Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

OK, you've got to excuse me but I've got the afternoon off AND last night I finally got around to scanning our Honeymoon pics from July! So I'm walking down memory lane!

One of my favorite memories about our honeymoon is the Krispy Kreme Adventure. Chad had gone on about the wonderful Krispy Kreme doughnut for eons before we got married, so when we got to Rhode Island and found out that there was a store just outside of Providence where we were staying you can't imagine OUR excitement! So we went to the tourist bureau (because the Hotel people would only tell us it was super far away) for directions, I mean really, we figured, you can travel the whole island in 45 minutes how long of a drive can it be? So after they too went on about how long the drive would be and we had explained we were from CANADA, and they picked their jaws up off of the counter (whipe the drool please) AND we'd explained why we'd chose Rhode Island of ALL places to spend part of our honeymoon at, they described for us a 10 minute drive out of town.

Excited, Chad called the store to ask when they would have their fresh doughnuts. For those of you that don't know what makes their doughnuts so amazing is that when you come in during production hours you can watch them be made in the store and they will serve you one right off the conveyor belt when you walk in the door.

Well, I of course had never been there before so Chad wanted to ensure I had the full on expereince. So he got the timing down and decided to go over for after supper dessert (we were headed to the Italian District in Providence for supper). After supper we headed off, of course we got lost the first time but when we finally got there their conveyor belt was down, disappointed we headed home. The next day we got the times down again and went over after a Mr. Potatoehead hunt. When we got there, the belt wasn't working again. Disappointment we decide to make a midnight run because they promise us it will be up and running by then. Remember Chad has kept me in the car each time, because he doesn't want my first expereince to be anything but complete, so I'm not allowed to even enter the store as he gets the info.

The next morning is Sunday and we're packing up from our hotel adventures to go camping along the coast, it is our last chance to get to Krispy Kreme so we decide to get up early and get Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast before church. But, the next morning the alarm doesn't go off right (who knows how to set hotel alarms right anyway?) and we wake up with 1 hour to go before church. We've got to shower, pack up, go get our doughnuts and get to church in an hour, and it's a 10 min drive outside the city each way. We realize we can't possibly do everything. You must understand that that was they only time we could go when doughnuts would be fresh!

Convictions aside we jump from bed right into clothes to go to Krispy Kreme (yes over church, head hanging). We get there, whipe the sleep out of our eyes and see the red neon sign, it is lit, doughnuts are being made! Walking in the door, the conveyor belt is going, and a fresh, hot, glaze dripping doughnut is handed to me. I must tell you it was the absolute best doughnut I have ever had and I fully intend of hunting one out in Seattle this summer. Please ignore the lack of makeup and "just crawled out of bed" look! :0P


Is there a Krispy Kreme in your area? http://www.krispykreme.com/

Who is this Jesus?

In a quest to revisit Jesus, as presented by the Bible and not necessarily by churches and religious people. I begin in the first book and first chapter of the New Testament in the Bible, Matthew 1.

So who was Matthew? A tax collector. The Word in Life Study Bible says "In Matthew, He (Jesus) had a direct entree into the underworld of Jewish society, a class of people untouched by the religious legalists but deeply in need of a Savior." Lets just think about what life for Matthew must have been like, nobody likes taxes, and as the collector he certainly wouldn't have been looked upon very fondly. He would have been looked at with suspicion, and I don't imagine he would have been on the top of the list of people to inivite to go hang out. We wouldn't find him at the highclass parties in Roman society. He was working for the horribly repressive and destructive Roman Empire! Not exactly a popularity card for himself! We'd find him downtown, slumping around spending his money frivously and meaninglessly. His friends, if he had any would be other people who were looked down upon, maybe the poor, prostitutes, gamblers and those with addictions, those people that "religion" wouldn't be touching at all. Yet, after he meets Jesus he leaves this life, follows Jesus, becomes a Pastor and writes what ends up being, the first book of the New Testament, and introduction to life after the law of Moses! Wow.

Ok. Back to Matthew 1. Here I am reminded of Jesus geneology. Ok, not reminded but it is thrust in our faces! I mean who starts out a book with a long list of where the person came from? Woops! did Matthew notice that he got Tamar and Rahab in there, I mean they were WOMEN and did he remember what THEY had been up to?! and what about "the Wife of Uriah, sounds ambigious but that was actually Bathsheba, and we all know what a pickle she got into with King David. Interesting that Matthew introduces Jesus to us by making sure we know that Jesus came from a mixed ethnic background with histories to be proud of, and others where He could have wanted to hang his head a bit. All falliable humans.

Interesting...That He was to be named "Immanuel" which means "God with us" God-With-Us, I can't help but feel a sense of peace when I hear that, God-With-Us. Jesus didn't come to take us out of our mess and pain and hurt, not to judge us and condem us, not to set up a bunch of rediculous rules we can't succeed at, but to sit beside us, love us, wrap His arms around us, and pay the punishment for us; and "Jesus" "He will save His people from their sins"; and "Messiah" meaning "Savior".

Do you think it is significant that after Matthew explains Jesus' family tree, and how God told Joseph through an angel what the baby's name would be Matthew reiterates that Joseph did call him Jesus? verse 25: "...And he (Joseph) called His name Jesus." Wow what a sentence! Joseph recognized that this child would be "God with us", "save His people from their sins" and "Savior"to all those who ask, so he obeyed and "called His name Jesus.

Honeymoon: The Hunt for Mr. PotatoHead

Did you know that Rhode Island is the home of Mr. Potatohead? Chad & I found out when we were on our honeymoon, so we made it our goal to find as many as we possible could while we were there. Tonight, I finally scanned our honeymoon pics, so take a look at these fabo of Mr. Potatoheads! The one to the left is the Original Mr. Potatohead in a children's park named after a composer or something...John Williams Park or something. The one below here is from the Italian District in Providence Rhode Island, he was pretty beat up with vandilism. Below him you'll see Mr. Potatohead from Galilee RI, he was really well kept! You should have seen the looks from people as we ran around getting our pics with Mr. Potatohead! It was so fun and cheap activity! We're weird. Then there is our beach baby Mr.Potatohead. He was in the worst condition and on someone's lawn, so here I am trying to get my pic with him before the people come out of their house and we're caught, Chad's sitting in the car taking the pic, car running, he!he! Here he is poor baby. Those were the only ones we found, we were disappointed and kept our eyes pealed. Maybe someday we'll go back and find some more. Who knows!

Back to the Basics

OK, it's gonna happen.
Religiousity (one of my personal greatest irritants) aside! I'm going to endeavor to get back to the basics of Jesus, who He is, what does the Bible say about Him, how would He react to situations, people today? What did He say while He was here on earth? What did He do? Join me if you like, in the next weeks leading up to Easter as I study, and contemplate anew "Who is Jesus?"

I'm gonna fly!

I am soo excited!
It's official!
Since I was a little girl I have always wanted to fly & travel the world. Due to a serious lack of finances it has never been possible. I have traveled as far West as Dallas Manitoba with CEF one summer and as far East as NFLD another summer but never the plane experience! As a child I promised myself that by the time I turned 27 I would have flown, and that by the time I was 30 I would have been overseas. (I have a massive list of things that I need to accomplish by certain years in my life~ we won't get into the list today...strange? maybe)

Anyway, Chad has a conference in Kalowna BC (see pic upper left) this June so we decided to try and make a vacation of it. We're going to fly out to Kalowna for 4 days of conference, then head over to Vancouver and Victoria (see pic on right) and do some visiting and see the PACIFIC!!! and then head down to Seattle WA (see pic below left) to visit with his dear friends the Oleson's and see Seattle too! We've got a couple of weeks and we're going to pack it in! I am so excited for the vacation, the flying experience, the whole thing! WOOOOWWWEEEEE!

I want the whole experience! We got our email notification (ticket) the other day~ and I'm estatic! I mean it's really going to happen! I want the peanuts, the window seat, the boarding pass~I'm going to have to scrapbook it! I mean obviously not in the true scrapbook sense of the word with expensive paper and stickers and stuff, but it's going to be a blast!

What a busy summer! We'll return for just a week and have to head off to Cornerbrook, NFLD for our friends wedding! Talk about opposite coasts in a 3 week span! What a summer! Now I just need to find another job to help pay for all of this! Thank goodness for income tax returns :0)

What Is Your Deepest Fear?

This is so beautiful. I absolutly love this:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
~From A RETURN TO LOVE by Marianne Williamson

Hardly an appendage!

Today was great, and so encouraging! I must admit as a new Pastor's Wife it can be kinda rough at times, dealing with people's expectations, trying to figure out what all of this life in ministry thing should look like, or at least DOES look like. But today was great.

I will admit it, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the District meeting of Pastor's & their wives today ~ remarkably (remarkably because I'm not easily intimidated) I get rather intimidated at these things~ feeling like I don't "fit" or measure up. But I think I'm starting to get comfortable in my own shoes now, well my new shoes with the Pastor's Wife insoles!

How encouraging it was to talk with others in ministry and get to know some different folks. There is this misconception that Pastor's wives are quiet, demure appendages but I find the more women I get to know who are married to pastors, the more I realize that many (dare I say most?) are the exact opposite of this! They are outstandingly strong women, opinionated, pillars who believe whole heartidly in the love and grace of God and long to be accepted as themselves only, women who love God above all else, desire and give their lives to see others experience His grace, support, love and yes, challenge their husbands, have desires, opinions (it's true!), motivations and ministries of their own along with their ministries with their husbands, and can be (just like anyone) a pile of fun to hang out with!

I am encouraged.

We also watched a video from Willow Creek Ministries by Bill Hybels giving leaders tips on how to lead~ this was excellent! I'm certainly going to type up the notes I took because they are applicable not only to leading in God ministry but are also really applicable for teaching. If you are a leader you might want to check out more info at http://www.growingleadership.com . I can't wait to go to their telecast conference in Moncton this August!

Wow what a week!

Wow what a week.
It has been yet another difficult week, I find myself doing a lot of soul searching and thinking this week. My sister Angela, after a trying week with her daughter Kaitlyn in the hospital was just getting back into the routine of life at home when she headed out last Saturday to pick up some things for the baby at the mall.

Not 5 minutes from home she was in a terrible car accident, totalling her car and another lady's, as well as side-swiping a truck. She hit a patch of ice and a turn in the road. Needless to say it is amazing that she is even alive, and it has given me much cause to think about life, family etc. She broke her collarbone and isn't in great shape, but she is alive. How scary it is to think we may have lost her. How quickly life can change, so drastically and dramatically.

I have to stop and think about what really matters, again. Most things seem so frivolous and meaningless; even the things we get so worked up about. How important it is to end each encounter with the people we love reaffirming how much we love them. Life is so short, and although beautiful, misunderstandings can so quickly divide us. I mean the week with Kaitlyn in the hospital was too much, and then to hear of Angela and to think of all the possibilities of life without her, more than this little mind can wrap around. I wonder what all of this means for my family. Perhaps we are learning in a deeper way to cherish each other even more.

I spent most of March break at home in Moncton trying to help out. Angela broke her collarbone so she is unable to pick up Kaitlyn and care for her for the next four weeks. Until Mom could workout something with her work place, my sister April and I did our best to help out at home. With all the business of caring for Kaitlyn and trying to relieve Angela I don’t think it really hit me, the gravity of the situation, how blessed I am to still have her, until I returned to Fredericton yesterday. I stop and thank God for her. I pray for her healing, physical and emotional and that I will be reminded how precious life and family is and the need to cherish and protect what God has given me.