoon we had all of our immediate family in our apartment except for my brother (who was camping in PA). At baccalaureate we were reminded to let the Gospel surprise us & at commencement we were given a pep talk to not be boring. Living in ambiguous unknowns is NOT boring.

It is the working of the Spirit that keeps us hopeful in the unknowns & the ambiguous "answers" to our questions of "What's next?!"

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Friday Foto Fun!

Luther Seminary, a place where the Spirit has soared through the walls of education & people, working for and with the church, for years. Together we have enriched each other's lives & together we are sent out to be "Jesus with skin on."

What's sending you out?

Tea Time!

Due to high velocity of social events & work schedules, Juls of Life, Spirit, & Sparkle will return ASAP.

Today was an earl gray kinda day.

What's in your mug?

Sunday Snippits!

Happy Mother's Day!

The last week has been no less busy than any other. Life in the fast lane is my style, I just choose to fill it differently depending on where I am each day. After finishing my last class of graduate school last week I was able to sleep in a little extra & catch up on lost beauty rest. That brings us to Sunday Snippits with

and so that I don't forget here is the link to watch my thesis defense presentation on Spirit-led Hospitality Leadership for and with First/Third Ministries.

GOOD: Last week was a release of energy after the busyness of finishing my final semester at Luther Seminary. Monday I enjoyed baking cookies for my final class on Tuesday morning. I'm not much of a baker, but chocolate chip cookies are a sinch & I especially enjoyed the gluten free cookies (1 cup overnight oats, 2 ripe bananas, & whatever add-ins - I chose chocolate chips - you want, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15min & voila!) Wednesday started the end of the year festivities with an outting to the Wild Roast Cafe with my Grouplife friends from Jacob's Well Minneapolis. Thursday was the annual Blessings Banquet where we honor, thank, & meet our donors. Then we went to Mannings Cafe (aka the Seminary pub of many decades) to celebrate a friend's birthday. Friday we enjoyed a cheese & wine party with friends, Saturday we served at Feed My Starving Children with other graduating classmates & their significant others. Then we ended the week with food & games at Dave & Buster's with more classmates.

BAD: Wednesday was supposed to be the annual staff & faculty vs. students & their families baseball game. The darn weather didn't cooperate though & it was canceled. It didn't start raining heavily till 7pm, but the weather is so unpredictable.

UGLY: I'm really stretching to say that anything from last week was ugly. I'm sure there were things in the news, but nothing that directly affected me. The Lord has blessed me abundantly. G'byes have started & that is never fun, so we'll say that is ugly. I'm in denial that I have seen snow coming from the sky in the last week.

Coming up: Today we celebrated Mother's Day at the St. Paul Grill with Dad & Mom N & naturally we talked about all the excitement happening this last week & in the weeks to come. Due to such excitement, I may not be blogging for Friday Foto Fun, Sunday Snippits, or Tuesday Tea Time starting at the end of this week. This week we have more celebrations & family coming in for graduation weekend next week. ONE WEEK from today we will officially be graduated with our Master of Divinity degrees! Then off to synod assembly to network.

Friday Foto Fun!

photo courtesy of Shutterstock 5/10/13

Have you ever been waiting & waiting for something & then it arrives?

I'm guessing we all have been here. Maybe you were waiting for a birthday, graduation, wedding, or vacation. I've been waiting for the green leaves to return. This morning, they're back! They're small, but they're there.

It's a little piece of promise for a changing tomorrow.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Except I'm without tea today.

Last night I baked a couple dozen cookies for my final seminary class & barely burned myself. Today while pouring my water into my travel mug I lost my grip & totally scalded two of my fingers on my left hand.

Womp! Womp!

Some days I'm just a little more of a klutz than other days.

I'm in the fun transition of learning how to be me, without a ton of schoolwork. There's still plenty of things to do, but that vacation in June is seeming much more real right now. Life as a student is what I know, but it is time to move on & learn how to not scald my fingers with my tea water.

What's scalding you in the midst?

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." NRSV Hebrews 12:1

Sunday Snippits: Resuming Life

Sunday Snippts!

I missed Friday Foto Fun due to finishing up all my work for grad-school. But the good news is, I am done! I do have to attend class tomorrow & Tuesday, but my assignments are done.

So we'll resume with the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly to get us back on track.

GOOD: Last Sunday KJ got ordained as a pastor in the ELCA. It was quite the celebration! Monday I helped lead chapel with other Word & Service leaders of the ELCA. It was a great way to show our presence on campus. I was also awarded, along with 3 other classmates, a student leadership award. It was fun & made me feel like I had something to show mom. So I sent her a picture on her phone since we don't live even down the street from each other. Thursday I was the student host for The Evidence of Hope documentary at Luther Sem. It's a great documentary with some profound statements of how we should approach our lives. Definitely worth checking out. Saturday I was up bright & early to be ready to defend my thesis at 8am. Then I got to spend the whole day with my classmates & listen to their thesis defense. The week came to a close with a fun bachelorette outing for BLF to Shamrock's Irish Nook. We rocked out with the Brat Pack Radio Supershow. Check 'em out if you're into '80's cover music.

BAD: I missed the coffee shop open mic night that I was supposed to read a few pieces of my poetry at. Yes, I write poetry on occasion, but seriously, the Spirit has to move me. I got stuck in traffic going to get groceries & couldn't be everywhere I wanted to be. I also missed my Friday Foto blog.

UGLY: While hanging with WOK, he wiped out & got a big bloody lip. Thankfully he is alright & so is my shirt that he pressed his bloody lip against. This was all while it was snowing Friday morning, later that day it was sleeting, then it rained & melted all the snow. Crazy Spring weather!

Coming up: This week is busy with 2 more classes, some meetings, & some fun. Graduation is 2 weeks from today! Happy May!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

photo courtesy of Center Church

I didn't know what I was going to talk about other than this adorable Tea Time photo I found today, until I saw a Kays Jewelers commercial. 

I know they're selling love & think that every kiss begins with 'K,' but c'mon! Really? This is how you promote love between two people? You have the guy propose in your store? That's weird & public & not at all creative. So I clearly like some creativity & I was thankful that my engagement with Z was not public. 

DEEP BREATH

How do you promote love between two people?

and shoot, look at that cute icon I found from an event at a UCC church in MA!

Sunday Snippits!

Goodmorning! Here we are back again

linking up with Kate & Kati with

the GOOD, the Bad, & the UGLY

GOOD: Last money may have actually been the last snow for a few months! The last three days in a row have been in the high 60's to low 70's & it has been glorious. It's so nice to move some fresh air through our apartment. My second highlight was hanging out with WOK not once, but twice. He even did a jig when I came to the door on Friday morning. Gotta love hanging out with a 2y/o whose worst part of his day is maybe getting his diaper changed. Everything else is peachy! Then Friday night we got to have the first grill out of the year with some good friends. It was good times all around. To top off the week, Saturday I went to the movies with my girl friends AUB & BDL to see The BIG Wedding. BDL is getting married this summer, so it was fun to see it with a bride to be. AUB's wedding was the summer before Z's & mine so that's all pretty fresh too. The movie was a good laugh with a great cast. Z & I also got to FaceTime with our niece EJ & her parents JMN & CDN. EJ will be 1 in June & is quite adventuresome. She maybe tried to eat the camera on the ipad once or twice. To top off the night I finished my first full draft of my defense presentation & Z decided to make brownies from scratch!

BAD: It snowed another 6 inches last Monday evening. It was wet & heavy. People have started to have a pretty great humor about it, but this hoosier girl is not impressed. The end of the school year is slightly stressing several people out.

UGLY: The last part of bad might be the ugly really. Our emotions are up & down & when I say our, I mean Z, me, & our entire community. The weekend of graduation is exciting, but creating a bit of stress because of all that's being crammed into one weekend, with the ultimate knowledge that it might be our last time seeing many of these people ever again.

Coming up:  Today we are going to see KJ get ordained as a pastor in the ELCA! Tomorrow is Word & Service led chapel at Luther Seminary & I'm receiving an award for leadership (with other leaders too). Thursday I will turn in one final assignment & essentially be done with all of my assignments. I'm the student host for a showing of The Evidence of Hope with the producer, Thursday evening. Then Friday & Saturday are spent with final CYF class time & thesis defense.

That's life in the fast lane!

Friday Foto Fun!

Photo courtesy of The Line Media

As we transition with life there are places that I realize I haven't gone to regularly while I've lived here, but I will miss once we're gone. The Finnish Bistro is one of these places. Tonight we were blessed to be able to spend time with a potential student & his family & have dinner at the Finnish Bistro. There's always good food, good baked goods, & it's attached to a Dunn Bro's Coffee - or the Dunn Bro's is attached to the bistro. Dunn Bro's isn't my favorite coffee shop as a non-coffee drinker, but from our good friend PMc, we hear that they have the best coffee around.

When I was in college the place I always visited (often with AJO, MB, or JMDT) was Cup O Joe.

Where's your missing bistro or coffee shop?

Wondering what my next place will be...

Tuesday Tea Time...with the English!

Tuesday Tea Time!

photo courtesy of Trip Advisor

This morning I am drinking English Breakfast Tea,so I'm not really with the English. Though I often like to reminisce about my time in Scotland & England. It's hard to believe that this Fall it will have been 8 years since I ventured across the ocean on my own. The above picture reminds me of several tea rooms that I enjoyed with friends while I studied at Stirling Uni. 

While the snow continues to cover my world, I daydream about being back in one of these places. Shoot, I daydream about being back in IN or OH where they haven't had snow for weeks! However, there is work to be done to finish out my degree & then the sunny shores of warmer weather & iced tea can be a reality. 

What are you daydreaming about being a reality?

Sunday Snippits!

Sunday Snippits

with the GOOD, the BAD, & the UGLY

linking up with Kate at Classy Living & Kati at Incorporating Color!

the GOOD: In the last week I spent several days & many hours on my computer editing & re-editing my Children, Youth, & Family Ministry (aka CYF) thesis. I seriously have not edited with such significant changes maybe ever. However, I turned it in Friday night & look forward to defending it in a couple of weeks. I reworked my Diaconal project & my work from my Holy Spirit course to make a new paper & feel like I have something of quality compared to the pieces it came from. It really was a matter of refining. Tomorrow is my final group presentation for another course, so a lot of time was spent on preparation for that as well. One of my favorite times of the week was of course hanging with WOK. It's so fun to have a 2 y/o excited to see you :-) Saturday Z & I went to Fuji Ya for a celebration dinner thanks to Groupon. It was SO much wonderful Japanese food! Then we celebrated being a month away from graduation & being done with writing another thesis with some friends at Station 280. All in all it was a hectic, productive, & celebratory week.

the BAD: I am lacking sleep. It's the end of the semester & I am trying to have all of my assignments done by Thursday May 2nd because they're really all due by Monday May 6th. However, the weekend is filled with CYF Defense & a friend's Bachelorette party. My recovery from the auto accident I was in last month is taking longer because my backpack is so heavy. However, now that I have my thesis writing done, it might not be as heavy. Here's to hoping!

the UGLY: There was a lot of ugly last week :-( The first thing was the Boston Marathon bombings. I heard about it while at work & didn't realize how serious it was. Then I found out later that my best friend from college & maid of honor was actually at the marathon cheering on a friend who was running. They are both thankfully alright & doing what they can to continue on with their day-to-day schedules. Then there was the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, TX that killed & injured several people. Finally there was severe flooding in my home town & a bomb scare that created a stir there too. Oh, & did I mention there was more snow & there's more coming?

Coming up: MORE finalizing assignments. I have to put together a 10min defense presentation, write 10 pages for another course (between 3 assignments) & do some exegetical work for a sermon for another course. Tomorrow night is a fun girls' night with some friends for KW's upcoming wedding, Thursday is another fun girls' night with some of my senior classmates, & then hanging out with WOK again. It should be a pretty good week & it's actually looking hopeful that it might be above fifty degrees next week!

Hebrews 12:1-2

New International Version (NIV)

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Friday Foto Fun!

photo courtesy of The UQ Psyc Blog

When you google the word 'thesis' you get some funny comics. I suppose they're only funny if you've lived through, or with somebody, writing a thesis. 

Your thesis becomes your life. It is something you truly believe in, no matter the length that you are asked to produce on your topic. The topic essentially is your life. You lose sleep due to research & editing. You eat whatever is put in front of you just to get a meal. You start wearing nothing but workout clothes & don't worry about your hygiene. You find relief in daily household things like washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, or doing the laundry. And when you get near the due date you have a feeling that you need to scrap the whole thing & start over. It's not good enough, but for who or what?! 

How do you describe your life in 3 minutes?

I'll let you know my answers after the readers have seen it & the defense day has come & gone (so in a few weeks!)

Tuesday Tea Time! ...a piece of stress relief

TUESDAY TEA TIME!

Apparently today is National Stress Awareness Day. I say apparently because other than a friend's post on Facebook, I couldn't find anything officially declaring this. The closest I got to a clear declaration was that it is a national day of awareness in the UK. This is quite fitting after yesterdays's events at the Boston Marathon, finishing my graduate school thesis (due Saturday), & figuring what comes with life after graduation in less than 5 weeks.

STRESS!

It is part of our daily lives, part of our being. It is often translated into levels of anxiety. Because both stress & anxiety are active parts of our life, they do not need to be negative pieces of our life.

How do you manage your stress?

If it's not obvious, I manage my stress by drinking tea. I don't believe I've ever had Kava Tea, but it is labeled as a stress reliever. Is anybody familiar with Kava Tea? I also participate in things that lift my energy & increase my endorphins, bringing a smile to my face. One of my favorite things is dance & another is travel. Ultimately, I find peace in dwelling in scripture. While there is plenty of intense & graphic scripture, I make sure to dwell in that on days that I am not as stressed.

What lifts your energy to a smile?

And I must admit, I also am a stress eater & cleaner. When I feel like I cannot control other outside forces of my life, I do what I can to control the tangible things in my home. A clean kitchen is an accomplishment that helps me to breath easier. This may also be because my kitchen is also my dining room & my living room.

Where is your stress today? 

Prayers for your stress, whatever level it may be, & that a deep breath, an encouraging word, & mug of relaxation be part of your day!

Photo Courtesy of Kava World

Sunday Snippits

We're back for another week life in the fast-lane!

Because I find it easy to highlight the past week we're gonna keep going with

the GOOD, the BAD, & the UGLY

& linking up with Classy Living Kate & Incorporating Color Kati

the GOOD: This last week was busy, but fairly mild. I completed a full draft of my thesis. The light is a little brighter! I also got to hang with WOK, a pretty cool 2 y/o that have been privileged to kid-sit for over the past several months.

the BAD: the snow...in April

the UGLY: more snow...in April

up & coming: MORE THESIS! It's due in next weekend. Rain pellets & today's Twins vs. the Mets game postponed till August! Hang time with WOK & a sushi date with Z.

Friday Foto Fun!

Photo Courtesy of T0M & Jerry's Wordpress Blog

While everything seemed to be melting & letting Spring come up, the Ice Queen reared her ugly head (with awesome dreads) & graced us with more ice & snow. The only place I've seen flowers like this are in church or the grocery store. In Minnesnowda, they really haven't had a chance to start to bud yet.

No, not the most uplifting reality of Spring, but a piece of beauty in the gray winter weather.

Where do you find beauty amidst the gray?