Christmas High Tea

Last year, I was invited to a Christmas Tea sponsored by a local church. At the tea, there was an opportunity to volunteer to host a table for the following year. Guess who signed up!

I've always loved entertaining and have been sad the last few years having a smaller abode without room to host parties. This was a great outlet for me.

There is one hitch! I do not have any China or elegant dishes anymore. I've moved so frequently from city to city and state to state that I've given a lot of it back to my mom for safe keeping.

I had to find a way to get a hold of dishes for this event without breaking the bank.

I went to work visiting thift shops and online postings on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.

That did the trick and allowed me to acquire beautiful dishes at a low cost. 

I was able to host 8 ladies with whom I work. What a lovely evening of fellowship, worship songs, an encouraging speaker in a beautiful setting. Each gal felt like a precious jewel! I was so pleased to be part of this lovely event! Perhaps I'll host next year!

Teetering

Do you ever feel like you're teetering in life? Imagine how this rock feels!

Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

For I am the Lord God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41: 13. 

Take comfort in God knowing where you are and how deep in the pit you feel. 

You are not forgotten. 

You are not abandoned. 

You are not alone. 

You are loved. 

You are worth more than this world can offer. 

You Were Made to Be You

I was making macaroni and cheese as a dish to pass for Labor Day. In the box of pasta, there was 1 pasta that was not like the others. 

The shape was the same. 

The size was the same. 

The function was the same. 

The color was different. 

In a world of imitators, there is only one Creator. We were uniquely made by the Creator to fit a purpose that only you could fulfill. 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139: 13-14. 

Embrace your uniqueness. You were made special for this time, this place, and this purpose. 

Focus on the Family

The non-profit organization, Focus on the Family, was founded in 1977 to put a focus on Christ being the center of individual lives and families. 

I had the great fortune of visiting the campus of this worldwide organization recently while in Colorado Springs. 

The large campus features a Welcome Center that shows films, has a bookstore, dishes up delicious treats, and more!

I was particularly taken with a hallway filled with flags from around the world. Nothing new for me. Still attracted to international items after all these years. 

Air Guitar

On a business trip recently, I spotted this sign in a trendy spot. 

Mysteriously, I did not see anyone with an air guitar. 

Summer Sand

This time of year we spend a lot of time at the beach. 

We were fortunate enough to have family visit recently who wanted to spend time on the beach. It was fun watching them enjoy that beach for the first time. We saw it with new eyes. Sometimes in life we need to see things with new eyes. 

Eclipse 2017

I can't tell you how I excited I was for the solar eclipse. It is one of those rare occurrences in life that should not be missed. 

I did not attempt to find the eclipse glasses at stores even though that would have been the easiest thing to do. 

I went online and looked for solutions and found one from Nasa. They're the experts right? 

All I needed was a box, foil, white paper, tape, and scissors. 

Once it was assembled, we were ready for eclipse viewing! 

How well did it work? Well, we left our home to meet up with family. Once on the road I remembered we didn't have the pin hole projector! Darn it! We opted for an extra pair of eclipse glasses that they had. 

We still enjoyed the eclipse!

Shells

Sometimes you have to walk the beach and pick up shells that appeal. 

Meanwhile, I have a large bowl full of them now!

Just like snowflakes and so many other things in God's creation, there are no 2 shells alike. It is inspiring in a way to know that all things in God's creation are uniquely designed and carefully crafted.

Spring Rolls

My parents are great cooks. 

My mom is a comfort food kind of cook. My father likes to experiment with dishes from around the world. It is part of what inspired me to explore the globe.

A dish that we would make as a family was spring rolls. It was everyone's responsibility to assemble the spring rolls. 

I still make them! This time I chopped cabbage, carrots, green onions, bean sprouts, soybeans, garlic, ginger, and tofu. 

I mixed olive oil, natural peanut butter, salt and pepper for flavor. Toss it all in a bowl with the veggies and give it a good stir. 

I buy these spring roll pastry packages at our local market which caters to mostly Caribbean customers but has a lot of Asian products as well. I paid $2.29 for this package of 25 wraps. 

Scoop a spoonful of the veggie mix onto a wrap. Tuck the sides in an overlapping pattern. Roll the rest from bottom to top. 

Place all the rolls onto a baking sheet. To make the rolls crispy, use egg white or olive oil. 

Bake the rolls for 25 minutes at 375°.  Serve with wasabi, soy sauce, horseradish, salsa, or any other tasty dipping sauce. 

Worldly Labels

Our society tells us we have to be something specific to be adored and celebrated. God says different. 

In the wake of body shaming, slut shaming, bullying, and so many other menaces to our sense of self, it is hard not to get swept away by the waves crashing over us all day everyday. 

I saw this shirt recently in a children's store (not my first post about inspirational clothing in kid sizes).

Enough of the labels of what culture says we should be.

Enough of the labels of what we put on ourselves. 

Let's celebrate our unique talents that God created in us.

Let's stop comparing ourselves to what society says we should or should not be. 

Birthday: Air Mail

This lovely card from my French family arrived around my birthday. I love getting mail (not junk mail) especially when it comes from far and away. 

An Office with a View

I have been blessed in so many ways with my new job (as of December). I now have a laptop which gives me the ability to work from home. 

While I like the discipline of going to an office and talking with people, staying home to work is nice, too. I find that I get interrupted and distracted less at home than at the office. 

I got so much work done the other day staying home. I was doing laundry at the same time as office work. 

Multitasking ninja in the house!

Dominos with Friends

Our small group has become our Florida family since we live far from our own families. We celebrate holidays and special occasions together. We study, discuss, pray, celebrate, encourage, play, eat as a group.  

The group gets together on Thursday evening to play a dominoes game called Mexican Train. We have had the fortune of going and always enjoy the evening when we do. 

It is a fun game that is easy to play even though there are some rules. You can play on your own train, the community train, or an opponent's train if it is marked as open for public play. 

It is easy enough that a group discussion can carry one along side the game.

Just when I thought games were lost to digital devices, this group still plays table games. 

Fun times!

Strengths Finder 2.0

I have always been drawn to personality quizzes like Myers Briggs, Jung's Learning Styles, and so many others. 

One profile tool is the Strengths Finder which is composed of 34 different types that describe a person's strengths. 

I went to an interview once where they provided this book to me as part of the interview. Each book has a unique code that allows you access to the quiz. 

In my current organization, my new manager requested that each team member in our specific team take the quiz. Our goal is to celebrate each other's strengths and leverage them to catapult the effectiveness of projects. 

My top 5 strengths are: 

1. Activator
2. Maximizer
3. Achiever
4. Input
5. Ideation

It makes me think of the song "We Are Many Parts" just like it talks about in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27. We are have gifts and talents to share to make this a better world and to reach the lost. 

Mail Call

My husband has certain comforts from home that are either difficult to find in the US or far more expensive. 

After nearly a year of trial and error, we have categorized which items are cheaper to buy in Africa and shipped to the US. Since my husband has a large network in both Africa and the US, we have channels for making this happen. 

One such package arrived this week which took 11 days shipping. Not bad considering it is coming from the other side of the ocean. Some of my US purchases take that long or more. 

It is always fun getting a package in the mail. Especially when it is filled with goodies!

Dolphin Sighting

Once in awhile, we will see dolphins in the ocean. It seems to be in the evening when the sun starts to fade. 

Not being a dolphin expert, I don't know what inspires dolphins to pop up in the evening. 

The times that we have seen them all seem to be when it is quiet and settled. We will sit on the beach and stare out into the vast ocean. All of a sudden, a dolphin will jump! 

The first time it happened, we looked at each other incredulously and then looked for another sighting. Sure enough, they were traveling along the coast. 

What an unexpected blessing and reminder of God's creation. Something we know very little about. 

Flaxseed for a Colon Cleanse

I recently read this article about flushing out the intestines with flaxseed and kefir. It promotes digestion and cleans out bad bacteria otherwise lodged in the intestines. 

The two ingredients are healthy and harmless. You might as well give it a try! I am using flaxseed meal and pomegranate flavored kefir. 

Week 1: 1 tablespoon of flaxseed and 6 tablespoons of kefir. 

Week 2: 2 tablespoon of flaxseed and 6 tablespoons of kefir. 

Week 3: 3 tablespoon of flaxseed and 10 tablespoons of kefir. 

Father's Day Gift from an App

Today is Father's Day! 

This year I decided to send my dad a Starbucks ecard. He and my mom go to Starbucks and wile away the hours together. 

From my Starbucks app, I sent him a gift card which he can seamlessly add to his Starbucks app. 

Ecards are great ways to send a gift without the hassle of mailing it. 

Fortunes

One of my favorite things about going out for Chinese as a kid was getting the fortune cookie. Rumor has it, that this is a tradition instilled in the US and not in China. 

We went out for Chinese recently and there was no fortune in my cookie. That was a first in all these years. 

Things that make you go hmm...

Florida Summer

Now is the time of year the rest of the US relishes: summer time. 

In Florida, on the other hand, it is time to "hibernate." We tend to be less visible to neighbors than the rest of the year, similar to winter up north. We may deal with heat but not with snow!

The humidity is can be stifling. Most people stay indoors all day soothed by the air conditioning. If one needs to do yard work, it is cooler out after the sun goes down. 

Summer is still a great time for convertibles, pools, and beaches. 

Eating outdoors may occur on occasion at home or at a tiki hut restaurant. 

Enjoy the summer everyone!