Bake sale time

My church is going to be doing a bake sale on Mother's Day to raise some funds for some desperately needed Cafe equipment.  We are using stuff that is getting old and we really want to expand and be able to offer some new things to the congregation and to the community.  The Cafe is really a ministry and another way to introduce people to Northridge and to help them feel welcome.

So, my wonderful blog-reading friends.  What desserts should I make for this bake sale?  We are looking for fancier treats; something that you would want to surprise mom with after her Mother's Day dinner.  I'm already thinking of making my Tiramisu.

But, tell me.....what do you think I should make?  And be ready to provide recipes if I pick yours.

Thanks, Pastor Gayland

Today was the celebration of Pastor Gayland and Linda at church.  It was a great service with many people coming forward to share the ways that they have been impacted through Gayland and Linda's ministry.  There were tears and laughter, good music and touching moments. 
After the second service, we had a cake and punch reception.

I was thrilled to be able to cut the cake into very straight lines.  Trust me....I was very nervous.

But not as nervous as everyone was when we found out that the fountain we rented for the punch, wasn't working.

Maybe it just needs to be adjusted.

Nope, it needs to be taken apart.

And then it needs to be refilled.

Success!!  It took Tim and Dan completely taking it apart to get it to work.  But I think they both enjoyed it.  They got to 'rescue' the party!

Red Velvet cake is one of my favorites.

We also had cheese and fruit trays.

I think everyone had a great time.  Especially the kids.....

I ended up having a small slice of cake and a bunch of cheese and fruit. 

Church today

Church today is going to be a tribute to Pastor Gayland.  He preached his last service last week before moving on to a full-time position with the district.  He has been with this church for about 13 years so there are going to be plenty of memories.  There will also be a cake and punch reception following the second service.  As part of the Fellowship Board, I will be busy setting up, serving and cleaning up.  I hope that I have time to take some pictures. 

On another note, our Youth pastor, Daniel and his wife Andrea, should be welcoming their son, Aiden into the world any minute now!

Christ is Risen!

Tim has been busy helping out at church over the past week, to prepare for the Easter morning service.  He was there two nights during the week, and until midnight on Saturday.  But it all paid off.  The service was fantastic!

They were able to sync up three different projectors and play these videos across the entire front of the church.  The band was playing and the church was darkened and the music and video experience was so intense.

I got asked to help with communion at the last minute.  There were so many people there that the ushers were getting extra chairs and suddenly it was time to serve the elements.  I was standing in the sound booth with Tim and one of the ushers came and grabbed arm and said "I need you!"  I was happy to help.  I've ushered before, so it was my pleasure to be able to serve.

This Sunday was also Pastor Gayland's last week preaching.  He is going to be working for the district full time, focusing on Missions.  It is right up his alley, but we will certainly miss him. 

We closed out the 2nd service with a baptism.  Several people publicly declared their faith today.  It was incredible.

And, of course, we had to have a family picture taken.  I think we look good!

And, since we had the camera, why not take a bunch of group shots?  We have some great friends at church.

Ben and Amy right after Amy's baptism.

Demarie and Piper, Heather and Mercedes, Bonnie

Preston and Paxton, Art, Maddox and Dan, Tim and Jaden

Shower

I had a great time at the baby shower.  I got there early to get my egg bake in the oven and to help get all the food set up.  And I was the 'official' photographer.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  The food was fantastic and Andrea got some great stuff for the baby.

She has the cutest baby bump!!

After the shower, I went for a 4.5 mile run around the neighborhood.  There were some pretty considerable hills....compared to what I usually run.  at one point, I heard my foot crack and it started hurting like crazy.  But I still had to run back to my car, then go grocery shopping, then go to my mom's to pick up Jaden, before I could come home.

I have since iced my foot and I hope that it will be okay.  I would be so disappointed if it was a stress fracture or something like that.  Tomorrow is an off day (I'll probably go to the gym and lift weights), so my foot should have some time to heal before logging a few more miles next week.  I'm crossing my fingers.

Tonight we are heading back to Marshfield to have some dinner with Tom and Diana, friends of ours from church.  We have been trying to schedule a time to get together since December, so I am so excited that it is finally happening.  And she said that they were going to grill some chicken and corn on the cob.  Yum!!  Should be a good time.

Shower day

I am really excited for Andrea's baby shower this morning.  I think it is going to be a lot of fun to hang out with some of the lovely ladies from church.  I made an egg bake this morning and I'll bake it once I get to church.  I sort-of followed a recipe, so I'm curious to see how it turns out.

I'm hoping to get a good run in after the shower.  The fog that we've had since Monday has finally lifted, so I may run outside if it is warm enough.  I also want to get to the gym for some weight lifting, since I haven't done that since Monday.

I'm off for now.  Have a great Saturday.

Busy Sunday

Today felt like such a random day.  I worked at the information desk during the early church service, but I did get in to watch all the fantastic stories and videos from the El Salvador trip.  I talked to Betsy and she thinks that the trip will happen again next year (our current pastor is leaving).  I know that Tim and I are going to do everything in our power to be able to go.  I had a banana while working the info desk.

Then, during the second service, I was working in the cafe.

Demarie made the most amazing breakfast cheesecake to be served at the cafe today.

It was all light and crispy and flaky and sugary and cream cheese-y.  It was delicious.

 

I will admit that I had two pieces.

After church I had a meeting with some new volunteers for the cafe.  I was giving them a quick overview of the responsibilities involved with working.  It can seem like a lot and I hope I didn't overwhelm them.

Then I had to go to work.  I wasn't scheduled until 3:00, but the live in manager called and asked if I could come in early so that she could take one of the residents to the emergency room.  I went right after my meeting and got there about 1:00.

I wasn't horribly hungry after my two breakfast cheesecake pieces, but I spread my 'lunch' out over most of the afternoon.

First, string cheese and a cappuccino

 

A little later, I had another banana....can you tell it my favorite food???

 

There was one piece of banana nut bread left, and I just couldn't let it go to waste.

 

Then I had an apple with peanut butter.

 

Somehow, the peanut butter didn't make the picture, but you can be sure that there was a lot of it consumed.  :-)

I ended my snacking binge with a couple pieces of chocolate.

The one I had yesterday was so good, that I had to have another.

 

I am off to put Jaden to bed.  I'm sure that I won't be very far behind him.  I'll probably have some banana ice cream and watch a little TV with Tim. (yes I have ice cream almost every day....don't judge me).  I am planning on getting up early and running 4 miles before work tomorrow.  I am crossing my fingers that I can get out of bed a little before 5:00.

Another busy day.

I have a very busy Sunday coming up.  I will be working at both services at church, followed by a training meeting for all the cafe volunteers and then going to work for a few hours.  I won't have internet at work, so I'll be out of blogging communication until tonight.  :-(

I am looking forward to church today because the volunteers who went to El Salvador last month are going to give us the low-down on their trip.  I REALLY want to go on this trip next year.  I know that Tim does too.  It would be awesome if we could do it together.

I'm off for now.  Just going to finish my coffee.  I'll probably eat breakfast at church.

Silver medal

Poor USA hockey.  I was rooting for them....most of the time.  I'm definitely not a hockey fan, but we had so much fun hanging out at church and watching the game with a group of friends.

 

 

 

 

On the schedule today is a 3 mile run.  I'm supposed to run it at slightly more than race pace, but I'm going to play it by ear, based on how my knees feel.  I need to get stretching and get on the treadmill.  I also have about 10 tons of laundry to do.  Yuck.

Business meeting

Tonight was the annual business meeting at church.  I had a feeling that this was going to be a big deal, so Tim and I brought Jaden along (child care was provided) and we sat in on the meeting.  The beginning was pretty uneventful...reading of last year's minutes, approval of the budget, etc.  Then, pastor Gayland stood up to read his yearly report.  This was the moment we had been wondering about.  Gayland confirmed our suspicions and told us that he would be stepping down to take a full time position with the district.  He had been working with the district for about a year now, and it has been clear that his time was divided.  He has such a heart for missions and that is the position where he feels God leading him.  I am glad that I had an inclination this was coming because I think there were a lot of people who were quite surprised at his announcement.  There are bound to be some more changes in the coming months and I wonder how the congregation will take it.


Before the business meeting, I attended the Fellowship Operating Board meeting.  I knew that taking over the operations of the cafe was going to be a big job, but I think I must have had my rose-colored glasses on, because I don't think that I anticipated the amount of work that would come just from being on the Fellowship Operating Board.  I am going to be a busy lady!  But it will be a lot of fun and I should get to meet some more of the people in the church.  I can't believe that we have been going to this church for a year and a half, and I still can't name most of the people there.

I'm going to get ready for bed now.  tomorrow I have to take Jaden to the dentist and get in a 5 mile run.  I think Tim is planning to go to the gym, so that will be another thing to look forward to.  I went today and I think he is a little disappointed in himself for not joining me there.  Oh, well.  Tomorrow is another day.

Happy early Valentine's day

Tim and I are going to celebrate how much we love each other today.  Basically, we have a ton of stuff going on tomorrow, and we had a sitter lined up for tonight.  When Tim gets off work, I am going to run Jaden over to my mom's and then Tim and I are going to go to Eau Claire to do a little shopping and then grab some Olive Garden dinner.  I am really hoping to find a couple new sports bras.  I have been experiencing some not-so-pleasant chaffing during my last few runs. 

This morning, I pounded out an energizing 6.5 miles on my treadmill.  I had the Today Show keeping me company and I had to watch in horror as they showed the fatal luge crash of the Republic of Georgia athlete that happened during a training run.  It was very hard to watch (as they warned me it would be), but it was even sadder because he was so young.  Only 21 years old and living his Olympic dream. 

It really got me thinking....there are so many things I want to do personally, professionally, athletically.  I don't want anything to get in my way.  If I want to run a marathon 16 weeks after my half marathon, then I am going to go for it!  You never know what is going to happen in life and I certainly don't want to sit on the sidelines and watch other people.  Of course, there are going to be risks; as there are in every area of your life.  I think I was listening to Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Dallas, TX and he said something that really stuck with me.  He has a brain tumor that is very serious and he and his wife were asking his doctors what the prognosis was.  The doctors gave him some time frames, and then said "or you could get hit by a bus on your way home tonight."  It is morbid, but very true.  You can decide to take the risks and live a very full life, or you can sit back and try to stay 'safe.'  Either way, you could get hit by a bus.

Cat got your treadmill?

This morning started with a nice 4.1 mile run on my trusty treadmill.  I would have gone further, but my cat Brooklyn was playing with the string that is attached to the magnet allowing the treadmill to turn on.  She was swatting at it and eventually took a hard enough swipe that she was able to pull the string and the magnet away from the machine and the treadmill came to a stop.  I could have turned it back on, but I decided that my work out was done.

I am enjoy a wonderful lunch that includes, among other things, a banana with some apple butter on it.  It was something I decided to try on a whim, and I must say that it is fantastic. 

A wonderful combination that I will probably have to try again soon.  Actually, I will probably start putting apple butter on everything.  I get on strange kicks like that every now and then.  And this is really good, homemade apple butter that Tim got from one of the customers on his mail route.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first Fellowship Operating Board meeting at church.  It was great to be involved and I am really looking forward to serving the church my coordinating the volunteers in the Cafe.

Tonight is Bible study.  I am looking forward to it.  Tim won't be going.  Something about Avatar on the IMAX.  :-)  And next week I have to work so he will be going by himself.  Last week I was there by myself because he wasn't feeling well.  So, it will be three weeks without us going as a couple.  That is strange.  We'll have to make a big reentry or something.