Hello out there!

 

I'm joining up with the lovely Amy of Lucky Number 13 today.

She's does her Virtual Coffee dates on Tuesday.

You should join us?!

 

 

I'm on my second giant mug of coffee- Starbucks with cream and sugar please, and I'm ready to chat.

How have you been lately? Anything new?

 

Last week my mom and I made a quick trip to the Chicago suburbs to visit my grandparents.

And really, there isn't anything quick about it, but with good conversation, several Starbuck stops and a few pit stops we made it up there in about 10 hours.

And can I just say, it was FREEZING up there!

 

 

Burrrrr!

 

We were so glad to head south and back to warmer weather. Apparently living in Arkansas has made me a wimp to the cold.

 

And it wouldn't be a trip up north without eating @ Portillos.

 

And like the picture says- it truly is THE place to eat.

 

A Chicago dog with everything on it please.

Did you know that an authentic Chicago style hot dog does NOT have ketchup on it?

Instead they have fresh tomatoes along with onion, relish, a big dill pickle, celery salt and always on a poppy seed bun. Yum!

In my opinion it pairs best with a cold root beer. But that's just me:)

And please do not comment on the ingredients of a hot dog. Ok?

Thanks :)

 

When you are in the Chicago suburbs it's easy to get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle. Something I prefer NOT to do anymore.

 

 

But outside our hotel room window was this serene view.

 

 

But no matter where I am, this ALWAYS makes me happy!

Are you with me?

 

And so, that's about it.

 

Oh but wait.

There's this picture too:)

 

Say whaaaaaaaat?!!!!?

 

Happy Tuesday!



That Time Someone Gave Us A Building

Oh Hey There!

I'm that girl that used to blog a little more frequently- remember me? :)

 

Since I'll be linking up with Amy over at Lucky Number 13 for Virtual Coffee today, I encourage you to go get a beverage of your choice and get settled in.

 

I'm about to tell you a story that is going to be talked about for years to come in my little town.

 

I don't know where to begin, so let's start a few years ago when the hubby and I started dating and got engaged.

No this isn't a love story, but well, sort of it is.

You see long ago the hubby and I knew  that we were called to ministry. We didn't know the details, but we knew that God was preparing us. So the hubby filled in at  a few churches, preaching on a Sunday or helping out with Sunday School, but we still were not certain. We prayed and prayed, we even thought about going to another town to be the youth leaders, but nothing felt quite right.

Fast forward to January 2012.

We had been looking for a good church to settle in with and hadn't yet found that in our town.

We felt led to try out Brand New Church in Mountain Home, which is a town about 45 minutes away from our house.

We loved it instantly!

Everyone was so nice, the music was awesome, and they served STARBUCKS! Hello!!!

We had arrived!

We still felt the pull to be a part of ministry so we continued to pray and reall listen for God's direction. All the while, God was still preparing us. Like a good roast in the oven on slow and low.

That was our journey. Slow and low.

We helped out in the kids area and wherever else we were needed.

And as some of you regular followers of this blog know, my hubby left his job at the end of September 2012 to start doing what he had felt God calling him to do. Except he didn't really know exactly what that was, he just knew he couldn't serve the way He wanted us to when he worked on the road and was gone all week.

So we met up with our pastor, and started talking about opening a sattelite church here in Salem, our town. He thought it was a great idea! You see Brand New Church, or BNC, has the main campus in Bergman, Arkansas. And then there are 10 or so other sattelite campuses. Each location has a campus pastor and a live worship band, but we watch the main message on a screen every Sunday together.

So back to our coffee date with the pastor.....

We talked it over some more, he encouraged us to continue to pray and so would they. We all felt excited about the possibilities and knew that God was IN this!

We met up the week after Christmas and decided that this was the right thing to do.

So this is finally it!?!!?? Yes!!!!! A BNC was going to open in Salem and Teddy would be the campus pastor! So exciting!

Now about a building to meet in????

There is an old building here in town that we felt was just right. We knew immediately, along with our worship leader and his wife that THIS BUILDING had to be it!

So we contacted the owners and they said they wanted $2000 a month.

Hold the phone! Say what?

We told them we were thinking more like $700??!!

So they thought about it and called us back................

And do want to know what they said to us?????

Are you still with me?????

OK.

The called back our Finance Pastor and asked him if we would like to acquire the building for  FREE?

FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They needed a tax write off, we needed a church building and BOOM!

Can you believe that!!??

We have felt certain about this all from the beginning, but this was such a HUGE affirmation that God is preparing our way! He is hand in hand with us in this journey.

 

He's doing the Supernatural, while we do the natural.

 

I urge you to not think small in your prayers. We serve a very mighty and powerful God. He is still in the miracle business my friends and nothing is TOO BIG for Him.

Can you imagine what God is going to do in this town if he worked out the details to get us a building for FREE?

For all of you in the area reading this, we plan to have a soft launch mid February and then our Grand Opening March 31, Easter Sunday!

We are so excited and ready to do God's work. We cannot wait to see where He is going to bring us and the people's lives that will be transformed thru this experience.

I will tell you right now, it's already changing my life.

If He is For us, who I ask you, could be against us?!

Coffee Talk

So many moons ago I used to have a standing Tuesday coffee date with the lovely Amy from Lucky Number 13 .
She took a little break and now she's back!:)
And I'm so glad she is!

I had my coffee earlier this morning, in my favorite mug, with cream and sugar. Nothing out of the normal, but now I've switched to Egg Nog and Ice Water. All in Mason Jars:)

 

We love mason jars around here:)

And let's talk about Egg Nog?

Are you a fan?

Let me just say this, I like it in small quantities.

When I brought it home from the store and aske the hubby if he wanted some he started making a lot of gagging and barf noises.

Boys.

 

 

 

So this week starts a really busy and full schedule for us.

I'm definitely excited about all the things, but not really ready.

Ready to hear it?

Ok.

Tonight we have community group which is a small group from our church.

It's our first night attending and I'm really excited to dive in and get to know these people.

Tomorrow night is First Wednesday, where everyone meets at the church has dinner together and then we have a word from our pastor.

Laid back, good food, good times, good people.

It's all GOOD!:)

 

Then Thursday we are meeting up with our Pastor for lunch, then heading to Branson!!

We are joining our friends there to go to Silver Dollar City and have a great time!!

I have never been to Silver Dollar City, and it's kind of BIG around these parts.

Think like a small scale Disney World [ ok really small scale], with rides and shows and food and they have their Christmas lights up and the parades in the evening.

And it's Christian based. Boom!

We'll be with them until Saturday, then Monday morning bright and VERY early we leave for Illinois to go visit my grandparents.

Whew!

That's a lot of stuff!:)

 

So enough abot all that- how are you?

Anything new?

 

Are the leaves still pretty near you?

 

 

 

 

 

This scene was so much prettier in real life. My phone pics don't usually capture the true beauty.

 

 

And since we are having coffee/egg nog/ice water with Amy today,

it's very appropriate that I share with you a little something I got from her shop last week.

 

 

You should go check out her SHOP.

She adds cute handmade/vintage/upcycled items every week! :)

 

And since we're talking about #happymail,

I also got something really cute from Megan over at Contented Sparrow .

 

 

It's a vintage needle craft from 1976!

It will be my first!

I can't wait to cozy up with a quilt on a cold night, maybe some hot chocolate and get to work on this:)

 

 

 

 

Happy Tuesday!

Thanks for coffee Amy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virtual Coffee Tuesday

Good Morning!

Are you ready for coffee?

So today if we were really meeting for coffee, I would have you over to my house!

{ Excuse the mess ok?}

We ran out of milk yesterday so we're drinking our coffee black today with a little sugar.

I made some peanut butter type balls yesterday and girls- these are YUMMY!

There is a recipe floating around out there called " No Bake Energy Bites" you can find that recipe here.

They are so easy and versatile.

For mine I used some organic crunchy peanut butter and I added in some chopped dates.

We had all the ingredients in our pantry already, which made it super easy!

I think they would be really great to bring along a car trip,  picnic, pack for everyday lunch or even a quick on-the-go breakfast.

Try these and let me know what you think?

 

This past week and weekend my brother and his family were in town, so there was lots of hanging out and just being together at my parents.

Good times.

And of course we had to pose in fron of the fireplace with all my dad's horshoe trophies.

He's a total star when it comes to throwing some shoes.

He's even been to some world tournaments and placed well in his class.

{ This pic is kind of fuzzy and I have no idea what Charlie is doing....}

I made a batch of stuffed peppers and cabbage on Sunday. The peppers and cabbage and onions were from our garden.

LOVE that!

I also did a little fluffing around the Jeter nest yesterday. Nothing major, just rearranging and actualy dusting.

Crazy, I know :)

Do you decorate with deer horns/antlers too?

Well let me tell you something......If you would have asked this city girl to decorate with deer paraphenalia a few years ago, you would have gotten a BIG laugh for your answer.

Now I'm happy to show off my hubby's accomplishments.

And it definitely adds a little, how shall we say it? Oh, Rustic feel. Yeah.

We have a problem in our house.

Too many books!

They are everywhere!

So I'm trying to incorporate some of them into the decorating.

I saw this somewhere on Facebook yesterday.

And I thought this saying was just perfect.

So often I get stuck in the moment of thinking that something is too big or too much to handle or that I will never be able to accomplish that.

Well now I'm going to try and just take the first step.

And then the next and the next and so forth.

So what are you up to on this fine Tuesday?

Anything exciting?

And by exciting, I also mean just a low key day too- I like those :)

I'm linking up with Amy today over at Lucky Number 13.

<

Summer

Well Hello Summer!

Technically it starts tomorrow.

But the weather has been so smokin hot around here, it's hard to remember it's not technically summer yet.

Not to mention all the summer foods are available now.

Does anyone else out there love summer for the food?

I'm raising my hand.

I really wish I could say these beautiful tomatoes are from our garden. But sadly they aren't.

Our garden has had a hard time so far. It was doing really well and then it got so hot and even though we water regularly, the city water is just not the same as rain water and all it's nutrients.

So alas, I took a trip out to our Amish friend's produce stand and picked up a LOT.

I could eat one everyday and then some.

So good!

My plan is also to can some this summer.

Can you just imagine how delish fresh tomato sauce in the cold hard days of winter will taste?

And since I'm such a tomato lover, I whipped this little mixture up for lunch yesterday and it was fantastic!

Maybe my new go to dish.

So simple, yet so satisfying.

2 Tomatoes

1 Avocado

The juice of half a lime.

Salt and Pepper

And a dash of Mrs. Dash. (Actually an organic version, but you get the idea.)

Cut up fruit in like sizes.

Add seasonings and lime juice.

Dig in and enjoy!

You could of course double or triple this recipe or add things like fresh mozarella, bacon, lettuce, cucumber, pine nuts or whatever else fits your fancy.

And can we say Healthy?!

I've been using my cuppow EVERDAY! I love it that much!

And you will too.

What are you waiting for?

We picked a whole mess of plums from my hubby's grandma's house. She has all these amazing trees on her property. Apple, peach, plum, cherry.

Some of them she didn't even know she had.

My hubby's grandpa planted all the trees many years before he passed away and part of me thinks he did this so she would be well taken care of someday when he wasn't around anymore.

They live on a pice of property that I would consider a homestead.

In their younger years they had more animals like chickens and hogs and maybe a goat or two.

Today she gardens and has beautiful flower beds.

She also has a lovely pool that we jumped in after a hot day of plum picking.

What a grand way to spend a summer day huh?

And of course picking plums turns into making jam! Yahoo!

Jeter's jams is on the run!

For those of you girls that won the jars of jam.....I haven't forgotten about you!

The other day I came home from work and these glasses were on the table in the living room.

I walked past them and then back tracked and took a good look.

Do you know what my first thought was?

Harry Potter came to my house while I was at work and left his glasses here!??!

I seriously had no idea where they came from.

I asked the hubby later and he said he found them in a drawer!

Still don't know whose they are or where they came from!

Dear Harry Potter,

If you are reading this, I clearly have your glasses.

Although you may not be able to read this because I have your glasses.

Hopefully you have a spare pair or contacts.

If you want to meet up and get your glasses let me know.

Or you could come back and get them. I should be home after 5pm.

Love,

Your Fan

Ok then.

Now that I have flown my dork flag, we can proceed.

{ I know the hubby is shaking his head right now!Ha}

My bloggie friend Annie and I are doing the Soul Detox plan on YouVersion .

YouVersion is a free app you can download for iPhone.

You can do it online as well.

They have LOTS of different devotions/studies that you can choose from. And you can choose if you like reading it from the NIV, New King James, The Message etc.

It's "your version".

So I started this morning. Yesterday was supposed to be our starting day. Annie was on it. I....welllllll, didnt.

Sorry girl :(

But I took the time this morning before work and wrote down some notes in my journal.

I am praying and believing that God will work me out thru this devtoion.

My attitude and overall self could really use a detox. For real.

That last question,

"How have toxic thoughts affected your life?"

Oy.

Guilty.

Not how I want to feel.

So often I think of the negative instead of focusing and being thankful of the good.

Help me see the light God.

And my last little tid bit for our Tuesday is this picture I found at my grandparent's house.

A litte Valentine from 1987.

It says God Loves Rachel.

Thank goodness He does :)





Farmer's Market and Hello Tuesday

So I realize that my blog titles are becoming more and more lame. Oh well.....

Let's start this post out with a pic of my new lamp.

I'm in love with it!

I can't stop looking at it, and when I'm in the kitchen, even if it's not needed I turn it on.

But then I remember that it's a waste of electricity if I don't really need the light and turn it off.

Happy now?

What's that?

You want to see another picture?

Ok, here you go..... :)

 Right alongside my trust Minnesota Mug, 25 cents at a garage sale. Love that.

And ok, here's just one more with the dewberry cobbler I made with berries from the farmer's market.

We have had that baking dish since we got married 2 years ago and this was the first time I used it. I think this is going to be my official cobbler dish from now on. I love the way it looks!

Oh, what's a dewberry you ask?

Well it's very close kin to the black berry. Black berries grow on a big bush, dewberries grow on a smaller vine closer to the ground?

This cobbler was so easy to make! I don't know why everyone doesn't make it from scratch from now on.

Here's the recipe that I used, based on one from The Pioneer Woman , don't you just love her?

I do. And seriously, everything she cooks looks so ahmazing!

The only thing I did differently is add more berries and a splash of vanilla.

Served warm with ice cream and a mug of coffee, well it was just shy of heavenly!

And now, on to the Farmer's Market.

This past Saturday was our town's first EVER organized Farmer's Market.

And IT was awesome!

I came home with some really great produce, which makes this girl VERY happy!

Do you see all the vibrant colors?

They are so beautiful and incredibly delicious.

All of these items were grown by local growers.

Grown no more than 10 miles from my house.

We are trying to be more of  a locavore family in our house. Supporting local farmer's, shops, restaraunts etc. There is such importance in doing this.

Several of the growers we knew personally which made it even more sweet.

I'm about to admit something to you that may or may not surprise you.

Until 2 years ago, I had never eaten a strawberry straight from the strawberry patch.

Until this past Saturday, I had never eaten a pea fresh from the picking.

The real truth is that I hate peas. So much that when I was little I used to tell the lunch ladies that I was allergic so they wouldn't give me any on my plate.  Yeah they asked my mom about that one, and I was BUSTED! :(

But when I tasted that pea, that the Amish family was selling and I thought about their dedication and care of the land and their hard work and how they had picked it just that same morning, it was the sweetest, sweet pea I have ever had. I was popping them like chips when I got home!

Yum!

The combination of healthy food and Zumba is making me feel REALL GOOD!

And making me think " Why o WHY haven't I don't this sooner?"

This upcoming Saturday at the farmer's market, I plan on being there.

And I am SO super excited about this.

Our yellow squash and zucchini should be ready by then, we will have some lettuces and I plan on doing some baking of breads, cookies and scones.

If you are in the area, you should come! Email me and I will let you know the details.

Happy Tuesday everyone!



Hello Tuesday and Virtual Coffee

Yesterday I said hello to Monday and look at this, it's Tuesday already?

Wow. :)

Hey there coffee gals! How are you doing today?

I've got lots to share, so grab a drink and let's get to it.

As I mentioned yesterday, we got a WHOLE LOTTA strawberries over the weekend.

I ate a LOT. We froze a LOT. And then we made a LOT of jam.

The smell in our kitchen was intoxicatingly sweet.

It was like heaven.

I won't say that it is hard to make jam. But I did have a partner. I highly reccomend it with a partner.

This city mouse is a little intimated by the canning/jamming process.

But with the hubberooni, we made 7 batches of jam. And it produced over 30 pints!

Not the little jam jars, but the next size up.

It looks like liquid rubies.

 I'm mesmermized by the jam making experience.

Some sugar, pectin, lemon juice, a little butter a lot of elbow grease and VOILA! You've got jam!

We calculated that we could have a jar every other week for a year.

That is if we don't give some away.

Which I'm sure we will. We always do.

We see someone and say "Here, have some jam".

A few years ago when we first made jam together as a newly wed couple, we named it Jeter's Jams.

Original I know.

I've already got big hopes of selling our jars of jam at the Farmer's Market on a table with a polka dotted or gingham table cloth. And a mason jar filled with flowers.

Can you picture the loveliness?

These little hens and chicks are still sitting on my table in the same state.

Except now they are surrounded by jars of strawberry jam.

Can you see the purple edges?

I really need to get them planted.

Have I shown you this picture yet?

Or how about this one?

I love the bright, vibrant colors.

And I can hardly believe that these are growing in our garden.

These marigolds are still making me smile. I have 4 or 5 pots lined up down the deck stairs. I even love the smell.

And supposedly, bugs don't like the smell of marigolds.

Lucky us! Bad for them!

I am still slowly making my way thru this book.

It's rocking my world. For real.

I think God is making me take my time with it, to soak it in.

If you haven't heard of this book or read it- get going!

I hope you are having a great day!

Don't forget to go check out Amy's Blog. Go say hi to her. She likes that :)

<

Virtual Coffee

Good Morning!

I'm a little late for coffee.

And I just found out our main host, AMY is skipping coffee today.

And really, I applaud her for that.

Last week when I was MIA from Facebook and really the Internets in general, I didn't really miss it.

I mean I did, but I didn't.

Make sense?

But alas, I'm ready for another cup of coffee, so come join me.

Want to know a little history about this mug?

When I lived in Brooklyn I bought this mug for a friend who was coming to visit.

But then I liked it SOOOO much that I kept it for myself.

Ha!

I did dishes last night.

Of course.

And after that I was hungry and needed a snack.

 Something sweet will usually fix me right up.

Sometimes a PB&J and chocolate milk is just what I need.

Remember my yard sale talk yesterday?

Well here are some of my finds.

The Miracle Whip jar was home to all these Betty Crocker coupons. Back in the day you could put these towards the purchase of cookware/bakeware and other kitchen goodies.

The hubby thought we needed this really badly.

FYI- I cannot stand Miracle Whip!

I ever I take a bite of a sandwich and taste the tangy zip of Miracle Whip, it makes me want to barf.

The hubby loves it and therefore we are a one jar mayo and one jar miracle whip family.

Same with crunchy and creamy peanut butter.

These two game were a $1 each! What?!

Games are SO expensive at the store, so I felt like this was a REAL find! :)

Pure honey from the Amish general store.

And now for some really exciting finds.

Vintage sheets! Oh how I heart these.

I might turn them into bunting or something like that.

This old grandma blanket. I LOVE the colors.

Look at the detail and hard work that went into it!

I can just imagine a sweet little old lady, sitting in a chair, sipping tea and knitting by the fireplace.

Sigh.

And this is a blanket I found a weeks ago.

Have I already shown this to you?

If you ever come to our house and feel chilly, don't worry, we have plenty of blankets.

<

Tomorrow, my main squeeze is having some widsom teeth pulled.

And so tonight I'm making him a "last supper" as he won't be eating regular foods for a few days.

He requested this :

And meatloag, green bean casserole, creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, rolls and sweet tea.
I love that crazy dude.
Because really, nothing says "last supper" like Funfetti Cupcakes in left over Easter paper polka dot cups! :)

Happy Tuesday!